Friday, 16 October, 2020
Flying home for Christmas; Finland’s reindeer meatballs; Big weekend sports preview; and have the BTS boys met their match?
LINKS
What’s Up Fox?
Reading: Hunger Games: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/22/review-the-hunger-games-suzanne-collins
Listening: Michael Buble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AJmKkU5POA
Watching: Junior Masterchef: https://10play.com.au/junior-masterchef-australia
Squiz Kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squizkids/?hl=en
Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Send us an email at [email protected]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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The Australian government is today expected to announce a plan to bring home thousands of Australians who are stuck overseas thanks to travel restrictions that have been brought in since the coronavirus.
Some 29,000 Australians who are currently overseas have indicated their desire to return home. But with border closures and many planes grounded and strict rules for the number of people able to travel on any one plane – many have been finding it difficult to get home.
A plan is expected to be agreed today for the government to help to pay a portion of the airfares of people wanting to return. Plus, a special quarantine centre near Darwin, in the Northern Territory, is expected to be announced as the place to which up to 1000 returnees a month could sit out their 14 days in quarantine.
Getting as many Aussies home for Christmas … that seems to be the plan.
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Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Melbourne this Sunday – when Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce an easing of some of the coronavirus restrictions Melburnians have been living under.
If you’re living in Melbourne, you’re still not permitted to go any further than 5kms away from your home. There’s hope that that limit will be lifted to 20kms. Fingers and toes crossed for you Melbourne. We’re all thinking of 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, we’ve landed in Finland .. a country in Scandinavia, not far from the North Pole – where reindeer meatballs are on the menu in local supermarkets.
It’s all part of the Finnish national airline, Finnair, beginning to offer its airline food to people who are missing the experience of being on a plane .
I don’t know how many meals you’ve had on a plane, but I’ve had enough to know I wouldn’t go out of my way trying to find one in a supermarket. But I digress.
As with the plane trips to nowhere and similar to the story earlier this week in Singapore where people are paying for the chance to have a meal served to them inside a plane that doesn’t leave the airport – it seems people really miss the flying experience enough to create a market for these things.
Though reindeer meatballs? Hmm. Not so sure about that. What would Rudolph say?
SPORTS TIME
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Heat up the popcorn and reserve your favourite spot on the living room sofa. This weekend is all about sport, sport, sport. It’s finals time, people – and here’s your guide.
The semi-final action will kick off tonight in the NRL when the Melbourne Storm take on the Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium in Brissie – while for AFL fans, all eyes will be Adelaide Oval tonight, where Port Adelaide take on Richmond for a shot at the Grand Final.
On Saturday night, NRL fans are in for a treat when minor-premiers Penrith Panthers clash with the Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium in Sydney – while up Brisbane way, it will be the Brisbane Lions taking on the Geelong Cats at the Gabba – with the Lions hoping the home crowd advantage will be enough to propel them to their first ever grand final.
Sunday, it’s all about Super Netball, with the grandest of grand final clashes between the minor-premiers Melbourne Vixens and Perth’s West Coast Fever – with both teams gunning for their very first Super Netball crown.
And about the same time, over New Zealand way, the Wallabies take on the All Blacks in the second Bledisloe Cup game.
And then just when you think you can’t possibly take any more sport: The Brownlow Medal will unfurl before your very eyes on Sunday night – as the AFL honours the best and fairest player from the 2020 competition. Brisbane’s Lachie Neale is the hot favourite.
Phew – I’m exhausted just thinking about it …
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Nothing seems to be able to stop the world’s most popular boy-band – BTS. The lads from South Korea have chalked up number one hits, scooped the pool in all the major music awards, and broken all sorts of records with their album sales and YouTube views. But now it seems the party might be over, thanks to a law in South Korea that means all young men have to serve in the military for 18 months before they turn 28. The two eldest members of the group are 27 years old ..
But so important are the lads to the nation and its economy, the parliament of South Korea is currently debating a law to make an exemption for the BTS boys.
Dynamite…
WHAT’S UP FOX?
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Every Friday we check in with Squiz Kids ambassador, Flynn, known as the Fox to his friends, to see what he’s been reading, listening to and watching.
And he’s continuing on a Hunger Games reading fest by going back and reading the first book of the famous series. Having just finished ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ – he’s picking up book one in the Katniss Everdeen trilogy … and loving every page.
On the listening front, he has pretty wide-ranging tastes, our Fox. And he reckons he’s had Michael Buble’s ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ on high-rotation. Hey, the kid likes a bit of big band …
And as for watching, it’s been a Junior Masterchef sort of a week .. watching those amazing kids do all those amazing things in the kitchen. Now if only I could get him to try to copy them and pick up a fry pan …
There are links to all of these cool things in today’s episode notes.
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 …
- Where will evacuated Aussies spend their 2 weeks in quarantine when the government gets its program up and running?
- What sort of meatballs will airline Finnair be offering supermarket shoppers in Finland?
- What’s the name of the AFL’s best and fairest award that’s being announced on Sunday night?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s October 16 … World Bread Day … a day for baking, eating and otherwise celebrating the wonder that is bread … yum.
Plus it’s a Friday – and that means an extra long birthday shout out segment as we celebrate everyone having a birthday today, and over the coming weekend … so crank up the birthday reggae toooon … And it’s a happy birthday to … Jake from North Rocks, Hamish from Sawyers Gully and Olive from Leichhardt.
Today’s belated birthday shoutout goes to… Daniel from Carlingford.
Weekend birthday shoutouts… Mijie from Eastwood, Natalie from Lysterfield, Lucy from Ormiston, Uziel from Queensland, Ben from Bundoora, Astrid from Woodend, Byron from Mooloolaba, Emily from Wahroonga, Annabelle from Mackay, Brodie from Lowanna, Raphael from Canberra, Henry from Double Bay, Raqia from Sunshine West, Gabriel from Sydney, Katie from Blackburn South, Marlachi from Griffith, Georgina from Tasmania, Gideon from Chiang Mai in Thailand and Pau all the way from Manresa in Catalonia, which is on the northeastern corner of Spain.
Happy birthday one and all!
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Darwin
- Reindeer
- The Brownlow Medal