I'm In My ✨Resurrection✨ Era
Today we’re starting with a BIG shout out to the 21 new ✨SYSCA SUPPORTERS✨ who’ve joined us in the last week!
Become a ✨SYSCA SUPPORTER✨ and get access to our weekly 🍿Culture Vulture newsy🍿, our special 📚bumper book list📚 and our 🎶SYSCA playlists🎶 (or just support us coz u love us 🥺)
OMG thank you all for your kind words about our first ever Culture Vulture newsy!!! Naturally, I'm passing all your feedback on to Liv (who writes it) and you'll be hearing from her again next Saturday if you're a monthly or annual ✨SYSCA supporter!✨
Now as always, my weekend. I had a very quiet and relaxing one this weekend as I'm a bit sick and feeling a bit low (socially just exhausted from two weeks of extreme fun in Sydney - you know how it is!!) On Saturday I literally couldn't get out of bed so I watched a tonne of Formula 1 Drive To Survive (obsessed is an understatement) and finished The Knife Of Never Letting Go (review in here for all our SYSCA supporters!) I also slept a LOT and then resurrected to sit in the lounge and watch the rugby with my flat. Wish I didn't, coz we lost 💔 (jk, I don't care that much about it.)
A wise owl suggested to me that I have a day away from the internet on Sunday so that's exactly what I did. I turned my phone off ALL day, I cleaned out my closet, I went to the supermarket, I caught up on Love Island, I started reading 'Everything I Need I Get From You' (Kaitlyn Tiffany's book about One Direction fangirls) and I bought a damn Nintendo Switch!!! I'd been thinking about it for a while, and then I saw they have a baby yellow one and that really sold me. It's a Lite, and the only game I have is Animal Crossing, but I'm excited for something cosy that might take me away from the news cycle/TikTok for a while. After this weekend I feel like I'm entering my resurrection era.
So an eventful/ non eventful weekend, but I'm feeling ready for the week ahead (and Rubes and I are excited to be back with Liv!!)
An update on Sri Lanka
Bumble is gonna let nonbinary users message anyone first
There are wildfires in... a lot of places
Help NZ close our gender and ethnic pay gap!!
Sophie Turner And Joe Jonas Welcome Their Second Baby Girl
Noah Schnapp Confirms His Stranger Things Character Will Byers Is Gay
How do you pronounce envelope?
An update on Sri Lanka
Let me give you the latest on what's happening in Sri Lanka. Since we last chatted:
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially resigned from office (after fleeing the country)
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as interim president (he's deeply unpopular)
After hearing the news of Rajapaksa stepping down, protests calmed and crowds gathered near the president’s office to celebrate
Protesters also left the official residences they were occupying
There's still a long way to go (the country is still in crisis, after all) but this is what the protesters wanted to happen - so they've taken this W and we'll see what happens next!
Bumble to let nonbinary users message anyone first
Bumble are moving on from just their 'women make the first move' vibe, and letting non binary users also message first!! In a partnership with GLAAD (an LGBTQ rights organization) Bumble researched and tested how to improve the experience of the app for people of any gender, and as well as letting non binary users message first, they've also rolled out a bunch more options to describe how you identify. Love to see it!
There are wildfires in the Mediterranean
In case you haven't already seen/heard via half of your mates being in Europe atm, there's a bit of a heatwave happening on the other side of the world rn.
And what happens when there are heat waves? Fires. Fires are spreading in France, Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Morocco and Greece, and thousands of people are having to be evacuated.
Here's a lil map of fires this week:
Stay safe out there folks!
Help NZ close our gender and ethnic pay gap!!
Last time we spoke about the pay gap you all had SO many stories for me - it's actually sad how many of us have been in the position of either not knowing our workmates' salaries, or finding out we're on less for... no reason at all?
If you want to do one thing to help us start to close the gap here in Aotearoa, our mates at Mind The Gap have started this petition to make pay gap reporting mandatory for businesses in New Zealand. It's super quick and easy to sign, and incredibly important to us (and to you, I hope) so please, take one minute out of your day to help change the way we do things here!!
They're aiming to get 2000 signatures - but I reckon just within the SYSCAhood we can get more than that - how about you???
SIGN THE PETISH!
Sophie Turner And Joe Jonas Welcome Their Second Baby Girl
There's really not much to this story because they keep their kids' lives super private (we love that) but I felt I owed my fave celeb couple a lil congrats in the newsy, since I know they read it every day. So congrats Joe and Sophie 🥺🥺🥺 And since we have very lil info about it, here's something cute that Sophie said to Elle about how their first child, Willa, was adjusting to the pregnancy:
“I’ll point to my stomach and say, ‘What’s in there?’ And she’ll go, ‘Baby,’” Turner started. “But then she points to her own stomach and says, ‘Baby,’ and then she’ll point to her dad’s tummy and say, ‘Baby.’ So, I think she just thinks that a belly is a baby and that’s the name for it. But she is a lot clingier than normal, so I think she has an idea. She wants Mummy all of the time–she’s claiming her territory.”
Noah Schnapp Confirms His Stranger Things Character Will Byers Is Gay
Just a casual piece in The Cut about Harry Styles and his orgy trilogy. Maybe don't read at work
Look, I don't even WATCH Stranger Things, so it has no business having such a huge cultural impact on my life - but it brought me Running Up That Hill so I am now forever indebted to it. Luckily, it keeps giving. The latest? Noach Schnapp (who we spoke about at length last week because of that weird Doja Cat sitch) spoke to Variety and confirmed that Will is gay, and he loves Mike 🥺🥺
I mean, it’s pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike. They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in Season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly grew that storyline. I think for Season 4, it was just me playing this character who loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not, and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong. Will has always felt like that.
And this is what he said about the Doja Cat drama:
Yeah, I mean, look, I’m super unserious on social media and pretty goofy, so I posted that not thinking too much of it, but obviously it hurt her feelings. So, as I should, I apologized and she was totally okay with it, and was like, “I’m sorry how I reacted.” It was all good. I love her. I’m like the biggest fan of her music, and I told her that. I was like, you’re literally my role model. It’s all good. People make such a big deal out of everything when it’s on the internet, but, like, in reality, it’s like a two minute thing.
Noah Schnapp is one cool 17 year old eh??
What Do All These Harry Styles Videos Have in Common?
Just a casual piece in The Cut about Harry Styles and his orgy trilogy. Maybe don't read at work 👀
Styles’s orgy trilogy began in 2019 with the release of “Lights Up,” a video that featured the pop star, sweaty and half-naked, frolicking around in the moonlight with other sweaty, half-naked people across the gender spectrum. They danced, they touched, they danced and touched at the same time. It was all very sensual and free. The orgy sequel didn’t come until 2020’s “Watermelon Sugar” video, which opens with this telling statement: “This video is dedicated to touching.” Okay. That video, again, featured half-naked people touching and dancing, this time eating watermelon on a beach in the daylight. For his third entry in the orgy trilogy, the “Late Night Talking” video, Styles has ditched all pretense. This time, the orgies aren’t masked as massive dance parties or seaside picnics, they’re in beds. Lots and lots of beds. With lots and lots of bedmates.
How do you pronounce the world envelope?
77% say EN-velope
23% say ON-velope
Assassinations, Resignations & Abominations (The Shit Show)
‘Should I Feel Guilty About Having So Much Downtime at Work?’ (The Cut)
Roblox launches digital designer showcase in collaboration with Karlie Kloss (Fashion United)
The India couple in 'one pizza a month' wedding contract (BBC)
Singapore launches new beer made with sewage water and urine (Screenshot)
Doja Cat, Noah Schnapp, & Elvis (Culture Vulture)
Our Love Island Debrief (Culture Vulture)
SYSCA playlist (✨Supporters only✨)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)