🎀 SURPRISE! Our new look!!🎀
Mōrena lil shits!!
So as you can probably see, we’ve got a WHOLE NEW LOOK. Surprise!!!! Over the past few months, Liv (the creative genius behind SYSCA) has been working tirelessly on overhauling the ENTIRE SYSCA cinematic universe to make it really shine. She (with guidance from a few wonderful humans at Daylight Creative) has completely revamped the Instagram, the newsletter, the podcasts (coming soon) as well as creating us a shiny new logo and vibey as hell colour palette. Believe me, it’s been a HUGE job (and mostly a one-woman job!!) and I think it’s fair to say that she’s just gone above and beyond with this one! I hope you love it as much as I do - after all, this is all for you!!
Here's a lil trip down branding memory lane:
Now that's on growth.
🥺Let’s hear it for Liv! Help us pay her to continue being the creative genius we all know and love by becoming a 🎨SYSCA Supporter 🎨 today!!🥺
I got a Harry Styles tattoo
Imran Khan ousted as Pakistan's PM after key vote
WTF is Algospeak? Isn’t it just Voldemorting?
A huge call, but probably my favourite cover of ALL TIME
Will Smith has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years
YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF BACON AND EGG PIE?
I got a Harry Styles tattoo this weekend
SYSCA got a makeover and so did I!!! On Saturday Rubes and I got stick and poke tats done by our wonderful pal Ana (here’s her stuff.) Rubes got the cutest lil sunflower you ever did see, and I got the lil dancing flower from the Pleasing branding!!!!! I am OBSESSED! Before you ask, the original artist of these cute lil dudes is Marisol Muro and I did pay her for creating this lil gem. Gotta make sure small we’re supporting the media/artists we love!!! Anyway here he is in all his beauty:
I also got this one because… have you seen how I type????
And in other weekend updates: I touched some grass!
Well... more like, I touched some volcanic rock. It’s been a while since I went on a grass touching mission, hasn’t it? (You’re an OG if you remember them.) Well, on Sunday morning I jumped on the ferry with flatties Hayden and Flo and we went for a cute as hell day trip over to the Rangitoto. Since I wasn’t born and raised in Tāmaka Makaurau I haven’t seen… ANYTHING around here really. I know most people who were raised here probably went to Rangitoto on their school trips or whatever, but do you know what’s better than doing something while you’re at school being looked after by teachers? DOING STUFF WHEN YOU WANT TO, ON YOUR OWN, COZ YOU’RE AN ADULT!!
Anyway, when we got off the ferry we went straight up the guts of the mountain (why is that such a gross saying), explored some lava caves on the way (pictured below) and tried our hardest to get some convo out of Hayden (he likes to get in his ✨zone✨ while he's hiking, so he probs didn't appreciate the constant stream of 'and what are you thinking about now Hayden???') On the way back we found some rock pools and felt like we were mermaids (because it felt like Mako Island from H20 Just Add Water.) The day was a BEAUTY but we all got a lil de-hy by the end (dehydrated lol.)
OOOOh I also had the best almond croissant of my LIFE from Knead (thanks Flo) and the other highlight was the tear and share bread thing we had at the summit. What a day!
Imran Khan has been ousted as Pakistan's PM
Last week was all about Pakistan’s parliament being dissolved to avoid a vote of no confidence against their PM, and then that whole scenario being voted invalid by the Supreme Court. Well, let’s start this week with the results of the no-confidence vote (spoiler: it went ahead.) Imran Khan (the PM) has been voted out - he's doneskis. Khan maintains that there is an international conspiracy against him, but you can read all about that here.
✨Help us keep this biz alive✨ — shityoushouldcareabout.memberful.com
WTF is Algospeak? Isn’t it just Voldemorting?
So this weekend I read a piece by Taylor Lorenz (duh) about Algospeak, and it reminded me of something I’ve written about on here before - Voldemorting (god, I really am sorry for all of these words.) Here’s what I wrote back in December about Voldemorting:
‘The other day I was reading Garbage Day, as one often does, and in a section about TikTok self-censorship I learnt about something called “Voldemorting.” Voldemorting is a concept I knew of, but hadn’t yet named - and it’s when you censor out or make up new names for things on social media to avoid being discovered in the algorithm. Allegra Rosenberg, who wrote about this in Garbage Day added that it’s “awkward to note that since 2018, JK Rowling has become her very own Voldemort, with people frequently censoring her name on Twitter in order to safely express their disapproval of her horrible politics.”
Examples of Voldemorting:
‘Cheeto’ or ‘45’ = Trump
‘Seggs’ and ‘seggsual’ = sex
‘Accountant’ = sex worker
‘Corn’ or “🌽” is porn
This self-censorship is obv called Voldemorting because of the whole ‘he-must-not-be-named’ thing, but where some people used Voldemorting to make sure they’re not seen (so they can talk/troll in private), on platforms like TikTok, it feels like you do the opposite - you have to censor yourself to make sure your videos actually come up on the algorithm. This points to a new type of self-censorship - censoring yourselves before the A.I’s can. In a really boring sense, Voldemorting makes regulation and safety hard, because by feeling like we need to pre-censor ourselves we develop our own language - and even though we might be using it in harmless ways, I can’t account for every internet user.”
Now, according to Taylor Lorenz, it’s being referred to as “Algospeak.” Here’s a lil excerpt from her piece in The Washington Post:
“Algospeak refers to code words or turns of phrase users have adopted in an effort to create a brand-safe lexicon that will avoid getting their posts removed or down-ranked by content moderation systems. For instance, in many online videos, it’s common to say “unalive” rather than “dead,” “SA” instead of “sexual assault,” or “spicy eggplant” instead of “vibrator.””
Whatever it’s called - this notion that we’re having to form a whole new human language due to computer run algorithms is kinda freaky (ummm… we were here first algos!!)
One of my fave lil tidbits from this article is the website ‘Zuck Got Me For’ which is “A memorial dedicated to the memes that Instagram deems unfit for their platform curated by Instagram user @NeoliberalHell2” and you should really go and check it out.
A huge call, but this is probably my favourite cover of ALL TIME
Maybe it’s because I love Shania Twain?? Maybe it’s because this is the best Haim has ever sounded? Idk, but inject this into my VEINS (or just put it on Spotify maybe?)
Will Smith has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years
Yep - after the infamous Slap incident, it was announced that Will Smith will be banned from the Oscars for 10 years. I’m actually a bit shook about this. Not because I don’t think that he should be punished - he absolutely should, but (and this is not a hot take at all) there are just so many people who have won awards/ done yuck stuff on stage at the Oscars throughout the years (including but not limited to the ones Liv and I discussed on last weeks Culture Vulture) and this just feels like a huge precedent-setting moment. I also reckon now every time they nominate/award/allow someone to attend the ceremony that has done something that either the public deems (or objectively is) bad, there is gonna be commentary like ‘so you’ll ban Will Smith but you’re letting x in?” or something along those lines. Anyway, who cares what I think! Let’s hear what you all reckon. I polled you on this and:
32% of you agree with the ban
68% don’t
If you need help figuring out how you feel about this (tho, no one is forcing you to have a take) you should listen to this:
The Slap isn't even the worst thing that's happened at the Oscars - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
We get it - we're all sick of reading, thinking, and talking about the slap - so we don't dwell on it for long. Instead, we take you through some of the WILD (and some of the downright racist) moments that have occurred in the many years that the Oscars have been running, and I promise you're going to be SHOCKED at some of them. (PS does anyone else remember John Travolta calling Idina Menzel "Adele Dazeem???"
YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF BACON AND EGG PIE?
Someone responded to one of my newsy's last week saying 'what on earth is bacon and egg pie?' and I KNEW IT HAD TO BE A MUNDANE POLL. It's honestly criminal that a bunch of you have missed out on one of life's true gifts - a slice of flaky golden bacon and egg pie on a Saturday road trip/ sports match/ picnic (no peas for me tho thank u.) This is something that my mum AND dad can whip up with almost no prep, and it basically never fails (when mum makes it.) I've had iterations of it with spaghetti, peas, tomato... whatever you've got lying around really! Anyway, the poll results:
29% of us have heard of it
71% OF YOU HAVEN'T
AND NO IT'S NOT A QUICHE
The Slap isn’t even the worst thing that’s happened at the Oscars (Culture Vulture)
Yes, even wars have rules (The Shit Show)
F1 RESULTS (Spoilers)
'Collect Them Like Pokemon Cards': In Defence Of The Humble Crush (Vice)
Coca-Cola Debuts New Gamified Drink That Lets Geeks Taste The ‘Flavor Of Pixels’ (Taxi)
An anti-diet diet app (Vox)
I would like to be paid like a plumber (Letters of Note)
Bennifer Is Officially Engaged — Again (The Cut)
Become a ✨SYSCA SUPPORTER✨ — shityoushouldcareabout.memberful.com
Seriously, we need you 🥺🥺🥺
Love you the most, Luce xxxxx
