Monday, 2 November, 2020

Donut day for Australia; the great fox spider returns; Wallabies take a thrashing; and Bluey’s new friend.

 

LINKS

Vote for Squiz Kids – Australian Podcasting Awards: https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote

 

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

 

THE LOWDOWN

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A little bit of happy coronavirus history was made in Australia on Saturday when, for the first time since the start of June, there were zero cases of community transmission recorded — right around the country.

It means that we’re continuing to do a really good job combating the coronavirus – and all that time in lockdown that our Melbourne friends have had to endure, and all the border closures and other restrictions are working. So, yay for us.

Queensland Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk also made a little bit of history on Saturday, becoming the first female politician in Australia to win three elections in a row.

Premier Palaszczuk was re-elected to office as the party she leads, the Queensland Labor Party, won the state election. 

It was quite a day in Queensland, all things considered, with large parts of the south-east of the state smashed by a super-storm that chucked down hail stones – ranging in size from marbles to about the size of a tennis ball. Ouch. 

 

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 find ourselves in England … where a spider named after a fox has been found after going missing for 27 years.

Spider lovers around the world (and no, i’m not one of those people either …) were celebrating the discovery of the great fox spider, which many conservationists believed was extinct on account of the fact the last sighting of it in the wild was almost three decades ago.

With its eight black eyes, it has wraparound vision and is considered one of the best hunters in the spider universe. As one of the largest members of the wolf spider family – which are hunting spiders that do not use webs to catch prey – it chases down beetles, ants and smaller spiders before pouncing on them and injecting deadly venom. The prey cannot move and the venom makes its internal organs slowly liquefy. Gross…

The English man who found the great fox spider said it was one of the best days of his life, and described the insect as ‘gorgeous’. Which is not a word i would ever use to describe a spider …

 

SPORTS TIME

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Ouch … that hurt. I’m talking about the Bledisloe Cup rugby match on Saturday night between the Wallabies and the All Black … the same match in which Australia was trounced by the New Zealand team. A trouncing is also known as a thrashing, a whumping, or a wiping of the floor. Whatever you want to call it, the 43-5 scoreline – a record loss for the Aussies against the Kiwis – said it all. As did the faces of the Australian team at the end of the game. Let’s just say there wasn’t a smile in the house. Except for the All Blacks – who were very happy to hold aloft the glimmering Bledisloe Cup trophy. But the Aussies don’t get to skulk off and lick their wounds just yet – there’s still one match to go in the series, when the two teams meet again next week in Brisbane.

 

POP CULTURE CORNER

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What do you get when you cross Australia’s favourite cartoon cattle dog with Australia’s favourite wildlife warrior? A special Robert Irwin episode of Bluey, that’s what.

Hot on the blue heels of the news that ABC Kids favourite Bluey is back for a second season comes news that Robert Irwin – brother of Bindi, of Australia Zoo fame – will be voicing a character called Alfie in this Wednesday’s episode of the hugely popular animated series. 

And as if that isn’t exciting enough: Bluey fans can whip themselves in a doggy-inspired frenzy following the news that a third series is already in the works …. And there’s talk there might even be a special Christmas episode next month … 

 

AWARDS TIME!

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Speaking of exciting news … we’re delighted to announce that Squiz Kids, your favourite podcast, has been shortlisted for not one, but two awards in the upcoming Australian Podcast Awards. 

But we need your help to make sure we win. 

If you have a moment this week to go online and vote for us – you can help show how powerful kids can be when they band together. Just visit australianpodcastawards.com and click on the link to Vote. I’ll stick a link in the episode notes too. Let’s win this thing!

https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote

 

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. Which Australian state held an election over the weekend?
  2. Insect lovers in England are celebrating the return of what sort of spider?
  3. Name the hugely-popular cartoon dog series that will this week feature the voice of Robert Irwin?

 

SHOUT OUTS

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It’s November 2 …  in Mexico, it’s the Day of the Dead – which is a lot less scary than it sounds ,.. It’s a day for people to remember and celebrate the lives of friends and family who have died. There’s a great Pixar animated film about it, called Coco — if you haven’t seen it, check it out.

It’s also 53 sleeps til Christmas … almost time to deck the halls …

It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … 

Jahkyah from Wellington Point, Chloe from Griffith, Bis from Carroll, Maddy from Sutherland, Matilda from Warracknabeal, Jacob from Sydney, Sam from Lincoln and Royce from Gordon. 

And some belated birthday shoutouts…. Amaia from Avoca Beach, Elizabeth from Redlynch, Letaya from Shoal Bay and Banjo from the Central Coast

 Happy birthday one and all!

Classroom shoutouts… 5/6G at St Brigids Primary School in Healesville,  Year 4 at Tenison Woods Catholic School,  Mrs Salih and 3C at Amity College in Prestons, class 316 at Greythorn Primary School and 6TN with Miss Noble at Lindfield East Public School

 

The S’Quiz Answers:

  1. Queensland
  2. Great fox spider
  3. Bluey