🥱Turkey, Thailand, & feeling TURBO 🥱
+ I’m a big fan - give me merch that fits!!
Hi besties!! Absolutely TURBO day for me today!!
I’m hot off recording a v early podcast with the beautiful Laura of course, rushing to send you out a newsy, and then back into the studio to record another pod with Dunc and honestly I’m feeling like I’m running on ALL cylinders!!!
Just dropping in to say I love you, and thanks for sticking with me xoxox
I’m a big fan - give me merch that fits!!
🗺Around the world🗺
A fire in a New Zealand hostel, & an update on the Turkish & Thai elections
Today’s mundane poll: How would you say 1500?
I’m a big fan - give me merch that fits!!
This piece is written by SYSCA pal Samuel!! He is a self-proclaimed podcast producer by day and 'professional hater by night.
“I love all types of messy goings-on whether it be conjecture, rumour or good old fashioned scuttlebutt. I'm a proud Tumblrina who was mentored in the art of posting by some of the world’s most mildly respected microbloggers and I'm offering as many unfiltered, out-of-pocket hot takes as I can while hopefully spreading some knowledge about critical thinking and media literacy along the way.”
One thing about me? I’m a big Caroline Polachek fan, and I mean a big fan—4XL specifically. So when I went to her merch store on the weekend, card in hand, ready to drop a cool $65 on a factory-made t-shirt that wouldn’t arrive at my house for four weeks, there was only one thing stopping me: I didn’t fit anything they were trying to sell me.
Merch has been a long-standing tradition for fans to show support for their favourite artists, whether it be through selling out online marketplaces or camping overnight to get the exclusive HSLOT tour tee you wanted the most. But it often seems like this fun has a size limit, leaving us plus-sized girlies shivering out in the cold (metaphorically and literally speaking).
Queen of putting money where her mouth is 💅 Lizzo 💅, has a size range going up to a 4XL, but an artist like Billie Eilish, who became synonymous with her hyper-oversized fits, doesn’t provide more than a XXL! Artists, I promise you, if you stock the bigger size, we will buy them. Fat people need cute clothing too!
As the unelected spokesperson for the "big-boned brigade," I reckon it's time for our favourite artists to acknowledge and cater to fans of all sizes, not just the ones they think will push the most units. I'm so over the cycle of disappointment and shame that bigger people face when trying to buy nice clothes, so I’d love if artists - the people who rely on us to keep them cool/ promote them by wearing their merch - would stand up to these merchandise companies to be more inclusive in their sizing!!
Until such time, I won't be settling for any "pity merch" like tote bags, posters, or mugs (apologies to the mug enjoyers out there). We want inclusivity, not just in our faves’ music, but in their merchandising as well!!
Samuel xxxx
🗺Around the world🗺
Turkey: An update on the Turkish Elections!
I’ve seen multiple publications report that Turkey had a ‘nailbiting’ election that will likely end in a runoff vote. I know what you’re thinking - what’s a runoff? Well, that’s why I’m here! According to Rock The Vote, a runoff election occurs because:
“A candidate must win a plurality — the most votes — AND the majority of votes — earning more than 50% of the vote — to be certified as the winner.
In races with multiple candidates, it can be difficult for one candidate to earn over 50% of the votes as votes are split between all of the candidates. Thus, a candidate may receive the plurality of votes but not the majority of votes. A runoff election is a second election between the top two candidates when no candidate meets the criteria for winning in the first election.”
Or, in v simple Luce terms, it’s the second round of voting that takes place when no candidate receives more than half of the presidential vote.
The reason for this runoff election is because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan only won 49.5% of votes (according to preliminary results), and his rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 44.9%. The runoff will likely be held on May 28th and is the first election in Turkey’s history in which “no presidential candidate secured a majority in the first round.”
More on what this all means here, but naturally, I’ll keep you in the loop!
Thailand: Voters deliver stunning blow to army-backed rule (BBC)
I wrote about this a little yesterday, but here’s the update!
“Thai voters have delivered a stunning verdict in favour of an opposition party that is calling for radical reform of the country's institutions.
Early results show ‘Move Forward’ exceeding every prediction to win 151 of the 500 seats in the lower house.
It's now 10 seats ahead of what was the frontrunner, Pheu Thai, led by ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's daughter.
Analysts are calling this a political earthquake that represents a significant shift in public opinion.”
New Zealand: Wellington hostel fire, at least six dead and others missing in New Zealand blaze (The Guardian)
A tragic story coming out of Aotearoa this morning.
“At least six people are dead and others missing after a “worst nightmare” fire at a 92-room hostel in New Zealand.
The Loafers Lodge hostel in Newtown, in Wellington’s south, caught alight overnight, prompting an evacuation. The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, said this morning that at least six had died. “I understand six confirmed previously and it looks like there are likely to be more,” he said.”
Today’s mundane poll:
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with the 1500 poll, i put other because my brain instinctively said "mil quinientos", which is how you'd say it in spanish! i think it's funny that this happens because i'm chilean but i lived in the US when i was really really small so i've been bilingual my whole life, and still, for some reason, my brain always reads numbers in spanish. it's the one thing i can't turn off. i just find bilingualism (or more languages!) interesting in general, like how your brain works in two languages simultaneously.
1500? Depends on context. If I'm emphasizing price...its ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED!!!!