【推荐2】Each April Thais celebrate their “Thai New Year” with a great water fight on the streets. People throw water at everyone passing by and even block the road so they can enter buses and “paint the faces” of all the passengers. But there are a few people who don’t wish to participate in the fun. When I first experienced this celebration, I was one of them.

The first time our bus was stopped, 4 people coming into the bus intended to paint everyone’s face. I slowly shook my head to say “No, thank you.”, but a man came from behind me and quickly painted my face. Then the other three felt inspired and added a little more “paint” to my face. I didn’t actively stop them for fear that if I did, they would become more aggressive (好斗的) and throw even more water at me and possibly my backpack, which would damage whatever was inside.

Even though it happened only once, emotionally it was very frightening because I felt so powerless. The experience caused me to think a lot about respect and moral autonomy or individual judgment vs “permission” from the authorities. On this day, people of Thailand, including the police, give “permission” for these activities. So what about respect for the individual? If someone does not want to be painted, is it OK to do it anyhow because the majority is having a good time and sincerely believes it is harmless fun, or because the police allow it?

In my opinion, if someone does not want to have something done to them, then you’re supposed to respect their decision. You can’t rely on the authorities or some group to tell you if something is right or wrong or if you should or shouldn’t do something. I believe this is a much healthier way of living with one another in this world.

【推荐1】Some of the biggest names in music have joined forces to celebrate healthcare workers in a globally televised concert. Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Billie Eilish were among more than 100 artists who performed songs from their living rooms, due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The Rolling Stones even managed to play together from four separate locations. The eight-hour show also featured real-life stories from those on the front line of the fight against Covid-19. Lady Gaga, who curated the line-up, called the event “a love letter to the world”. Dedicating the show to first responders and medical staff, she said the participating musicians all wanted "to give back a little bit of the kindness that you’ve given us". She went on to play an upbeat version of Charlie Chaplin’s Smile, adding: “We want to get to the other side of this pandemic and we know you do too.” Paul McCartney joined the programme shortly after, calling health care workers “the real heroes” of the crisis and remembering his mother Mary, who was a nurse during the Second World War.

Titled One World: Together At Home, the concert was organised by the Global Citizen movement and the World Health Organization (WHO). It began with a montage of people under lockdown applauding the efforts of healthcare workers around the world - from France, Spain, the UK, the US and elsewhere. To all of our frontline healthcare workers, we are with you. Thank you for being there for us, read an on-screen caption.

Proceeds generated from the concert will go to the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the WHO, but Lady Gaga made clear the show was not a fundraising telethon and would focus on entertainment and messages of solidarity.

【推荐3】Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is a music event that is held every year. It takes place at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, and is hosted over two weekends in late September and early October, each lasting three days. It is an event that has grown in popularity since it began and now has as many as 450,000 people taking part in it.

The festival was founded in 2002 and is produced by C3 Presents, which is an Austin-based company. At first, it was inspired by a weekly music series broadcast, filmed live by KLRU, the local Austin television station, which is also called Austin City Limits. The first event was only two days long and 67 bands performed on five stages and the audience was around 25,000.

By 2003, around 100 bands were taking part in ACL Music Festival and in 2004, the event grew to over eight stages and extended (延续) to three days. The top attendance at the event was 75,000 people. The festival even won the Pollstar’s Festival of the Year Award in 2005. That year became known as the “Dust Bowl” year as the festival crowd kicked up so much dust that it was difficult for festival goers to breathe. The organizers settled this problem by using watering devices on the site.

With the exception of heavy rain in 2009, the festival continued over the next few years without any major dramas. In 2013, the organizers decided to extend the event over two weekends. Another important fact about that year was that the event was canceled on the third day of the second weekend due to heavy rain causing floods. Besides, the festival was called off due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.

In recent years, there have been many excellent actors performing at the festival. Other than that, there are many other attractions at ACL Music Festival. These include Austin Eats and ACL Art Market. Furthermore, there is an ACL Cares section at the festival that allows festival goers to give something back to the community.