Friday 18 September, 2020

All aboard the flight to nowhere; America smashed by Hurricane Sally; Buttons the calf gets a wheelchair; and Squiz Kids goes for gold.

 

LINKS

Buttons the cow: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-17/buttons-the-paralysed-calf-takes-to-her-custom-wheelchair/12673604

Crocodile wrangling: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFIUdwvnbnF/?utm_source=ig_embed

What’s Up Fox

Reading: Guinness Book of World Records 2021  https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781913484071/

Listening: Over Now  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quFlP3cRCFs

Watching: Billy Elliott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7n8HGOQMs

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]

Squiz Kids is proudly supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.

 

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

 

THE LOWDOWN

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How much would you pay for a plane flight that goes nowhere? In another sign of the crazy COVID times we are living in, 137 of your fellow Australians yesterday forked out between $700 and $3800 for a seat on a seven-hour plane flight to nowhere.

Our national airline Qantas yesterday announced the flight – a seven hour round trip that takes off from Sydney and flies over Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef before landing back where it started.

And despite tickets costing a pretty penny – which is an old-fashioned way of saying heaps – they were all snapped up within ten minutes of going on sale.  

The flying kangaroo – which is the alternative name for Qantas – has hopped on the idea – see what we did there? – of offering flights to nowhere for people tired of the COVID restrictions and desperate to get on a plane. Even if the end of your journey is right back where you started it.

— 

There were two pieces of good news yesterday in the midst of the continuing coronavirus lockdowns as Victoria reported a two-month low in the number of new cases; and the country’s unemployment numbers came out showing more Australians were back in jobs in August compared to July. As the pandemic has taken a toll on people health-wise, it’s also affected thousands of people’s jobs – but according to figures released yesterday, not as many as experts had predicted. So that’s a good thing. 

 

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 the United States – where Hurricane Sally has made landfall and caused widespread flooding.

Wait – what does it mean when a hurricane ‘makes landfall’? That’s a fancy way of saying it has crossed the coastline and moved from being out at sea, to being on land. Which is not so great for the residents of southern US states like Florida and Alabama where, according to the US weather bureau, four months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of only four hours. 

Remember: on the other side of the country, wildfires are still burning out of control – as Mother Nature seemed to want to remind Americans she’s still the boss.

 

ANIMAL KINGDOM

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Two stories from the animal world today .. the first, is of Buttons the calf. Born without the use of her back legs, Buttons’ owners in country Victoria  were determined she have as normal a life as possible and custom-designed a second-hand wheelchair and strapped her hind legs into it so she could canter about the paddock like all the other calves. There’s a link in today’s episode to a video of Buttons – who’s cute as a button – ambling about the field in her wheelchair. 

You’ll also find a link in today’s episode notes to video of a crocodile wrangler from the Northern Territory casually swatting away a massive croc as he works to clear a river crossing. The massive croc swims up to him on several occasions, and he just whacks it on the nose to make it go away.

I’m going to suggest you should probably not try that trick if you ever come across a croc yourself. Just a tip from me to you. 

Oh – and there’s a tiny bit of inappropriate language in the croc video – so be warned.

 

SQUIZ KIDS SALUTES

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So, you know how kids in Victoria have been home learning for most of this term? And you know how their teachers have been coming up with all sorts of creative ways to distract and entertain and educate them? 

Today we offer a great big Squiz Kids Salute to the Year 3 + 4 teachers at St Raphael’s Primary School in Preston, including Ms Pham – who came up with the idea of a virtual camp for their students. Stuck in Melbourne’s strict lockdown and unable to go on their scheduled school camp trip, the kids from St Raphael’s nevertheless made campfires in their backyards, sang songs together on Zoom, toasted marshmallows, went orienteering around their backyards and painted the footpaths outside their homes. We’re reliably informed it was the best virtual school camp trip any of them had ever been on.  

Go to the top of the class Ms Pham and Co. We salute you!

     

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. 

Taking up space on his bedside reading table this week is the brand new, advance copy of the 2021 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s packed full of the coolest information on record breaking feats from all over the world – including the man with the biggest mouth, the woman with the longest fingernails – eugh – and the woman who beat the world record for speed burrito eating. It’s a thing. 

On the listening front, he’s been grooving out to the Calvin Harris + The Weeknd’s remix of the song Over Now …. it’s got a seriously good bass line. 

And as for watching: he’s been made to watch one of his mum and dad’s all-time favourite films: Billy Elliott – about a boy from a mining town in the north of England who just has to dance. There’s a bit of colourful language – so make sure you watch it with a big person.

And as usual: there are links to all of these cool things in today’s episode notes.

 

PUBLISH AWARDS – BEST PODCAST 

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Speaking of cool things – we’re delighted to announce that Squiz Kids has been nominated for  Best Podcast in the 2020 Publish Awards … (kids cheering). How cool is that? We couldn’t be more stoked – and we hope you all are too. Thanks for listening every day. Awards are great: but honestly, just knowing we are  going into homes and classrooms and being listened to by tens of thousands of you every day is easily the best reward. 

 

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 …

  1. What’s the name of Australia’s national airline that yesterday offered a flight to nowhere?
  2. What girl’s name has been given to the hurricane that’s caused flooding in the United States?
  3. What’s the name of the calf running about a paddock in country Victoria with its hind legs strapped into a wheelchair?

 

SHOUT OUTS

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It’s September 18 ….. Last day of the school term for kids in Queensland and Victoria … woo-hoo … another week to go for the rest of you. Soz.

Rest assured those of you who have another week of school left – Squiz Kids has got your back – and we’ll be punching out podcasts for another week until you’ve all trundled off on holidays.

It’s also a Friday .. and that means a big long list of birthday shoutouts – so  crank up the birthday reggae tune … 

And it’s a great big happy birthday to …  Beth from Banyo, Cormac from Shoal Bay, Chelsea from Willawarrin, Sofia from Brisbane, Hudson from Wynnum, Isaac from Inverell , Parker Pine Mountain, Charlie from Empire Bay, Benjamin from Avoca Beach, Remi from Dalkeith, Tyler from Sunshine West, Ava and Cooper from Sydney, Jayden from Abbotsford, Eden from Sutherland, Atticus from Bentleigh, Arin from Point Cook, Erin from Beaumont Hills, Natsuki from North Sydney and Chloe from Mortlake. 

And a belated birthday shoutout to Kristiaan from Orange.

Weekend birthday shoutouts… Charlotte from Wamberal, Dakota from Launceston, Jake from Jindalee, Amity from Hornsby, Layla from Artarmon, Reena from Toongabbie, Nick from Kew, Anique from Liberty Grove, Amber from Canberra, Clayton from Ashmont, Marcus from North Rocks, Ethan from Mansfield, Joshie from St Roberts, Sophie from Albany Hills, Xander from Melbourne, Ellie from Crookwell Jasnoor from Quaker’s Hill, Ava-Rose from Oran Park, Walter from Rose Bay, Hayden from Craigburn, Freya from Coffs Harbour, Will from Moonee Ponds, Rylan from Sheoak Grove and Javish from Sydney.

Happy birthday one and all!

 

  The S’Quiz Answers:

  1. Qantas
  2. Sally
  3. Buttons