OK, since this is bigger than just NFL or MLB or the Olympics, I thought I'd get us rolling on this topic in our new Sports Forum!

So, in recent 'Roids news, the US Congress is trying to get baseball players to testify on the subject:

MLB leaders plan to fight subpoenas

Do you think these guys should have to testify on the subject?

Is it in baseball's best interest to never find out if Bonds or McGwire or Sosa were on steroids?   


I don't know how I feel about it.  If the players did it, it kinda sucks, but then again there was no testing for it - who knows what the right answer is?

Jeff

Anyone started reading this one yet?

I don't normally enjoy the made-up EU stuff, but I do tend to enjoy the filler "prequel" books they've done.  I liked the "Approaching Storm" which explained the events leading up to Episode 2, and I really liked the "Cloak of Deception", the Episode 1 prequel book.  Both did a great job of dropping you off at the starting point of the films.

Anyway, I had a chance to page through the book at B-n-N this weekend, and it loooked pretty good.  I have really enjoyed other SW books that Luceno has done (The NJO Agents of Chaos Duology as well as the aforementioned Cloak of Deception) and after previewing it in the store, I'm definately picking this one up. 

I couldn't bring myself to pay full price for a hard cover, so I passed on it at the store and just ordered it from Amazon.com today (can't beat 35% off cover price and free shipping since I picked up a few other books  ).

Anyone else considering reading this book?

Jeff

NOTE: Image shown is a 3-D rendered model of the maquette. The final product is subject to change.


Now available for pre-order at StarWarsShop.com is an exclusive Republic Commando Maquette!  Previously planned as an exclusive to LucasArts employees, this limited maquette by Gentle Giant features a detailed sculpt based on the new Republic Commando video game and will be limited to 400 pieces worldwide. 

Head on over to StarWarsShop.com to grab yours before they are gone!

Hasbro has now posted "close up looks" at some of the collection 2 figures (looks like 11 of the first 12 to me, no Padme). Although not necessarily anything new, always nice to get some official pics of them too.



Jeff

Anyone else interested in these nifty keen 12" Highlander Figures by Sideshow?

First up, Connor MacLeod of the clan MacLeod:



and Duncan MacLeod




Connor MacLeod Features:
- 30 points of articulation
- Ramirez' Masamune Katana
- A dagger from Connor’s historical weapon collection
- Bottle of Cognac (real Cognac not included)
- A Metallurgical History of Ancient Sword-Making, as authored by Connor’s love interest, Brenda Wyatt
- 12” figure display base with Highlander logo
- Kurgan’s severed head

Duncan MacLeod Features:
- 30 points of articulation
- Duncan’s dragon’s head Katana, crafted by Hideo Koto
- Clan Chief Ian MacLeod’s Claymore
- Sunglasses
- 12” figure display base with Highlander logo

$45.00 each, but I'm pretty sure they'll end up in my collection eventually... 

I saw this at another site and couldn't help but post it here too...

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2005/01/04/local/doc41db350078259784029686.txt


Here's the edited version...

I-80 crash claims UNL student's life
BY BUTCH MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star

Derek Kieper was a smart, funny, intense young man who relished a good debate and would do anything for his friends. 

Kieper, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, died early Tuesday morning when the Ford Explorer he was a passenger in travelled off an icy section of Interstate 80 and rolled several times in a ditch. Kieper, who was riding in the back seat of the Explorer, was ejected from the vehicle.

Two others in the vehicle, including the driver, Luke Havermann of Ogallala, and the front-seat passenger, Nick Uphoff of Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, sustained non-life threatening injuries. Havermann and Uphoff, both 21, were being treated at BryanLGH Medical Center West.  The three men, members of the same UNL fraternity, were returning to Lincoln from San Antonio, Texas at the time of the accident, reported to authorities by a truck driver around 3 a.m.

Capt. Joe Lefler of the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said Havermann was driving the Explorer east on the interstate near Northwest 48th Street when the vehicle went out of control on the ice-covered road. He said the vehicle travelled into the south ditch and rolled several times.  A truck driver headed in the same direction witnessed the accident and called 911, Lefler said. He said alcohol did not play a role in the accident, but he declined to discuss how fast the Explorer was travelling.

Derek, who was thrown from the vehicle, was not wearing a seat belt, Lefler said. He said Havermann and Uphoff were wearing seat belts at the time. 

In a column written for the Daily Nebraskan in September, Derek attacked seat belt laws as intrusions on individual liberties and expensive to enforce:

"It is my choice what type of safety precautions I take," he wrote. 

"There seems to be a die-hard group of non-wearers out there who simply do not wish to buckle up no matter what the government does. I belong to this group."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His Anti-Seat Belt Law tirade can be found here:
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/09/17/414a5a030e91d?in_archive=1


Dumbass.   

Always buckle up kids. 

Sure, maybe you think the government is intruding on your rights, blah blah blah, but better to suck it up and buckle up and live to protest another day.   

Jeff

OK, so I decided that we need a separate thread for this series.  If it turns out that only Scott and I ever post in this thread, so be it.   


So, I am now about 660 pages into Book 1, A Game of Thrones, which I picked up thanks to a recommendation by Scott in the JD Book Club.  It is a fantastic book and I thank Scott for his suggestion. 

There are many similarities between the story so far and the historical War of the Roses (history, NOT the crappy 80s movie ).  I cannot believe how I was quickly sucked into the story and the world of the Seven Kingdoms.

*
*
*
*
*
SPOILERS

Man, so a lot of people that I thought would be major players in this series start dropping off!  There is a lot of set-up only to surprise you by someone unexpected croaking off!     Already a few of the characters I had grown to really like have been cast aside.     Of course, the beauty of the book is that each passing gives specific motivation to the rest of the cast to play out their roles.

OK, I won't say any more until I am finished with the book, although I am interested to see what will happen with Drogo and his khaleesi as they prepare to sail west.  Should be interesting when the Dragon meets the Lion and the Wolf and the Rest...
*
*
*
*
*
END SPOILERS


My goal is to finish book 1 before I head out for Portland (Christmas Travel) so that I can start book 2, A Clash of Kings on my plane ride west!

So, anyone else heard of or read any of the books in this series?  Played the CCG?  Read any of the Anthology short stories or Graphic Novels?

Jeff