Thursday, 23 March, 2023
Big boost for Paralympians; the crocodile that came for lunch; a surprising artistic discovery; and here comes Lizzo!
LINKS
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Today’s Quick Links:
Paralympic Centre of Excellence: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-22/qld-brisbane-olympics-2032-university-of-queensland-paralympic/102128252
Scientists confirm long held theory about what inspired Monet: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/monet-haze-air-pollution-study-scn/index.html
10 Iconic French Impressionists: https://www.artst.org/french-impressionists/
Crocodile joins a picnic: https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/watch-crocodile-steals-ice-box-from-elderly-people-on-picnic-in-south-africa-3880754
Lizzo announces Aussie tour: https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/music-news/lizzo-splendour-headline-sideshows-sydney-melbourne-perth/102126230
World Meteorological Day 2023: https://sdg.iisd.org/events/world-meteorological-day-2023/
Dig Deeper:
Find out more about Paralympics Australia: https://www.paralympic.org.au/
About Brisbane 2032: https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/brisbane-2032
Impressionism and air pollution – PNAS Science Sessions podcast: https://www.pnas.org/post/podcast/impressionism-and-air-pollution
A message from the World Meteorological Organisation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGmqM5IcDXw
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THE LOWDOWN
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If you live in or have been to Brisbane recently, you will have noticed a lot of building activity going on.
Well that’s about to step up another level with the announcement yesterday that a Paralympics Centre of Excellence will be built in Queensland’s capital.
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock – or under a pile of dirty clothes in their bedroom – Brisbane is going to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
And yesterday plans were unveiled to build a training and performance centre of excellence for paralympians – with the hope Australia brings home a haul of gold medals at upcoming Paralympic events.
According to reports yesterday, of the 4.3 million Australians with a disability, only one in four take part in a sport – despite three quarters of them saying they want to.
The new centre will feature training facilities especially made for disabled athletes plus a wheelchair and prosthetics workshop. Prosthetics are artificial body parts – like legs, arms and hands – which many paralympians rely on to practice their chosen sport.
Brisbane 2032 … might sound like a long way away – but in reality, it’s only nine years – which is perfect timing for you lot. It means that any one of you out there – if you put in enough practice and effort – is the right age now to possibly compete for your country in a home-grown Olympics or Paralympics. How cool would that be?
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 Paris, in France – where scientists and art historians have banded together to make a surprising artistic discovery.
Back in the late 1800s – a group of painters who came to be known as The Impressionists created some paintings which are among the most famous, the most celebrated – and most expensive works of art in the world today. Artists including Monet, Degas, Cezanne and Renoir. Google those names and you’ll come across lots of paintings you’d recognise. I’ve stuck links to some of them in today’s episode notes.
Impressionist paintings were well known for presenting a hazy, indistinct picture of landscapes and monuments. And now a scientific study has found part of the reason for the famous Impressionist haze may have been air pollution. Studies have shown the times the paintings were created coincided with some of the worst air pollution of the period called the Industrial Revolution – a period in history in which factories were popping up everywhere and chimneys belched smoke and there were no pollution controls like we have today.
I’m not sure I’d say every pollution cloud has a silver lining .. but you know what I mean.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Never smile at a crocodile…. [to be sung]. You’ve heard the song, right? Well, two South African retirees had to put this advice into action recently when a crocodile joined their picnic … uninvited.
Rowena and Davout, both in their 70s, were enjoying a relaxing drive at a South African nature resere two and a half hours from the city of Johannesburg. They were hoping to catch sight of some local wildlife and had just spotted a cheetah, ‘tick’, so decided to pull over and set up for lunch … by a river.
The pair were just about ready to chow-down, when a clever crocodile sauntered up the riverbank and rested its snout on the couple’s blue esky before snatching it up and carrying it back to the river.
I’ve included video of the curious croc and the very surprised picnickers in your episode notes.
Here’s hoping the peskiest critters at your next picnic are the ants!
POP CULTURE CORNER
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It’s about damn time came the cry from Aussie Lizzo fans yesterday when the flute-playing rap sensation from America announced she’ll be doing a mini-tour of Australia when she’s down here in July.
Woot!
Perth, Melbourne and Sydney are on Lizzo’s list of cities she’ll be performing – on top her headline performance at Byron Bay’s Splendour in the Grass Festival.
The last time Lizzo came to Australia, she played a series of small gigs at places like the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne’s Forum … this time round she’s hitting the stadium circuit – because her star now shines that much brighter.
Marking my diary as we speak …
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- Name one of the impressionist painters named in today’s podcast? (Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas)
- In which country did a bunch of picnickers have an unwelcome crocodile guest?
- A centre of excellence for what athletes has been announced for Brisbane?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 23 – today is World Meteorological Day .. meteorology is the study of weather – a great opportunity to pause today and consider what a huge role weather plays in all our lives.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today… Lacey from Holsworthy, Conner from Macquarie Links, Carson from Canberra, Emerson from Crackenback, Lily from Riverside, Honey from Wodonga, Jedd from Brigadoon, Flynn from Northmead, Oliver from Frenchs Forest, Oliver from Mosman, Parlsona from Cabarita, Karen from Portland and Franca listening from Singapore.
Belated shoutouts go to…Noah from Wakerley, Hayley and Charlie from Pitt Town, Kewarra from Portland and Niamh from Darlington.
Classroom shout outs go to…
Year 4 with Miss Renate at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic School on Thursday Island, room 7 with Ms Campbell at Belmont Intermediate School in New Zealand, class 6M and Mrs Peiratos at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Sutherland, class 4SO and Mrs O’Riley at Albany Hills State School and lastly to class 5/6E and Mr Denatris at Dandenong South Primary School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Monet, Renoir, Degas or Cezanne
- South Africa
- Paralympians