(MUSIC)
HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA. Special English.
I’m Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
Music from Los Lonely Boys …
A question about Helen Keller …
And a new place for cereal lovers.
Cereal Bars
HOST:
Students at the University ofPennsylvania in Philadelphia have a new place to go to eat. Itserves many different kinds of … cereal. Bob Doughty explains.
BOB DOUGHTY: The Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe is supposed tofeel more like a home than a business. Servers are dressed in sleepclothes. Some students sit at a big table as they eat their cereal.They watch cartoons on a television, probably just like they did aschildren. Tired students lie on a couch. Still others read theircomputer mail.
Cereal is what millions of people eat for breakfast. But at thisplace, it is eaten not just for the first meal of the day, but forany meal.
Most of the popular cereals that Americans buy contain oats,corn, wheat or rice. Some contain lots of added sugars. This mayhelp explain why many college kids are big cereal eaters.
More than thirty kinds of cold cereal are served at the CerealityCereal Bar and Cafe. Students can choose from kinds like Cheerios,Corn Chex and Cap’n Crunch to Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Puffs and LuckyCharms.
Also on the menu are more than thirty kinds of toppings to put onthe cereal, from nuts and fruit to candies. And there are severalkinds of milk, including soy milk. People can also order hot cerealsand, true to the name of the place, cereal bars. These you hold inyour hand.
The two businessmen who opened the cafe at the University ofPennsylvania tested the idea first at the University of Arizona inTempe. Now they are looking at other cities and other kinds ofplaces to offer people their favorite breakfast cereal any time ofday.
Helen Keller
DOUG JOHNSON: Our VOA listener question this week comes fromKharkov, Ukraine. Sergey D. asks about the life of Helen Keller.
Helen Keller was born in eighteeneighty in a small town in Alabama, in the American South. Shedeveloped an infection at the age of nineteen months. She lost herability to see and hear.
When Helen was seven years old, her parents hired a specialteacher. The teacher was Anne Sullivan. She herself had once beenalmost completely blind, but regained her sight.
Anne Sullivan began teaching Helen the names of things. MissSullivan formed letters with her finger in Helen’s hand to spell outwords. Helen learned more and more words. She learned how to use herhands to speak for her. In addition to sign language, Helen alsolearned to use her voice.
Later, she learned to read Latin, Greek, French and German. Sheread with her fingers using the braille system of raised dots. Shealso learned to use a typewriter.
Anne Sullivan stayed with Helen Keller for many years. She helpedher get ready for school and college. Helen Keller was sixteen yearsold when she started at Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. Shecompleted her studies with honors in nineteen oh four.
Helen Keller worked for many years for the American Foundationfor the Blind. She met with presidents and traveled to manycountries. She wrote books and articles. She showed other disabledpeople that they, too, could succeed.
Helen Keller died in nineteen sixty-eight. Her life story hasbeen told in books, plays and movies. “Life,” she said, “is either adaring adventure or it is nothing.”
Los Lonely Boys
HOST:
A group called Los Lonely Boys is enjoying much success thesedays. Their first album has sold more than one million copies. Andthe band has four nominations at the Grammy Awards next month,including Best New Artist. Barbara Klein has our story.
BARBARA KLEIN: Los Lonely Boys arethree brothers. Henry Garza plays the guitar. JoJo Garza plays thebass. And Ringo Garza Junior plays the drums. They grew up in asmall town in Texas. They performed with their father, a successfulmusician.
Another Texas musician, Willie Nelson, calls Los Lonely Boys hisfavorite new band. The brothers performed with him on the album”Outlaws and Angels.” One of the songs is “Cisco Kid.”
(MUSIC
Los Lonely Boys recorded their first album at Willie Nelson’sstudio in Austin, Texas. The title song is nominated for Record ofthe Year and Best Pop Performance Grammys. Here is “Heaven.”
(MUSIC
Los Lonely Boys are not so lonely. They have been called one ofthe most exciting acts performing today. They mix the sounds ofMexican music with American rock and blues.
We leave you with another song nominated for a Grammy, this onefor best rock instrumental performance. Here are Los Lonely Boyswith “Onda.”
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON: This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed ourprogram. The writers were Nancy Steinbach and Jerilyn Watson. Ourproducer was Caty Weaver.
Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Besure to include your full name and mailing address. Or write toAmerican Mosaic, V.O.A. Special English, Washington, D.C.,two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, V.O.A.’s radiomagazine in Special English.