The 25 March Sound Kitchen winners (plus all you wanted to know about black bears)

Are you one of this week’s lucky winners? Today you’ll hear who won the quiz about the North American black bear. Click on that little “Listen” arrow above, and join in!

Hello everyone!

You’ve surely noticed by now we’ve been experimenting with the Sound Kitchen recipes … on Saturdays, at 5:16 universal time, tune in to hear if you are amongst the week’s winners. The winners names are here on our website, too. Look for Short features/Sound Kitchen winners.

Tune in on Sundays, at 4:22, 5:52 and 7:22 universal time, for the quiz question ... and whatever else is cooking up in the Sound Kitchen.

I have wonderful news! The Sound Kitchen Listeners' Cookbook is to finally become a reality. First it will be put online and then we’ll get to work on a printed version. The web team has asked for photos of your prepared dishes, as well as of you. So if you sent in a recipe, get back into your kitchen and get cooking … but before you tuck in to your fabulous dish, take a minute to take a picture or two of the final product. And of yourself, too!

The projected date for the online version of the cookbook is May. Yippee!

This week’s question was read on 25 March, and was about the North American black bear, the ursus americanus.

I asked you to send in any information you had on black bears – facts, trivia, even jokes - you were pretty free to send in just about whatever you wanted to. A few of you went that extra mile and sent in more than just some facts. Those are the winners this week. But I’m sending consolation prizes to everyone who wrote in … because I so appreciate it when you throw caution to the winds and do something new with me!

Here’s some American black bear data:

• They typically hibernate for 3-5 months, although they can wake up and even go out and hunt during that time – scientists say their hibernation is more like long deep naps than true hibernation.
• Their expected life span is 18 years in the wild, 44 in captivity.
• The gestation period is 235 days, or about seven months; usually two cubs are born in a litter.
• Black bears rarely attack humans.
• And they do love honey!

Now, on to the trivia:

• Stuffed toy bears were named "Teddy bears" after US president Theodore, or Teddy, Roosevelt, who was a great hunter. On a hunting trip, he refused to shoot a baby black bear that was trapped in a tree … and the story quickly became a hit with the Americans, and certainly with children, after the cuddly stuffed bears bearing (ha-ha) his name hit the market.
• Native Americans prayed to black bears : they believed the black bear was a creation of the Great Spirit, while the grizzly bear was created by the Evil Spirit. The Navajo Indians believed that the Big Black Bear was chief among the Bears of the Four Directions, which surrounded the sun's house. They would pray to Big Black Bear for protection during raids.

The winners this week are: Mr Asif Ali Tebani, from Sindh, Pakistan; the Chattopadhyay family in West Bengal, India; also from India, Mr Muhammad Shamim, from Kerala State; MN Sentu, from Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and Jean-Maurice Deveault, from Montreal, Canada.

Congratulations, winners!

This week’s question is about the Titanic, which we’ve all been hearing a lot about lately. One hundred years ago, on 15 April 1912 to be exact, that mighty vessel – the largest luxury ship of its time - struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Over 1,500 people died.

And now, one of Australia's richest men has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a 21st-century version of the Titanic.

This billionaire told Australian media that construction would start at the end of next year.
“ It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic but of course it will have state-of-the-art 21st century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems, " he said.

The new vessel is scheduled to sail from London to New York in late 2016, if all goes as planned.

My question to you is: What is this man’s name? Send in the name of the Australian who has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a 21st-century version of the Titanic.

Send me your answer by 4 June; the answer and the winners will be announced on the 9 June programme. Be sure you send your postal address in with your answer … and be sure and tell me if you are a Mr or a Mrs or a Ms or a Miss – I don’t want to get it wrong!

Send your answers to:

[e-mail]

or

Susan Owensby
RFI – The Sound Kitchen
BP 9516
75016 Paris
France

or

By SMS … Now you can send your quiz answers via your cell phone !!!!

Dial your country’s international access code, and then:
33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text.

Remember, it’s not just the quiz which wins you a prize. If your essay goes on the air, you’ll find a package in the mail from the Sound Kitchen. Write in about your community heroes – the people in your community who are quietly working to make the world a better place, in whatever way they can. I am still looking for your “This I Believe” essays, too. Tell us about the principles that guide your life … what you have found to be true from your very own personal experience. Or write in with your most memorable moment, and/or your proudest achievement.

Send your mini book reviews, your musical requests, your secret “guilty” pleasure (mine’s chocolate!), your tricks for remembering things, your favourite quotations and proverbs, descriptions of the local festivals you participate in, or just your general all-around thoughts to:

[e-mail]

Include a phone number, if you can. I’d like to call you and put you on-the-air … and send you a thank-you gift for participating.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

All the best,

Susan