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- 16 March 2024 - Saturday Squiz
16 March 2024 - Saturday Squiz
Ellie Deamer
March 16, 2024
If you’d told us a scandal involving photos edited by the Princess of Wales (not of the Princess of Wales) would be a thing in 2024, we would have laughed heartily in your face… This Saturday, if you have a favourite native ant, a novel way to recycle your clothes, or any other thoughts for us, hit reply.
⏱️ Reading time: 7 minutes
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This week's top stories
This week it was the Oscars, and then everything else…
Google Trends data from 10-15 March
1. Scorched Earth at the Oscars - Taking out 7 categories including best film, best director and best actor, Oppenheimer is the first box office blockbuster to dominate the Academy Awards for a couple of decades. Not bad for a 3-hour flick based on a pretty gloomy story…
2. That didn’t go as expected… - After weeks of pressure and the growing “where’s Kate?” movement, a Mother’s Day pic of the Princess of Wales and her 3 offspring raised more questions than it answered.
3. Brace brace brace… - Around 50 passengers on a Latam Airlines from Sydney to Auckland required medical attention after the Dreamliner suffered a “technical event” on Monday. Reports say a flight attendant hit a switch on the pilot’s seat while serving a meal, pushing them into the controls, and that caused the plane to plunge.
4. Hungry Eyes close for the last time - You know we rock 80s/90s hits, so the news that Eric Carmen died this week at 74yo hit us hard. He was around for ages, but his huge hits include (calling all Bridget Jones fans…) All By Myself and Dirty Dancing anthem Hungry Eyes.
5. Game on… - The Tasmania JackJumpers will take on Melbourne United in our national men’s basketball league finals series starting tomorrow. The Victorians are the favourites to take the title, but kudos to the Taswegians who joined the league just 3 years ago.
It’s the Squiz Quiz…
Reckon you know which much-talked-about country is in the middle of its presidential election? Have a crack at the Squiz Quiz.
Picture of the week
Princess Kate has been in the news a lot, and then Kensington Palace shared this photo and the chatter ramped up another notch. Let’s just say it’s a top contender for News Club next week...
Question of the week
What type of person are you?
In our world, books go where they fit but if we HAD to organise them, it’s by theme/author. But you know, you do you…
Shove ‘em where they fit - “As a former librarian, you'd think I would have very strict views about categorisation. But as any avid book lover knows, when your shelves are bursting at the seams, you gotta shove those bad boys wherever they fit...”
You can do it all - “Categorically and then aesthetically - the shelf needs to look nice!”
And that’s final… - “I can respect the laissez-faire approach of the ‘wherever they fit’ crowd, but sorting books aesthetically is a sure sign of non-readers, and non-readers do not get to have an opinion on this subject.”
Squiz Recommends
Drinking - World Tequila Day is this Tuesday, and that’s enough reason to make a margarita. One member of Team Squiz reckons the trick to a good marg is the tequila, and one of her favourites is Espolon. Cheers…
Recycling - For your clothes/towels/sheets that aren’t good enough for the charity bin, this RCYCL Satchel is a good option. You buy it, fill it with your stuff, send it back to them, and they take care of the rest (aka they turn your rags into something useful).
Watching - For those who missed out (and also the ones who didn’t…) Taylor Swift The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) is out on Disney+. There goes the weekend…
In the Kitchen
This crispy chilli chicken with honey avo slaw isn’t your normal combination. We were drawn in by the crispy chicken but the honey avo slaw turned out to be the star. It’s very quick to pull together, only requiring an oven (or air fryer) and something to blitz the sauce in. Yummo…
What we Squized this week
A Squiz Shortcut on Russia’s election - Russian citizens are voting in the 2024 presidential election. It’s widely expected that Vladimir Putin will be re-elected in a landslide - but a lot is going on in the background. So we get into Putin’s legacy, what’s at stake for Putin in this election, and the protest that’s planned for Sunday. Have a read or listen here.
News Club on Meta’s beef with news - Meta won’t do new deals with Aussie publishers, and the fight it’s now having with the federal government could see news content pulled from Facebook and Instagram altogether... In this episode, we talk about the tech companies' power, the news media's sustainability, and ensuring a thriving democracy. Big issues… Have a read or listen here.
And we also talked with Tim Duggan from the Digital Publishers Alliance about what no news on socials would mean for you. Have a listen on Apple or Spotify.
While you’re here - Meta pulling news content from its platforms is something that could really impact The Squiz and how we show up for our audience. So the one thing you can do for us is share The Squiz with your people - and there’s never been a better time to do that (read on…).
Share The Squiz for your chance to win
We’ve gotten this far with The Squiz because of you, and because you tell your people about us. So in honour of our 7th birthday, we want to sweeten the deal... Each person who signs up to the Saturday Squiz off your unique link by 17 March gets you into the draw to win a $1,000 Flight Centre voucher.
Copy and paste this link to your people, post it on social, share it in your group chat and tell them to get on board. You know you want to… 🛫
PS: Your friends must confirm their email to guarantee entry into the draw. This competition ends at 11.59pm AEDT on 17 March, and the winner will be drawn on 18 March 2024 and contacted via email. Prize value in AUD. Go forth…
Squiz the Week
Saturday - A busy start to the weekend for Queenslanders… There’s a by-election for former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s seat of Inala, and Labor’s seat of Ipswich West. There’s also the statewide local government elections…
Sunday - It’s St Patrick’s Day. For those not celebrating, maybe you can focus on getting 40 winks on World Sleep Day
Monday - Federal Parliament is sitting in Canberra and it’s National Awkward Moment Day. You’ll forgive us for not sharing ours…
Tuesday - It’s interest rate decision day and a press conference with Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock after a 2 day board meeting
Wednesday - At 12.30pm, Professor Sharath Sriram will address the National Press Club on how science meets policy-making
Thursday - The F1 Australian Grand Prix begins in Melbourne at 10.00am and will keep fans busy until the race on Sunday
Friday - The Royal Easter Show begins in Sydney this weekend - which means Easter is just around the corner…
*All times in AEDT
Double-Tapping
Sam Cotton’s Instagram account is a solid follow for a good pick-me-up as he turns absolutely nothing into something great.