Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Matildas bigger than Origin; Barbie sells a billion; the bear that became a burglar; and the wheelie bin that went on a holiday.
LINKS
Hank the Tank
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66429736
Binny the wheelie bin
https://metro.co.uk/2023/08/03/neighbours-ask-family-to-take-bin-out-and-they-had-wheelie-good-day-19255312/?ico=mosaic_weird
Squiz Kids LIVE! Buy tickets to our Canberra show here:
https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/squiz-kids-live/154887
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/
Newshounds
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Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Complete the form on our Squiz Kids website. Link: SHOUT OUTS or / send us an email at [email protected]
THE LOWDOWN
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It’s official … the Matildas are bigger than Origin. Bigger than an AFL Grand Final. And after their convincing victory over Denmark on Monday night in the so-called Round of 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup – the Australian womens’ football team can now lay claim to the title of the most popular sporting team in the country.
And how good is that? (CHEER).
TV ratings figures released yesterday for the Matildas clash with Denmark on Monday night smashed all records for the year and made it the most watched TV program of 2023.
With over 2.294 million Aussies tuning in to host broadcaster Channel 7 on Monday night – it outperformed game one of the State of Origin – which had 1.98 million viewers – and the AFL grand final which drew 2.179 million.
It’s proof of what the record ticket sales for the matches and the general hype that’s sweeping school playgrounds around the country had already been hinting at: that women’s sport is a force to be reckoned with.
Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord and Mackenzie Arnold have all become household names – and no matter the outcome of the remainder of the Matilda’s World Cup campaign, sporting experts are saying women’s sport in Australia will have changed forever as a result of this World Cup.
The fact that it’s all happening in the same week that the Diamonds – our national netball team – pulled off the remarkable feat on Sunday night of winning the Netball World Cup for the 12th time – has only reinforced the sense that girls are kicking goals everywhere.
Having beat Denmark on Monday night, the Matildas have now made it into the quarter finals – which means they’re in the top eight teams left in the competition. C’mon Matildas – you got this!
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 … Barbieland … where there’s a big ol’ beach party going and every doll’s invited following news that Barbie the movie has joined the very exclusive billion club.
That’s billion with a B – and that’s how much money Barbie has made in ticket sales in cinemas around the world since her movie was released and people everywhere starting putting on pink feather boas to go to the movies.
Barbie herself will be especially happy to learn that passing the Barbillion milestone also marks a big win for female movie directors – with the film’s director Greta Gerwig becoming the first female director to be a behind the camera of a billion dollar film.
Winning at sports, winning at the arts … all in all – it’s shaping up to be an excellent week to be a girl …
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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And it’s a special bear edition of Animal Kingdom today – after two bears have made the headlines on opposite sides of the world.
First up: and a bear in Lake Tahoe in the United States, called Hank The Tank, has been caught and relocated to a bear sanctuary after it had broken into no fewer than 21 homes in the area. Turns out that Hank was in fact a female, so they’ve called her Henrietta .. and yes, she’s a BIG bear .. so they’re still keeping the Tank part of her nickname. I’ve stuck a link to photos of Hank .. I mean Henrietta in today’s episode notes.
Meanwhile in Iraq – which is a country smack bang in the middle of the Middle East – a bear escaped from its crate aboard a plane just as it was about to take off from Dubai International Airport. When animals are transported in planes – they are put inside a crate and then stored in the cargo hold. Reports don’t reveal exactly why a bear was being transported .. nor is there a theory on why it escaped. Probably looking for an upgrade.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
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The next time mum or dad ask you to take the bin out … maybe you could take a leaf from the book of the Gabriel family in England.
Their neighbours were going off on an overseas holiday and asked the Gabriels to ‘take their bin out’ while they were gone. A request that the family took literally.
Over the course of a few weeks, they took the bin to the supermarket, to the town square, to the hairdresser – even to the local park where it went down the slippery dip. All of it photographed and uploaded to Facebook.
The Facebook posts of Binny’s adventures received heaps of likes and comments – and when the neighbours returned from their trip – they were astonished to discover their wheelie bin had become a local celebrity.
As for the Gabriel family .. they’re saying it’s the best Dad joke ever … and as someone who may have made a Dad joke or two in their time, I should know … (DAD JOKE ALARM) – there you are Gabriels … a little Dad joke alarm just for you.
BOOK CLUB PROMO
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Hey book lovers … are you ready to join Australia’s fastest growing kids’ book club? Do you want to hear book reviews made by kids for kids? Then you need to get on board the Squiz Kids Book Club train … well – it’s not actually a train – and that’s an odd figure of speech – but you get my drift.
The two books we’re reading this month are Malamander – for our middle school readers .. an Eerie-on-Sea mystery novel from best selling kids author Thomas Taylor. And for our junior readers, Solve Your Own Mystery: The Monster Maker by Gareth. P. Jones – where you get play the role of detective …
Get yourself to a library or bookstore and get reading – then when the August edition of our Book Club podcast drops at the end of the month, you’ll be able to compare your impressions with those of our kid reviewers.
And remember: if you’re keen to become a book reviewer and join the team helping out Catch the Reading Bug – head to our website and fill out the forms. Happy reading!
SQUIZ KIDS LIVE!
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Wowsers! What a response we’ve had already to our first ever live show in Canberra later this year.
In case you missed the memo – I’m coming to Canberra in October for the first of what we hope will be many Squiz Kids LIVE shows … all the best bits of the podcast brought to life on stage.
Tickets have been selling fast .. so if you live in Canberra and you don’t want to miss out – I’d suggest you get in early. I just don’t want anyone to be disappointed.
There’ll be special guests, a daytime disco, a kids v adult quiz live on stage – a fun-filled show packed with education and entertainment. Winner.
Tickets are available through MoshTix – I’ve stuck a link to the ticketing website in today’s episode notes – otherwise you can hop in via our website: squizkids.com.au.
Now what am I going to wear ?
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’s the name given to Hank The Tank when they discovered she was female?
- What’s the name given to the wheelie bin that was taken out by an English family?
- Which country did the Matildas beat on Monday night to advance to the World Cup quarter finals?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 9 – birthday of Trolls and Pitch Perfect actress Anna Kendrick .. plus today is Book Lover’s Day … that’s me! I’m a book lover!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Jordan from Helensvale, Jess from Tempe, Peyton from Burpengary and Timmah from Warrnambool.
Belated birthday shout outs go to …. Will from Forestville, Liam from Carlingford, Willoughby from Fig Tree Pocket, Gian-Luca from Newcastle, Naomi from Chatswood and Alby listening over in Cape Town, South Africa.
Classroom shoutouts today go to …
Class 6L and Mrs Le Ray at Lakes Grammar School in Warnervale, class 3A with Miss Gunstone at Gardenvale Primary School in Brighton East, Room 7 with Mrs Bonwick at Bicton Primary School, class 3 Gold with Mrs Randall at St Agnes Primary School in Mount Gravatt, class 5/6H and Miss Hume at Mandama Primary School in Grovedale, class 5/6S with Miss Skilleter at Jindalee State School and lastly to class 6R and Mrs Calcutt at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Brisbane.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Henrietta
- Binny
- Denmark