SuperFreakonomics Monthly Review

What was the author's purpose in writing this book, how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

The purpose of this book was to describe what different topics that may have seemed irrelevant to each other yet they were somehow tied to one another. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wrote this book and still now continue the book on a blog. The book explored topics such as the similarities between Street Prostitute and Department-Store Santa's. Topics like these were some of my favorite but there were many more to choose from in the book.

The book started out with "How a street prostitute like a department-store Santa." It explained the salary of a department-store Santa and a prostitute. It also compared other aspects as well. It also explained how the salary of a prostitute is dropping significantly. The next chapter after that which i also found very interesting was the chapter about why suicide bombers should buy life insurance. In this section they talked about why terrorism is so cheap yet very effective, which is very bad in the long run. Other sections such as these two were very interesting. The whole book kept me on my toes wanting to read more.


The purpose of this book was really just a book for leisure i think. This book and the first on were very irrelevant to any other book i have ever read, because of these discussions of random topics and how they relate to each other the book ended up being really good. Because it was so interesting to read, the reader will never really want to put the book down.


For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

I think this book is for an older to teenage audience. I mean i would recommend it to anyone who just wants to hear interesting facts about stuff but i mean i would really recommend it to teens and adults. I find this book more for an older crowd one because of peoples reading levels and also just the topics they talk about seem to be for older people. For instance last part of the book Freakonomics was pretty good. Some new topics came up that were very interesting and some that were not as interesting. Parenting came up as one that stood out to me that young kids or a younger crowd really would not care about.I mean i really thought about english when i read this section because it was all about selecting schools and what not. I think that a younger crowd would not get where the authors are coming from at all when they are reading this book so that is why i direct it more toward a middle to older aged crowd of people.

Another part of this book that just supports my idea of directing this book at an older crowd is the topic "What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?." Like really, what is that? I think that is one of the topics that is really irrelevant but i mean it was somewhat interesting just it seemed like the authors did not have a lot to write about it. I mean do not get me wrong i loved the whole book in its entirety but topics like this and some others are just not meant for younger kids and older adults that do not like things like this.


What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?

I think this book covers topics that are kind of boring. The authors may not think so but i found parts of the book really slow. For example, during the beginning of Freakonomics they talked about Pimps and Realtors and how each of them are alike. This section of the book started with the Pimps. It explained how they started off as a person with one girl and that is all it takes. After getting one girl it explained how going from one girl can get you many. Then they talked about how they could gain more women and what techniques they used. Like they took a lot more time just to say that. So i thought that some of the book was really irrelevant. Here is a quote that i think describes the chapter really well.

It turns out that the typical street prostitute in Chicago works 13 hours a week, performing 10 sex acts during that period, and earns an hourly wage of approximately $27. So her weekly take- home pay is roughly $350. This includes an average of $20 that a prostitute steals from her customers and acknowledges that some prostitutes accept drugs in lieu of cash— usually crack cocaine or heroin, and usually at a discount. Of all the women in Venkatesh’s study,83 percent were drug addicts.

Also when they talked about the Realtors they talked about how they chose to sell a house and who too. Depending on age, race, etc. the Real Estate agents would act differently and would offer different areas according to the way the person presented themselves. I found that disturbing because just if a person presents their self in one way does not mean they are that way. If you get what i am saying. This section was exactly like the first book Freakonomics.

In the book SuperFreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner pick the most bizarre topics to debate about but in the end the way they use evidence to prove their comparisons is very good. Some parts were way better than others but I really liked the book. I think if we get another chance to do a lit circle again we should read Superfreakonomics it seems just as interesting. Like i also said before in almost all of my posts about this book i would still love to hear what my group mates think about the book as well besides what is on their blogs. The blog also covers the first book, Freakonomics.

Romeo and Juliet

So during english we are watching a play by shakespear and i like it. My favorite one by him is Romeo and Juliet. I like the modern Romeo and Juliet better but the original one is cool. If i can remember correctly, i think we watched Romeo and Juliet last year in your class Mr. Sutherland.

So pretty much Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about two love struck teens who are bound within their love but are unable to see each other because their families, the Montague’s and the Capulet’s are enemies. Compared to modern day teenagers, in the movie the teens had different clothing, different romance, and gang violence. This essay is going to show how the movie compares to modern day. 
 
Gang violence during the movie was between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s. There was a never ending fight between the two families. Whenever a person in one family was killed a person in the other family was killed as revenge. In the movie Mercutio was the first to die while sparring with Tybalt. Tybalt accidentally stabbed Mercutio in the torso. All of the Montague’s were very upset by the murder of Mercutio. As revenge, Romeo fought with Tybalt and won. Two men were killed and the Prince ordered that Romeo be killed as revenge. The Crips and the Bloods are two modern day gangs unlike the movie these two gangs would not have any code of honor. People on each side would try to get revenge but there was no sparring. Violence between gangs or rival families also happened because of romance between the rivals.
 
Teenage romance in the movie was very scarce. Not too much romance happened during the movie but the little that did was significantly different from that of modern day romance. In the movie the romance was done in secrecy because it was between two people in the rival families. The two teens were named Romeo and Juliet. They were both around the age of 15. During the movie the two teens would kiss excessively and would have unprotected sex. Compared to modern day romance the teens are not to far off. Modern day is not as secretive as the movie but if there is sex it is usually protected because of sexually transmitted diseases. Romance would also affect apparel in teenagers. 
 
Clothing in teenagers in the movie was very similar throughout every person in the movie. Throughout the movie, men wore tights and loose fitting shirts. The men also carried swords on their hips. Women wore dresses and corsets throughout the movie as well. Clothing now is completely different. People have a much bigger variety of apparel for different occasions compared to what was in the movie. The characters also seemed to wear the same clothing everyday and it is the complete opposite now. 
 
These points about Romeo and Juliet compared to modern day times are similar and different. Some points have bigger factors than others such as clothing while other such as romance have little to no differences. This shows how movies about centuries ago can tell a lot about what life back then was like and how people will continue to learn more about life back then.

(I just kind of felt like writing an essay about it. lol)

SuperFreakonomics (Pt 3)

So the last part of SuperFreakonomics that i really liked was the part, "What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?" I found this part particularly interesting because i would have never thought these things had to do with eachother. During this lit circle blog post i am going to go back to my favorite section in the book which was about "How a pimp is like a realtor," because there were some very good quotes that i could not fit into my other blog posts. I honestly do not understand how someone could think of something like this but the quotes are very helpful for describing.

My first quote i had was very interesting because i never would have looked at these two topics in the same light. Pimp's are never really talked about a lot, and realtors are never really talked about unless trying to buy something. So when put together it is a very odd combination. This quote shows a small overview of what the chapter was about.

A Realtor and a pimp perform the same primary service: marketing your product to potential customers," the chapter reads. "...the Internet is proving to be a pretty powerful substitute for the Realtor. But if you're trying to sell street prostitution, the Internet isn't very good -- not yet, at least -- at matching sellers to buyers.

Another quote that i had was this. I thought this was a good quote because it was short and sweet. It got to the point they were trying to make (how they are alike) and i like that.

So once you consider the value you get for each of these two agents, it seems clear that a pimp's services are considerably more valuable than a Realtor's.

I really enjoyed the book SuperFreakonomics and i suggest it to anyone after reading Freakonomics.

Rules of love

So the rules of love...
This is all from my quickwrite we did yesterday.

1. What rules dictate the behavior of young men and women in relationships today?

So when in a relationship or trying to be in one, there are specific rules and guidelines but they can not be very well described. First off you cant "be a dick" you have to be just nice in general if you expect to go anywhere with it. It's not really going to work if you are rude all the time. Honestly i think this one is the hardest to explain.I have had girlfriends but i just have mental rules to follow so it is kind of hard to explain

2. Name a situation in which the rules have clearly been violated. In other words, what are things "nice girls" just don't do? What are things "nice guys" just don't do?

Nice girls/guys do not cheat when they are in a relationship. They stay "true" to the person they like. When not in a relationship they are not desperate for a new one and if they just get out of one they do not go looking for another one. Its just as simple as that. The simple stuff is what matters the most. Like pretty much "Do not be a whore." lol. I do not know how to put that in better terms.

3. What are the possible consequences for breaking these rules?

If you break the rules of cheating or flirting with other people the extreme case is breaking up or being hated by your boyfriend/girlfriends friends. Its like the rules are just there because people know they should not break them, and if you break them you should not be going out with that person in the first place.

4. Where do these rules come from? Who "invented" them and who enforces them?

The rules are just sort of common knowledge. People know what they are getting themselves into when they get a boyfriend of girlfriend. They know not to cheat, flirt, or do anything that is a form of cheating when in a relationship. But a rule i keep for myself do not be hella questioning. Like you have to at least trust the person you are going out with if you expect it to work.

Just one of those fun days on a weekend.

Yesterday was amazing. Started out with my soccer game at 2:15. We won 3-0. Ricky, Alejandro, and someone Liam Scored. The goalie on the other team grabbed Ricky's crotch while he was shooting too. Weird stuff. lol. After the first half it was 2-0. During the second half i got like a couple more saves, and will got a red card. He really didn't do anything, it was all the black kids fault. After the game i got a ride home, showered, changed clothes, then went on my way to leydecker.

When i arrived at leydecker Shuan, France, Andrew, Alison, Angelina, Sandy, Steven, Laura, Raymond, and a couple other people were trying to make a pyramid out of people. They kind of failed but it was cool anyways. We started throwing the ball around and just hung out on the grass for about an hour and a half or so. After just chillin' angelina and alison went home and we went to the basketball courts to play basketball. We saw Kevin at the basketball courts and he kind of chilled with us for the rest of the day. We played basketball for another hour, it was kind of a fail though because everyone was just messing around. After basketball we all went to Laval's to eat some pizza! We ordered one large pizza and it was gone in like one second. After eating the pizza we hung out inside lavals and talked, played telephone, and i tried to crack a watermelon open with my head. It was really a fail though. I couldn't manage to do it. After failing i just slammed it on the table and it cracked open. So to avoid a mess we just went outside.

We went to the park and had a wrestling match. We saw Jacob and his brother while we were there and they joined the wrestling too. I was 2-0 (I won against Jacob and Kevin) but Trent also came out of nowhere and tackled me hella hard to the ground. lol. France lost to Kevin making him 9-2 and Sandy lost to Steven as well. After wrestling we all went to shoreline to watch the sunset.

By the time we got there the sun was setting (8:00) but the stupid clouds were blocking the view. So we just took some pictures and threw rocks into the water. After getting bored and really cold we all started to walk back to Andrew's house. We were all singing as we walked back which was really fun. We weren't very good but we just had fun doing it. We also saw a raccoon on the way to his house which was pretty scary. lol. After everyone went to Andrew's house except for Raymond, Shuan, France, and i. We went to Raymond's house to get the cake and Andrew's present (shoes). After we walked back to Andrew's house (9:00) and gave him the cake and shoes and then i had to go home after a long tiring day. (Oh and a shout-out to Alvin. Hope you had fun at prom man. )

SuperFreakonomics (Pt 2)

So superfreakonomics is goin pretty well. I finished it so i really dont know where exactly to start. The quotes i picked were pretty much ones that were very well known by a lot of people that read the book. So my favorite part of the book for sure was the section where it talked about What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common? So i did not know what Mount Pinatubo was because i did not understand how Al Gore could have to do with a mountain. It was very interesting to read about what was said in this book.

The answer is that Gore and Pinatubo’s eruption both suggest a way to cool the planet, albeit with methods whose cost-effectiveness are a universe apart.

This next quote has to do with the section on global warming.

In other words: it’s illogical to believe in a carbon-induced warming apocalypse and believe that such an apocalypse can be averted simply by curtailing new carbon emissions.

This quote also has to do with global warming. This section pretty much told about the science behind it and how everything and everyone is being affected

"A lot of the things that people say would be good things probably aren’t,” Myrhvold says. As an example he points to solar power. “The problem with solar cells is that they’re black, because they are designed to absorb light from the sun. But only about 12 percent gets turned into electricity, and the rest is reradiated as heat -- which contributed to global warming.

So far SuperFreakonomics has been an excellent book (Better than Freakonomics). I have already finished the book it was so good. So i am probably skipping around a lot with my quotes. I really suggest this book and the first one to anyone who is interested in reading about interesting facts and statistics. I can not wait for my next post on the book.

Not too many Fridays left this year...

Frisbee last week was amazing. All of the normal people came out and some new ones. Started out with testing for the first part of the day (Not fun at all). After testing we got out for a half day and went to get food. After the bell rang we all met up at the benches and got ready to walk to lunch. It took us all like thirty minutes to decide where we wanted to go. Pretty much we were all sitting around at the benches and talking about how the day was going. After about twenty minutes most of us decided to go to different ways for lunch and we would all meet up around four at Lincoln.

We all walked around and got food, i went home first though. After getting lunch France, Blair, Shuan, and i met up at Edison to play some basketball. We played basketball for a little while and met up with Carly and Angeline. We played at Edison for a good 3 hours and then decided to go to Angeline's house because her and Carly had to get some stuff. Ang brought her dog out and we all played with it for a little while. I think her dogs name is Patches. After we went to Angeline's house we all (France, Shuan, Blair, Ang, Carly, and i) started walking to frisbee.

We arrived at lincoln at four and then started to play basketball. I played a couple people in 1 on 1 and won. After playing basketball for a while we went to the grass and decided to play some soccer. It was France and I against Carly and Ang. It was really fun. France and i won. After the game we all kind of just hung out.

After the soccer game we (Alvin, France, Shuan, Andrew, Raymond, and I) went to the basketball courts again 3 on 3. It was me Alvin and Raymond against France, Shuan, and Andrew. The game started out pretty fair. They were keeping up with us for about the first five minutes. We killed them though, no contest. The final score was like 25 to 6. It was really fun beating them though. We had that great team chemistry. After the game we all went to decide what to do next, go home or wait around for Jon, Ron, and Danny.

In the end we all just hung out for another half an hour and then i had to go home because i had to get ready for my training with my personal trainer (for baseball). The training was fun. I learned a lot and had fun doing it. I got a lot of Batting Practice and also some fielding work in. The coach is really nice too. So now also on fridays from 7:30 to 8:30 i have to go to my trainer and do some work so i can be in top shape for the Hoots summer season coming along. Friday was really good and hopefully so is next weeks.

SuperFreakonomics (Pt 1)

This book is amazing! I so recommend it to anyone who just can read. I mean its for people probably from the age of 14 and up. I mean it just explores different views that you would not expect as a reader. Like this book does not even have a genre i would say. I could not place it under specific category. So one of the quotes that really stuck out to me which was pretty, "short but sweet" was one that was about global warming and how it is affecting humans, plants, animals, and pretty much every life form on the planet.

Carbon dioxide is the right villain,

Pretty much it explains a lot in just one quote. Carbon dioxide is what is affecting everything! During the first part of the book even before the debate about global warming was about how a Street Prostitute is like a Department-Store Santa?

It turns out that the typical street prostitute in Chicago works 13 hours a week, performing 10 sex acts during that period, and earns an hourly wage of approximately $27. So her weekly take- home pay is roughly $350. This includes an average of $20 that a prostitute steals from her customers and acknowledges that some prostitutes accept drugs in lieu of cash— usually crack cocaine or heroin, and usually at a discount. Of all the women in Venkatesh’s study,83 percent were drug addicts.

So it pretty much showed what the Street Prostitute was like and then later it talked about the Department-Store Santa. I thought this was a very interesting topic considering i would have never thought the two had anything in common at all. So overall the book has been pretty entertaining. I have gotten very far and can not seem to put it down because it is so entertaining. Can't wait for next weeks post and to hear what Ming has to say about the book.