Over 40 years ago, a country music DJ convention (大会) was held every year in Nashville, Tennessee. Many country performers used to attend (参加) the convention to give their performances. Fans would go to Nashville hoping to see their favorite performers. In the end, so many fans began showing up in Nashville that a festival named Fan Fair was born.

    The first Fan Fair was held in April 1972, in Nashville for four days. Some of country music's biggest stars attended. There were about fifty thousand fans. The first Fan Fair was so successful that planning began almost immediately for 1973. The date was changed to June, when the weather would be better. Over one hundred thousand fans attended the second Fan Fair.

    Every year brought so many performers and fans to Fan Fair that, in 1982, it was moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. Fan Fair stayed at the fairgrounds for another nineteen years.

    There was always the unexpected during the festival. In 1974, former Beatle Paul McCartney attended. In 1992, more than six hundred reporters from Europe, Asia, and South America went to cover the appearance of a popular star, Billy Ray Cyrus, who had introduced a new country line dance. In 1996, Garth Brooks, who made a surprise appearance, signed autographs (签名) for 23 hours.

    In 2001, Fan Fair returned to downtown Nashville as the world's biggest country music festival. Now, over one hundred and twenty-five thousand country music fans go to Nashville every June. As you can imagine, those who want to attend Fan Fair must plan ahead. For example, they need to buy a ticket several months ahead of time. Of course, there's much more to prepare.

The Great War Exhibition

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 6:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 9:00 am- 6:00 pm

Where: Dominion Museum Building, 15 Buckle Street, Wellington

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information: Admission Free

The journey is rich in personal stories which tell of the great experience of the battlefields and the hardships at home during war-time New Zealand. The visitors will experience the desperate horrors and the victories of the human spirit that were part of the Great War.

Kaipara Coast Plants & Sculpture Gardens

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 5:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 9:00 am- 5:00 pm

Where: 1481 Kaipara Coast Highway (SH16), Auckland

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

● Adults: $10.00

● Children 5-13 (under 5, free):$ 5.00

● Groups 10: $ 8.00

● Over 60 & Students (with ID): $ 9.00

Come and enjoy a relaxing art and garden experience. Sculptures are for sale and the display changes completely ever 12 months with the new exhibition opening in December each year to give you a fresh experience each time you come.

Dream Works Animation

When: Sun 10 Jan, 10:00 am- 6:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 10:00 am- 6:00 pm

Where: Te Papa, 55 Cable St, Wellington

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

● Adults: $ 15.00

● Children & Students 3-15 (with Student ID): $ 6.00

● Children under 3: $0.00

The exhibition features over 400 items, including rare concept drawing, models, interviews, and original artworks. Adults and kids can get creative with real animation tools, and soar above the clouds in the Dragon Flight experience from How to Train Your Dragon.

Balls, Bullets and Boots

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 4:30 pm

Mon 11Jan, 9:00 am- 4:30 pm

Where: National Army Museum, 1 Hassett Dr, SH1, Waiouru

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information: Door Sales Only

The exhibition explores the impact the cruel reality of war had on colonial sportsmen and their loved ones as they were transplanted from the rugby fields of home to fight.

    Almost one in five drivers had dozed off behind the wheel, a shocking news report had showed. Of those who were dozing off, 29% have done so with their cars speeding at 70 miles per hour. The report also found a quarter of men have fallen asleep while driving, making it almost twice as many as women.

    The Safety on Wheel Report, by Post Office Insurance, also looked at how often tiredness or a lack of concentration caused accidents. Three in ten drivers have experienced an accident, from passing a walker crossing to hitting another vehicle, because of a lack of concentration. Meanwhile, almost half (49%) of UK drivers have driven when they do not concentrate.

    Paul Haven hand, head of insurance at Post Office, said, “ When tiredness strikes, drivers should avoid the roads.” There is no measurement for tired driving, unlike driving under the influence of alcohol, yet it could result in an equally dangerous accident.

    Drivers are advised to take a 15-minute break from driving every two hours. However, a third (36%) are so eager to reach their destination that they will ignore feelings of tiredness. What's more, almost one in five (18%) will drive for longer than four hours without a break, while 6% carry on for up to 6 hours. Just over a quarter (27%) choose a quick stop to buy a cup of coffee, which is a very popular way for drivers to get rid of tiredness, and only 17% stop to have a rest until they feel energetic again. Mr. Havenhand added, “Drivers should plan ahead and rest before starting a long journey; besides, they can take regular breaks to recharge their batteries while on road; in some cases, if they do feel too tired to concentrate on the roads, they could consider an alternative means of transport.”

    It was New Year's Eve. Everyone in the city was getting ready for the three-day celebration, including the gardener of the king's garden.

    There was a large group of monkeys living in the garden. They always followed the advice of their leader, the monkey king.

    The gardener wanted to celebrate the New Year's holiday, just like everybody else, so he decided to hand over his duties to the monkeys.

    He went to the monkey king and said, "My honorable friend, would you do a little favor for me? New Year is coming. I wish to celebrate it. So I must be away for three days. Here in this lovely garden. There are plenty of fruits and berries and nuts to eat. You and your subjects may come and eat as much as you wish. In return, please water the young trees and plants while I'm gone."

The monkey king replied, "Don't worry, my friend! We will do a terrific job! Have a good time!"

    The gardener showed the monkeys where the buckets were kept. Feeling confident, he left to celebrate the holiday. The monkeys called after him, "Happy New Year!"

    The next day, the monkeys filled up the buckets, and began watering the young trees and plants. Then the king of the monkeys addressed them,"It is not good to waste water. Therefore, pull up each young tree or plant before watering. Inspect（检查）it to see how long the roots（根）are. Then give more water to the ones with long roots, and less water to the ones with short roots. That way we will not waste water, and the gardener will be pleased!"

    Without a second thought, the other monkeys followed their king's orders.

    Meanwhile, a wise man was walking by the garden. He saw the monkeys pulling up all the lovely young trees and plants, measuring their roots, and carefully pouring water into the holes in the ground. He said, "Oh foolish monkeys, what do you think you're doing to the king's beautiful garden?"

    They answered, "We are watering the trees and plants, without wasting water! We were commanded to do so by our king."

    The man said, "If this is the wisdom of the wisest among you — the king — what are the rest of you like? Intending to do a worthwhile deed, your foolishness turns it into disaster!"

    The values of artistic works, according to cultural relativism(相对主义), are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

    History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries, Unique works of this kind are different from today's popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

    In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because" the general principles of taste are uniform(不变的) in human nature," the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

    Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

For a number of Indians who for over half a century have replayed a race again and again, Milkha Singh's 400 metres final run at the Rome Olympics should be among the greatest heartbreaks in global sporting history. In fact, they hoped it would throw up a different result.

However, continued praise for the man decades later is due to the effort by India's greatest track athlete on that September day in the Italian capital, though he still missed out on becoming India's first Olympic track medallist.

As he was growing up, he used to run barefoot daily on hot sand to school, which was situated 20 kilometres from his house. He thinks this was good training but knows it is not possible to ask children to do this today. However, he does feel that the early identification of talented athletes is also important for India's athletic teams to shine.

India has in the last few years judged success purely in terms of medals, but looking into the past reveals how a more generous generation saluted Milkha as a pioneer. Milkha is India's finest track athlete of all time. He remains the only Indian male to win an individual Commonwealth Games athletics gold—he won the 400 metres at Cardiff in 1958，the first athlete from independent India to do so.

Since retiring from athletics, the former champion athlete has set up the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust, which helps poorer families survive if an athlete in their family has died. A percentage of the profits from the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag are going to his trust.

Finally, let's read a quote from Milkha himself: "There is no shortcut to success." A scene in the film shows Milkha Singh running with injured feet—this actually happened. "I haven't found an alternative to hard work. You need to be patient, dedicated and true to yourself and your work."