Squiz Today – Tuesday, 14 May

SQUIZ SAYINGS

"It started out as a joke.”

Said Archie Rose’s master distiller Dave Withers of his latest creation - ArchieMite Buttered Toast Spirit. Distilled spirits - tick. Buttered toast with Vegemite - yes please. A buttered toast/mite drink - umm

---

EUROVISION KICKS OFF IN ISRAEL

THE SQUIZ
If you’re a dual federal election/quirky singing competition fanatic, there won’t ever be a better weekend than the one coming up. One sees competitors with questionable fashion-sense pitted against each other to capture voters’ attention with messages of hope for a better tomorrow. The other is Eurovision. And starting tomorrow, Australia is being represented by Prime Minister… sorry, singer Kate Miller-Heidke.

WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME ABOUT THIS?
Great question. And look, we're not obsessed about Eurovision, but wherever an Aussie is competing, we'll be cheering. And this year's event has an overlay of politics with the event being hosted by Tel Aviv, Israel. There's been a recent string of violent clashes in Gaza between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, including last week's episode that resulted in the firing of rockets, airstrikes and more than 20 deaths. That’s led to calls by pro-Palestinian activists, and some British celebs, for a boycott of the event. Asked about it yesterday, Miller-Heidke said she thought deeply about it. "Eurovision was created with a spirit of togetherness, the spirit of breaking down barriers between people and using the power of music and art to come together and be open. I am glad I am here," she said.

OK, GIVE ME THE ESSENTIALS
You got it. The drill is:

• Australia is competing in the first semi-final at 5am (AEST) tomorrow morning for one of 10 spots in the grand final.

• The second semi-final, two days later, will see another 18 countries competing for another ten slots.

• These 20 countries will then join the host country, Israel, and the "big five" (the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) for the grand final. At 5am (AEST) Sunday… Maybe just roll on through from the election?

As for Miller-Heidke, she is attracting a bit of buzz. Her performance and song Zero Gravity has been praised as being "very Eurovision". Which we have to assume is a compliment… It’s a song about postnatal depression and how she felt about her “return to self”. ABC TV’s Australian Story covered it all last night. Go you good thing…

---

SQUIZ THE REST

---

WOMAN MISSING IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA’S SOUTH-WEST

The search for missing woman Lorjie Bautista entered its sixth day yesterday as doubts were raised that she ever set foot in the area police and emergency services have been scouring. The missing woman’s husband, Arman Bautista, yesterday helped police as they continued their search of the stretch of Stirling Ranges where the 38yo is believed to set out on a bushwalk at 4am last Tuesday. Reports say she booked into a caravan park near Bluff Knoll, but never signed the hiker’s register at the start of the popular bushwalking trail. Overnight temperatures have dropped below freezing since Bautista has been missing, and there are fears for her safety. Her husband said; "I have a feeling she's still alive."

---

ASSANGE ASSAULT CASE IN SWEDEN REOPENED

Swedish prosecutors announced last night that they are re-opening the assault case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, meaning from inside the British jail cell he currently calls home, he now faces extradition to both the US and Sweden. It was alleged that Assange assaulted two women around the time of a 2010 WikiLeaks conference in Stockholm, and a request from one of the women’s lawyers has seen Swedish authorities pick it up again. The Australian-born Assange, who has just spent the last seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, is currently serving a 50-week sentence for breaching bail and is wanted in the US for questioning over the mass release of sensitive documents. WikiLeaks responded to the Swedish development saying it gave their founder “a chance to clear his name”.

---

LEFT, RIGHT, OR LEFT RIGHT OUT?

We’re nothing if not predictable. With only days to go before we head to the polls, the ABC’s Vote Compass has found that Australia’s most politically conservative state is Queensland, that our most left-leaning voters live in the inner cities, and that all of the top-ten conservative-leaning electorates are rural. To come up with the sample, the online tool took more than 450,000 respondents and analysed where they stand on a range of issues. The biggest concentration of left-leaning voters? The inner-Melbourne seat of Cooper (formerly Batman). And it's polar opposite on the Aussie political spectrum is Maranoa, in Queensland's central west. Find out where your electorate stands here.

---

COMMONWEALTH BANK COUGHS UP FOR CUSTOMERS

It was the Commonwealth Bank’s turn to front investors and report on its progress in the post-Royal Commission world. Its profit in January to March was $1.7 billion, down 28% on the quarterly average that made up the first half of the financial year. That’s because it put away $714 million for compensating customers, mainly from its wealth division. The provision takes Commonwealth’s remediation costs to $2.17 billion. The bank also reported slower lending, lower margins, and rising loan losses as a reason for the profit dive. Its share price finished yesterday 2.5% down.

---

RIGHT TIME TO LOOK AT MOON ROCKS

When Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, he also had a chore to undertake - the collection of moon rocks. He and many astronauts from the Apollo program between 1969 and 1972 ended up bringing 385kg of rocks and lunar soil back to laboratories for investigation. And now new samples are being released to scientists for analysis. The tests can only be performed on the samples once, and NASA has been “waiting for the right scientists, with the right technologies, at the right time.” Questions that they seek to find answers to relate to the moon’s makeup - and presumably ruling out once and for all that it’s made of cheese.

---

VALE DORIS DAY

She was America’s girl next door and one of the biggest Hollywood actresses in the 50s and 60s. A great singer and dancer, some of Day’s screen hits included Calamity Jane, Pillow Talk, and The Touch of Mink where she starred alongside the likes of Cary Grant and Rock Hudson. Day also had music chart hits with Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)and My Secret Love. For someone who remained a household name, it’s hard to believe her last movie was shot more than 50 years ago and her TV show wrapped up in the mid-70s… Her private life was not nearly as successful with four marriages, money problems and a nervous breakdown. In her later years, she was big into animal welfare starting her own foundation. Day had pneumonia when she died at 97yo, and reports say she didn't want a funeral or memorial service and wanted to be buried without a grave marker.

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Release - Livestock Products, March

National Australia Bank Business Confidence Survey for April

Cate Blanchett’s birthday (1969)

Anniversary of the death of Frank Sinatra (1998)

From 5.00am (AEST) Wednesday - Eurovision’s first semi-final featuring Australia’s Kate Miller-Hiedke