A Really Funny Story For You (I hope)
Normalise paying for the media (or the daily newsy writer) that u love!! 🥺
Become a ✨SYSCA SUPPORTER✨ and get access to our special 📚bumper book list📚 and 🎶SYSCA playlists🎶 (or just support us coz u love us 🥺)
Ok, so I have a funny story for you this morning (as opposed to all the other mornings where I’m boring as hell). Full disclosure, one of my flatmates heard this tale from someone, who heard it from someone, who heard it from someone’s friend, so WHO KNOWS HOW MUCH TRUTH IS LEFT IN IT but it sent me, and everything in my life is copy, so I’m going to share it with you.
Basically, this occurred in a small NZ town (a town which I will not name) it’s to do with ✨covid.✨ The people involved are also probs in their 40s/50s, to give you the fullest picture.
SO! A person had covid, and made it known that they had covid (plus gossip spreads like wildfire in this particular small town), but then they were spotted out shopping at a supermarket, while still having covid.
The person who spotted them told the customer service desk about it, and then the supermarket employee called it out over the loudspeaker, saying something like "if you have covid-19 and you’re in the supermarket, please come to the front desk” (I think they were going to offer to do their shopping for them or something.)
Anyway, after the announcement, not one, not two, not even three, but four different people TURNED UP TO THE FRONT DESK AND ADMITTED TO HAVING COVID! IN ONE SMALL TOWN SUPO!
SMALL TOWN NZ IS ✨NOT✨ FOLLOWING THE RULES.
As much as I did lol at this (and maybe supermarkets should be doing a loudspeaker announcement every hour) I just want to reiterate: if you have covid, please stay at home. It’s not only about you, it’s about all our mates with compromised immune systems out there who we need to KEEP SAFE!
PS I WENT TO SEE THE NEW TOP GUN LAST NIGHT AND IT SLAPPED. Also, I am heavily on the Miles Teller bandwagon (another example of me not having an original thought, ever.)
Why Fangirls Scream
KFC Australia forced to swap lettuce for cabbage
What we can all learn from the Johnny/ Amber verdict
Boris won his no-confidence vote
Ukraine conflict settling into 'WW1-style trench warfare'
Love Island is BACK
Are you a ‘windows down’ or ‘AC on’ person?
Why Fangirls Scream
We all know that talking about fandom is my favourite beat and I’ll read pretty much anything that pops up online to do with it, which is why I read this piece (well, excerpt of Kaitlyn’s upcoming book) in the Atlantic over the weekend. It’s called ‘Why Fangirls Scream’ and speaks to me and my interests (in Harry Styles) so deeply. It gives context to the screams! Here’s my fave part:
“Every scream has context, but we rarely hear about it.
A screaming girl you run into at a concert may go home afterward and cut up the footage she recorded to make GIFs and memes that will pass through many other hands, becoming something entirely different and totally bizarre. Unsatisfied by One Direction’s constriction in time and place and situation, screaming girls who are also fan-fiction writers will cast them as employees of suburban coffee shops, or plop them into the 1960s to operate alongside that other famous British band, or go behind the scenes with totally imagined detail, drawing out what they conceive to be the emotional consequences of fame or the more universal pangs of secret love.
You should go and read it.
Speaking of fangirls, SYSCA doesn't receive much PR at all, but when we do, this is what it looks like:
Boris won his no-confidence vote
And this gives me no-confidence in the people who were voting for him. Basically, because he’s been a shitty PM for many reasons (see, ‘Boris Isn’t Sorry For Party Rocking’), Boris was subject to a no-confidence vote triggered by his own conservative party. Here’s what Vogue describe a no-confidence vote as:
“In the U.K., votes of no confidence are an important part of the constitution—allowing for the removal of a prime minister deemed unfit to serve—even if they are rarely successful: The last ousting took place in 1979 against Labour leader James Callaghan, paving the way for the arrival of Margaret Thatcher.”
So the results of the vote??? 211 Tory MPs voted they had confidence in the PM's leadership while 148 voted against him. Even though this means he's still their leader, this result still shows that 148 Conservative MPs think the country would be better off without him… so that’s not nothing, I guess.
Bojo said, upon his ‘win that is was a "very good", "convincing" result and "an opportunity to put behind us all the stuff that the media goes on about".
God I hate when people in positions of power (like him) discredit the media as if it isn’t one of the most important institutions in their country, but that’s a rant for another day.
What we can all learn from the Johnny/ Amber verdict
Liam Payneful & The Johnny/ Amber Verdict — open.spotify.com
It's a big week to be hosting a pop culture podcast! We start off with a discussion about Liam Payne's chaotic interview with Logan Paul, before the main event: part two of our 'making sense of Johnny and Amber' series. We talk about the media's coverage of the trial, how this could impact the #MeToo movement, and what we (as a society) should all learn from this.
📚Shit You Should Read About📚
Every ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ gets access to our bumper book list as soon as you sign up! It's all the books we loved, hated, and the books that changed us.
What supporters are saying about the book list:
Louise: "Omg there are so many books and little write-ups! I was literally expecting a list (which would have been totally cool) 🥺 but you guyssss 💕
Taylor: "So excited to watch this list grow. From one book lover to another, thank you for this and everything else you do!"
Jessi: "Already loaded three recs onto my Kindle so safe to say early on that this perk is the move. 😍"
🎶SYSCA Playlists🎶
If you’re a monthly or annual ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ then we are opening up our souls to you and gifting you some 🎶playlists🎶
What supporters are saying about the playlists:
Michelle: “Luuucee anybody with Can’t Fight the Moonlight on their playlist is immediately my best friend. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”
Allison: "Ahhhhhhh these are amazing—but please especially give my compliments to Chef Ruby for cooking up a playlist that is s e n d i n g m e"
Hannah: “This is the greatest thing. Of all things. At this moment right now. I've been CRAVING new music (cheers Hazza for helping me out) but I don't trust spotify playlists because the ones they recommend to me I never seem to enjoy!!! So thank you. Off I go to listen!”
Become a supporter to get access to all of these perks🥺
KFC Australia forced to swap lettuce for cabbage
Huuuuge news outta Aussie today. After those massive floods in New South Wales and Queensland, lettuce crops were wiped out, which has sent lettuce prices ✨soaring✨ (I’ve seen photos of $10AUD per lettuce!!) So KFC have had to make the contro decision to introduce a lettuce and cabbage blend to their meals for the time being. More on that here (but I think I explained most of it…)
Ukraine conflict settling into 'WW1-style trench warfare'
Yes, there is still a war going on between Russia & Ukraine, and I know I’ve been slack on the updates lately, but I recommend you go and read this summary by the BBC (it’s always up to date.)
The latest is that the conditions have started being described as ‘trench warfare,’ Russia has detained over 600 journalists & activists (and is holding them inhumanely), and Ukraine aren’t giving up, with Volodymyr Zelensky saying the country had lost too many people to "simply cede our territory."
LOVE ISLAND IS BACK
I’m not gonna give any spoilers (I’ll save that for the pod) but I watched the first ep and it is everything my life was missing. You probs already know this, but Liv and I are bringing back the Love Island debriefs (our weekly podcasts wrapping up the week’s episodes) which will be landing in your Culture Vulture feed next week!!!
Are you a 'windows down' or an 'AC on' person?
GOOOOOTTA BE WINDOWS DOWN FOR ME. I thought this was such a good poll (thanks Flo) - here's what you all said:
43% are windows down
57% are AC on!!!!
What we can all learn from the Johnny/Amber verdict (Culture Vulture)
Most US sales of Harry Styles’ new album are coming from vinyl (Quartz)
Go read this report on an AI shopping app that was actually just using humans (The Verge)
SYSCA playlist (✨Supporters only✨)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)