Freakonomics and Twitter

I was listening to a Freakonomics podcast about Twitter last week that dealt with the Following to Followed ratio and I decided to experiment a little bit. I wanted to see if I went out and followed as many people as I could how many people would feel obligated to follow back.

At the time of the experiment @P_HillBookCub had about 30 something followers and I was following about 9 people/groups. (The 30 followers is higher than expected since I only post maybe five comments a year.)

Step one of the experiment was to click "Follow" to whoever Twitter recommended no matter what. This in itself was pretty fascinating. Watching the recommended list smoothly transition from comedians to republican and conservative figures to democrat and liberal figures to members of the World Wrestling Federation to the NBA to the NFL to Hip Hop artists to Pop.

Twenty minutes later @P_HillBookClub was following 1,200 people/groups. By the next morning about 200 of those 1200 had reciprocated.

@P_HillBookClub is now followed by 229 people. All of whom, I'm sure, spend as much time reading my Tweets as I spend reading theirs. Which is never. Which is fine since that's also about as often as I Tweet.

Try to not freak out

Books of the Month (Trying to Catch Up)

Dan Brown

With the selection of Inferno by Dan Brown as our book of the month, this is now the second time we have revisited the same author for a book choice (The Lost Symbol).

The first time we did this was with John Le Carre (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy). Hopefully, the second Dan Brown book is more enjoyable than the second Le Carre book was.

July Book of the Month: Inferno by Dan Brown

 

Via goodreads.com:
In his international blockbusters The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.

Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered.

Stan Lee Coming to Concord!!

Stan "the Man" Lee will be at Flying Colors comics August 7th from 12:30-3:00. Price to get a picture and autograph is $125. Order to see him based on order package is purchased for the first 100 people.


'Nuff said!!

June is Ray Bradbury Month

June is Ray Bradbury Month (in my world anyway). Last year, June 5th, Ray Bradbury died. Bradbury wrote some of the greatest science fiction novels (Fahrenheit 451, Martian Chronicles) and is my personal favorite author. Since his death I decided that each June I would read new (to me) book of his.

Last year I read 'R is for Rocket' which are a collection of Twilight Zone-esque short stories on space travel. Highly recommended.


This year I picked up a used copy of 'Dandelion Wine' from Twice Told Books in Guernville, CA (great little book store if you're ever in that neighborhood). The description sounds a lot like "Something Wicked This Way Comes'. Can't wait to get started!


For other Bradbury fans, I encourage you to do the same. For others who may not be Bradbury fans, I suggest you find another author who is special to you and honor them in a similar way.

Below is a great tribute to Bradbury written by Neil Gaiman. I posted this link last June, definitely worth a listen if you haven't heard this before (Bradbury fan or not).
soundcloud.com/neilgaiman/the-man-who-forgot-ray-bradbury

Dear Internet...

Dear Internet,

I don't understand you. I don't post anything in a month in a half and my view average doesn't drop one bit. I come back to the blog with two new posts and the view average dropped 75% in the days since.

Weird.

Some Redshirt Funnies

June Book of the Month: Redshirts by John Scalzi

via goodreads.com:

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

May Book of the Month: We Band of Angels by Elizabeth Norman

 


via goodreads.com:

Hailed by The New York Times Book Review as a "grippingly told" story of "power and relevance," here is the true, untold account of the first American women to prove their mettle under combat conditions. Later, during three years of brutal captivity at the hands of the Japanese, they also demonstrated their ability to survive. Filled with the thoughts and impressions of the women who lived it, "every page of this history is fascinating" (The Washington Post). We Band of Angels

In the fall of 1941, the Philippines was a gardenia-scented paradise for the American Army and Navy nurses stationed there. War was a distant rumor, life a routine of easy shifts and evenings of dinner and dancing under the stars. On December 8 all that changed, as Japanese bombs rained on American bases in Luzon, and the women's paradise became a fiery hell. Caught in the raging battle, the nurses set up field hospitals in the jungles of Bataan and the tunnels of Corregidor, where they saw the most devastating injuries of war, and suffered the terrors of shells and shrapnel.

But the worst was yet to come. As Bataan and Corregidor fell, a few nurses escaped, but most were herded into internment camps enduring three years of fear and starvation. Once liberated, they returned to an America that at first celebrated them, but later refused to honor their leaders with the medals they clearly deserved. Here, in letters, diaries, and firsthand accounts, is the story of what really happened during those dark days, woven together in a compelling saga of women in war.

Free Comic Book Day!

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day (1st Saturday in May), and to celebrate the occasion I went to Flying Colors Comics in Concord, CA (2980 Treat Blvd) (flyingcolorscomics.com). Besides being one of the best comic book stores in the Bay Area, it is also where Free Comic Book Day originated!

Here were my prizes for waiting in line for an hour:

Free pink lemonade by a Trader Joe's employee dressed as Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter


A photo of a guy in a pretty impressive Darth Vader costume (my oldest son now thinks I know the actual Darth Vader)


A free assortment of homemade cookies

An hour long conversation with few 5 star comic book readers. (*FYI- Unless you are at least a 3 star comic book reader, these conversations should be avoided.) Luckily, the conversation eventual shifted to the topic of Chinese urbanization. Though I did get some great recommendations on titles I should explore.

Autographs by several writers and authors that everyone in line seemed impressed with but I was clueless about. The one writer/artist I looked up that is pretty impressive is Gene Luen Yang (twitter @geneluenyang). He is the author of American Born Chinese (currently #31 on goodreads.com best graphic novels list http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/210.Best_Graphic_Novels#118944)

Additionally, he is the author of the Avatar: Last Airbender comic series and the graphic novels Boxers and Saints.


Finally, the comics. There were about 30 to choose from. We were allowed to pick 3. With my 3 picks and the 2 author signings I left with 5 in all. Some for me, some for my little ones.

April Book of the Month: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid

 
via goodreads.com:

His first two novels established Mohsin Hamid as a radically inventive storyteller with his finger on the world’s pulse. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia meets that reputation—and exceeds it. the astonishing and riveting tale of a man’s journey from impoverished rural boy to corporate tycoon, it steals its shape from the business self-help books devoured by ambitious youths all over “rising Asia.” It follows its nameless hero to the sprawling metropolis where he begins to amass an empire built on that most fluid, and increasingly scarce, of goods: water. Yet his heart remains set on something else, on the pretty girl whose star rises along with his, their paths crossing and recrossing, a lifelong affair sparked and snuffed and sparked again by the forces that careen their fates along.
       How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a striking slice of contemporary life at a time of crushing upheaval. Romantic without being sentimental, political without being didactic, and spiritual without being religious, it brings an unflinching gaze to the violence and hope it depicts. And it creates two unforgettable characters who find moments of transcendent intimacy in the midst of shattering change.