It’s get-up week; it is time to shake off the covers, hit the ground running, and attack the day!  Today in ten minutes, we will guide you through holiday books, iPhone history, and punk rock’s confusing style.  Check out the news bloopers that prove laughter is contagious if you get a fifteen-minute break today.  Don’t skip on DTAS; the dominos will fall.

The crew discussed books and gift-giving today.  A discussion between writers will differ from one with the general population.  We also asked about gift-giving in general and wondered if giving media has become a front-runner in the gift-giving category.  Everything from books, music, movies, streaming, and all the related merch that comes from media, we don’t have research on this, but our gut says if not the top spot, media is in the top three.

Jennifer Harlan of the NYT wrote about the history of giving books as gifts. Her article included additional information and history on holiday traditions in the U.S.  According to Harlan, the Puritans in the 1600s tried to suppress winter holiday celebrations because they were becoming debaucherous.  In the 1800s, holiday traditions followed harvest season and began moving into an indoor festivity.  Even early marketing jumped into this change and started to promote the idea of Santa and giving gifts to members of your internal family.  Previously gift-giving was more outward, with facilities for friends and work relationships.

Giving someone a book indicates what you know about the recipient; it also says a lot about you or what you want your recipient to think about you. 

If you remember going to bookstores back in the day and picking up a stack of books, magazines, and other media to read through, you are lucky.  To us, the source of most imagination starts with books, and the library and the bookstore were the original intellectual gym. 

The AP put together the best photos of 2022, and you can see the living world’s best and worst in the images.  Here are a few words AP uses to describe some pictures; we think they represent life in 2022.

AP photographers are some of the best on the planet, and they keep photojournalism alive. 

Remember the iPod?  Fifteen years ago, Steve Jobs got up on a stage and made a call from it, and the iPhone began.  Wired wrote a Guide to the iPhone, and it is a good read on the history of the iPhone from the initial tease in 2007 up to today.  We have argued that the App Store is a more significant product and influencer than the iPhone, but it is hard to say that it was the beginning of the App Store.  Another interesting note in the article is that it took Samsung five-plus years to launch a competing product. During the five years after the launch of the iPhone, it seems like everyone else has faded away.  Blackberry, Motorolla, and Nokia raced for the bottom of the cell phone market.

The future of the iPhone is a mystery; Apple has tried to improve the connection between devices; iPhone, iPad, AirPod, etc.  Is there another game changer like the iPhone on the horizon for Apple?  We don’t know, but we also wouldn’t bet against them.

Dana Spiotta wrote an article in Pitchfork about Kurk Cobain.  A new book about Kurt Cobain also came out this year.  We did not read anything we hadn’t read before.  It is fascinating how complicated media people seem to want to make punk rock and the purveyors of punk rock sensibilities.  If you think back to interviews with all the stars of punk rock and alternative music, most interviewees seem more confused by the questions.  It’s as if the journalist is looking for something and the artist has no idea why they are talking to them. 

What if it’s cool to play loud music with your friends and scream and shout as a way of letting off steam because the small world you live in seems soul-crushing and complicated?  That’s the definition of rock-n-roll; punk lets us do it with less talent.  True punks make up for talent with raw honesty and sincerity.  Your talent will improve if it resonates with an audience and your luck continues.  The secret is to remain authentic after success comes.  Listen to your favorite band’s first few albums and compare them to the last. 

Words | Music | Art | Unknown

New Tune Tuesday.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us!

With A Shout Team