Random Esquire

1. Did you know that the price for a prostitute in Chicago goes up roughly 30% for the 4th of July holiday? This from An Empirical Analysis of Street-Level Prostitution by Levitt (of Freakonomics fame) and Venkatesh. Levitt praises Venkatesh in this blog entry for his work on Gang Leader for a Day. If you’re in Chicago and would like to hear a reading by Venkatesh himself on life in the inner city of Chicago, head over to the Hyde Park Borders store at 7 p.m. tonight. C-Span will be recording. See you there.

2. Perhaps I should take Plush to Plush.

3. I’m not sure what I’d think if I walked into a woman’s bedroom and this was on the bed. This review from someone in Virginia weirds me out: “For those of us committed to staying sexually pure and who still want to feel loved at night, this is a Godsend…!! And my compliments to the designers for not making it too “anatomically correct.” I can sleep without temptation! Praise the Lord!!!”

Then there’s this review by Robert: “I had never spooned before until i recieved my new fluffy companion.”

4. Yanked from the Mental Floss Blog entry: What’s the oldest thing you own?

5. What makes a great photo?