Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Aussie teenage skater champs; Wildfires burn as planet hots up; Barbie’s big weekend at the movies; and the very hungry bear.
LINKS
Arisa Trew – 13 yo skateboarding champ – record breaking 720 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Fcn5XFU5Y
https://www.instagram.com/arisa_trew/
Chloe Covell – 13yo skateboarding champ
https://www.instagram.com/chlo_the_flo/?hl=en
Bear breaks into car … and leaves a present
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bear-stuck-car-lake-tahoe-video/
Katmai National Park Brown Bear Cam: https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/
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THE LOWDOWN
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Imagine being in Year 7 at school … and a world champion. Because that’s what two Gold Coast 13 year olds are – having made a little bit of history this week by becoming the youngest ever women’s skateboarding champions at the X Games.
Chloe Covell, from Tweed Heads in NSW, smashed the competition at the Games held over the weekend just gone in California, in the United States – taking out the gold medal in the street competition with an epic ride. Meanwhile fellow Aussie, Arisa Trew, from the Gold Coast also won gold on the skate ramp – landing the first 720 by a woman in X Games competition to hold off a 10-year-old skater from Canada, who claimed silver to become the youngest medalist in the X Games’ 29 year history.
A 720 – in case you’re not a skater dude like me – ha! – is a trick that sees the skateboard perform two full rotations in the air in the middle of a jump … one rotation is 360 degrees, two is 720. I’ve stuck a link to video of the amazing feat in today’s episode notes. It’s just epic.
And get this … now that Chloe and Arisa are top of the world – they can set their sights on competing for Australia at the Paris Olympics next year, where skateboarding will make its debut as an Olympic sport … at the age of 14. That’s just nuts …
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 Rhodes – which is a large island that is part of the country of Greece – where wildfires are raging in heatwave conditions and holiday makers and locals have been forced to evacuate to safety.
Temperatures in Europe have been stubbornly hovering around 40 degrees for the past week, creating exactly the hot, dry conditions that often lead to bushfires. And that’s exactly what has happened, with the popular tourist island in a state of emergency as firefighters yesterday tried to bring multiple blazes under control.
The island’s airport is crammed with tourists trying to leave as more than 19,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and hotels.
Summer heat continues to cause havoc in the northern hemisphere with some 59 million Americans enduring heatwave conditions in the US this week. All of which is likely to mean that when it comes to an end next week, the month of July is expected to be named the Earth’s hottest month since records began …
POP CULTURE CORNER
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There’s a party going on in the Dream House this week and everyone is invited. Why’s that? Because Barbie the movie hassmashed ticket sales records, pulling in more money at the box office over the weekend than any other film has done this year.
Pulling in an impressive half a billion dollars in ticket sales around the world – and yes, that’s billion with a B for Barbie – the movie about the world’s best known doll, starring Aussie actress Margot Robbie – is now the biggest movie in the history of ever to be a directed by a woman.
Thanks to the excitement of movie goers to get into the pink spirit – Barbie is now officially bigger than the Super Mario Bros and every Marvel superhero film to have been released this year.
The power of pink, my friends, it’s a total thing.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
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From Barbie to bears …. And no, I’m not talking about the big ol’ grizzlies gorging themselves on salmon at the Katmai National Park – because as you know, I’m quietly obsessed with them … I’m talking about a cheeky bear in Lake Tahoe in the United States, who broke into a woman’s car and while she watched on from outside, slowly but surely tore the interior to shreds. I’ve stuck a link to video of the damaged car in today’s episode notes.
And that’s not even the worst bit … while cleaning up the mess the bear had made, the owner discovered the furry intruder had left another surprise behind. A big ol’ bear pooh. Eugggh. I would bearl-y cope … (DAD JOKE ALARM) – ah come on – that was asking for 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 …
- The island of Rhodes where wildfires are burning is a part of which European country?
- What’s the name of the Aussie actress who’s Barbie movie is breaking box office records?
- How old are the two Gold Coast skateboarders who have just dominated the X Games?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s July 26 – Aussie PM Anthony Albanese will fly to New Zealand today to meet with New Zealand PM Chris Hipkins – or is that Hep-kins – for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders Meeting … wonder if he’ll bring back a tiki necklace ..
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…Tahlia from Yass, Alliyah (pronounced A-lee-a) from Cannon Hill, Lotti from Rose Park, Hudson from Bexhill, Samuel from Springfield, Jake from Perth, Lola from Thursday Island, Olive from Tempe, Nate from Brisbane, Edwin from Woomargama, Emily from Carlingford, Liliana from Ipswich, Felix from Bathurst and Kenzie from Canowindra.
Belated birthday shout outs go to ….Chloe from Richmond, Kaleb from West End, Sigma from Carlingford, Senuk from Narraweena, Minnie from Bentleigh, Finn from Neutral Bay, Joel from Pitt Town and twins Matthew and Sophie listening from Havelock North in New Zealand.
Classroom shoutouts today go to … class 2H and Miss White at Wellers Hill State School, class 5S and Miss Smith at Kambora Public School in Davidson, class 5B and Mrs Curruthers at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Orange, class 4B and Mrs Heffernan at MacKillop Catholic College in NSW, class 3/4J and Miss Jackson at Abbotsford Public School, Grade 2 with Mrs B and Mr H at Lake Bolac College and lastly to year 4 with Miss Renate at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School on Thursday Island.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Greece
- Margot Robbie
- 13 years old