Friday, 10 December, 2021
Christmas, here we come!; Scandal at Saudi Arabia’s camel beauty contest; Another good day at the Ashes; and that’s a wrap for 2021.
LINKS
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Backyard Christmas light spectacular
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-09/christmas-backyard-display-featuring-420000-lights/100683540
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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It’s the last Squiz Kids Today podcast for the year as we all pack up and get ready to enjoy the summer holidays … so we’re going for a slight change of pace in The Lowdown today … and bringing you a couple of Christmas themed stories from two sides of our wide brown land ..
First up, and we’re in Port Macquarie, on the mid-north coast of NSW, where Santa has swapped the snow of the North Pole with the sun and sand of an Aussie beach. Instead of heading to the local shopping centre for a Santa photo, for the past ten years the locals of Port Macquarie have trooped off down to the local beach for a photo session with one of Santa’s helpers. The Santa On The Beach photo shoot initiative has created a decade of special, distinctly Aussie-themed Christmas memories for countless families – and not even COVID and the requirement to social distance from Santa this year has put anyone off. Thanks in no small part to the huge bottle of Hand Santatiser the photographer provides. Brilliant.
And now over to the west, to the coastal township of Albany where a couple have created what might possibly be the most spectacular backyard Christmas light display in all of Australia.
It takes three people six weeks, working full-time, to cover an area of 2500 square metres with – get this – 420,000 sparkling Christmas lights.
There’s a four-metre tall reindeer called Elvis and even a replica of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the leaning tower of Pisa and an Eiffel Tower. Very international.
Jeremy and Lorraine Stevenson have been bringing Christmas joy to their hometown of Albany with their mega-backyard Christmas light display since 2019 .. and the kicker? It’s all done for charity.
In the three years since they’ve been lighting up their corner of WA, the couple have raised $54,000 for Cystic Fibrosis WA. And if that doesn’t give you a warm fuzzy Christmas glow, I don’t know what will.
And yes: of course I’ve stuck a link to video of the Xmas lights display in today’s episode notes. Consider it a Christmas prezzie from me to you ..
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin, and find a news story from wherever it stops. And today, on our last spin for the school year, we’ve landed in Saudi Arabia, where 40 contestants in the desert kingdom’s annual CAMEL beauty pageant have been disqualified for using Botox on their beasts.
Yes, you heard that right. We are talking about a beauty pageant for camels – and there’s $92 million in prize money up for grabs! So, you know, the stakes are high. The animals are judged on the shape of their heads, necks, and humps, as well as their dress and posture. So, not so different from a human beauty pageant. And 40 camels have just been disqualified because their owners injected Botox into their lips and heads — Botox is a substance also used by some humans to try to make themselves look younger… other camels were kicked out because they were given hormones to make their muscles look bigger… or had their body parts inflated with rubber bands. Whatever happened to a camel’s natural beauty?
If you’re a Squiz Kids For Schools member, today’s classroom activities are on this news item. If you’re not a Squiz Kids for Schools member? Sign up today for your free trial today.
SPORT TIME
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There was once again only one game in town yesterday: and it was The Ashes, as the Aussies and England battled it out in the second day of the First Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
And after a blisteringly good first day on Wednesday when they bowled out England for only 147 runs, it was the Aussie’s turn to bat yesterday.
It only took Australia 44 overs to move past England’s total – and the team then spent the remainder of the afternoon piling on the runs and extending their lead, to finish the day almost 200 runs in front on 7/343.
Travis Head starred with the bat notching up a century – which is cricket speak for getting 100 runs – while Dave Warner and Marnus Labuschagne did their bit with a 156 run partnership.
There are three more days to go in this Test match. And there are five test matches to be played in this series – with the best of five being the winner of the Ashes.
And if you didn’t understand a word of what I’ve just said – then you need to wrap your ears around this weeks’ kids Shortcut on The Ashes: a ten minute deep dive into everything you’ve ever wanted to know but were too scared to ask about The Ashes. Available as part of our Squiz Kids summer special subscriber content – visit Apple Podcasts and sign up for your free trial today.
SUMMER CONTENT
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On the subject of summer holiday bonus content – we’ve prepped a whole bunch of cool stuff to roll out over the summer break.
By becoming a Squiz Kids Subscriber via Apple Podcasts, you’ll have access all summer to a weekly kids v adult quiz – on topics as varied as sport, animals, music and the Year That Was – and even a quiz about Christmas. Top fun for all the family. PLUS – each week you’ll get served not one but two excellent Squiz Kids Shortcuts: deep dives into cool topics like Earthquakes + Volcanoes, Roald Dahl, Girl Power, Mars, The Kid Laroi, Climate Change, Hamilton and Christmas Traditions Around the World.
Head to Apple Podcasts, search for Squiz Kids and sign up for your free trial today. I’ll be waiting over there for you.
THE S’QUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What animals are caught up in a beauty contest scandal in Saudi Arabia?
- What’s the name of the town in Western Australia where an epic backyard Christmas lights display has been put on?
- What’s the name of the cricketing contest currenty being played out between England and Australia?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s December 10 .. the final Squiz Kids Today episode for this year … 194 episodes this year … and breathe …
Plus It’s also only 14 sleeps ‘til Christmas !! You better watch out, you better not pout!
It’s also a Friday – and you know what that means …a good excuse to crack out the birthday reggae tune .. hit it ..
It’s a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …Adley from Hughenden, Joanne from Sydney, Dane (pronounced Dahn-ay) from Mornington, Liam from Lane Cove, Benny from Allambie Heights, twins Scarlett and Tristan from St Ives, Hector from Brunswick and Theo from Surfer Paradise.
And not forgetting those celebrating a birthday over the weekend…Rhett from Kalgoorlie, Jawad from Wiley Park, Cooper, Krish and Samecksha from Oran Park, Baxter from Gosford East, Hannah from Fadden, Lilly from Randwick, Max from Mornington, Huey from Brighton, Riley from Cardiff and Jeremy from Kangaroo Island.
And because this is our last episode of Squiz Kids before the school holidays, we’re giving happy ‘early’ birthday shout outs to all the Squiz Kids celebrating birthdays between next Monday and December 31 …
Happy “early” birthday to…Nidhi from Blacktown, Lachie from Collaroy Plateau, Taya from Barnawartha, Lucas from Maroubra, Isla from Sydney, Theo from Broome, Rocky from Allambie Heights, Leilani from Nowra, Leon from Ivanhoe and Nicholas from Randwick.
Classroom shout outs today go to…4P and Mrs Papas at Concord West Public School and thank you and good luck from your Prac teacher Miss Fung. Also to class 5/6 W at North Ryde Public School, class 2W at Murray Farm Public School in Carlingford and lastly a Happy Birthday to Mrs Jones and Henry at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.
Finally: special shout outs go to Melanie Walden-Mills, teacher from the tiny rural school Pooncarie Public and Lucy Snell at St Elizabeths in Tarragindi – both have signed up as fully-fledged Squiz Kids for Schools members. Welcome.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Camels
- Albany
- The Ashes