Raven

261-5, come on England!

Yeah, I gave up trying to keep up years ago. For me, Star Wars just isn't the same without the Empire, Stormtroopers and Tie Fighters etc. Once they got shunted out of the books in favour of a galaxy-wide alien invasion I kinda lost interest (and what interest remained after that was then subsequently crushed by the prequels!). One exception to that, which I believe you can still find in graphic novel format, was the Tales of the Jedi series they released in the early nineties, they were very good.

Another good day for England, I wonder when they will declare?

And your evidence for that comes from where?

I can recommend the 2003 winner, Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. I read this a few years back as part of a reading group on another forum and quite enjoyed it.

I really don't like that man*, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than when he's out for a duck. *There are very few people I will say that about!

2 for 3! haha! (actually not laughing too hard just yet, the same could easily happen to England!).

One-nil to England, by the end of the weekend!

Granny in the acid lake, one of the funniest moments in cinema history! (yeah, I'm kinda broken, I know . . .). Volcano?

But that's EVERY book you see! You can get creams for just about everything these days!

I was a bit cold last night, so I watched The Day the Earth Caught Fire to give me warm thoughts. With the draft from my living room window, I think I may need something hotter tonight - can anyone lend me a copy of The Towering Inferno?

I half-heartedly collect different versions of John Wyndham's novels, and have a couple of first edition paperbacks (The Midwich Cuckoos and The Kraken Wakes). I don't think either are worth anything, neither are in mint condition, but I'm pleased to have them.

^ We may have had the best technical bid, and we certainly had a strong finish (with Beckham, Wills and Cameron etc) but we didn't get into the game early enough - and to be fair to Russia, they have never hosted a World Cup, they have a ton of cash to spend on this and eight years to prepare (two years more than we had to get ready for the Olympics...). Also, and this isn't a comment aimed at you Ben, but would any of the questions currently being asked in the media be being asked if we had won the bid? No, of course not. We just have to suck it up and focus on what is actually important - having a team that is capable of winning the damn cup in the first place!

I'm sure there must be novels where childhood sweethearts grow old together but for the life of me I can't think of any (or any films with that kind of plot, for that matter). Romantic stories usually have the "other man/woman" so that there is some dramatic tension before the inevitable revelation that the dependable, glasses-wearing best friend is actually the man/woman to father/have their children.

So we've noticed!

None, I've only asked for DVDs!

I like After Dark, it was the first Murakami novel I read. I especially like the character Takahashi, I was genuinely disappointed when I put the book down knowing that I would never read another story with him in it. Too cool a character to only live the one time! Have fun making up your mind!

I've just realised I have an unread Dickens on my shelf. Tit.

Right, it's not entirely free of charge, you have to pay £2.24 postage, making it slightly cheaper than Amazon Marketplace! For more information go here: Radio Times Book Offer.

Dance, Dance, Dance, but I also have Norwegian Wood and Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World waiting to be read as well. I've not read any Murakami for nearly a year as I went through several of his books in quite a short space of time and didn't want to finish them all!

There are hundreds of Star Wars novels, set before, during and after the films, you may need to do some research before you tackle them, if you intend to! There are two threads on them here: Star Wars Books and here: More Star Wars Books.

Almost picked up a Murakami novel from my TBR pile (well, one of them anyway) but at the last moment went for Generation X, by Douglas Coupland, instead. Quite good so far (am liking the definitions at the bottom of the page!).

If Australia had rolled them over on day four then yes, England could easily have lost!

A good save by England.

Good performance by England today. Looks like this will be a draw.