HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC – VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:
We play music by a group called the Hackberry Ramblers.
We answer a listeners question about the American city ofHouston, Texas.
And, we report about a popular new sport.
Frisbee
HOST:
A sport called Ultimate Frisbee isgrowing in popularity in the United States. The sport requires justone piece of equipment — a flat, round piece of plastic, called aFrisbee. Shep O’Neal has more about the Frisbee and the American whodeveloped it.
ANNCR:
Edward Headrick designed the first modern Frisbee almost fortyyears ago. At the time, he worked for Wham-O, a California companythat made playthings for children.
Wham-O began selling a simple version of the Frisbee in thenineteen-fifties. Mister Headrick improved the Frisbee by addinground lines to its top. These circles helped Frisbees fly fast andstraight. The United States Patent and Trademark Office gave MisterHeadrick property rights to his design in nineteen-sixty-seven. Hisdesign still is used in Frisbee competitions.
Later, Mister Headrick created Frisbee games for adults. Heformed two groups: the International Frisbee Association and theProfessional Disc Golf Association.
Edward Headrick died in August of this year. He was seventy-eightyears old.
Today, the Frisbee remains as popular as ever. Some students areknown to spend hours throwing Frisbees. One game you can play with aFrisbee is called Disc Golf. In Disc Golf, players throw the Frisbeeat a metal box. The player with the fewest throws wins. Aboutfour-million people are said to play this game.
Another game is Ultimate Frisbee. It is similar to Europeanfootball, or soccer. However, players are not permitted to run withthe Frisbee. Instead, they must throw it down the field. Each teamhas seven members. The first team to get fifteen points wins.
Americans of all ages have formed Ultimate Frisbee teams. Formany, the sport is a way to meet friends. Ultimate Frisbee also ispopular because it supports an idea called “Spirit of the Game.” InUltimate Frisbee, team members are expected to play fairly.Competition is urged. Yet there should never be tension betweenopposing players. Teams are expected to honor all players, and calltheir own violations to the rules. Under “Spirit of the Game,”winning is important. However, playing fairly and with honor is moreimportant than winning.
Houston, Texas
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Laos. KhachonesackDouangphoutha asks about the American city of Houston, Texas.
Houston is the fourth largest cityin the United States. Two-million people live there. More thantwo-million others live in nearby areas.
Houston is in southeast Texas, about eighty kilometers from theGulf of Mexico. A waterway called the Houston Ship Channel links thecity to the Gulf. The Ship Channel has made Houston one of theworld’s major ports. Houston is one of the nation’s leading oilcenters. It also has become famous for the Lyndon B. Johnson SpaceCenter. That is the headquarters for manned flight programs ofAmerica’s space agency, NASA. The city also is home to the largestmedical center in the world. More than fifty-two thousand peoplework at the Texas Medical Center. It treats almost five-millionpatients each year.
Houston was named for General Sam Houston. He led the army thatwon Texas’ independence from Mexico in eighteen-thirty-six. Twobrothers, Augustus and John Allen, founded the town that year.Houston became the capital of the Republic of Texas ineighteen-thirty-seven. The people of Houston turned to shipping andtrade after the capital was moved to Austin.
Late in the nineteenth century, workers began building theHouston Ship Channel. The waterway opened in nineteen-fourteen. Thediscovery of oil in east Texas in the early nineteen-hundredsincreased the city’s growth. Industrial expansion during and afterWorld War Two brought thousands of new people to the area. Then, innineteen-sixty-four, NASA’s space center opened.
City leaders have worked to improve Houston’s economy so that itis not dependent on oil. Today, eighteen large American companieshave their headquarters in Houston. More than forty colleges anduniversities also are there. So are more than five-hundred culturaland arts organizations. The city also has more than eleven-thousandeating places. Houston officials say people there go out to eatingplaces more often than people in any other American city! That couldbe a problem. For the past two years, Men’s Fitness Magazine hassaid that the people in Houston are the fattest people in thecountry.
The Hackberry Ramblers
HOST:
Many music groups do not stay together for very long. Yet today,we tell about a current group that was formed almost seventy yearsago. It is called the Hackberry Ramblers. Mary Tillotson has more.
ANNCR:
Luderin Darbone is eighty-nine years old. Edwin Duhon isninety-two. They started The Hackberry Ramblers in the southernstate of Louisiana in nineteen-thirty-three. The men say that morethan seventy other musicians have been part of the group over theyears.
The Hackberry Ramblers playAmerican country, western and Cajun songs. The group was one of thefirst to use an electric sound system to make their music easy tohear. For many years, the Hackberry Ramblers played at eating anddrinking places in Louisiana and Texas. Let’s listen to some oftheir music.
((MUSIC))
The Hackberry Ramblers have performed all over the United Statesin the past ten years. In nineteen-ninety-three, the group recordedits first modern album, or collection of songs. Here is “CajunBoogie.”
((MUSIC))
Earlier this year, the Hackberry Ramblers went to Europe. Thegroup performed in the Netherlands and France. Members say they likebeing the oldest band in the United States. They also say they willnever retire. In nineteen-ninety-seven, members of the Americanrecording industry nominated the group’s latest album for an award.We leave you now with a song from that album. Here are the HackberryRamblers with “Proud Mary.”
((MUSIC))
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And Ihope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’sradio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Jill Moss and NancySteinbach. Our studio engineer was Curtis Byner. And our producerwas Paul Thompson.