2005-3-3
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DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.
I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
Jazz from Eric Felten and his band ...
A question about the most populous American state ...
And a report on a lost-and-found tree.
'Living Fossil'
Scientists used to think that
Wollemi (WALL-um-eye) pine trees only grew in ancient history. But
now one of the places where visitors can see a living example is in
Washington, D.C. Faith Lapidus takes us there.
FAITH LAPIDUS: The Wollemi pine tree has thin leaves that look
like needles growing close together, much like a fern plant.
The other day, a young girl took a long look at the Wollemi pine
at the United States Botanic Garden. Then she asked her mother where
the dinosaurs were. The little girl recognized the tree from books
and movies about prehistoric Earth.
Wollemi pines can grow as tall as forty meters. But this one at
the Botanic Garden is not much taller than forty centimeters. In
fact, it is small enough to grow inside a glass container.
Wollemi pines have been found in only one place in the wild. It
is in a rainforest in the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales,
Australia, near Sydney. Fewer than one hundred have been found.
Scientists thought the tree had disappeared from the Earth at
least two million years ago. But in nineteen ninety-four, a park
officer named David Noble made an accidental discovery. He saw huge
fern-like trees in a deep canyon. But he did not recognize them. So
he asked scientists.
The experts looked at fossil prints of trees from ninety million
years ago. They said the trees found by Mister Noble were closely
related. They gave them the scientific name Wollemia nobilis.
Wollemi pine is the common name.
Scientists at the Mount Annan Botanic Garden in New South Wales
have been growing Wollemi pines from seeds and cuttings. Australian
officials say there has been worldwide demand for the pine as a
garden plant. So, a home version of this rare "living fossil" is
expected to go on sale beginning this year.
Most Populous State?
DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week comes from Amoy,
China. Shaojian Xu really has two questions. What is the most
beautiful city in the United States. And which state has the most
people?
Well, we would be in big trouble if we called one city the most
beautiful. In fact, the staff in Special English could not even
agree. Some said New York, with its tall buildings. One said
Seattle, with its beautiful lakes and mountains. Another said
Honolulu, with its lovely beaches.
Three members of the staff said
San Francisco, with its world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. You could
make a good argument for any these -- and many other cities, too.
The second question was easier. Which state has the largest
population? The answer is California, on the West Coast. More than
thirty-five million people live there, and the number continues to
grow. The estimated population of California grew almost five
percent between two thousand and two thousand three.
About half the population growth comes from people who move from
other states and countries. About eleven million people of Mexican
ancestry live in California. Many others come from Asia. The city of
San Francisco, for example, has one of the largest Chinese
populations outside Asia.
California has a lot to offer. Southern California is famous for
its warm, sunny weather, although you may have heard about the
unusual amount of rain recently.
California also has more public colleges and universities than
any other state. The California State University system is the
largest in the country, with twenty-three campuses. The University
of California has campuses in ten cities including Berkeley in the
north and Los Angeles in the south. The tenth campus is to open this
September in Merced, in Central California. Merced is in the San
Joaquin Valley, a major agricultural area. California also has many
community colleges.
People started moving to California in large numbers around
eighteen forty-nine, the year after the discovery of gold. Most of
these "forty-niners" did not find gold. But they did find other
things to like, such as San Francisco. Don't tell anyone, but that
is my choice for the most beautiful city. Ahhh, but then again, San
Antonio, Texas, is also beautiful. Miami, Florida is nice too.
Chicago on a pretty day is very beautiful, but so is Bar Harbor,
Maine, with its little fishing boats. And then again there's ...
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Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra
(MUSIC: "You're Driving Me Crazy")
You might have heard that voice
before on VOA. Yet you might not recognize it as the voice of VOA
announcer and host Eric Felten. Eric Felten is also a jazz musician
with a new recording just released. Gwen Outen has our story.
GWEN OUTEN: "Eric Felten Meets the Dek-tette" honors three famous
albums from the singer Mel Torme and the Marty Paich Dek-tette.
Eric Felten gathered some of the Dek-tette musicians for the new
release. They include greats like saxophonist Med Flory. He is
featured in the song "It's Alright With Me," followed by Eric Felton
playing a trombone solo.
(MUSIC)
Eric Felton was born into a family of jazz musicians. He first
studied the trombone with his grandfather Lester Felten. His
grandfather performed in bands when Swing jazz was first popular.
Here Eric Felten and the Dek-tette perform "Pick Yourself Up," a
song from the Swing period.
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Eric Felton formed his own band, the Jazz Orchestra, in nineteen
ninety-one. Several years ago they appeared on national television
with a concert called "The Big Band Sound of World War Two."
We leave you now with the Eric Felton Jazz Orchestra performing
the Cole Porter song "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To."
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DOUG JOHNSON: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program
this week.
Our show was written by Paul Thompson, Jerilyn Watson and Caty
Weaver, who was also our producer. Join us again next week for
AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.