Now, can we talk about your problem of being a 49er fan?

Looks like a great kid and sounds like things are going well. I continue to wish the best for your boy and family.       

The reviewer in my local paper hated it...the reviewer for the SF Chronicle sounded like he liked it, well, didn't hate it anyway.

There was a weird schism at QT3 a little while back - I think the anti-Toms went to
brokenforum.com

My guess is that of which you speak probably leads to a tighter look at new members.

[Spoiler]

The 3rd book was also split here for Paperback,books 1,2 and 4 are single paperbacks

Spoiler for Hiden:

I wasn't aware it was a UK thing


and yeah,Grim i don't know why i thought it was 5-6 years between every book,sorry 'bout that..and not sure where i read about the outlined plot thing either Tilt,Guess i am firing blanks on all cylinders today

Why the heck do they split it like that in the UK? Does the publisher assume people in the UK won't read an 800 page book or something?

Wasn't there a Harry Potter book larger than that?

First and Third books were big highlights for me.  Second was pretty good.  Fourth and thus far through the Fifth (about 30%) I've been disappointed.

Still worth reading though, and this is coming from a guy who generally hates this genre.

I was just thinking about the series myself the other day. I grew up reading fantasy stuff like the Hobbit, LOTR, the Shannara books. They are all a good guy wins in an evil basically sexless world. Lately I have started reading books like the First Law Series, the Black Company and now Songs of Fire and Ice, worlds where men are there own evil, where sex (at least in the first and last) is common place and often not a pretty thing, and where the good guys don't always finish first.

I suppose they should be considered the PG and R rated versions of the same genres.

Pick them up.  The first three are very enjoyable.  The next two, while not to the same exalted standard, are still pretty good.  

Even inf Martin fails to deliver them before he joins the Jordan club, there's no doubt that someone else will pick them up and soldier on.  

I heard he had laid out the outline for the remaining books to HBO,so they knew how it would end if he did indeed pass on

Is it worth picking up the books now?,or do you think i should wait until the last two are released?(which from the sound of things could be quite a few years away)

I wondered about that myself. I ended up buying the 4 book boxed set ($20) and figured I would go from there. Well, I am now waiting for book 5 to be released in paperback and am facing the realization that nobody knows when (or if) books 6-7 will ever come out.

Book 5 is out in Paperback,i saw it yesterday(unless for some reason you guys are behind the UK),it's in two parts-'Dreams and Dust' and 'After the feast'..or unless you are waiting for a complete paperback edition(if that is on the cards)

looking at the release dates for the books,i see there is usually a 5-6 year gap between books..of the last few anyway(Dance of Dragons was released last year)

The trade paperback of Dancing with Dragons won't be released here until August, according to my pre-order with Barnes and Noble. The regular paperback slightly before and the hardbound has been out for awhile. I am not sure what you have there.

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I

Oddly, Amazon doesn't list a Kindle version for the US, despite the fact that I checked out said version from my local library.

Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and King George V of Great Britain, all grandchildren of Queen Victoria, heads of state leading into WWI.  And yet, despite their roles, none of them suited for the leadership roles in which they were thrust.

The book takes a look at the rulers from a very personal level, showing off their personalities and character, which was to have a huge impact on the world at large.  Wilhelm, with his inferiority complex to the British, Nicholas with his cloistered reticence, and George, the last to come to rule, with his complete lack of focus.

Growing up in the royal families, it is made clear time and again that they had nothing in their upbringings to make a direct connection to their countries and people, no ability to determine matters of import from trivialities. Each man wants to be the autocrat, yet are trapped by the men around them, fed what others want them to see, badgered or ignored when their presence is inconvenient.

It truly is a sad treatise on the world of the late 19th century that these men, with their lack of connection to reality, were the ones that allowed millions to be driven to their death through their lack of leadership and disconnect from reality.

There is an excellent book called DREADNOUGHT that covers almost the exact same ground, coming at it from a naval armaments race angle but dealving deeply into the strange "families" that made up the European Monarchies at the time.

Is it worth picking up the books now?,or do you think i should wait until the last two are released?(which from the sound of things could be quite a few years away)

I wondered about that myself. I ended up buying the 4 book boxed set ($20) and figured I would go from there. Well, I am now waiting for book 5 to be released in paperback and am facing the realization that nobody knows when (or if) books 6-7 will ever come out.

Is the guy labeled as Michael York really Michael York? Are there two Michael Yorks?

A local Indian Casino with a very nice hotel complex has had to shut down the hotel to get rid of bed bugs. The news said they were going to use some sort of heat treatment to kill them, whatever that meant.

We went through lice with one of my daughters. That was fun.

Buying a new mattress is second only to buying a new car in the way the stores price and sell their products. Frustrating and confusing and they try to get you to buy up.

I remember him most for Hogans Heroes.  I grew up on that show and it was one of my childhood favorites.  RIP Newkirk

Agreed. I hated Family Feud and loved it when Arnold got even in Running Man.

Thoughts?

none lately......

This should make the next great IPO of this type much more "realistic" in it's expectations.

Good luck. I do hope there was more to your job hate than a 3 day suspension for browsing the internet. Having spent 8 years with the government I can understand a dislike for it, but when I left I had a job already in hand.

My favorite color is blue.....most of the time.

Scuzz is my street name. When I walk down the street people stare and point at me and whisper about the Scuzz.

I golf when I can. I work. I actually don't do much. I read. I do the gym 3 days a week. I live life to the fullest.

Congrats....now don't get cocky kid.

What bothers you the most in this case?

The fact that he was arrested charged and sentenced or the fact that they gave him 7 1/2 years for it?

The latter, if I were to choose between those options. But I'm also bothered by what seems to have been a very rushed trial where everything the accused said was dismissed and the crying witnesses were believed completely. According to the Norwegian consul present, there were no attempts to provide evidence or even a motive (why would a guy who's just passing through a town, with his 68-year old mother by his side, suddenly attempt to kill multiple people he has never met before? It makes no sense, and the court didn't make any serious attempts at shedding light on it from what I've heard). Judging by the stuff that has been written about the case, I believe John deserved some kind of punishment. He did after all drive in the wrong direction on a one-way street, and he did end up driving recklessly when he was punched (the witnesses claim he was reckless before being punched as well, but both sides at least agree that he was afterwards). Should he go to jail though? I can't imagine why anyone could find that appropriate if what we've heard are the facts. Either there's some extremely vital information missing, or this guy suffered injustice.

I do think the 7 1/2 years is extreme, however that is also why I think something is missing from the stories, but maybe not. As for the case being handled quick, that is usually a good thing and most defendants who are locked up would prefer a fast trial. Often trials in America can be dragged out for years.

Sadly while the phrase "innocent until proven guilty" is great in theory, in practice  the fact is when you have multiple witnesses who dis-agree with a defendants story the jury/judge will tend to side with the side that has the preponderance of evidence on their side. The "weight" of evidence appears to support his having done something wrong. 

What bothers you the most in this case?

The fact that he was arrested charged and sentenced or the fact that they gave him 7 1/2 years for it?

My wife brought home the Sam Adams summer beer sampler. I have to say I am not a "summer beer" type fan. Several of the beers just didn't do it for me. The sampler came with 6 beers times 2. The first time I had the Noble Pils and the Alpine beer I wasn't a big fan, but when I had the second bottle on another day under warmer conditions I did like them. There was a "Mighty Oak" ale that I really didn't care for, too much carmelly flavor or something.

Did anybody see this one?  I saw it last night and was surprised that I didn't hate it.  I certainly didn't love it, but it was okay, which is nice since I was expecting much worse.  It has a VERY weak story, but the special effects are good and the fight scenes are sometimes tense, plus it has a nice lack of bad one-liners found in Michael Bay movies.  Sam Worthington is still a wooden actor who does not deserve to be starring in such movies. 

Was the 3D any good? Deciding whether to see it in 3D or regular.

I did read a review where the reviewer loved the 3D. He wasn't too keen on some of the CGI work though.

Does playing golf for money against your adult (and younger) friends count?

congrats....that sounds great. Just the gas savings could add another 10% probably.

[/quote]


That is how I do it with my kids and I do think it works better.....

Who is that?

Lady Gaga.

Britney Spears isn't it?

I've mentioned my thoughts on DA2 quite a bit, but figure I'll defend it as most are trashing it too harshly here, I believe.

It was a bit of a disappointment, but a good game overall. I loved the rogue combat. I really applaud their attempt at innovation in the story, though it wasn't handled as well as it should have been. They didn't go the typical rpg epic story route where you go up against the darkest evil to ever face the world. They just did 10 years in the life of a guy who turned out to be rather extraordinary and was at the center of things when an uprising began. The pro here is that it was different, which is something so sorely needed in video games. The con was that the lack of epic-ness kinda put a damper on things.

The character interaction was excellent, though they went the safe and lazy route by making every character bisexual.

The lack of sets was inexcusable.

I pretty much agree with everything you wrote. I enjoyed playing the game and understood (I think) what they were trying to do. The game just didn't measure up to what DA:O had accomplished though, in large part because of the re-use of the same sets over and over again.

I am reading the Song and Ice Books and I started wondering about some of the other large, epic type stories and started wondering about Herman Wouks WW2 books, Winds of Change and War and Remembrance.

Has anyone read those books books and if so, what did you think? They aren't something I would normally read but I do enjoy history and the idea of following a group of people through a historical period like that does interest me.

Any other "like" suggestions would be welcome.

Having had staples implanted into a knee, gall bladder problems, an emergency appendectomy and a rectal tear w/infection I can truly say I do not like pain.

However, after working in the yard all Saturday afternoon and seeing things accomplished the soreness that goes along with it feels good.

Awesome, thanks for the info, Biyobi!  From what I've heard the areas around Pasadena are all pretty nice, so that is a always good to hear. 

Pasadena is definitely one of the nicer areas in LA, congrats!  One thing to keep in mind in LA, though, is that you can easily cross one street and go from being in Beverly Hills to the ghetto without missing a beat.  Well, maybe not that dramatic but you get the idea.  Even different sections in one city may be significantly less desirable than a section next to it, so be sure to do some research before you commit.

I was just talking to someone over the weekend about how LA goes from good to bad with the crossing of a freeway.

And traffic at certain times is a bear.

Pasadena is a nice area of LA. Freeways and I think the subway even reaches into Pasadena although I don't know how "usefull" it is. I used to know someone who lived in Rosemead.

My niece went to Azusa Pacific Univ. east of there and it seemed like a really nice area.

Congratulations.     

I visit the following every weekday...

PlanetBaldursGate
Gaming Trend
Octopus Overlords
Sadovin's Market
Offtopic Sports
CBS Sportsline
AOL (e-mail)

Well I have given up on PlanetBaldursGate but I still visit the other sites pretty much every day. Three of sites are sports oriented. I am a regular now at QT3.

If anyone figures out a way for someone without cable to watch this let me know...   

There are ways to watch anything without cable. If you want to go down this rabbit hole, PM me. 

I know my oldest daughter has figured it out. Of course her first computer was eventually a virused mess.   

Man, my fingers are crossed that John Carter is good.  I freakin' loved those books when I was a kid and would kill for a decent franchise based on them.

I would rather see John Carter than Battleship, no doubt about it.

I thought the movie was going to be about the game. After seeing the ad I have no desire to see the movie.

wait...you had a desire to see a movie based on the battleship board game initially?   

Imagine the drama and mystery over what number would be called next...............

I thought the movie was going to be about the game. After seeing the ad I have no desire to see the movie.

Sam Neil was very good in the first Jurasic Park movie.