Monday, August 14, 2023
Matildas make history again; New Zealand’s dinner robot; Indigenous fashion awards; and the snake that fell from the sky.
LINKS
National Indigenous Fashion Award winners: https://nifa.com.au/nifa-2023-winners/
Let’s go, King Stingray (official music video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEiiCnIAwkg
Treaty, Yothu Yindi (original version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf-jHCdafZY
Snake in the loo
https://apnews.com/article/snake-toilet-home-arizona-69468bc279d5ac12b63656784a2d1cd4
Squiz Kids LIVE! Buy tickets to our Canberra show here:
https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/squiz-kids-live/154887
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/
Newshounds
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THE LOWDOWN
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In the end – it came down to a penalty shoot out. Fifteen long minutes of players taking turns at a penalty shot at goal – twenty shots at goal on Saturday night where it felt like the entire country was holding its breath – barely daring to watch – in the longest penalty shoot out in World Cup history.
And then, Cortnee Vine slotted the goal that sent the Matildas into their first ever World Cup semi-final – finally beating France by 7-6 in the penalty shootout that stopped a nation.
And the crowd went wild. (INSERT CROWD CHEER)
After two gruelling hours of top class football – and with the scores level between Australia and France at nil all – it all came down to which team held its nerve in the penalty box, which goalkeeper pulled off the most number of heroic saves – and which team had lady luck firmly on its side.
Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold turned in the performance of her career, saving so many goals throughout the game – but finally it was the same team effort that has seen the Matildas soar in this World Cup that saw them advance to the final four.
It’s been a remarkable tournament for the Matildas -with records seemingly being broken on a weekly basis.
As well as this now being the first time ever an Aussie team has made it to the World Cup semis – men’s or women’s – the tournament is the most attended women’s sporting event in history with more than 1.7 million spectators turning out to watch games both here and in New Zealand.
And get this: it’s estimated that more than 4.17 million people tuned in to watch the game on TV on Saturday night – making it the biggest TV sporting audience in Australia for more than two decades!
So, if you were among the millions watching the game on TV – or among the 50,000 lucky enough to be in the stadium in Brisbane on Saturday night – know that you have been a part of history this weekend. And if you’re a little girl who likes football – or thinks she might like to give it a try – you now have a whole host of high-profile role models.
Of course: now that the celebrations are over – the real work begins – with the Matildas now due to face off against tournament favourites England in Sydney on Wednesday night. Fingers, toes, legs, arms, eyes crossed. C,mon Tillies – you’ve got this!
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin find a news story from wherever it stops and today we’ve landed just across the ditch, in Aotearoa New Zealand, where a supermarket chain has been experimenting with artificial intelligence to help their customers use up leftovers and save money.
The application, which features on the supermarket’s website, is called Savey The Meal Bot. Adults are able to enter the items they have at home in the pantry and Savey will create a meal plan using those items. Only, adults can be just as silly as kids and some people started entering what are clearly non-food items like glue and mosquito-repellent … ewwww!
Hmm I’m feeling a bit peckish, lets see what Savey thinks I can rustle up [typing/bing]. Anyone for oreo and vegetable stir fry?
Since people started posted these crazy culinary creations on social media the supermarket has made a few changes to Savey and you are now warned that the recipes have not been reviewed by humans and have to choose from a drop-down list of foods; so there’s no room for silly business.
CCC
A-ha – it’s the Classroom Companion Clarion … and a big welcome to all the new teachers who signed up in the last week following the post from Instagram’s Sarah Weston – aka @giftedandtalenteacher … and today Christie, Squiz Kids’ resident primary school teacher, has knocked it out of the ball park with three, differentiated versions of the classroom activity sheet, tied to this news item in the podcast. See which stories didn’t make the cut of today’s podcast – and learn a little something along the way. Promise it won’t hurt … And if you’re not among the thousands of teachers regularly using our FREE Classroom Companion resources, out every Monday and Wednesday – then do yourself a favour and sign up to Squiz Kids Classroom at squizkids.com.au
POP CULTURE CORNER
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And just in case we hadn’t celebrated enough today, let’s go to Darwin, where some of the most innovative and creative Indigenous Australians were recognised as leaders in the fashion and music industries last week.
The National Indigenous Fashion Awards (NIFA) saw a record-breaking 60 nominees this year, whose designs wove together traditional and modern design and practices to create unique and stunning fashion. I’ve stuck a link in your episode note so you can take a look at all the winning outfits.
And on Saturday evening, the 19th National Indigenous Music awards (or Nimas) went off! King Stingray from Arnhem Land, took out song of the year and film clip of the year for their very catchy tune ‘Let’s Go’. The song encompasses the joy the fellas feel leaving the big city and heading back onto Country. I’ve stuck a link to the song and music video in your episode notes.
And your parents might be interested to know that a couple of these lads are the nephew and son of two Yothu Yindi band members. Yothu Yindi who are arguably Australia’s best known Indigenous band, making music for more than three decades, were themselves inducted hall of fame during the ceremony. Oh what a night!
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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And it’s a special What The Snake?!? edition of Animal Kingdom today – with two stories of close encounters of the snake kind.
Both of which have to be heard to be believed.
The first involves a woman in Texas, in the United States, who was minding her own business, mowing her lawn, when a snake fell from the sky and wrapped itself around her arm. Understandably, she was a bit freaked out – but hardly had time to scream before the hawk that had been carrying the snake, swooped down and landed on her arm and tried to retrieve its prey. A wild scene ensued as the woman tried to get both snake and hawk off her arm – which thankfully, she finally managed to do.
And while that’s horrifying: spare a thought for the woman in Arizona, also in the United States, who opened her toilet seat to find a metre-long black snake curled up in the bowl. I’ve a stuck a link in today’s episode notes to video of a snake catcher removing it – if you think you’re brave enough to go there.
I can’t stand snakes. If that were me I would have been HISS-terical … (DAD JOKE ALARM) .. ah come on – I had to do something to lighten the mood.
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 …
- What’s the name of the AI meal bot helping New Zealanders plan their dinner?
- What sort of bird dropped a snake onto a woman’s arm in Texas?
- Which team did the Matildas beat on Saturday night to book a place in the World Cup semi finals?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 14 – today is World Lizard Day – where we celebrate our scaly friends and their many shapes and sizes.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Austin from Hazelbrook, Ava from Molong, Alba from Gladesville, Alex from Mount Keira, Leilani from Burpengary, Amelia from Maudsland, Massimo from Doubleview, Alfred from Thursday Island, Leon from Beverly Hills (Sydney), Kaitlyn and Alex from Carlingford, Spencer from Greenbank and Jack from Kearns.
Belated birthday shout outs go to …. Veronica from Sydney, Gemma from Lake Bolac, Morgan from Kenthurst, Finn from Mt Crosby, George from Annandale, Eva, Izzy and Bartolina from Abbotsford and Finlay listening over in Singapore.
Classroom shoutouts today go to … class 6R and Mrs Calcutt at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Brisbane, class 2T and Mrs Texier at Gladesville Public School, class 2/5C with Ms Cavanagh and Mrs Kennedy at Regentville Public School, Mrs Ree’s class at Sturt Public School in Wagga Wagga and class 6R4 with Mrs Adams at Spring Mountain State School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Savey
- Hawk
- France