Thursday, 21 May, 2020

The Great Aussie Border Stoush; the goal saving cat; Cricket’s spit debate heats up; and Aussie star says bye-bye Batwoman.

LINKS:

Goal saving cat:

https://twitter.com/chrismd10/status/1262431963371225091

Babysitters Club trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G9BoFUqMrs

 

– EPISODE TRANSCRIPT –

 

THE LOWDOWN

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In years to come it will be known as the Great Border Stoush of 2020 .. or it may well be a forgotten footnote in the history of a pandemic – either way, the war of words between Australia’s states about when and how and why they should open their borders has escalated.

Yesterday, WA Premier Mark McGowan thumbed his nose – which is a fancy way of saying he chose to ignore – calls from his NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian to open his state’s borders, which have been closed for weeks since the coronavirus threat reared its head. It follows a similar gesture from Queensland Premier, Annastascia Palaszcsuk who earlier this week responded to the NSW Premier’s calls to open the Sunshine State’s borders by saying they may well stay closed until September. Tasmania’s also not looking to let outsiders in for the time being. Meanwhile, the country’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer yesterday said there was no medical reason why states borders should be closed. 

So – why is this a thing? Because economic activity in Australia is impacted when people and things can’t move freely about the country. And there’s no better example of that than the tourism industry. Hotel and resort and caravan park and tourist attraction operators around the country are anxious that as long as    state borders are closed, lots of holiday makers can’t come and spend their money. 

**

Remember Captain Tom Moore? The 100 year-old former British soldier who raised more than 60 million dollars for the health service by doing 100 laps of his back garden on his walking frame? He’s about to become Sir Tom Moore, after the Queen granted special permission for him to join the knighthood. Further evidence that it’s never too late to make a difference.

 

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 UK … where a cat is making waves for its remarkable skills as a goalkeeper.

YouTube star and footy fanatic, Chris MD, shared a video of his cat in goals, blocking his every attempt to score – and the clip went viral. Last night, despite only having been online for 24 hours, had clocked up an impressive 8 million views. Which is a lot – even for a cat video. 

The moggy, called Meownuel Neuer – in honour of the German goalie, Manuel Neuer – is pretty agile for a feline. There’s a link in today’s episode notes – because who doesn’t love a cat video?

 

SPORTS TIME!

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In yesterday’s Squiz Kids we brought you news of the international ban on the practice of spitting on cricket balls – a tactic common among bowlers trying to achieve that elusive ‘reverse swing’. The use of sweat from the brow to polish the ball was deemed ok – but saliva was out  The story has rolled along a bit since then – see what we did there? – with Cricket Australia weighing in with the suggestion that the cricket ball should  be doused in disinfectant during play – to minimise the chance of players coming into contact with bodily fluids of any kind. But that itself presents issues: as cricket balls are made of leather, and there’s no research yet on whether disinfectant would even work – much less what it would mean for reverse swing. So much saliva … so many questions.  

 

POP CULTURE CORNER

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Aussie actress Ruby Rose has hung up her superhero cape and decided to walk away from one of Hollywood’s most sought after roles. The Melbourne born actress announced yesterday that she was quitting the lead role in the US TV series, Batwoman – declining to take part in filming of the second series and thanking producers for the opportunity to play the DC Comics heroine. 

And while it’s sad comic book fans won’t be able to cheer along an Aussie in the second series of Batwoman, they can at least take heart that a children’s book favourite, The Babysitter’s Club has been adapted for TV and will be released on the streaming service Netflix at the beginning of July. There’s a link in today’s episode notes for any fans out there of Claudia, Stacey and Kristy ..

 

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 is the name of the British war veteran who raised $60 million for the national health service? 
2. What DC Comics superhero has actress Ruby Rose decided she no longer wants to portray?
3. Name the popular children’s book series which has been made into an upcoming TV show? 

 

SHOUT OUTS

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Today’s birthday shoutouts… Hope from Cairns, Hayden from Warracknabeal, Emmett from Warrandyte, William from Crookwell, Jolyna from Balwyn, Charlotte from Bulimba, Hazza and Charlie from Melbourne, Isaac from Cardiff, Mirelle from Northcote, Zeb from Traralgon, Lilah-Rose from Mount Helen, Lachlan from Mildura, Archie from Maroubra, William from Taralga , Isabella from Geelong, Denise from Perth,Lliana from Chester Hill, — and making up our international contingent today, Oliver from Johor, Malaysia, Jeff from Belfast, Northern Ireland and Angelo from Rome, Italy. Happy birthday to you all.

And some belated birthday shoutouts…Tommy from Shoal Bay and Yafi and Julianna from Sydney.

Today’s classroom shoutouts… to Ruby and Class 6W at St John The Apostle in Narraweena, 5/4W and 6/5C at Concord West Public School, Miss Senior’s class at Birmingham Primary School, and classes 3/4K and 3/4S at Broken Hill North Public School.

 

The S’Quiz Answers:

1. Tom Moore .. or rather Sir Tom Moore
2. Batwoman
3. The Babysitters Club