💓RIP to a legend💓
+ A tribute to Angus Cloud, why girls are running the world rn, & PLZ tel me all the times you were burnt by the internet 🥸
Good morning angels!!! Not many updates for you except that I’ve upgraded my wholesomeness level from driving to my local library each day to packing a backpack and ebiking to my local library each day, so in between reading like a maniac and doing all my work from the libe, my job rn really is just book.
I also received a bunch of new stickers and covered my laptop because for some reason I can’t rest until literally everything is luce branded:
Yesterday I was on my letter writing bullshit to all of you! Stickers should be en route to you all tomorrow (don’t ask me how long it takes for a letter to arrive to you in 2023 from New Zealand because I JUST DON’T KNOW!)
It’s also August which means we’re reading Yellowface for book club!!! This book only took me TWO days to read and I want to hear all your thoughts so PLEASE come & join the book club!!!!
Have u been burned online?
🔔Bel Chimes In: Who's running the world atm? (Girls)💅
Angus Cloud passes away at 25
Have you heard about Worldcoin? It’s an eye-scanning ‘orb’ thing
Have u been burned online?
Ok so we’re working on something cool for u all and we need to know all ur deep, dark, internet stories (totally anon - don’t worry!)
We’ve all mistakenly hit ‘reply all’, uploaded an insta story by accident, or had someone we know fall for a ridiculous online scam, and now is your chance to PLEASE TELL US ALL ABOUT IT!
We wanna know things like:
If you (or someone you know) has fallen for an online scam
If your digital footprint has ever come back to bite you
If you’ve got any stories from the ask.fm or Qooh.me days
If you’ve got any high-stakes or low-stakes embarrassing moments where you’ve uploaded something accidentally
And all your other stories!
Let us know at the button below (plz) xxx
🔔Bel Chimes In: Who's running the world atm? (Girls)💅
This section is written by my crush, the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day, Bel Hawkins. She also writes our Sunday newsletter ‘No News is Good News’ which all our paying supporters receive. Upgrade your plan to get her newsy here!
Crushes, crushes, crushes — how you going?
As I mentioned the other week, I've been getting bloody INTO the World Cup lately, which has felt like a throwback to when I was 12 and obsessed with the prospect of becoming a Silver Fern after my grandma convinced me it was an entirely realistic expectation. Watching these games, seeing the crowds and the media coverage of female athletes has got me super in my feelings about the state of things.
I grew up in the regions, where rugby was not so much a hobby or a passion, but the thing we did. When I was 8, I could recall the names of every single All Black (Starting 15 and bench), coach, and trainer.
When I was in high school, I had a giant poster of the Warriors rugby league team in my bedroom, which I suspect was both inspired by Bend It Like Beckham and an effort to be one of the boys. Girls' sports were played earlier on Saturdays, where we were lucky if the principal ever came to watch our matches, and then everyone — the whole town it felt — packed up and went to the rugby field to watch the boys' First Fifteen play. After that, we'd go to someone's house and watch the Super Rugby on TV all evening. I never thought much of it, but I'm thinking about it now.
Watching the Women's World Cup has felt wrenchingly emotional. What if we'd been given access to these types of performances and stardom and talent so long ago? What if, instead of being fed Powerade ads of rugby families and fans and athletes, we were shown what women were capable of on the sports field, too? Would we all have tried a little harder, believed a little further, and got paid equally for our efforts? How different would we be?
Sounds tangental, but I watched Oceans 8 on a hangover other day (you know, the one with all the women in it), and was kinda laughing to myself — I remember this movie coming out and literally thinking, 'Oh yeah, I never once questioned or thought it was weird that this whole film franchise only featured smart, mischievous men with one hot wife.' It's strange, how long it's taken, how far we have to go, but how significant this all feels.
All of this is to say, go men, go boys, go everyone, go whoever, but also like — holy shit what's burst open here? What's possible? I can't help but feel like everything's changing, and I LIKE IT.
See you this Sunday in No News Is Good News! Gonna talk about something fkng cool and happy 🍉💘
Angus Cloud passes away at 25
In absolutely tragic news, yesterday we found out that Angus Cloud (who played our beloved Fez on Euphoria) has passed away at his family home. In an emotional statement from his family, they chose not to specify his cause of death but did say that he ‘immensely struggled’ after the passing of his father, who the family buried last week.
“The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend,” the family said. “Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”
A little bit about Angus, from The New York Times:
Born Conor Angus Cloud Hickey on July 10, 1998, in Oakland, he attended the Oakland School for the Arts, according to a 2019 profile in The Wall Street Journal. He built sets and worked on lighting and sound for his high school’s theater department, according to the profile. But before his role on “Euphoria,” he had never performed.
Mr. Cloud was discovered in 2018 by a casting agent who saw him walking along Mercer Street in Greenwich Village. Mr. Cloud was working as a waiter in Brooklyn at the time and thought that the approach was a scam, but a friend convinced him to follow through.
Absolutely devastating news — rest in peace to a legend.
Have you heard about Worldcoin? It’s an eye-scanning ‘orb’ thing 👁️🪙
Yesterday I listened to an ep of Hard Fork (one of my fave pods in the world), where they introduced me to Worldcoin. BEFORE YOU SCROLL AWAY I just want you to hear how bizarre this concept is. Basically, Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) has launched something called ‘Worldcoin’ (crypto adjacent) but the REALLY buzzy part is that you need to give ‘proof of personhood’ to partake in what they’re calling a new global financial network.
How do you get this ‘proof of personhood?’ You use THE ORB. The Orb is a device that scans your irises (eyes) and generates an ID code based on that - that’s your WorldID. Then it’s uploaded to the Blockchain and… that’s where the concept loses me tbh.
Honestly, we’re not a crypto/ blockchain newsletter, so if you want to know more you should listen to the podcast or read this, but I just wanted to give u a slice of dystopia to end the newsy xxxxx
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omg i forgot the date AND harry gif today wtf
This eye scanning thing looks like something straight out of black mirror