Based in Austin, Texas, Mondo is an art gallery and online store devoted to the love of film, art, music, and collectibles. Over the years, the company has received global recognition for its incredible art posters that bring to life classic films, television shows, and comics from Star Wars to Robocop, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Game of Thrones, and much more.

The Art of Mondo brings together this highly sought-after art in one volume that showcases the incredible ingenuity of the studio's diverse stable of artists whose vastly different styles are united by one guiding principle: limitless passion for their subject matter.

There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than

Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard Evans, offers a masterful mixture of scholarly work combined with important new research and interpretations.

Chanel Miller s breath-taking memoir Know My Name is praised to be the Best Book of the Year in People magazine. It's a story of trauma and excellence, shining with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

From New York Times bestselling author Millie Marotta comes this gorgeous celebration of the animal kingdom A Wild Child's Guide to Endangered Animals. Highlighting the difficulty of 43 endangered species from around the world, the book takes readers on a trip through freshwater, oceans, forests, mountains , tundra, deserts, grasslands, and wetlands while learning about rare and well-known animals and their habitats.

Is Drawing Aimlessly Good for You?

Do you sometimes find yourself drawing random patterns and designs during meetings and lectures? Some people believe it shows you aren't listening or paying attention. However, there are studies which claim the opposite, and that drawing aimlessly might actually be beneficial.

Drawing aimlessly seems to be everywhere. In the past it was seen as a mindless activity and a product of the absent-minded. However, in 2020, an article on the Harvard University website discussed the idea that random drawings may assist memory and concentration.

The article highlights that 26 of 44 American presidents were known to draw randomly, with Ronald Reagan famous for drawing cowboys. A 2019 study conducted by psychologist Jackie Andrade asked 40 people to listen to a "dull and disorderly" voice message. Half of the group were asked to draw aimlessly and shade in a picture. Those who did were able to recall 29% more of the information contained in the message.

Some experts believe that embracing your creative and artistic sides during meetings may engage your mind. Jesse Prinz, a famous professor of philosophy, actively encourages his students to draw aimlessly. He believes that such kind of drawing is the "attentional sweet spot".

And it might not just be good for your concentration. An artist known as Mr. Doodle has made a career out of his aimless drawings. He sells his art online and also goes to people s homes to decorate their walls.

It seems that random drawing to aid concentration might be becoming more of a thing. People like Sunni Brown, an advocate for aimless drawing, teach adults how to sketch and scribble in the workplace. So, the next time you see someone randomly drawing pictures during a meeting, it might be a sign that they are listening more than you think.

Remember tuning on the radio, hoping a piece of music you liked would pop out of the radio? You never had to listen too long to know you'd landed on the right channel.

"Music has a really strong, remarkably strong, hold on us. So it's way enough to be1to a very brief part of a familiar song for us to be able to recognize it." Maria Chait, an auditory cognitive neuroscientist at University College London. Chait and her team recently studied how quick that2is. They started by asking 10 volunteers to name a feel—good, familiar song. Then the researchers handpicked a second tune that sounded3to the volunteer. They divided both songs into tiny bits— each less than a second long-and then4broke them up into a six-and-a-half-minute-long track of song parts. As the parts of the song are played, the scientists measured the volunteers' brain activity through a network of 128 electrodes (电极) and5changes in pupil diameter, too—a sign of stimulation. And the researchers found that the listeners' pupils6more rapidly when they heard familiar against unfamiliar samples—within just a tenth to a third of a second!

Familiar tunes also caused a two—step pattern of brain activation almost the same as that seen in other memory studies—where the brain first7something as familiar and then recovers more detailed information about it. That pattern was8for unfamiliar songs and for the control group.

The results are in the journal Scientific Reports. The study does have9: it used a small number of songs; it was hard to10the purpose of the study from the participants; and the control group ended up being11international students from Asia—since they had to be unfamiliar with every single song—so their native languages and music backgrounds12from the experimental group— which was primarily students from a European background.

Still, for clinicians who want to use music as a therapeutic tool for patients with dementia (痴呆), for example, this study might provide a few13"There's a lot of interest in trying to develop so to speak objective measures of music enjoyment, of music14. And this example might be useful in this context, because it doesn't require the participant to indicate anything. They just listen15Clinicians simply have to observe the neural fingerprints of hearing that same old song.

"You can have a good laugh, and tomorrow will be better." These words of optimism come from Stallion Era, a music company based in Beijing publicizing the first public performance of its new music talk show Genghis Khan Song and Dance Hall.

The show is their first theater-level attempt in music talk shows in 2021. Meshing music with talk show, they have invited top comedians to join Danliren, a company in Beijing engaged in the production and promotion of stand-up comedies.

During the performance, there will be heartfelt jokes dedicated to beipiao, literally Beijing drifters, referring to the group of people who do not have a Beijing hukou (permanent residence). They came to the capital seeking opportunities and a better life. The show attempts to blend the comedy with 1980s disco music performed by a live band.

Set against the backdrop of the pandemic, the comedy starts with the song and dance hall "Genghis Khan" facing difficulties in their business operations with big-name performers. In order to survive, the dance hall invited a "down-to-earth" local band to perform, and also brought in a "heavyweight" talk show actor Six Beasts (stage name) .

The main role, a former employee of a Chinese technology company, is one of the most popular stand-up comedians in Beijing. He is now a full-time comedian and screenwriter, and host of the popular radio show Bored Studio. "People may hope that they can hold on to their own lives, but as they approach their 40s, life is like soap in your hand when you take a bath, the harder you try, the more it slips out of your hands," he says. "When you are faced with a complicated life, laughing may be the only solution.

In recent years, talk shows have become one of the most popular modes of entertainment among young people in big cities in China. Whether it is through online TV or offline performances, talk shows can most directly impress young people living at a fast pace, says the company.

"Life itself is disordered and plain sometimes. Someone needs to sort it out in a certain way, and package life into an interesting story, joking about small interesting things that happen to oneself or others. This is the real meaning of the talk show," says Six Beasts. Their rich stage experience and skilful techniques have reflected their unique insights into music. As their band name suggests, they are always on the road. They are excited and hope to feel the instant flash of the connection with the talk show.

With pandemic controls and the temporary suspension of foreign performing arts resources, the company taps into domestic originality and talents. It hopes that the new show will work as a breakthrough in terms of post—COVID art survival.

A video clip of a blind musician has captured the attention of many in China. Xiong Linghao, 18, played a Beethoven music in the national finals of the 13th Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition.

The video, published on China Daily's Weibo account, has been viewed more than 7 million times."This is the song to applaud life," one comment on the post read.

Xiong lost her eyesight in early infancy due to a medical accident. Her mother discovered Xiong had a talent for music early in her childhood. At age 3, she could play children's songs on a small electric piano. At age 6, she started learning the piano.

"The piano is my best friend," said Xiong, a high school student at the Chengdu Special Education School.""

Unlike most pianists, who play by reading music, Xiong relied entirely on the sound of the music to guide her." I first practiced with my two hands separately before I could play with both hands together," said Xiong.

""she explained. "I pay attention to each minor step in each phase and need to be fairly precise with the angle of how I control my hands, wrist and fingers.

Xiong was honored with the Special Jury Prize in the competition. "Through her piano palying viewers could feel the uncontollable energy of life and a truly strong will," said Ding Quan, a judge in the competition.

"I never pursued prizes or fame while learning music," explained Xiong. "Like Beethoven, I wanted to express hope, feelings, and passion for life through the piano.

学校的学生社团近期开始招募新成员。作为一名学生社团(英语戏剧社、舞蹈社或绘画社)的组织者，你在校报上刊文介绍自己的社团。你的文章须包括：

1）组织该社团的目的；

2）社团的活动计划；

3）对社团成员的要求。

Art Heals

There is good evidence that the arts can have a therapeutic impact, not only in cases of trauma (创伤) following natural and other disasters, but also as an effective way of various functions: For example, people who have trouble walking may recover through dance, or those who cannot remember words or names may be able to recall lyrics in songs, thus helping with the recovery of language.

However, the arts can do many other things than help heal. They can and rise to action- think beating drums, martial marches, the St. Crispin's Day speech (from Shakespeare's Henry V) —and also inspire the full range of human emotions, from sorrow to horror. In other words, it is possible to explore as well as express all aspects of humanity through practice orof the arts.

For me, this is the value of the arts— they provide a safe space in which to the depths and scale the heights, perhaps reach genuine relaxation or be inspired, at least to become more actively of both possible heroisms and evils. And we need this at all times, including post-trauma.

Art is about feeling and expression. An auto-transformation takes place between these two states, which informs the artist's mode of expression. People suffering from trauma caused by a large-scale natural disaster or an epidemic usuallynegative energy in their minds and bodies. If these people can convey and  their feelings in a clear and organized way, including improvisation via single or mixed art forms, the negative energy is likely to find a way out of their minds and bodies, leaving them open to positive energy and leading them to develop a more optimistic and constructive view of life.

There is a very successful recovery program in the United States and Europe that trains prisoners to perform Shakespeare. The trainers find that the characters in Shakespeare's plays often go through a complicated decision-making process before their thoughts into action, which is very similar to what criminals do. By identifying with the characters during a performance, prisoners undergo a journey of profound self-reflection. They become more friendly,and open-minded. Some of them even become professional actors after completing their jail term.