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QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 08:28 AM) Really only known for Blinded By The Light, but that was a pretty popular song. Springsteen, Bruce actually wrote that song.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 07:07 AM) Perhaps references to an obscure 60s/70s band is not the best way to keep this thread going. Really only known for Blinded By The Light, but that was a pretty popular song.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 16, 2014 -> 12:05 AM) MLBTR suggests the Pirates would like a lefty 1B to platoon with Gaby Sanchez. I wonder what they would be willing to give us if we send them Dunn and $14M. Or how about Gillaspie? He's more of a platoon candidate. Probably wouldn't get much in return, but it would loosen up the clog in the infield.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 13, 2014 -> 01:52 PM) A bar out here in Plainfield called McBrides has the best $4 hamburger ever (on Sundays). Just awesome. I've been there but haven't had a burger yet. Speaking of Plainfield, Moe Joe's has a wild boar burger that is unbelievable. It has pretty much becaome my staple meal when we go there.

Good news on this cold January day is that White Sox baseball is merely two and a half months away.

Actually strange that we stopped on A, one of the easiest letters.

I agree. If he wants a chance, why not sign him to a minor league deal. I know there were reasons for adding pitches to his arsenal, but he was never as effective as he was with the high 90s fastball and devastaing curve. I can still vividly remember the Bagwell at-bat when he fired those three fastballs right by him.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 13, 2014 -> 06:26 AM) I watched the first two Brooklyn Nine-Nine's and just wasn't digging it. Maybe I'll try again if it goes on Netflix. I don't put a lot of stock into the Golden Globes though. My wife didn't care for it after watching a couple episodes. I continued to watch it, and it got a lot better about 4 or 5 episodes in. It's been consistently hilarious since.

.270 27 HRs 84 RBIs Struggles a bit out of the gate, turns it on in the second half, hits 12 HRs in July.

Anyone else watch the premiere of Intelligence? I'm not sure what to think of it. I might give it another episode or two. And I agree about Brooklyn Nine Nine. One of the funnier shows in quite a while.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) The Sox apparently have earmarked some money for him if its in the right arena. They had a budget meeting weeks ago and apparently have had the calculator nerds in there all week. This is interesting, but I wonder what their ceiling is. I can't imagine they'll be able to outbid the Yankees if NY has serious interest.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 07:34 AM) 1 letter grade improvement is attained for every 10 HR hit by Jose Dariel Abreu in 2014. Hopefully it'll be like that scene in A Christmas Story. A+++++++++++++++

Didn't want to wake up this morning...good thing it's Friday.

I like what he's done so far. Of course if Davidson and Eaton are busts, things will look bad. I don't see that happening, though. Not to say both will be studs right away, but they have huge potential. Now, if Hahn somehow lands Tanaka, he should instantly be GM of the year.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 03:40 PM) Hearts in Atlantis was a weird choice to film, it's part of the larger Dark Towet story. So it doesn't really make sense because it is not really put into context. That said, I like the movie Hearts in Atlantis was essentially four novellas in one book with each novella relating to the other three. The movie was just from Low Men in Yellow Coats, and I didn't think they quite got the translation right. On its own, though, it wasn't a bad movie.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 02:50 PM) I got handful of books for Christmas. So far I’m about half-way through Horns by Joe Hill (Stephen King’s oldest son). It’s about a dude that wakes up one day with horns growing out of his head and some really strange powers to go with them. He was accused of murdering his GF a year prior but never formally charged. So now he’s finding out who the real killer was/is. Stephen definitely passed down some writing talent to his son. There are a couple of times in the book where suddenly I’m am reading a flashback with no warning but so far it’s pretty good. I just finished up Dr. Sleep which is the sequel to The Shining. I really enjoyed it and actually liked it better than The Shining. I ended up re-reading The Shining right afterword and picked up on a number references to it in Dr. Sleep that I had missed because it had been so long since I first read it. Next on my to-read list are Heart-Shaped Box, NOS4A2, and the Frankenstein series by Dean Koontz. I read the original Frankenstein book over the summer and then the first DK Frankenstein book a couple of months ago. The basic premise is that both Dr. Frankenstein and his monster are still alive in modern times. The Dr. is attempting to create a superior race of humans and his original creation wants to stop him. I enjoyed all three of Joe Hill's books. I liked NOS4A2 the best. There's no doubt, after reading that one, that he is Stephen King's son. By the way, Horns is being made into a movie, and I think it's due to come out in the fall. I've only read the first Koontz Frankenstein. I thought it was pretty good. I'll get around to reading the others soon. Otherwise, I've read just about every Dean Koontz book. His earlier stuff is much better, but Odd Thomas was a great book. I'm currently reading his latest, Innocence. It's one of his better ones of late, but I still miss his writing style of Watchers, Phantoms, and Lightning.

So, it certainly seems like there are a lot of readers on this board. I know the yearly book thread doesn't get the same kind of action the TV, movie, or video game threads do, but if we can share what we're reading with each other, why not? So, what is everyone reading? What have you read? Any suggestions for the rest of us?

The one movie I can say for sure was better than the book was Up In The Air. I saw the movie first and then read the book. I'm glad I had seen the movie first, because I probably would not have watched the movie based on what I thought of the book. Some movies that have come close would be Jurassic Park, The Omen, Stand By Me (The Body), The Shawshank Redemption, The Road, and even Catching Fire.

A discussion in the movies thread got me thinking about movies that are based on books. I'm an avid reader, and I usually look forward to seeing movies based on books I've read. Of course, most of the time, the book is much better. But every once in a while a movie matches or even exceeds the book. So, let's discuss the movies that we've seen that are based on books. What adaptations were good, which were terrible, what books would you like to see adapted, etc.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 08:50 AM) The Stand has already been a movie, starred Gary Sinise. As I recall, it was made for TV, and broken up into pieces. I only saw the very beginning of it, and it wasn't great, from what I saw. I remember the mini-series. I think it was 1994? Anyway, I didn't think it was terrible, but with it being on TV (and 20 years ago), a lot of the terror and hopelessness was lost. I'm not sure what the plan for the potential new movie is. Unless they make a three part movie with each part released a year apart, I don't see how a movie could possibly be made and be any good. How could you cram 1100 pages into 2 hours? The mini-series was 8 hours (with commercials), and it still skipped a bunch of stuff.

I doubt it will be a 2014 movie, but there has been news on and off about a movie adaptation of The Stand. I guess they've gone through three directors, and the latest to drop out was concerned because the producers wanted a PG or PG-13 type movie. That might be problem enough, but I just don't see how they could even capture a glimpse of the novel in a 2 hour movie.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) Wait, does Chili = JoeCoolMan? I had the same question, but I was too engrossed by the arguing. Who needs movies? Just grab a bag of popcorn and watch the drama in this thread unfold.

Finally got around to watching Orange Is The New Black. My wife and I are three episodes in, and we're hooked. The only thing keeping us from binge watching is time. Season 3 of Workaholics is on Amazon Prime. It's so stupid, but I laugh my ass off.

Kind of surprised there weren't more comments about the Ginger Zee pics.

Zero chance of this snow melting anytime soon.