are the bedbugs as bad as we think?

+ Travis Kelce thinks the NFL are "overdoing it" on the Taylor Swift content, & new Shit You Should Cook About!

and

Oct 06, 2023

Hi my angels!!!! Sorry for the lack of a newsy on Wednesday - we were supposed to be announcing something really exciting to you (if you’re a paying supporter you already know all about it), but technology stood in the way, as it sometimes likes to do, so we have to sit tight for a little while longer. It’s killing us, but you’ll know SO SOON!

On a brighter note, it was my birthday yesterday! I’m 26 now and living in a city where I only know Bel, Sujan who works at the Quiosque and makes us coffee, and Luis who owns the cute wine bar near our house. I was in a different timezone from my family and friends and it was really hard to know what to do to celebrate, SO, Bel and I turned our ‘out of office’ on and went to chase down as much joy as we could. We got a cute brekkie of Turkish eggs (real ones know this is my FAVE) and then caught the train out to Cascais, a little beach town just out of Lisbon. We lay by a little beach, dipped in and out of the water, went up for a long late lunch of seafood and beer, went back down for another dip, got a gelato (Bel introduced me to Pistachio which is now on my roster forever), cried laughing thinking about that episode of Kath and Kim where Kath and Kel go on their honeymoon but end up spending the whole holiday at the airport, and were home and showered by 7:30. My perfect day! Honestly, thank GOD I have Bel - trying to figure out what to do on your birthday sucks enough already - I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in a new city on your own for it!!!

she’s also one hell of an Instagram boyfriend

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO CUTE AND SUPPORTIVE AND HELPFUL ABOUT OUR BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! You are the reason we do this (not just for your keen eyes for broken links) but for also being so goddamn into everything we do. Ugh, love you sm.

Is the bedbug situation as bad as we think it is?
Shit You Should Cook About: Lisbon Ladies Chilli Prawns
If Travis Kelce thinks the NFL are overdoing it on the Taylor Swift stuff, imagine if he saw SYSCA?!
Robin Williams’ Daughter Zelda Criticizes Use of AI to Re-create His Voice

Is the bedbug situation as bad as we think it is?

By now I’m assuming we’ve all heard the bedbug hysteria of 2023, in that, the bedbugs attended Paris Fashion Week and are planning to make their way home with all the other attendees.

It’s true, Paris is seeing a bedbug outbreak rn - the nasty little things have made their way into buses, trains, tubes, cinemas, doctor's surgeries, public spaces and hospitals. For the uninitiated, bed bugs are a TOTAL pain, because they are SO hard to get rid of (they also bite.) Getting rid of them is quite a process too, like washing your clothes in super hot temperatures, heat-cleaning your furniture, or having to get professionals involved.

But - and idk if this is going to make you feel better or not - bed bugs aren't a new problem in France. In fact, more than one in 10 French households had a bedbug infestation between 2017 and 2022, it’s just that things seem to have gotten worse recently.

The city has been waging war on the creatures for years. In 2020, the government launched a campaign to tackle the problem, setting up an emergency helpline where people could get expert advice.

Experts in Paris, London, and New York have made various statements about how their cities often see a rise in bedbugs around this time of year, especially after lots of the population has been travelling, so I guess for now we’ll just have to try and sleep tight, and not let the bedbugs bite.

Shit You Should Cook About: Lisbon Ladies Chilli Prawns

Shit You Should Cook About is written by London Laura - our resident ray of sunshine and co-host of Culture Vulture (our weekly pop culture podcast!) She’s a new London dweller, chief of romanticising literally everything, and will definitely ask you all what your love language is at some stage. You can find more Shit You Should Cook About over here!

HELLLOOOOO gorgeous whānau 💘💘💘 it’s been a MINUTE and I’ve missed you so!!! I’ve spent a lot of the past few weeks in a haze of sickness, but the bigger news is I actually started SCHOOL this week [luce note: she’s not going to tell you but she started school at OXFORD!!!] I’m studying psychotherapy (eep!) which has had my emotions truly all over the place - massive first day of high school / stomach flipping sweaty palm / going out on a limb and trying something completely new energy. I very nearly didn’t go to my first class (see below pep talk from Luce when I was sat in the bathroom hyping myself up).

available for all your hype girl needs x

Anyway, I DID IT and relief truly is the sweetest feeling.🥰 It’s been a huge year of new everythings and while adding one more seems kind of mad, it’s also so so nice to be tapping into that part of my brain and being like, wow I’m being fully encouraged to study/read/think about this thing that I’m super passionate about and not just for fun? Anyway all this to say not much cooking going on but in honour of Luce’s birthday and move to Portugal, below is a recipe for one of my faaaaave dishes from when we visited Lisbon - chilli garlic prawns 🍤 until next week xxx

🦐 Lisbon Ladies Chilli Prawns 🍤

250g Shelled / deveined Prawns (frozen or fresh)
3 tbsp Olive oil
chilli flakes (I do a tsp but personal choice!)
Smoked Paprika (half a tsp)
3 cloves Garlic sliced
½ an onion diced
a punnet of cherry tomatoes, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the sliced garlic and diced onion and sauté until brown and tender. Add the chilli flakes (as little or as many as you want) and the paprika and let it colour the onions & oil. Add the tomatoes, letting them blister in the oil hit not totally break down (about 5-10 mins). Add your prawns, letting them make contact with the hot oily mixture and pop a lid on if you have them. Let them sizzle away until they are bright pink in colour - that is when they are done! Top with some salt/pep and fresh parsley if you have it, serve in a big pot on the table and a communal hunk of bread and let everyone take a handful of prawns and rip & dip some bread into the garlicky oil. 🍤🍤🍤

If Travis Kelce thinks the NFL are overdoing it on the Taylor Swift stuff, imagine if he saw SYSCA?!

In the latest episode of his podcast with his bro, Travis Kelce commented that he thinks the NFL are "overdoing it a little bit for sure" on the Taylor Swift coverage, but he DID go on to defend them saying that he understands that it’s a “pop culture moment.” There’s not really any denying that they’re leaning into it all, but I still love to see it (and what did we expect????)

Robin Williams’ Daughter Zelda Criticizes Use of AI to Re-create His Voice

The latest in freaky/ unethical AI things, Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda has come out in support of SAG-AFTRA’s stance against AI, saying:

“I am not an impartial voice in SAG’s fight against AI. I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/re-create actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real. I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”
“Living actors deserve a chance to create characters with their choices, to voice cartoons, to put their HUMAN effort and time into the pursuit of performance. These re-creations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for.”

It feels like even the people trying to recreate actors in AI must know this is wrong?