Q:

mysql query to retrieve only records with a start_date > now()

I am trying to retrieve all records where the start_date is greater than the current timestamp. Any ideas why this might not be working:
WHERE (UNIX_TIMESTAMP(event_dates.start_date)) > DATE(NOW())

and this is the example start_date column 2010-10-30

A:

UNIX_TIMESTAMP returns an integer with second since the epoch
DATE() returns a string like 'yyyy-mm-dd'

Comparing those 2 lead to unexpected results I'm sure.
Either use UNIX_TIMESTAMP or DATE, but do it for both. (or do a UNIX_TIMESTAMP(DATE(NOW())) so you're comparing the proper formats.

