Summer is a great time to catch up on reading. I suppose that’s why there’s such a thing as “summer reading,” which starts in grade school and extends a lifetime (or so goes the theory).

My initial attempt at summer reading this year was complemented by a July 4th military flyover of two F-16 jets. The jaw-dropping visual and ear-popping soundtrack to celebrating the birth of this great country of ours was a sobering reminder of current world events, not to mention a reminder of the awesomeness of U.S. manufacturing. The ubiquity of all things manufactured did not escape my vacation-dulled mind, not even with my feet in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sand and, I might add, with a U.S.-brewed beer by my side.

I started my summer reading catch-up with the June 1972 issue (No. 151) of MAD magazine. I used the phrase “catch-up” intentionally. Yes, I am a little backlogged. I am also attempting to be perhaps the first person to reference MAD magazine in this otherwise erudite publication.

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