Monday, 5 December, 2022
Football fairytale comes to an end; Qatar’s camel beauty pageant; India’s crocodile caravan; and Jonathan, the world’s oldest tortoise.
LINKS
Camel beauty pageant: https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-entertainment-oddities-soccer-sports-f1cb2ceb8e8f54dd24b27d74d096e983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s0wt0B8kKc
Johnathan, the world’s oldest tortoise:
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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The Socceroos football fairytale at the World Cup in Qatar has come to an end after the boys in green and gold put in a valiant effort against world number three, Argentina yesterday morning, but ultimately lost 2-1.
Thousands of Aussies set their alarm clocks early and either turned on the telly or made their way to a live site in their capital city to see if Australia might defy the odds and kick their way into the World Cup quarter finals.
But finally, the fancy footwork of one of the world’s best players, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, plus a goal by forward Julian Alvarez following a fumble by our goalie Matt Ryan meant the lads in blue and white took the win. Who’d be a goalie, seriously?
Squiz Kids favourite Socceroo, 18 year old Garang Kuol – the kid who came from a refugee camp in Egypt, settled in Shepparton and became the youngest player to play in the World Cup knockouts since the great Brazilian player Pele in 1958 – came so close to evening up the score in the dying minutes of the game – as most of the nation hung on their edge of their seats.
And while we didn’t come away with a win – there was still plenty to celebrate. Including that we made it to the top 16 in the first place … especially given we are ranked 38th in the world and countries like Belgium, Denmark and Germany – ranked 2nd, 10th and 11th in the world respectively – did not.
Plus the fact that this team of young guns came into the World Cup with critics suggesting they didn’t have the experience required to make any kind of impression.
Plus the fact – as one commentator on the telly pointed out yesterday – that now, with our Matildas – the women’s national soccer team, already kicking goals internationally and the women’s World Cup to be held here in Australia next year – to have a strong men’s national team can only be good for the sport.
Which helped put into perspective the comments from Socceroo midfielder Jackson Irvine who was clearly upset after the loss and said through tears that he hoped they had made Australia proud of them.
You most certainly did, mate. You most certainly did.
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 Qatar … again … where a camel beauty pageant has just been held to find the prettiest camel in the Arabian desert.
Calling itself the ‘world cup of camels’ – the event attracted camels from all over the region … and the winner was Nazaa’a … a light-haired beauty with long eyelashes and a pout to die for.
Nazaa’a’s owners won $80,000 for having the prettiest camel in the parade – helped by the jewel-encrusted necklace she wore for the big event.
Camels are an important part of life in many Arab countries – and owners of show-breeds regularly enter them in beauty pageants like dog breeders in the West do with dog shows we have covered in the podcast.
There are even vets on hand at these camel pageants to make sure the entrants haven’t been enhanced by Botox or fillers … which are cosmetic procedures some humans undertake to try to look younger or more beautiful. Last year dozens of camels at a pageant in Saudi Arabia were disqualified for having undergone cosmetic procedures.
You can’t make this stuff up …
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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It’s the end of term – so we’re hitting you today with a double dose of Animal Kingdom.
Starting with a crocodile caravan in India where wildlife rangers are trying to relocate up to 1000 crocs from an overcrowded zoo into a wildlife sanctuary 2000 kilometres away.
Now, moving one croc even a metre would be a challenge – imagine moving 1000 crocodiles 2000 kilometres? It boggles the mind.
The move is necessary because overcrowding in their current home has led to some nasty fights. It’s like you and your siblings when you’re in close contact with one another for an extended period of time – you start squabbling …except in this case the protagonists have razor sharp teeth .. yikes.
Meanwhile, on the tiny island of St Helena in the middle of the Atlantic ocean – Jonathan, the world’s oldest tortoise has just celebrated his 190th birthday.
In St Helena, Jonathan is a celebrity – he lives at the governor’s house alongside three other giant tortoises, David, Emma and Fred.
He’s blind and has no sense of smell – but vets on the island reckon he can still hear well and still has his appetite – even if he spends most days sleeping.
Sounds idyllic to me …
SUMMER CONTENT PROMO
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Ahhhh, yes … not long until the summer holidays kick in. And as a special Xmas gift to you – you’ll be excited to know that we’re come up with a bunch of cool summer content for you gorge on during the hols.
On Mondays, there’ll be a Squiz Kids Shortcut – a deep dive into a big topic. Every Wednesday morning, the Squiz Kids superfast supersonic jetliner will depart to a different country in an episode of Squiz The World … and each Saturday, we’ll have a Kids vs Adults Bumper S’Quiz…. your chance to challenge the adults in your life and prove once and for all that kids are smarter than grownups.
Make sure you’ve subscribed to Squiz Kids in your favourite podcasting app and the eps will pop-up in your feed as they drop – or look out for them on the Squiz Kids website. You’re welcome.
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What was the score in the Socceroos v Argentina match yesterday?
- What sort of animal is Jonathan who celebrated his 190th birthday?
- Bit of a trick one .. in which country were camels recently disqualified from a beauty pageant after it was revealed they’d had Botox?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s December 5 – today is International Ninja Day … how cool is that? Plus it’s the birthday of one of the Squiz Kids OGs, my super excellent daughter Rosie. Happy birthday sweetheart.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Logan from Vermont South, Mia from Woongarrah, Ebony from Wanniassa, Julian from Bronte, Kenzi from Junee, Henry O from Dickson, Emily from Brisbane and Angela listening in China.
Belated birthday shout outs go to…Sebastian from West Hobart, Taylor from Elermore Vale, Eva from Wheelers Hill and Dom from Tumut.
Classroom shoutouts go to … class 6G and Miss Gauci at Claremont Meadows Public School, years 4 and 5 and Mr White at St Mary Mackillop School in Wallaroo, Room 10 and at Orelia Primary School in Kwinana, class LA21 and Miss Perry at Atwell Primary School, class 3 Green and Mrs Searle at All Saints Primary School in Albany Creek, class 5 Starfish and Miss Molly at Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School in Terrigal, class 4W and Miss Murdoch at St John the Baptist Primary School in Maitland and lastly class 5A and Miss Archer at Edgeworth Heights Public School.
And a quick note on Classroom Shoutouts … we’ve got only 9 podcasts left in the year and over 120 Classroom Shoutouts – and counting – in the Squiz Kids mail box queue – we’ll do our best to get through as many as possible before the podcast wraps on December 16 – but if we don’t please accept our apologies and please get in touch when the school term resumes next year …
The S’Quiz Answers:
- 2-1
- Giant tortoise
- Saudi Arabia