Sophie Turner, Taylor Swift, & Shrinkflation

+ Bel Chimes In with your three ages 🗿

and

Sep 20, 2023

Angels! Hi! How are you? My calf muscles are aching and shoulders are burning after an amazing (and sweaty) walking tour of Lisbon yesterday, but let me tell you, it was the tour that just kept on giving! First of all, it was incredible, of course, to learn the history of the place that I now call home (plus one of the first things we visited was the world’s oldest bookshop which opened in 1732.) But what made it even COOLER was that I was chatting to someone on the tour and they asked what I did (a question I NEVER know how to answer properly) and then they said THEY READ THE NEWSY!! (Kacey if you’re reading this - hi 🥺) We were equally as shook as each other, and continued to bond over a pastel de nata. It made my whole day, and reminded me just how much little things like this can make you feel less alone in this huge world! Ugh! The SYSCAhood!

I met some other new friends from Nottingham on the tour and we ended up going to get some lunch and checking out some flea markets, so, all in all, it was a very cute and non-lonely day! Here are some photos for you since this move across the world is going to be my whole personality for a hot second:

Like… how do I live here.

An Australian journalist called her baby ‘Methamphetamine Rules’
Bel Chimes In: What are your three ages? 🗿
Normy’s News: Shrinkflation
The two best videos I’ve seen on the internet in the past few days
Also, Sophie Turner and Taylor Swift just stepped out together in New York City

Australian journalist called her baby ‘Methamphetamine Rules’

Ok I’m sorry but I had to SLIGHTLY bait you with this headline because it’s so fucking crazy. Basically, yes - an Aussie journalist did name her baby ‘Methamphetamine Rules’ - in the name of research. ABC has a new show called What The FAQ (yep, I know I’m giving them the exact publicity they wanted here but cmon, she called her kid METH, she deserves something), and one of the questions that was submitted was “are there any names you can’t legally name your child?”

Kirsten Drysdale thought she’d put it to the test, so when she gave birth to her third son, she submitted his name to New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages as “Methamphetamine Rules.”

“We thought we would submit the most outrageous name we could think of, assuming it would be rejected,” she said. “But it didn’t turn out that way – unfortunately Methamphetamine Rules slipped through the cracks.”
A spokesperson for Births, Deaths and Marriages said the “unusual name” had “unfortunately slipped through”.

It gets more outrageous:

“Drysdale said she had been deciding between “Methamphetamine Rules” and “Nangs Rule”, referring to the Australian slang for nitrous oxide canisters used to get a fleeting high.
But she decided against Nangs Rule in case the approver at the registry didn’t know what Nangs were and it was approved.
“We chose methamphetamine thinking there’s no way that anyone will see that word and think it’s OK,” said Drysdale, who added her husband took some convincing to agree to the experiment. “But we were wrong.”

Off the back of this, the Births, Deaths and Marriages team have said that they have “strengthened their processes” and are helping change the baby’s name, but that doesn’t change the fact that his original name - “Methamphetamine Rules” - will be on his records FOREVER.

And, just to finish it off with some Australian humour:

“My husband said maybe his nickname should be ‘Speedy’, but I’m sure he will develop his own nickname that’s appropriate to his real name and his personality,” Drysdale said.
“He’s a very chill child, a beautiful baby boy, so not anything like a meth user.”

Bel Chimes In: What are your three ages? 🗿

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!

Hello crushes! Ngl, missed you last week! I think that's why I became devoted to making a Dad Rock Renaissance playlist in your absence.

But, here we are, and, as per — a gorgeous honour to be taking a wined-up conversation I had from our local little bar here in Lisbon to the screens and minds of the SYSCA universe. I have a light topic for you this week because, well, I hear it's spring in the southern hemi, and right here where I am, the light's all soft and right. The other night, I was sitting with a bunch of new friends and strangers, and we came up with this theory that you have three ages:

- The age you look
- The age you are
- The age you feel

It's turned into a great party trick (my other one taught to me by one of my besties Simon, which is 'shot for a secret,' you're welcome) and a hilarious way to get to know people. Almost everyone in the bar fit into one of two camps: They felt either in their early 20s despite being 29,37,42,58. OR they felt waaay older inside, like me (I landed on 72 as my internal age.)

I thought it was funny that we're all trying to chase down either youth or wisdom, to feel nostalgic for times that came before or a feeling we think will finally match our physical age in the future. Buzzy weird funny cool? I thought so.

Ily! Good 2 b back. xo

[Luce note: what does it say about me that I look 25, I am 25, and I feel 25?]

Normy’s News: Shrinkflation

Two things about Normy? He LOVES attention, and loves the SYSCAhood (he’s also my Dad, for anyone who’s not yet deep enough in the SYSCA lore to know that.) So I figured, when he sends me things worth sharing, I’ll give some credit where it’s due, with Normy’s News.

Today I woke up to an email from Normy with the headline “Shrinkflation: how companies charge more for less.” The email included a link to a story and his own commentary:

“This is a scandal
And also Snickers have new recyclable packaging that isn’t actually suitable for NZ recycling centres !!”

(Please let it be known that I have kept his original grammar for impact.)

I read the article and do you know what? He’s right - it is a scandal. Shrinkflation, for those who haven’t heard of it before, refers to the way companies are shrinking their products but charging the same amount for them (for example, a humble Snickers bar was once 50g and now it’s 44g), but still costs the same!! I get it - companies need to cut costs, but c’mon, girls gotta eat too!!!

Other products have been hit too, like

Rice Crackers (100g down to 90g)
Tim Tams (some flavours have gone from 11 to 9 bikkies in a pack)
Jimbo’s Cat Food (which my cat famously eats as if it costs nothing at all)
Even jam! (500g jars down to 375g)

It’s been recommended that in order to stay smarter and savvier we start working out the unit prices of these things in the store but seriously??? Should we have to do MATHS just to get a fair price for the food we need to live??? Yikes.