cant get a random mysql selection going :(

[eluser]jedd[/eluser]
[quote author="ommy" date="1252787014"]
forgive me for the pseudo code.
[/quote]

Is there a reason you can't cut-n-paste the actual code you're using?

but i doubt its a syntax error.

If only your doubt was sufficient to resolve the problem.

The error message you're showing above is fairly explicit - it says it can't understand the column 'RAND ...' , and there's a backtick clearly visible. The latter would induce the former error.

the sequence of the db actions is exact though.

It's not a sequencing problem.