Thursday, 3 March, 2022
Hello Tassie, are you there?; Sydney cops a soaking; Paraguay’s disappearing city; and dog rescued from icy island.
LINKS
Watch Paraguay’s capital become covered in ash: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/mar/01/massive-ash-cloud-from-wildfires-engulfs-southern-paraguay-video
Dog rescued from floating ice: https://www.witn.com/2022/03/02/caught-cam-first-responders-save-dog-floating-icy-detroit-river/
Aaron Blabey – Bad Guys author – Q+A
Bad Guys movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Xt0yXaDPU
Meet the Bad Guys: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6WAdMEJaqo
Squiz Kids for Schools: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
How To Become A Squiz Kids Correspondent: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FH2HA28InnLU6UxE91wrLBAbCMT40Mua/view
Squiz Kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squizkids/?hl=en
Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Send us an email at [email protected]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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Thousands of Sydneysiders were evacuated from their homes last night as the east coast rain bomb continued along its destructive path, causing the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers to break their banks.
Residents of Sydney’s north-west packed what belongings they could and headed for higher ground after the NSW government warned floodwaters could reach record levels.
The Georges River in the city’s south was also said to be rising fast, with residents there warned to be ready to leave.
Sydney’s turn in the rain-bomb firing line comes as Brisbane, Lismore, Ballina and countless other towns in the south east of Queensland and north of NSW start the long and slow clean up process following the extraordinary weather event.
Yesterday, as some Queensland schools re-opened – more than 170 schools in northern NSW remained closed – many cut off by floodwaters, some six feet underwater.
And while the rains have passed in large parts of the east coast, the flood waters haven’t yet gone down – causing all sorts of problems – requiring emergency services to perform over 300 flood rescues yesterday alone.
Stay safe out there Squiz Kids..
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Hello Tasmania … can you hear us? Because for a moment there on Tuesday, you were cut off from the rest of Australia.
I mean – with the Bass Strait and you being an island and all – you’re always cut off. But thanks to a failure of what’s called an ‘undersea cable’ all phone and internet lines into and out of Tassie were down for a five hour period on Tuesday.
An undersea cable is just what it sounds like. A big cable that runs underneath the sea, made up of hundreds of fibres bundled together to carry internet signal and make phone calls possible.
Flights into and out of Tassie were delayed, banks and ATMS shut down and people were unable to access social media. Imagine the horror!
It was all caused by some drilling work in Victoria accidentally cutting the cable. Ooops.
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 South America… in a country called Paraguay, to be precise… where a massive, fast-moving cloud of ash has engulfed the capital of Asunción. Engulfed means swallowed up, and this particular cloud of smoke and soot is hundreds of metres high and many kilometres wide… so you can see how it might choke an entire city. The smoke has travelled 250km north from bushfires burning out of control in northern Argentina. A strong, cold wind has apparently acted like a broom, scooping up soot and dust from burnt ground, and sweeping it towards Paraguay.
Residents of Asunción have been told to stay indoors and avoid breathing the muck, and Paraguayan birds were apparently so confused by the darkness, that they went into trees to roost—meaning sleep—in the middle of the day. I’ve put a link to an incredible video in your episode notes, where you can see that terrible cloud roll in.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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And it’s a double-header doggie-inspired Animal Kingdom today – with not one, but two tales from the canine world. That’s tales TALES – not TAILS by the way …
First up and there’s been an explosion here in Australia in the number of pups heading into doggie day care … Turns out lots of us adopted dogs during the pandemic – to have company during lockdown – and now as more and more big people head back to the office to work – dogs are being sent to doggie day care centres – where they’re having to get used to spending time with other pooches – and not humans. Oh the indignity – my Louis would never go for that ..
And quickly across to the city of Detroit, in the United States – where it’s winter and freezing cold – and a dog has been rescued from a floating piece of ice. The pooch – who had only recently been adopted and escaped from his new home – had to be coaxed off his freezing platform into the arms of a rescuer. The dog has since been reunited with his adoptive family and is said to have thawed out and is doing well. Louis and I both say woof to that ..
AARON BLABEY Q+A
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Here’s a question: what do you get when you cross a Mr Wolf, with a Mr Snake, a Mr Piranha and a Mr Shark? Only the coolest kids books going around, that’s what.
I’m talking about BAD GUYS – the extra-awesome book series by Aussie author, Aaron Blabey.
Did you know there’s a BAD GUYS movie coming out in time for the next school hols? And did you also know that Aaron Blabey is a big Squiz Kids fan – and so he’s agreed to take the Q+A hotseat and answer any questions you might have for him?
Squiz Kids Q+As for those who don’t know, are a chance for you, the kids of Australia, to ask questions of people in the news.
So – don’t just sit there. This is your chance to find out what it’s like to be best-selling kids author … where he gets his ideas for the books … and whether, as the author and illustrator, he starts with the story first or the drawings ..
A huge thanks to all of the Squiz Kids who have sent in questions already. Remember: we’ve got ten family passes to the movie to give away to the ten best questions. So get cracking.
Send your questions for Aaron to [email protected] … and meanwhile, check out a couple of BAD GUYS video links in today’s episode notes – including the new movie trailer…
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 …
- Which state was accidentally cut off from the rest of Australia on Tuesday?
- What caused the cloud of ash choking the Paraguayan city of Asuncion?
- What was a pooch in Detroit floating on when he was rescued this week?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 3 … today is World Book Day … a worldwide celebration of reading … which I wholeheartedly endorse … it’s also my 15th wedding anniversary – so excuse me while I pop out and buy some flowers.
Plus it’s a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Blake from Vermont South, Alba from Ivanhoe, Sky from Adelaide, Christian from Abbotsford, Emilia from Bellevue Hill, Jack from Munno Parra, Ashton from St Leonards and twins Gus and Taj from Perth.
And a belated birthday wish goes to…Jack from Hawthorn East
Classroom shout outs go to …class 6A and Mr Page at Mark Oliphant College in Munno Para, class 5C at St Dympna’s Primary School in Aspley and to Miss V and her class 5/6V at Windsor Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Tasmania
- Bushfire
- Ice