Jacob All Trades #333

Ass Pennies, Kamala's Criminal Justice, Austin Powers, Pineapple Armor, Art of the Title, Wealth Inequality, OnlyFans, The Sydney Opera House and more...

Aug 15, 2024

Hello, new and old readers—and a special thanks to paid subscribers. The number of new folks here has been very encouraging. I appreciate you all! Since there are so many new readers, I’d like to highlight a few past issues you may enjoy.

Also, no big deal, but our daughter swallowed a penny. She’s fine. 95% chance she stays that way. When it “emerges,” we are debating whether or not to return it to circulation…

Enjoy, and please comment if you see anything you like!

Jacob

HERE’S AN IDEA

I’ve been thinking a lot about networking… and how much I hate it. A friend told me they thought I was particularly good at networking a few nights ago and when I pushed back, they cited frequent coffees, lunches, drinks, and other catch-ups. I realized that I don’t put those in a networking category in my mind — I think of those as getting to talk with someone I like and/or think is interesting.

I swear I’m not putting you on or trying to sound diplomatic. As much as I am sometimes desperate for work, I don’t go into those conversations thinking, “This is going to help me get a job.” Maybe I’d be better at the ‘getting a job’ part of networking if I did. One thing I’ve realized is that I frequently pitch my friends in these conversations instead of myself… and that got me thinking.

I’ve probably applied to several thousand jobs—maybe more. And I’ve never gotten an interview unless I already knew someone who knew someone. My wife, who is extremely smart and talented, has had the same experience. So have many of my friends. We get jobs when people we know are excited about us.

I want to do an in-person mixer for creatives and people who hire creatives. It would be in person in LA (though if it works, we can do some virtually in the future). The difference between this and other networking events, though, would be that I am personally curating this to match up people I think would hit it off. Nobody would need to sell themselves; I’d have a PDF of faces, bios, and contact info to send to everyone afterward. If you come to the event, you only need to focus on having a good time.

Is this something you’d be into? If so, lmk in the comments.

CONSUMPTION JUNCTION

A few recent things I read/watched/listened to that really stuck with me

I’ve heard every ‘take’ on Kamala Harris’ history as a prosecutor. From “The prosecutor vs. the felon” to “Kop-mala” our media (both social and legacy) tends to be a little black and white about her past. The truth is—shocker— more nuanced. Luckily, the non-profit journalists at The Marshall Project break it all down. ⤵️

Vice President Kamala Harris, an Indian and Black woman with medium skin tone wearing a black suit, talks while standing in front of a podium. — Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia on Jan. 23, 2024. SUSAN WALSH/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A slew of original storyboards for Austin Powers were auctioned off recently. The price? One million dollars. Okay, not really, but they did sell for quite a bit, and I wish every movie had a book of storyboards available. I love to look at them. I’m fascinated by pre-vis process and how creatives use visuals to communicate ideas. ⤵️

I’ve been going down an OnlyFans rabbit hole recently. It started as a get-rich-quick scheme, but then it became something more. I’m writing something longer to talk about that, but in the meantime, here’s something I read that I thought was fascinating. It’s a glimpse into an underreported and unregulated industry worth billions of dollars. It reminds me that with the majority of Congress over 60, the people in charge don’t understand the Internet enough to regulate it. ⤵️

GRAMMARLY’S CATCH OF THE WEEK

A newsletter near faux pas prevented by the good folks at Grammarly.

I’ve been using Grammarly since 2015, and it is mostly very helpful. Every once in a while, though, it tries to defang the dang way I write.

In today’s newsletter, Grammarly didn’t want me to say I hated networking. I find this hilarious.

A GOOD LONG READ WATCH

My episode of 99% Invisible last week touched briefly on The Fugitive - well, my algorithm must have known because this video was suggested to me on YouTube and holy moly, I had no idea this movie was such a shit show.

70% of the dialogue was improvised
The studio didn’t know Harrison Ford would have a beard and then freaked out (so the director added a scene where he shaves it to ‘go on the run,’ which fits perfectly)
The famous ‘farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse’ speech wasn’t part of the script and was only filmed for a trailer. AND Tommy Lee Jones phoned it the heck in because they all thought it was stupid. Then, they heard him say it, liked it, and had him do ‘once more with feeling’.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

You know your boy loves a subculture. For the last eight months, I’ve been getting deep into crossword construction. If you’re curious about why it’s fun and how to start, here’s a video from my Internet friend Spencer Leach.

CREATIVE RESOURCES

Art of the Title is one of my favorite websites, and if you don’t know about it, you should. I got to interview editor-in-chief Lola Landekic on my recent 99% Invisible episode about titles — and now I want to highlight the site.

Spanning every conceivable style, genre, medium, and era of visual entertainment, Art of the Title not only preserves title sequences in a free public library but also hosts commentary, reporting, and interviews about the design and art of titles.

TODAY I LEARNED

Here are some fun facts I’ve learned recently and want to share!

BEAUTIFUL DATA

CORRECTIONS, UPDATES, & TOLD YA SO’S

In Jacob All Trades #322, I talked about the Sydney Opera House ad featuring an original song written and performed by Tim Minchin. Last month, the short film won advertising’s most prestigious award: Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions. Apparently, I was not the only one who thought it was brilliant.

Thank you for reading Jacob All Trades. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Alrighty, that’s it for this issue. If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment or share the newsletter using the links below. And, if you can afford to, I’d love for you to become a paid subscriber so that I can keep making cool stuff!

Party on,