December 30, 2021

What a year in news. From the WallStreetBets craze and Suez Canal blockage, to Gabby Petito's abduction and the Daft Punk breakup... we've witnessed a wild season of planet earth. As we turn the omicron-covered page to 2022, we give you the final Roca Current of 2021.

Let's Ride.

― Key Stories

Elon & Mars: Save the Date

• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk predicted that humans will be on Mars in "worst case, 10 years”
• “Best case is about 5 years," he added, saying that the main obstacle is designing a vehicle with dramatically lower travel costs
• In an interview, Elon claimed that SpaceX's Starship will be the world's most advanced by "an order of magnitude" and make the trip possible. SpaceX is already constructing a launchpad for it in Florida 
• “Right now, you couldn’t fly to Mars for $1 trillion. No amount of money could get you to Mars. We need to get that to, like, something that is actually possible at all,” he said

Vinyls Have Record 2021

• UK sales figures suggest that vinyls (records) are back in vogue: More vinyls sold this year than in any since 1990
• 23% of 2021 UK album sales were vinyls. Sales have been creeping up for the last 14 years, and this year surpassed 5M (5.3M) for the first time since 1990
• Recording organizations say that vinyls earn artists 2x as much as streaming platforms. Some fans use them to support artists, while others prefer them for their rich sound and artistic packaging
• Cassette tapes are also making a comeback: Britons bought 190,000 albums on tape this year, up from just 3,828 in 2012

Content Blowout in 2022

Overview

• The 8 biggest US media companies plan to spend a record $115B on movies and TV shows in 2022
• Media companies are blowing cash as they fight to win dominance in video streaming. Netflix has long been the biggest streaming company, however Disney, ViacomCBS, Fox, Apple, and Amazon are all trying to catch up
• Netflix plans to spend 25% more on content in 2022 than it did in 2021; Disney is likely to spend up to 40% more. Disney is projected to outspend Netflix by $6B
• When factoring in sports, the $115B total spending sum jumps to $140B

Ghislaine Found Guilty

• After 5 days of deliberations, Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on 5 of 6 charges related to sex trafficking on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein 
• The 60-yo Maxwell may face 40+ years in prison. She did not visibly react to the verdict, other than pouring herself a glass of water
• She was acquitted on 1 charge related to enticing a minor to travel
• The US attorney in Manhattan, where the trial took place, said Maxwell was guilty of "one of the worst crimes imaginable – facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children." He added, "The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done"

See yesterday's answers below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports 

• The Rock publicly rejected Vin Diesel's plea to re-join the cast of the "Fast & Furious" franchise for its series finale
• Merry football! The NFL had a huge Christmas Day as the Packers-Browns game racked up 28.6M viewers for the most-watched Christmas broadcast this century
• Kyrie is back! The unvaccinated Brooklyn Nets star point guard feels "incredibly grateful" to participate in his first practice of the season

• Bitcoin blues: The cryptocurrency is down more than 16% this month following another volatile week. Bitcoin now trades at $46,700
• Don't let the door hit you! HBO Max became one of the 10 most downloaded apps of 2021, while Netflix and Disney+ dropped out
• Amazon is taking heat after an Alexa told a 10-yo girl, "Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs"

• Hollywood business manager Angie Kukawski, whose clients include the Kardashians, was killed. Her boyfriend is being charged with murder
• The rise in popularity of anime and K-pop is reportedly fueling a boom in Korean and Japanese university degrees in the UK
• A New York Knicks player entered the game wearing a jersey with a misspelled name. Immanuel Quickley's back read "Qucikley"
• Chick-fil-A released its most popular menu items of 2021. The top 2 picks were waffle fries and soda; the spicy chicken sandwich was 8th

― Roca Wrap

Roca Pics of 2021

 Games

1. Liaison
2. Idiosyncrasy
3. Remenisce
4. Aggression

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

General Feedback:

20 Questions

― Final Thoughts