Can I get real for a sec?
+ South Koreans just all became 1-2 years younger, Simone Biles is returning to gymnastics, & a new Shit You Should Cook About!
Good morning my angels! I’m currently in Wellington on a very flying visit with none other than our gorg Bel in a very last ditch and HECTIC effort to get some visa stuff sorted!!! Life’s a movie, and right now we’re in that really stressful montage of sorting shit out before hopefully making it to a sun-filled sepia-toned balcony in Portugal - eeeek! Can’t wait to bring you with me (for all of it - especially the Close Friends.)
Can I get real for a sec?
Something I’ve been grappling with recently (and again - Close Friends have seen this in real-time) is the idea that… Instagram really sucks for me now. The comment sections are very much giving Facebook energy and maybe it’s because here at SYSCA we do SO much more than just post on Instagram (in fact, it’s not where we want people to be getting their news at all) but it just really bums me out that every second post is full of comments like: ‘why aren’t you talking about X topic’ (I usually have in the newsletter, with much more context) or ‘why should I care about this?????’ (people are allowed to care about whatever they want - that’s kind of the whole idea), or just the announcement that you in fact definitely do NOT care about X topic (except posts that attract these comments actually tend to get the most likes/ shares so it seems you, in fact, DO care.)
Maybe I’m just in my feels because I pour my goddamn heart and soul into making the content for this thing - it’s (for the most part) one person, making shit for every platform we can (IT IS A LOT) - and every day in the newsletter I feel SO seen and appreciated (ugh love you all) but over on Instagram (a place that I used to LOVE) I kinda… feel like shit???
I’m also aware of how rogue it is to be writing about moving overseas (something I wouldn’t be able to do without this job) in the same breath as I’m writing about how hard it is to deal with people coming out in the hundreds to hate you for literally just trying to keep us all in the loop with the news (something we do every day out of pure love), but I honestly couldn’t write anything else before getting this off my chest!!
All of this is to say, I love and appreciate anyone who reads this newsletter and takes the time to be my friend. Feels safe here. xxx
When the cost of living crisis becomes a cost of learning crisis
So South Koreans just all became… younger?
This week in podcasts!
Madonna postpones her tour after intensive care stay
Simone Biles is making a comeback to US gymnastics!
Colleen Ballinger dropped an apology video
Shit You Should Cook About: Grandma’s Greek Salad 🥗
When the cost of living crisis becomes a cost of learning crisis
We are incredibly proud to be bringing you this section of the newsy in partnership with the wonderful charity KidsCan, backed by their Principal Partner Meridian Energy.
This is one of the most important partnerships we do here at SYSCA, so we’re proud to be once again partnering with KidsCan - an Aotearoa based charity dedicated to helping Kiwi kids affected by poverty - to see how our community can help to support kids who are currently going without.
Last year - thanks to your generosity - the SYSCA community raised over $17,000 and helped feed nearly 300 kids for an entire month - we were blown away.
This year, the cost of living crisis has - according to teachers - turned into a cost of learning crisis for our kids:
“A child can’t learn if they’re cold or hungry – their brains are just in survival mode. So, this cost-of-living crisis has become a cost-of-learning crisis. We should all be hugely worried about that, because it’s denying children the chance of a better future through education.” - Julie Chapman, KidsCan CEO
Staff at schools on the KidsCan waitlist have said they’re feeding kids themselves, helping families access foodbanks, and bringing in their own children’s shoes from home.
“We've got kids who turn up in bare feet with just a shirt and shorts and it’s freezing. They’ve been conditioned to accept that - they wouldn’t know any different,” one principal reported. “Then they start becoming sick and it’s just that ripple effect. We’ve had massive absentees with the flu.”
So this year, we’re asking again, if you have the means to donate $15 a month (that’s giving up only three coffees) you can help give a child a nutritious breakfast, snacks, and lunch. Or make a one-off donation - every bit helps.
Please, if you can, donate today!
So South Koreans just all became… younger?
I talked about this on The Shit Show this morning but of course, we’re gonna chat about it here too! Because of a new age-counting method, all South Koreans have either become one or two years younger (can you imagine!)
So the country has decided to ditch its traditional (and unpopular) ageing system which meant that you were a year old when you were born, and on the first of January each year, you became a year older. (Yes - this means that a baby born on New Year’s Eve would be two as soon as it hit Jan 1st!!)
The country is now adopting the international system where you get a year older each year on the day you were born.
This week in podcasts!
Culture Vulture:
This week on Culture Vulture Laura and I introduced a whole new section called “should we care?” and believe me - everything we chatted about this ep we did care about. From Lana showing up late at Glastonbury, to why we won’t stop intellectualising the Kardashians, you’re gonna wanna hear this ep!
The Shit Show:
And this week in NEWS, Squish and I talk about the weird Grimace trend, Elon and Zuck's alleged cage fight, an update on the submersible, and then an explainer on WTF just happened in Russia. A stunning ep if we do say so ourselves!
Madonna postpones her tour after intensive care stay
Loyal friend and follower of SYSCA - Madonna - has just postponed her world tour after spending several days in the ICU with a serious bacterial infection. The BBC reports that her health is improving, but she is still under medical care, and for obvious reasons, the 64-year old is postponing her 84-date world tour.
Simone Biles is making a comeback to US gymnastics!
In gorg news, Simone Biles (the absolute GOAT) is making a comeback to competitive gymnastics by competing in the US Classic in early August. This will be her first event since the Tokyo Olympics where she stepped out due to her mental health (and paved the way for other athletes to feel comfortable to do the same.)
Colleen Ballinger dropped an apology video
I haven’t covered this story because I’ve been seeing a lot of media do a good job of covering it (and with that a lot of… not so good/fair reporting on it) and honestly didn’t think another voice here was necessary. What I will say is that she just dropped a seriously… unique apology video yesterday which tops the charts in bad PR moves.
As you’re watching this I would LOVE for us all to be thinking about this:
Shit You Should Cook About: Grandma’s Greek Salad 🥗
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 She Should Cook About over here!
Morena!!! Writing to you after just returning from the most perfect island of Hydra - where there were no cars (only donkeys) and we did honestly nothing apart from swimming, lying on hot rocks and eating a steady diet of feta, yoghurt and fresh fish. I was wholly focused on touching grass (read: the ocean), reading a stack of books (please send reccs I have now run out!!) and had my phone off for the majority of the trip - which meant this week’s Culture Vulture podcast was very much Luce filling me in on all I have missed in the world of pop culture (HOWEVER I did turn my phone on briefly to see all of you send me Stanley Tucci at HS and honestly you get me!!!).
Without going all eat pray love on it, travel comes hand in hand with nostalgia for me, and having now been away from Aotearoa for a full year, the additional ‘what is home’ question has been bouncing around my mind (which I am sure Luce and I will debrief in future Culture Vulture/therapy eps.) Right now I am TRYING to simply be ✨present✨ and because of this today’s contribution will be short, sweet & not much of a recipe but more of an ‘assembly’ job (so Luce there are literally no excuses for not trying it.)
Grandma’s Greek Salad 🥗
Little room for adaptation here, cut the veges whichever way that gives you joy, leave out the olives / capers if you aren’t a fan, the only thing I ask is you do top it with a thick slab of feta (or DF substitute!) that you break into a little with a fork for every bite. All the love and so looking forward to talking to you next week!!! 💘💘💘
Serves 2
2x Tomato
1x Cucumber
½ a red onion
1x Green capsicum
Olives (a handful)
1 tblsp Capers
1 block of feta
Olive oil (a good glug)
1 tsp Dried Oregano
Cut your tomato and cucumber into bite-sized pieces. Slice the red onion and capsicum and add into the bowl alongside the olives and capers. Sprinkle the feta with dried oregano and plop on top, drizzling the whole thing with olive oil. Salt and pepper if you must - enjoy in the sunshine 🌞
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I’ve always wanted to reply to insta commenters but thought it’s not worth the energy... maybe turn off comments for a while so you don’t have to see it !! Personally I love the ig content on my feed 🥺
this is literally my favorite newsletter & it's helped me sm professionally, IGNORE THE HATERS