More proof that you're like school at vacation - no class. 2 is not much lesser than 1, in some ways better. Definitely has the best cast and is the best acted of the 4. 4 was fun - if you liked Swordfish, you'd like this. I'm with Schev that there was a point where they lost me, but still a lot of fun and glad I left work early to see it!

How boring of a Sunday is it? I'm watching the Concert for Diana. Rod Stewart is still pretty good, but Tom Jones is a God.

Texas. Was talking to a guy today who was saying that the spot he was going to be shooting fireworks off at on the 4th of July is now under water.

Actually, go to a poker room at a casino and the cards matter, not what is called. Whatever you do with the rest of your life, you still cheat at cards. A lot of not so nice people are generous in other areas.

Kayos wouldn't be happy if Benni scored 50 goals and didn't play the way he likes to see... I wonder if he'd be happy with Ronaldinho. Probably would complain that he wasted energy with all of the stepovers!

Does that mean we can sue the gov't for taxing fatty foods? How about the NHS for prescribing drugs that later prove dangerous? And if drugs are taxed, they will be contributing more to society than they do now....

Saw an expert from PWC that said the debt wasn't a worry at all, due to the global brand and money coming in.

Could be worse: Pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals was drunk driving and crashed into a tow truck that was helping a stranded motorist. Said pitcher's father is not only suing the bar for serving him too much alcohol, but the stranded motorist and tow truck driver for not clearing the accident sooner...

So the player withdraws because he has played to many games and you're upset with McClaren for not playing him additional games? He should have played in a meaningless friendly or against cupcake opposition that wouldn't have challenged him but not in an important international tournament?

Fun movie, might be more a rental, though.

Hopefully moving to Lux then. A nice cheap flight to London (from Hahn).

No London away matches until after September 16th, please!

Considering how inaccurate your predictions usually are, I expect England to be there.

I believe AOL has just gone free if you aren't using them for access. I'd go on the website and check it out (if I cared).

Agree with Eddie. MLS doesn't take international breaks, so if he were gone for a friendly during the season they wouldn't be happy. (I.E. had this happened when he was playing for them.)

If they did, it would be akin to what West Ham got in trouble for - an outside party having influence over players being sold or not....

Are Madrid still playing next weekend? It sounds like they have another 2 matches after this weekend.

If anything you'd want Beckham playing at the championships next summer. He'd be a couple months into his season - match fit, but not worn down by a 10 month season in multiple competitions.

I'd be curious for one of our statheads to come up with goals per game when Bellamy played last season and when Benni played this season. (I also would like to see both here next season, even though I think Bellamy is a knob.)

Damn, I'm jealous - and you will be when you get to be my age...

This to me being the key portion: My guess would be that was exactly what the business plan was. I'd say also, with the new money and what other clubs are selling for, the club would likely fetch more than they paid for it at this point and I'd also guess that the percentage value of the cash they personally put in will be higher than the true percentage that they put in. Philip, this isn't a dig, or anything like that, I just truly think you'd be interested: If you want some good insight on how to buy a sports franchise and get a good ownership stake without putting in a lot of money, read The Hustlers Handbook and Veeck as in Wreck, both by former baseball owner Bill Veeck. They are a bit older, but still very fascinating on the art of buying and running a sports franchise.

I've been reading the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin. Some of the best hard-boiled detective fiction I've ever read. I'd put him up there with Laurence Block, Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos.

Disagree, I thought Fatherland was brilliant (and more good fodder for an anti-Kennedy living in Mass). His other books I would say are decently written, with good plots.

There you go again, making the thread about immigration...

I actually quite liked Pompeii. Thought most of his books take a while to get into and to get moving, but this one was pretty gripping from the get-go. Agree with the recommendation on Rising Sun. One of Mrs American's favorite books.