Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock’s drip painting No. 5, 1948 sell for $140 million?
Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.
This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.
About this product: 10 Questions with Jorge Cruise about The 12-Second Sequence™
1. What is the 12-Second Sequence™ and how does it work? The 12-Second Sequence™ is a breakthrough new method to lose belly fat with resistance training. It uniquely combines two proven resistance techniques--slow cadence lifting and static contraction--to create my trademark method: Controlled Tension™. My team and I spent years developing this method that dramatically reduces the average workout time. In just twenty minutes, you will get the equivalent of a two-hour workout. How is this possible? Well, Controlled Tension™ fatigues your muscle tissue faster than any other program available; when you create muscle fatigue, you are on your way to building new fat-burning lean muscle tissue, which is critical to sculpting and toning your body--and getting rid of that dreaded belly fat! With the 12-Second Sequence™, you will see your waist shrink in two weeks. Plus, if you commit to the entire 8 weeks of the program, you will see your best body ever. The plan consists of two 20-minute workouts per week. Those 20-minute workouts are made up of three circuits of four exercise moves, for a total of 12 moves per workout day. You'll do 4 reps per move. Each move should take you 90 seconds and each circuit should take you 6 minutes, for a total of 18 minutes. I've thrown in 2 minutes of transition time for you.
2. Why is lean muscle tissue so crucial for weight loss? Lean muscle tissue is the most metabolically active tissue on your body. Because it needs energy just to operate, it burns calories constantly--even when you’re doing nothing at all. This means that the more lean muscle tissue you have on your body, the more fat you burn every day. Plus, lean muscle is much more compact than fat so it actually makes you appear slimmer, and it's what gives you great tone and definition.
3. Can you really burn up to 20 percent more calories every day? How does that work? Yes. Using the average woman as an example, I will show you how it works. A woman who’s 5'4", 160 pounds, naturally burns about 1,800 calories a day. When you strength train twice a week with the 12-Second Sequence™, you burn 200 calories during each workout, already burning an extra 400 calories. Plus, when you strength train you create after-burn, which is the energy your body uses to return itself to a "resting state." This energy burns an additional 400 calories each week. Now, for the most powerful calorie-burning element—lean muscle tissue. When you add five pounds of lean muscle tissue to your body with the incredibly effective 12-Second Sequence™ workouts , you increase your calories burned each day by 250--that’s 1,750 more calories burned each week! Here's a quick overview of how it all breaks down: 400 calories (from the workout) 400 calories (from the after-burn) + 1,750 calories (from lean muscle tissue) ____________________________ 2,550 additional calories burned each week! = 20%
See all 10 questions and answers from Jorge Cruise
What can tear kids away from their beloved computers, video games, and TVs—and bring them out into the wide, wide world? Welcome an exciting new series that encourages children to explore all the wonderful things that surround them. The perfect gift for the curious child!
To children, the world can seem huge, filled with exciting places to visit and new things to experience. But how can they start uncovering the many treasures that await them? This fun and informative guidebook—the first in a new series—invites kids to embark on an exhilarating scavenger hunt that opens their eyes to things they’ve never imagined before. And there’s no need to go far or plan a big, expensive vacation to see this great stuff. In fact, some of the places may be quite close to home. They can take a peek at what actually goes on at their parents’ office, experience another culture’s cuisine at an ethnic restaurant, immerse themselves in the beauty of nature at a wildlife preserve, or get the inside scoop on what really happens backstage at the theater…or even in the teacher’s lounge! And the ideas are just general enough to provide a gentle push in the right direction, while allowing young dreamers to use their imagination and fill in the specifics. In addition to tons of fun facts, lists of little-known sites, and more than 250 color photos, there’s a bonus fold-out map of North America and stickers, so youngsters can mark where they’ve been.
12: The Elements of Great Managing is the long-awaited sequel to the 1999 runaway bestseller First, Break All the Rules. Grounded in Gallup's 10 million employee and manager interviews spanning 114 countries, 12 follows great managers as they harness employee engagement to turn around a failing call center, save a struggling hotel, improve patient care in a hospital, maintain production through power outages, and successfully face a host of other challenges in settings around the world. Authors Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter weave the latest Gallup insights with recent discoveries in the fields of neuroscience, game theory, psychology, sociology, and economics. Written for managers and employees of companies large and small, 12 explains what every company needs to know about creating and sustaining employee engagement
For 12 days after his brazen assassination of Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth was at large, and in Manhunt, historian James L. Swanson tells the vivid, fully documented tale of his escape and the wild, massive pursuit. Get a taste of the daily drama from this timeline of the desperate search.
April 14, 1865
Around noon, Booth learns that Lincoln is coming to Ford's Theatre that night. He has eight hours to prepare his plan. 10:15 pm: Booth shoots the president, leaps to the stage, and escapes on a waiting horse. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders the manhunt to begin.
April 15
About 4:00 am: Booth seeks treatment for a broken leg at Dr. Samuel Mudd's farm near Beantown, Maryland. Cavalry patrol heads south toward Mudd farm. Confederate operative Thomas Jones hides Booth in a remote pine thicket for five days, frustrating the manhunters.
April 19
Tens of thousands watch the procession to the U.S. Capitol, where President Lincoln lies in state. Wild rumors and stories of false sightings of Booth spread.
April 20
Stanton offers a $100,000 reward for the assassins, and threatens death to any citizen who helps them. After hiding Booth in Maryland, Jones puts him in a rowboat on the Potomac River, bound for Virginia. More than a thousand manhunters are still searching in Maryland. In the dark, Booth rows the wrong way and first ends up back in Maryland.
April 20-24
Booth lands in the northern neck of Virginia, and Confederate agents and sympathizers guide him to Port Conway, Virginia.
April 24
Booth befriends three Confederate soldiers who help him cross the Rappahannock River to Port Royal and then guide him further southwest to the Garrett farm. Union troops in Washington receive a report of a Booth sighting. They board a U.S. Navy tug and steam south, right past Booth's hideout at the Garrett farm.
April 25
The 16th New York Calvary, realizing their error, turns around and surrounds the Garrett farm after midnight that night.
April 26
When Booth refuses to surrender, troops set the barn on fire, and Boston Corbett shoots the assassin. Booth dies a few hours later, at sunrise.
April 26-27
Booth's body is brought back to Washington, where it is autopsied, photographed, and buried in a secret grave.
About this product: Why do we overeat time and time again? Why do we make poor diet choices while we want to be healthy? What makes losing weight so difficult? These and many other vital questions are addressed in 12 Steps to Raw Foods in an open and sincere dialogue. Based on the latest scientific research, Victoria Boutenko explains the numerous benefits of choosing a diet of fresh rather than cooked foods. This book contains self-tests and questionnaires that help the reader to determine if they have hidden eating patterns that undermine their health. Using examples from life, the author explores the most common reasons for people to make unhealthy eating choices.
Rather than simply praising the benefits of raw foods, this book offers helpful tips and coping techniques to form and maintain new, healthy patterns. Learn how to make a raw food restaurant card that makes dining with co-workers easy and enjoyable. Discover three magic sentences that enable you to refuse your mother-in-law’s apple pie without offending her. Find out how to sustain your chosen diet while traveling. These are only a few of the many scenarios that Boutenko outlines.
Written in a convenient 12-step format, this book guides the reader through the most significant physical, psychological, and spiritual phases of the transition from cooked to raw foods. Embracing the raw food lifestyle is more than simply turning off the stove. Such a radical change in the way we eat affects all aspects of life. Boutenko touches on the human relationship with nature, the value of supporting others, and the importance of living in harmony with people who don’t share the same point of view on eating. Already a classic, this enhanced second edition is aimed at anyone interested in improving their health through diet.
About this product: Most of us have no idea what's really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know--such as the brain's need for physical activity to work at its best.
How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget--and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?
In Brain Rules, molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule--what scientists know for sure about how our brains work--and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
Medina's fascinating stories and sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You'll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You'll peer over a surgeon's shoulder as he finds, to his surprise, that we have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You'll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can't tie his own shoes.
You will discover how:
- Every brain is wired differently - Exercise improves cognition - We are designed to never stop learning and exploring - Memories are volatile - Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn - Vision trumps all of the other senses - Stress changes the way we learn
In the end, you'll understand how your brain really works--and how to get the most out of it.
About the DVD The Brain Rules DVD, included with this book, is a lively tour of the 12 brain rules. You will experience firsthand Medina's rare gift for making science fun, accessible, and relevant. The DVD will take your understanding of the book to the next level.
About this product: The first step is admitting that you have a Bush problem–and that you have ten bucks for this book.
• Do you think that after eight years of George Bush, this country is in good shape? • Do you feel that the U.S. Constitution has too many Amendments? • Do you often dream of George Bush in a flight suit?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it’s time to seek help.
In the tradition of the bestselling Bush Survival Bible, The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program is a lifesaving handbook that will help you recover from the Bush years. This vital guide to post-Bush era wellness features useful discussions of important issues such as Avoiding Relapse, Dealing with Embarrassment, Making Your Home a Recovery Zone, and Staging an Intervention.
George W. Bush isn’t just a nuisance, he’s a problem that afflicts nearly three out of four Americans. So if you or someone you love has a Bush problem, know this: You don’t have to face it alone. Help is within reach. With The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program, you can share in the promise of a better you, a better America, a better world, and a better solar system.
Does The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program work? Just look at these unsolicited testimonials:
“The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program is the best book of its sort that I’ve ever read.” –G. Washington, Virginia
“Every American should read this book in order to understand the depth of the problem as well as the need for a new president.” –A. Lincoln, Illinois
“I liked this book, but I still don’t understand what it’s about.” –G. W. Bush, Texas
“Read this book and I will shoot you.” –D. Cheney, Hades
About this product: A true holiday classic literally comes to life in this stunning pop-up edition of a seasonal favorite. With a partridge popping, snow scattering, and lords a-leaping off the page, this lavish book is a gift for readers of all ages. For this special anniversary edition legendary paper engineer Robert Sabuda encloses his own gifts to the reader: extra pages with a pop-up Christmas tree with real lights aglow, and a beautiful pop-up ornament of two turtledoves. The ornament is packaged with the book and is perfect for adding a celebratory touch to your tree. This beautiful anniversary package is one to treasure!
About this product: Sparked by her long search for inspiration in her life and work, Gail McMeekin has worked closely with some of today's most highly creative women for her one-of-a-kind guide to maximizing creative energy. "For many women," she writes, "breaking free of our societal and psychological chains is a prerequisite to truly creating a life that expresses our genuineness and uniqueness."
The dynamic women sharing their secrets for the first time include Sarah Ban Breathnach, who channeled her creativity into the book she was "born to write" (the best-selling Simple Abundance); interior designer Chris Madden; and software tycoon Brenda Laurel. From interviews and conversations, McMeekin distilled the common themes in these innovators' lives and work into practices any woman can use.