Tuesday, 26 October, 2021

Dolphins and rollercoasters in vaccine push; Chile’s spooky town of mummies; Michael Jordan’s million-dollar trainers; and BTS perform to an empty stadium.

 

LINKS

Arica’s 7,000-year-old mummies: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58639748 

 

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

Dolphins, Bugs Bunny, surf-life-savers and Superman will be joining forces this weekend to push up the rate of COVID vaccination in Australia as the country races back towards normality. 

The Queensland government has announced that pop-up vaccination hubs will be set up in surf-life saving clubs and theme parks in the Sunshine State in an attempt to convince those remaining residents who haven’t had the jab to roll up their sleeves.

Vaccination clinics will be set up at Movie World, Sea World and Dream World on the Gold Coast, and further north at Bindi and Bob Irwin’s Australia Zoo – as the government up north tries to use the popularity of theme parks over the coming Queensland long-weekend to lift vaccination rates in line with other states.

Right now, Queensland is coming second last in Australia in terms of states who are rocketing ahead with double dose protection against COVID. According to yesterday’s government figures, ACT and NSW were miles ahead with 87 and 85% of their populations double-dosed, closely followed by Victoria with 74% …compared to Queensland’s 60% and WA’s 59% of residents having been double jabbed. 

The race is on for Queensland to get as many people vaccinated as possible before that dastardly Delta strain crosses its border.

Get a COVID jab from Bugs Bunny? Why not: especially if there was a roller-coaster ride and a bag of fairy floss thrown into the bargain. 

 

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, just in time for Halloween, we’ve landed in the town of Arica in Chile … where locals are always running into mummies. I’m not talking about the kind of Mummy who kisses you goodnight… this is the 7,000-year-old preserved, dead-body kind of mummy. 

Arica is home to the world’s oldest mummies… 2,000 years older than the more famous Egyptian ones. The Chinchorro people, who lived in northern Chile and southern Peru thousands of years ago, mummified dead adults, children, and even babies as a way to keep their memories alive. They’d stuff the body with sticks and other natural materials, attach thin black hair onto the head, and cover the face with a clay mask. 

There are HUNDREDS of mummies all over Arica, and it’s not unusual for a curious dog, or construction worker, to dig one up. Earlier this year, the area was declared a World Heritage Site, and a mummy museum is now being planned. Until you can take a trip to Chile, check out your episode notes for some spooooky pictures.  

 

SPORTS TIME

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How much would you pay for a pair of used, smelly trainers? What if I told you they were once worn by basketball’s very own GOAT – Michael Jordan. No, I’m not suggesting he’s a goat .. it stands for Greatest Of All Time. 

A pair of Nikes that Jordan wore in his first ever season with the Chicago Bulls have just sold at auction for just under $2 million.

And if you think that’s something: get this. They’re not even the most expensive trainers ever sold to a collector. That honour belongs to Kanye West, whose Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes sold earlier this year for $2.45 million.

So next time your mum wants to throw out your stinky trainers – whack ‘em on E-bay. You never know … 

  

POP CULTURE CORNER

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Normally, their stadium concerts sell out in minutes. And in any normal year, Korean boy-band BTS – the biggest group on the planet right now – would be able to sell-out ten stadium concerts without even really trying.

But because of the pandemic, the boys performed a concert at the weekend in front of 69,000 empty seats at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul – the capital city of their home country, South Korea.

The concert was streamed live – and watched by millions of ecstatic BTS fans – also known as the Army – in what their record company said was 197 countries around the world. 

The lads will perform in front of a real crowd at the end of November at a series of concerts in Los Angeles. Which will also be streamed live to paying customers on YouTube. They’re so hi-tech. 

 

SQUIZ KIDS FOR SCHOOLS

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Hey teachers … don’t forget… to celebrate World Teacher’s Day this coming Friday, we’re offering a year’s subscription to Squiz Kids for Schools to a lucky school whose teacher signs up to our free trial before the end of this week. Depending on the size of your school – that’s a prize value of $3,000 … Squiz Kids for Schools serves up a daily menu of classroom resources tied to the podcast. You and your kids will love it. And if you’ve already signed up  – good on you – now get one of your colleagues to do it and you can be in the running to win a year’s free access. Got to be in it to win it. 

 

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. The stinky old trainers of which former basketball great have just sold for almost $2million?
  2. In which South American country is the town full of mummies?
  3. The boys from BTS performed in front of an empty stadium in their home city called what?

 

SHOUT OUTS

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It’s October 26 … birthday of Guy Sebastian, country singer Keith Urban and former US presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. What an unlikely trio they make..

It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Caitlin from Craigburn, Ivy from Canberra, Isabella from Macleay Island and twins Tam and Tav from Bulleen. 

 And belated birthday shout outs go to Yuval from Craigburn, Bella from Hammond Park, Malani from Fernhill and Jett from Sunbury.

And because we’re all transitioning back to the classroom (CHEER) … we’re taking the home learning herogram requests you’ve sent in and turned them into classroom shout outs … 

Classroom shout outs go to class 3/4 Sapphire and Mrs Sinclair at Ashmont Public School in Wagga Wagga and Mrs Stace, the recent prac teacher, says thanks for having her in your classroom! 

Shout outs also to Mr Shevlin and the year 5 teachers at Dee Why Public School, to class Guya at Cowra Public School and Mrs Skene, class 2 Blue at St Ignatius Catholic Primary School in Toowong, and class senior J at St Monica’s Primary School in Footscray.  Zoe sends a shout out to the entire Lindfield Public School and Claudia sends one to class 5/6 Bradman at Appin Public School. 

 

The S’Quiz Answers:

  1. Michael Jordan
  2. Chile
  3. Seoul