Friday, 22 October, 2021
Melbourne’s happy day; New Zealand’s coolest cops; big weekend for cricket fans; and Noodle the lazy bones pug.
LINKS
New Zealand toy police: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1050505582364193
Noodle the pug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNyuckfipAs
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
——
Two hundred and sixty two. That’s the number of reasons Melbourne has to celebrate today after having spent two hundred and sixty two very long days in lockdown.
The streets of Melbourne will be alive with hope and joy and barely contained excitement today as the city emerges from its sixth COVID-inspired lockdown.
Since March last year, the city of five million people has spent almost nine months under stay-at-home orders – longer than any other city in the world. So if you have friends and family down there, don’t be surprised if they look a bit dazed and confused for the next couple of weeks … it’s like when you wake up early in the morning rubbing sleep from your eyes and your head just a little bit fuzzy.
Cafes, restaurants and pubs are all expected to be packed with relieved Melburnites today – and from Squiz Kids to you Melbourne: you have our full respect.
Melbourne’s emergence from lockdown comes a day after Australia hit the magic 70 percent double-vaccinated mark yesterday for everyone over the age of 16 … that little glimmer you see? That’s the light at the end of this COVID tunnel people ..
SPIN THE GLOBE
——–
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops … and today we’ve landed in New Zealand, where police have been called to a home to check out a little boy’s toy collection.
The little boy jumped on the phone when his father’s back was turned, dialled 111 – which is the Kiwi equivalent of triple zero – and when asked by the operator what his emergency was, explained that he had some cool toys that he wanted to show her.
A flustered, apologetic dad came quickly onto the line to explain his son had grabbed the phone without him seeing .. but the operator sent a call out to any police officers in the area wanting to check out the little boy’s toy collection to swing by. Which one officer did – letting the kid into his patrol car to play with the flashing lights.
And no: you absolutely should not try that yourself. As the police officer who visited explained to the little boy, emergency numbers should really only ever be used in an emergency. And showing off your toys- no matter how cool they are – is most definitely not an emergency.
SPORTS TIME
—–
Cricket fans, rejoice… the men’s T20 World Cup gets underway tomorrow, with Australia facing off against Scotland. The Aussies’ final warm-up match against India, which finished early yesterday, was a real shocker. The green and gold were 3 for 11 at one particularly low point, and ended up losing by EIGHT wickets. There’s now a lot of talk about who should be in the Aussie eleven tomorrow. Former Aussie captain Steve Smith will probably be on the the list, having hit 57 runs off 48 balls. Twelve countries are battling it out for the T20 trophy in games being played in the Middle Eastern countries of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, which is a real bummer for those of us watching on the East coast of Australia – the time difference means that games start at either 9pm or 1am. Thank goodness for the WBBL, whose four matches on Saturday get underway at the very respectable time of 10:15am. Gosh – my kids might even be awake by then..
POP CULTURE CORNER
—-
It’s a Friday … (CHEER) … and it’s been a long week .. so what better way to end the week than celebrate the awesomeness of Noodle the pug.
Noodle has become a TikTok sensation – with over 1.7 million followers – with his daily ‘bones – no bones’ videos. Ever wake up and feel like you just don’t have the energy to get out of bed? So does Noodle. Quite regularly, in fact. So every day, his owner Johnathan records a TikTok video where he stands Noodle up in his bed – and if he remains standing, it’s a bones day – where anything is possible; and if he flops back down like his legs are made of jelly .. it’s a no-bones day. Where the best possible thing to do is stay in bed ..
I think tomorrow’s definitely going to be a no-bones day … what about you?
There’s a link in today’s episode notes to Noodle doing his thing.
SQUIZ KIDS FOR SCHOOLS
—–
Teachers … if you like this podcast .. then let me let you in on a little secret. We’ve gone and developed a brand new resource – just for you – called Squiz Kids for Schools. Every day our super clever journalist-who-saw-the-light-and-became-a-teacher Amanda Bower puts together classroom activity sheets tied to the content of the daily podcast. It’s a great way to deepen your class’s interest in the world around them .. and extend the utility of this podcast. Today’s classroom activities are all about honing persuasive writing skills – using the cricket T20 and the pros and cons of organised sport as a topic.
By signing up to Squiz Kids for Schools – you’ll also get access each week to our super excellent Short Cut – a nine-minute deep dive on a newsy topic. This week is all about clever critters ..
Sign up for an obligation free trial at squizkids.com.au
THE S’QUIZ
—————–
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What’s the name of the pug from New York helping people decide if its a bones or no bones day?
- In which country did police answer an emergency call to check out a kid’s toy collection?
- What percentage vaccination rate did Australia hit yesterday which had everyone doing cartwheels?
SHOUT OUTS
——————-–
It’s October 22….National Wombat Day … where the snub-nosed, square-pooh producing critters are celebrated the world over. If you’re near a wombat today, show it some love.
It’s also a Friday – and you know what that means? An extra long birthday shout out segment … for which I’m going to roll out the birthday reggae tune .. hit it.
And it’s a happy birthday today to …Samirah from Invermay, Sophia from Perth, Paige and Georgia from Cairns, Oscar from Bradbury, Raaidh (pronounced Raa-id) from Melbourne, Carter from Evatt and Luke from Murrurundi.
Not forgetting of course all of those Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday over the coming weekend …Emily from Dubbo, Karrington from Kempsey, twins Luke and Lucy from Cannon Hill, Molly from Bradbury, Bonnie from Murarrie, Nate from Canberra, Mylah from Murrurundi, Krystal from Hughenden, Charlotte from North Nowra, Matt from Manly Vale, Ciaran from East Gosford, Finn from Brisbane, Jack from Spreyton, Julian from Coogee, Alisa from Mitcham, Jackson from Baulkham Hills and Lucy -who’s listening all the way over there in Oslo in Norway.
And because many of our friends in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney still aren’t at school we are sending out home learning herograms … Herogram to Ms Gray, the principal at Tomaree Public School, and also to
Miss Jess and Grade 1/2J at St Mary’s Primary School in Thornbury. The students at Trinity Catholic School in Harden send a home learning ‘shout out’ to the staff and students at their sister school in Canberra – Holy Trinity Primary School. And one last herogram to Audrey in Sydney for working so hard at kindy homeschool, from her sister Tilda.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Noodle
- New Zealand
- 70 percent