From the sounds of hope to the images of AI, Joanna Stern takes some headshots, a quick reminder of what you need to do after a tough workout, and a new tool from Spotify to grow your playlists.  More music to finish Friday, right before happy hour!

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If you have been around for a while, the sky always seems to be falling.  Growing up in the 80s, one of our favorite bands, R.E.M., reminded us, "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”  We grew up as the "Duck and Cover" generation; this is what we were supposed to do in the event of a nuclear war.  Let that sink in for just a moment…  We did have one significant benefit over the generations that followed us; our inputs were limited.  We all had small groups of friends, and the closest thing to social media in the 80s and 90s was a teen line, a separate phone line in your house.  Our news came from minimal sources, and once it made it into your friend group, it was usually discussed in person, and when the doomsday news bored us, we moved on.

Today the friend groups are probably the same, but the inputs are insane.  Now all the grumpy boomers and psychos can post every thought, and the newly trained Pavlovian generations have no choice but to keep scrolling.  The world when media is stripped away does not seem drastically different as instant media makes it out to be.  This is just a gut feeling from a brat Gen-Xr;- with that said, the overall feeling of general darkness does feel real.  In some ways, it doesn't feel like a fair fight – if the liars, cheats, greed mongers, and segregationists have no shame, why would they play by any rules?

On Sunday, May 7th, an estimated 71,000 people packed into Nissan Stadium in Nashville, TN, to see Taylor Swift perform on her Eras Tour.  The Tennessean reported that 212,000 people attended her show over three days, a record in Nashville. 

Let’s repeat that;

Separation, closure, knowledge bans, and other restrictions never work.  People who live in fear, spurred on by the same digital drug that keeps everyone tied to a device, want to keep it for themselves and take it from others.  Lack of understanding (more fear) drives them to deranged populism, and the encroachment works until enough of us on the side of hope wake up and say enough.  The numbers above suggest we are up and screaming!

Taylor Swift and her contemporaries like Ed Sheeran and Beyonce have been on the list of top ten highest-grossing concerts during the last decade.  Along with U2, Coldplay, Springsteen, and The Rolling Stones.  In the same country dripping in polarization, book banning, and culture wars, the loudest voices are coming together to sing songs and dance to the sounds of hope.  Remember that.  Hey Taylor, bring the "Reign!”

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One of our favorite journalists, Joanna Stern, gives us another great video on A.I. in Photos.  She experiments with tools that will help you filter, adjust and even make up new images in the "A.I." way.  We use both Midjourney and Adobe's Firefly for designs and plan to test TRY-IT-ON later.  As a journalist Stern asks great questions as she tries this new tech out, she sat in a park with a phone, laptop, and color printer and used passersby as volunteers in her A.I. experiment.  The photos were impressive and, in many cases, will work for headshots, LinkedIn photos, and lots of social media application images.  For many users, it is just another step in the progress of tech.

Will this change professional photography?  Didn't adding a camera to a phone also change photography?  Will AI change writing and journalism?  So did the word processor and a thousand other apps introduced over the years.  Competition for every product and every service should be on every professional's radar; beat 'em, join 'em, work with them, it doesn't matter, the train is coming for you.

Fitness and nutrition are top of mind in January and again around Memorial Day, which is usually the kick-off to summer pool season.  We pulled this from our local gym's blog, and many of us are lifelong gym rats; the advice is a good reminder for lifers and even better if you are new to the fitness game.  The article lays out 8 post-workout things to do; here are a few favorites:

After an intense gym workout, your body needs nutrients, especially amino acids, and carbohydrates, to replenish, restore damaged muscle cells, and feed the exhausted nervous system.  Try to feed your body a high-quality meal of carbs and proteins no more than one hour after completing your final set.

As mentioned before, it's crucial to quickly consume the proper nutrients needed after working out, and carbs play a significant role in this equation.  Many of us fear carbohydrates, thinking they'll cause weight gain and keep us from reaching our goals, but that's just not the case.  Carbs are essential in reaching fitness success, but picking the right ones to consume is key.

Anything that tells us to each carb gets a vote from us; remember, that's a post-workout suggestion.  Sleep is also critical to a good workout, although getting consistent sleep every night is as important as a post-workout nap.

Spotify may have created a way to stop your tech geek friend from overtaking the Bluetooth speaker at your next party.  Spotify launched Remote Group Session, which allows premium users to start a remote group session and invite users to the group.  Once everyone is in the group, the fights can really begin!  It should make for an enjoyable Memorial Day pool party!

Snow?

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

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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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