Skilcraft U.S. Government Ballpoint Pens. My dad was a federal game warden, and when I’d go visit him at his office as a kid, I’d swipe office supplies to take home as souvenirs. The pens at his office were Skilcraft U.S. Government ballpoints. I picked up a box a few weeks ago for old-time’s sake and have been impressed with them. Unlike Bic ballpoint pens that skip, smear, and prematurely stop working, I’ve been able to mark up books in preparation for the podcast without the ink ever faltering. Crafted by the visually impaired since the 1960s, they’re built to Uncle Sam’s demanding specs and will write for a mile and work in extreme temps. Kate would register a dissent on these, saying they’re too skinny and thus don’t feel comfortable to grip. But I don’t mind that; to each their own!
Jaws. The McKay family recently watched Steven Spielberg’s classic 1975 shark thriller. We figured the scares and violence would be modest given its PG rating. Ha! The naiveté! We quickly discovered that a 1970s PG was basically what goes for borderline R/PG-13 today. Saw a barenaked lady get ruthlessly devoured by the shark within the first five minutes of the film. The gore aside, it’s a masterclass in tension, with John Williams’ iconic score doing plenty of the heavy lifting (Spielberg said the movie would have only been half as successful without it). It’s amazing that Spielberg directed the film when he was just 26; what a precocious genius. After the movie, I had to look up whether Quint’s harrowing, haunting story about the USS Indianapolis was true; it is.
Sex Life in Marriage by Oliver M. Butterfield. We enjoy collecting old advice books from the 19th and 20th centuries and recently picked one up that was first published in 1937 and remained popular for a couple decades after: Sex Life in Marriage. I think we were expecting it to be laughably prudish, only to be surprised at just how sound, evergreen, and useful it was. Full of frank talk and practical advice, the book is straightforward without being super explicit and on the level without the attempts to be cool and relevant you’d get from a modern author; the tone is refreshing. It’s like having a friendly midwestern doctor answering all the questions a couple newly embarking on a sexual relationship might have, from how to achieve mutual satisfaction to what to do about PE. With boys seemingly getting their sex education from porn these days, it would actually be a good text for an older young adult to read.
Is Anyone Out There? There’s a conspiracy theory called the Dead Internet Theory that claims that most of the content and traffic on the web is created by bots rather than people. Well, turns out, Dead Internet Theory isn’t so far-fetched after all. This deep dive into the AI takeover of our online world is equal parts fascinating and disturbing. From Facebook’s bizarre AI meme epidemic to clickfarms, it’s a sobering look at how humanity’s becoming irrelevant to the internet’s business model. The kicker? Big Tech doesn’t seem to care since they’re making money from it all. It’s a wake-up call for anyone who thought the web was still primarily for humans. Time to reclaim our digital spaces, folks. Start a blog on your own domain!
Quote of the Week
Do not think it wasted time to submit yourself to any influence that will bring upon you any noble feeling.
—John Ruskin
