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“Breakfast was Bond’s favorite meal of the day. When he was stationed in London it was always the same. It consisted of very strong coffee … of which he drank two large cups, black and without sugar. The single egg, in the dark blue egg cup with a gold ring around the top, was boiled for three and a third minutes …. Then there were two thick slices of whole wheat toast.” —Ian Fleming, From Russia With Love

Tom Hodgkinson gives Facebook a well-deserved drubbing.

Money quote:

“For my own part, I am going to retreat from the whole thing, remain as unplugged as possible, and spend the time I save by not going on Facebook doing something useful, such as reading books. Why would I want to waste my time on Facebook when I still haven’t read Keats’ Endymion? And when there are seeds to be sown in my own back yard? I don’t want to retreat from nature, I want to reconnect with it. Damn air-conditioning! And if I want to connect with the people around me, I will revert to an old piece of technology. It’s free, it’s easy and it delivers a uniquely individual experience in sharing information: it’s called talking.”

Food for thought, courtesy of Slate’s Timothy Noah:

Clinton’s claim to superior experience isn’t merely dishonest. It’s also potentially dangerous should she become the nominee. If Clinton continues to build her campaign on the dubious foundation of government experience, it shouldn’t be very difficult for her GOP opponent to pull that edifice down. That’s especially true if a certain white-haired senator now serving his 25th year in Congress (four in the House and 21 in the Senate) wins the nomination. McCain could easily make Hillary look like an absolute fraud who is no more truthful about her depth of government experience than she is about why her mother named her “Hillary.”

1. “The Moral Instinct”

“According to Noam Chomsky, we are born with a ‘universal grammar’ that forces us to analyze speech in terms of its grammatical structure, with no conscious awareness of the rules in play. By analogy, we are born with a universal moral grammar that forces us to analyze human action in terms of its moral structure, with just as little awareness.”

2. “The Afterlife of Cellphones”

“Gillott estimates 50 to 60 percent of phones are replaced ‘because people get tired of the design.’ Otherwise, consumers want a new feature — even, it seems, if there’s no real need for it; according to M:Metrics, 82 percent of those with Internet-enabled phones do not go online. Steven Herbst, a psychology researcher at Motorola, told me: ‘All that pressure to have the latest — something that people will be impressed by — is compounded by the fact that all of a sudden somebody is doing something with their mobile phone that you can’t do.’ In other words, it’s because we’ve made phones such deep and indispensable extensions of ourselves that we dump them so quickly. Who can bear seeing himself as even slightly outdated or incapable?”

3. “Great Adaptations”

“Mass-market adaptations make Great Books go bad. Or so conventional wisdom would have it. But every so often, plundering and pillaging a canonical text for the sake of entertainment gives it the kiss of life. Take Beowulf and Paradise Lost. The unpalatable truth is that both originals are now virtually unreadable. Beowulf is written in Old English, an inflected Germanic tongue that looks a lot less like our language than one would hope. As for Milton’s epic, it’s in ‘normal’ English, but its blank verse is so densely learned, so syntactically complicated and philosophically obscure, that it’s almost never read outside college courses. Even Samuel Johnson, writing 100 years after Milton, said: ‘Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is.’”

4. “Coaches Wanted in the Game of Life”

“Life coaches are like personal trainers for the psyche, and their ranks are growing. Many Americans want to go ‘from good to great,’ and they’re looking to life coaches to get them there, said Carol Kauffman, assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, and co-founder and director of Harvard’s Coaching and Positive Psychology Initiative. Many coaches, like Ms. Driscoll, are accredited by a coaching organization. But no degrees or credentials are required to begin working as a life coach. There is also no federal or state oversight of the industry.”

5. “From 10 Hours a Week, $10 Million a Year”

“Markus Frind, a 29-year-old Web entrepreneur, has not read the best seller The 4-Hour Workweek — in fact, he had not heard of it when asked last week — but his face could go on the book’s cover. He developed software for his online dating site, Plenty of Fish, that operates almost completely on autopilot, leaving Mr. Frind plenty of free time. On average, he puts in about a 10-hour workweek.”

6. “A Million Miles vs. a Few More Smiles”

“Having cut services, reduced routes and crammed planes full, and having steadily eroded benefits associated with frequent-flier programs, airlines may have alienated their best customers.”

7. “Sex and the Teenage Girl”

“Pregnancy robs a teenager of her girlhood. This stark fact is one reason girls used to be so carefully guarded and protected — in a system that at once limited their horizons and safeguarded them from devastating consequences. The feminist historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg has written that ‘however prudish and “uptight” the Victorians were, our ancestors had a deep commitment to girls.’

“We, too, have a deep commitment to girls, and ours centers not on protecting their chastity, but on supporting their ability to compete with boys, to be free — perhaps for the first time in history — from the restraints that kept women from achieving on the same level. Now we have to ask ourselves this question: Does the full enfranchisement of girls depend on their being sexually liberated? And if it does, can we somehow change or diminish among the very young the trauma of pregnancy, the occasional result of even safe sex?”

8. “36 Hours in Hollywood”

“Many a native Angeleno knows not of Barnsdall Art Park (4800 Hollywood Boulevard, 323-644-6269; www.barnsdallartpark.com), a public space donated to the city by the eccentric Aline Barnsdall in 1927. Beyond having one of the best views of the Hollywood sign and grass upon which to sit (a rare thing in Los Angeles), the site is home to the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, a theater and the Hollyhock House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s first Los Angeles project.”

9. “A Bookworm’s Holiday”

“A bleak winter weekend is a great time to haunt the city’s libraries, when they seem to serve almost as much as museums and performance halls as repositories of the written word.”

10. “The French President’s Lover”

“Because model is so often used as a synonym for moron, few have stopped to consider that, in pure résumé terms, Ms. Bruni may be better equipped than many for a gig at Élysée Palace. For starters, she is a stepdaughter of an Italian tire magnate and classical composer, Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, who is married to her mother, Marisa Borini, a concert pianist. She is rich and well educated (in France, where her family moved in the 1970s to escape a wave of kidnappings in Italy) and speaks three languages.”

11. “Tough Guys for Tough Times”

“The leading action symbols of the Reagan era — with all their excess, jingoism and good vs. evil bombast — have returned, as outsize and obvious as they were in the decade of stonewash. Yet as stars of prime-time hits and feature films (not to mention Republican mascots), these actors are still as ripped and imposing as they were 20 years ago, and they continue to carry an undeniable authority with fans old and new.

“Indeed, at a time when the country is faced with a new tangle of problems, the return of the ’80s action hero suggests that some Americans, particularly men, are looking to revel in the vestigial pleasures of older times and seemingly simpler ways. (Witness the popularity of the best-selling Dangerous Book for Boys, a celebration of the traditional rugged joys of boyhood.)”

“Nathan’s reminiscence of watching The New World on his laptop reminded me that, at Cannes this year, no less august a cinematic eminence than David Cronenberg rhapsodized to me about how much he enjoys watching movies on his laptop, propped on his stomach as he lies in bed, perusing a few chapters at a time the way one reads a book, and having an altogether different – but by no means illegitimate – experience of cinema than one has in a proper theater.” —Scott Foundas

1. Jay-Z - “Blue Magic”

I think it’s fair to call Jay-Z’s 2006 effort Kingdom Come a disappointment. I also think it’s fair to call his 2007 effort American Gangster a pleasant surprise, if not quite the masterpiece some people hoped for or think it is. At the very least, Jay-Z sounds completely re-energized. “Blue Magic” is one of my favorite tracks, partly because it contains my favorite lyric of the year: “Blame Reagan for making me into a monster/Blame Oliver North and Iran Contra/I ran contraband that they sponsored/Before this rhyme stuff we was in concert.” I really dig the pun on “concert,” as well as the critique of the government, made more explicit by the “Fuck Bush” line (also a pun, btw) a few bars later. The Rakim-era beat is fresh too.

2. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z - “Umbrella (Remix)”

Don’t let all the talk of rain fool you, this was the song of the summer, just like “Hey Ya” and “Crazy” were in previous years. In addition to being a great pop song, it has an epic, anthem-quality to it that I like that I think is missing from many pop songs these days, certainly many pop songs in the R&B idiom.

3. Kanye West - “Stronger”

Perhaps the best “pump up” rap song since LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You,” though when I first heard a leaked, early version of it, I didn’t like it, despite Renato Pagnani’s — who runs my favorite hip-hop blog — glowing review. Something about it just didn’t feel right to me. But then Kanye went back to the lab and reworked it a bit for the final release and I loved it as soon as I heard it. Funny how little, almost imperceptible changes can make a big difference. That’s production for you, I suppose. Kanye, of course, is easily one of the most interesting artists in music today. As Rex Sorgatz of fimoculous.com puts it, “Kanye is one of a dying breed of artist, like a Bob Dylan or a Woody Allen or a Bjork, who create art out of sheer force of will and ego. Art and life aren’t binaries for these people. How else to explain this album’s sui generis cocktail — a sampling of his mentors in dance (Daft Punk), street (Jay-Z), fashion (Louis Vuitton), and art (Murakami). And, I suppose, literature (Nietzsche), by pinching that particularly arch aphorism about surviving adversity. ‘That which does not kill me…’ might suggest that Kanye’s force emerges from some sort of Ayn Randian individualism, but it’s more clearly the power that comes from treating your life as collage.”

Additionally, “Stronger” contains my second favorite lyric of the year: “You know how long I’ve been on ya, since Prince on Apollonia, since OJ had Isotoners, don’t act like I never told ya.” In my mind, the Prince reference aside, that’s a pretty clever line, the haters of Kayne’s rapping be damned.

4. Justice - “D.A.N.C.E”

Speaking of Daft Punk. For me, this was the jam of the summer after “Umbrella,” even if it was only hipsters who were listening to it in the summer. Listening to it again in preparation for this mix, I couldn’t help but think that Michael Jackson should team up with Justice for his comeback album.

5. M.I.A. - “Paper Planes”

Admittedly, I’m not the biggest M.I.A. fan in the world. Her first album didn’t grab me all that much. Something to do with the whole post-colonialism pastiche thing maybe. This song, however, mostly thanks to the gun shots and the cash register samples, grabbed me straight away. I also like that’s more reggae-pop/hip-hop than electronica/dance music.

6. Britney Spears ft. Lil’ Wayne - “Gimme More (Dirty Pop Remix)”

This song pairs two of the more interesting (but for vastly different reasons) figures in music: Britney Spears (aka a tragic symbol of how our culture chews up and spits out celebrities) and Lil’ Wayne (aka the “Greatest Rapper Alive”). And odd pairing perhaps, but somehow it also makes almost complete sense here. I like the original version of this song OK, but I think this remix is just sick, especially when you listen to it really, really loud, as if you were in a club. (Britney lovers and haters alike should check out Stephen Elliot’s “Why Britney Matters: Why ‘Blackout’ Is the Most Underappreciated Smash Album of 2007”.

7. R. Kelly ft. Snoop Dogg - “Double Up”

R. Kelly’s Double Up was one of the weirdest, most brilliant albums of 2007 in my mind, and I had to include something from it, even if Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” might be the more enduring Kelly work. Regardless of how you feel about his nasty freakiness, you gotta admit that Kelly has amazing phrasing. With his half-rapping, half-singing style, he can make even the stupidest lines sound good (see, for example, “The Zoo” and “Sex Planet”).

8. Amy Winehouse - “Back to Black”

Some might have chosen “Rehab,” but I like this song better, especially when the strings kick in, which I’m always a sucker for, provide they’re done well. I love the whole Back to Black album and sincerely hope Winehouse doesn’t O.D. before recording more songs. (I’m selfish like that.) The combination of Mark Ronson’s retro, horn-infused production and Winehouse’s unique voice brings a smile to my face every time I hear this song. The clichés are true: It sounds like it was recorded forty years ago but at the same time is incredibly fresh. A completely different sort of R&B from that purveyed by R. Kelly. I hope they let Winehouse record the theme song to the new Bond movie.

9. Feist - “1234”

Yes, this song is featured in an iPod commercial. No, that’s not why I like it. Rather, as Gang Starr’s Guru once put it, just like with Amy Winehouse, it’s the voice. The “twangy but not quite country” sound is nice too.

10. Interpol - “No I in Threesome”

Critics didn’t seem to like Interpol’s third album as much as they did their first two. I’m not exactly sure why. Certainly the cover art is cool. Currently, “No I in Threesome” is my favorite song from it. I don’t, however, condone threesomes. If years of listening to Tom Leykis have taught me anything, it’s that threesomes are almost always trouble.

11. The National - “Green Gloves”

I didn’t like The National’s album Boxer as much as some critics did. (Truth be told, I think it’s sort of boring.) But I really like this song, partly because I identify with the song’s narrator (who is separated from his friends who are all out getting wasted), and partly because I think it’s really beautiful. Sometimes that’s enough.

12. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - “If You Want Me” (From the Once Soundtrack)

I also didn’t like the movie Once as much as some people did, nor I did I like the soundtrack as much as some people did, but I appreciated both, and this song, with its haunting vocals, really grabbed me, perhaps because it’s unlike the other songs in the movie. It reminds me a bit of Portishead, whom I really like.

13. Radiohead - “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”

No other release in 2007 had me as excited as Radiohead’s In Rainbows did (well, maybe Kanye’s Graduation). I think the album lends itself to a straight-through, close listening; nevertheless, this track stood out for me. I love the way it builds to a fury, and then, just as quickly, ends.

14. The White Stripes - “A Martyr For My Love For You”

The White Stripes album got slept on a little bit. Sure, I didn’t like it as much as their last two, but come on, it’s the White Stripes. I dig their rock & roll, bluesy, riffy numbers less than their slower songs about weird relationships (e.g., “I Want to Be the Boy” off Elephant). This is one of those, and just as important, I think it nicely concludes the mix.

“Thank god the age of audiophiles is over…. Audiophiles are jackasses. You know who I’m talking about: The guys – and they’re almost always guys – who own $54,000 stereo systems and have their entire apartments dominated by thousands of vinyl albums of rare imports that are boring beyond description but which they force you to listen to, when you make the ghastly mistake of actually visiting their sonic sanctuaries.” —Clive Thompson

Related reading: Rolling Stone’s “The Death of High Fidelity.”

“Levin had never produced much – he’d never written a book, and he’d never been concerned about writing one. He had devoted himself to his teaching; he had written his elegant reviews and essays, three or four a year; and the very spareness of his output had finally begun to seem a mark of his intellectual delicacy, the fineness of his discriminations. Every writer writes with mixed motives, with some combination of purity and self-aggrandizement; Levin was no exception, but he was much more pure than most. He would have been reading and writing in the same way – for pleasure and self-clarification – if you had put him on a desert island. He had spent little time pushing himself forward in the world, ‘managing his career’; that would have been a disagreeable distraction for reading and writing and teaching, from the work he loved.” —Brian Morton, Starting Out in the Evening