Just in case Graz is reading this the very next post I read is a great example of the average post and how it gets mangled (stuff converted to Bole, thereby "eating" a * at least)
http://forums.sqlteam.com/t/mysql-organizing-result-sets-to-get-complete-and-unique-data/6705
Its got a Create Table, INSERT sample data, The query the O/P tried, what result data they got, and the actual data they would like. 100% perfect question.
But its completely unreadable ....