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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a program in VOA Special Englishabout music and American life. And we answer your questions.
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This is Doug Johnson. This week, we answer a question about thenew governor of the state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Andwe play music from Cyndi Lauper’s new record album. But first – comealong to look at some animals in Washington, not at a zoo but at amuseum.
Animals in New Museum Display
HOST:
Did you know that the hippopotamusis closely related to pigs and whales? Or that hippos can stayunderwater for up to half an hour? These are just some of the thingsvisitors can learn from a new permanent part of the Natural HistoryMuseum in Washington, D.C. Phoebe Zimmermann has more.
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Meet “Morgie” the Morganucodon (mor-GAN-ew-KO-don), a four-inchcreature with a long nose and short legs. Morgie lived with thedinosaurs. It is two-hundred-ten-million years old. And it is one ofthe animals now on display at the National Museum of NaturalHistory.
Visitors can take a close look at more than two-hundred-seventyanimals. Not all are as old as Morgie. And museum officials say mostdied of natural causes. The animals are set in realistic positions.
A tiger is the first animal that visitors see as they walkthrough the door. It looks as if it is going to jump at them.
Visitors also see a huge walrus nearby. It is the size of a smallcar. A giraffe looks like it is eating from the top of a tree. Smallflying animals are suspended from the ceiling to look as they do inflight.
The animals come from four environments: the frozen North, theforest, the rainforest and Australia. In the African part of thedisplay, visitors hear rain as the area becomes dark during a storm.Lights create the effect of lightning.
There are fun things for children and other visitors to do. Theycan walk on top of the footprints of a one-and-a-halfmillion-year-old human-like creature. They can touch a frozensquirrel that is sleeping in the ground. And they can use a specialdevice to understand how jaguars see in the dark. Visitors learnthat jaguars can see better at night than people can with aflashlight.
The animals all have something in common. They are all mammals.Mammals are warm-blooded creatures that have body hair and mothersthat produce milk. Museum officials got the idea for the new Hall ofMammals after they found that many visitors did not really know whata mammal is. Many did not know, for example, that humans aremammals. Did you?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
HOST:
Our VOA listener question thisweek comes from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Pham Hong Hai asks aboutthe new governor of California. Let’s start at the beginning.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Graz, Austria, innineteen-forty-seven. At the urging of his father, he beganweightlifting at the age of fifteen. Five years later, he won theMister Universe bodybuilding competition. This was his first ofthirteen world bodybuilding championships. Others included MisterOlympia and Mister World.
When he was twenty-one, Arnold Schwarzenegger moved to the UnitedStates. He was interested in business. His first business was layingbricks for homes. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business from theUniversity of Wisconsin. He did this through a special program whileliving in California. And he invested in property in Santa Monica,California.
Mister Schwarzenegger also became interested in movies. Innineteen-seventy-seven, he appeared in “Pumping Iron,” a documentaryabout the Mister Olympia competition. This film led to his firstmajor Hollywood part. He starred as “Conan the Barbarian.”
He went on to appear in other action films. These included “TheTerminator,” “Predator,” “Total Recall,” and “True Lies.” He hasalso starred in comedies, including the nineteen-ninety movie”Kindergarten Cop.”
Mister Schwarzenegger has supported efforts to get more money forchildren’s programs in California. He helped expand the Los AngelesInner-City Games to fifteen cities. This is a sports program forchildren threatened by violence and drugs. He also serves as worldambassador to the Special Olympics.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver started the Special Olympics, for peoplewith disabilities, in nineteen-sixty-seven. She is the sister ofPresident John F. Kennedy. She is also the mother of Maria Shriver,whom many Americans know as a television reporter. Maria Shriver wasnext to Mister Schwarzenegger as he took office last month. Not as areporter, but as his wife and now the first lady of California.
Cyndi Lauper’s New Album
HOST:
Cyndi Lauper came to fame in thenineteen-eighties. Her hit song “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was afavorite on MTV in the early days of Music Television. Now, CyndiLauper is singing some songs made famous by others. Faith Lapidustells about her new release. It’s called “At Last.”
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Cyndi Lauper gives credit for her new album to the people shegrew up with in the Queens area of New York City. She says thepeople on her street represented all different ethnic groups andcultures. But, she says, they all shared a love of music. And theyall felt the same way about Manhattan, the center of the city. Shesays they believed that is where all dreams led.
On “At Last” Cyndi Lauper shares a song with another singer fromQueens, Tony Bennett. Here is “Making Whoopee.”
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Tony Bennett is not the only musical great to help with thealbum. Stevie Wonder plays harmonica as Cyndi Lauper sings one hissongs. It’s called “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m GonnaDo.)”
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The last song on “At Last” is clear proof that Cyndi Lauper stillwants to have fun! We leave you with “On the Sunny Side of theStreet.”
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