For all intents and purposes, "The Juice" is loose. Err, finished. There's a couple loose ends to tie, including an end-run around the roadblock I've mentioned a couple times. Still, I must admit it feels good. I hope everyone likes the finished product as much as I hope they do. I'm proud of it and for a writer, that has to suffice.

Bill Maher had Jose Canseco on his HBO show. It replays, so be sure to catch it. After a smarmy start, Maher asked some great questions and didn't let him slide when he tried to avoid them. What struck me is that Canseco seems to have a very tenuous grasp on the health effects of steroids. When asked if steroids help, there *are* some answers, such as hormone replacement therapy for declining testosterone production, assistance with wasting diseases such as cancer and AIDS, as well as some more aggressive anti-aging treatments.

Remember, this is a guy that called himself "The Chemist," purporting to mix steroids and growth hormones to optimize his body for baseball. I'm guessing that stoichometry is not one of Jose's five tools. Call me an egotist all you want, but here's one basic difference between Jose's book and mine -- Jose says he's an expert; I go and talk to experts, then explain it.

Big happenings in these parts beyond that. More on a very interesting development in the next couple days.