Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Kiwi Jacinda takes flight; Orangutan climbing school; Michael Jordan’s record breaking shoes; and Lego Masters crowned.
LINKS:
Orangutan tree climb training:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyU8Qrt_XdI&feature=youtu.be
– EPISODE TRANSCRIPT –
THE LOWDOWN
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She has admirers in lots of parts of the world – and now it seems New Zealanders agree. In fact, New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern is the most popular leader that Kiwis have had for 100 years. Despite being forced into a severe lockdown, New Zealanders are seemingly impressed with the decisiveness of their leader, rewarding her with a 20-point jump in the Preferred Prime Minister stakes. And with an election in NZ looming in September, that means a victory for Jacinda is very much on the cards, as they say in the classics.
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A rock climber in New South Wales’s Blue Mountains is counting his lucky stars today after spending a freezing night clinging to a small ledge with fractured wrist and ankles after falling half way down a 200 metre drop.
The 57 year old experienced climber slipped while climbing with friends at the popular spot. An ambulance helicopter reached him at dusk on Sunday night, but had to call off the rescue because it was getting dark. So ambulance officers stayed with the man on the ledge of the cliff face for the whole night, before helping to winch him to safety yesterday morning. He’s ok and in hospital, police said. “It was a bit rough,” said the man’s climbing buddy in the understatement of the year…
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 Borneo – in Indonesia … where teams of carers at an orangutan orphanage have been trained in abseiling and extreme rope climbing to help the baby orangutans learn how to swing through the treetops.
The orphaned orangutans, who have lost their mums when their habitat is destroyed or poachers have sadly killed them, become so attached to their carers that they are reluctant to leave their side – and until now, that has meant staying close to the ground. To get their furry friends up into the jungle canopy – where they belong – the carers called in a rope climbing expert to teach them how to shimmy up the trees. And the orangutans happily followed.
There’s a link in today’s episode notes to a seriously cute video.
SPORTS TIME!
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How much would you pay for a pair of new trainers? Ok then – how much would you pay for a pair of old trainers? That had been worn by someone else? And that same someone had scribbled on them in texta? And each one is a different size? Does $860,000 sound about right? Well that’s what someone has paid for a pair of used basketball shoes. Ok. So they once belonged to Michael Jordan – the former Chicago Bulls player who is widely considered one of the greatest basketballers of all time.
A pair of Jordan’s autographed, game-worn Nike Air Jordan 1s sold at auction in New York on Sunday. Ten bidders competed to get their hands on the shoes – with the auction coinciding with the final episode of the Netflix series about the slam dunking legend. That’s called ‘clever marketing’.
So – next time your parents complain about forking out for a new pair of trainers – tell them they’re a steal compared to MJ’s shoes.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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They came, they saw, they Lego-ed …. And Lego-ed and Lego-ed. Tens of thousands of pieces of Lego every episode. And last night, Western Australia’s Jackson and Alex were crowned winners of this year’s Lego Masters. The best friends who’ve known each other since high school wowed the Brick Man and a studio audience of kids with their gothic mansion and mega-mini-fig monster – narrowly beating favourites from Brissie, Damien and Andrew, whose coliseum and battling giant samurai robots just edged out Adelaide duo Trent and Josh’s enormous pirate ship build to round out what was a truly brick-tastic finale.
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 is the name of New Zealand’s Prime Minister?
- Name the primates being taught to climb by abseiling carers in Borneo?
- What’s the name of the Chicago Bulls basketballer whose shoes just sold for $860,000?
SHOUT OUTS
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Today’s birthday shoutouts… Zahra from Lysterfield, Olivia from Double Bay, Ruby from Merewether Beach, Caitlyn from Melbourne, Joel from Yellow Rock, Lara from Berwick, Kalen from Oran Park, Mac from Middle Park, Sara from Abbotsford, Ruby from Cook’s Hill, Issy from Lane Cove, Sophia from Hendra, Micah from Bardon, Hosey from Melbourne, Charlize from Brisbane, Dylan from Kiama Downs, Tyenikah from Bungendore and Vector from NSW.
And some belated birthday shoutouts…Charlie from Erskineville, Lily from Camp Hill, Lucas from Taree, Banjo from Clifton Hill, and Nate and Riley from Inverell.
Happy birthday one and all.
Today’s classroom shoutouts… Class 2/3 Gold at Crown Street Public School, Class 3/4 at Tacoma Public School, Mrs Cummings and 5 Garal at Mulyan School, and Miss Robertson and class 5/6 at Hume Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Jacinda Ardern
- Orangutans
- Michael Jordan