The big news last weekend was what didn't happen rather than what did. Street-tough turntablist Kid Capri got a tummy bug and had to cancel his much-anticipated gig at Luxy. His show the previous night in Hong Kong was likewise affected.
"I am very sorry that these shows had to be cancelled at the last minute," he said in a statement distributed by his manager. "Had I tried to go to the airport, they wouldn't have let me on the plane considering the condition I was in." Liquid Lifestyle, the promoters who had invited Capri to Taipei, say they hope to get him back here some time in August or September.
The pleasant surprise last weekend for those looking for action after learning of Capri's non-show was the party at Room 18. A normal residents' night managed to pack the two rooms on Friday and the fun went on until morning had broken.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
We missed SL on the decks because we got there too late and were therefore expecting the music to be an anti-climax, but a quick glance at the booth changed our minds as Victor was cool personified and span a more soulful set than he usually does down at AXD. SL, clearly in party mode, joined in for a couple of tunes during Victor's set. Alex then took over and kept the vibe bumping and grinding.
Room 18 has a rotating list of DJs that includes the best Taipei has to offer, including Mykal, Jimmy Black, Victor, Mitch, @llen, SL, Chozie and Tommy. Something to look forward to at the celebrity hangout on July 9 is Ali B from the UK club Fabric.
As for this weekend the folks at Ultra Capacity are providing a good reason to stand in the sand at Baishawan Beach (
The Vinyl Word first heard these guys at the now defunct Club 70s when they were calling themselves Banana Fingers. House and break-beat impresarios, DJ Perry and cohort Ti-wi lay down fat, juicy tracks that sizzle. They'll be joined by DJs Jerry, KJK, Alt, Monk K, Kini, Phoenix and Eddie.
"They'll start with hip-hop and break-beat early on, then we'll move to house and progressive later," Perry said.
The party starts at 8pm and goes until 5am. Check out http://home.kimo.com.tw/marineparadise05/ for more information, including directions on how to get there by car or by bus.
For those unable to make it to the beach Saturday, Luxy offers resident technophile, Vertigo, in the Lotus Room, spinning his unique style of punk and tribal-tinged techno. NT$500 before 11pm and NT$800 after. MoS' resident DJs will also be their main attraction that night. NT$350 before 11pm and NT$600 after.
Word to the wise: The hands-down coolest new weekday event is Red-I and the Riddim Outlawz's gig every Thursday at Luxy. Fans of reggae, ska or calypso will be impressed with the lineup Red-I, also known as Patrick Tan, has put behind him. And check out the ladies on the dance floor. There's a reggae boom going on. At The Wall tomorrow we've also got ruffneck MC's U-Dou and Platy -- live and direct from Okinawa -- plus Lady Djavan, Red-I and his Outlawz, plus Dj G-Starr. Makiya, the leader of the justly famed ska band The Majestics, will be the headline guest of the evening.
In the mainstream view, the Philippines should be worried that a conflict over Taiwan between the superpowers will drag in Manila. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr observed in an interview in The Wall Street Journal last year, “I learned an African saying: When elephants fight, the only one that loses is the grass. We are the grass in this situation. We don’t want to get trampled.” Such sentiments are widespread. Few seem to have imagined the opposite: that a gray zone incursion of People’s Republic of China (PRC) ships into the Philippines’ waters could trigger a conflict that drags in Taiwan. Fewer
March 18 to March 24 Yasushi Noro knew that it was not the right time to scale Hehuan Mountain (合歡). It was March 1913 and the weather was still bitingly cold at high altitudes. But he knew he couldn’t afford to wait, either. Launched in 1910, the Japanese colonial government’s “five year plan to govern the savages” was going well. After numerous bloody battles, they had subdued almost all of the indigenous peoples in northeastern Taiwan, save for the Truku who held strong to their territory around the Liwu River (立霧溪) and Mugua River (木瓜溪) basins in today’s Hualien County (花蓮). The Japanese
Pei-Ru Ko (柯沛如) says her Taipei upbringing was a little different from her peers. “We lived near the National Palace Museum [north of Taipei] and our neighbors had rice paddies. They were growing food right next to us. There was a mountain and a river so people would say, ‘you live in the mountains,’ and my friends wouldn’t want to come and visit.” While her school friends remained a bus ride away, Ko’s semi-rural upbringing schooled her in other things, including where food comes from. “Most people living in Taipei wouldn’t have a neighbor that was growing food,” she says. “So
Whether you’re interested in the history of ceramics, the production process itself, creating your own pottery, shopping for ceramic vessels, or simply admiring beautiful handmade items, the Zhunan Snake Kiln (竹南蛇窯) in Jhunan Township (竹南), Miaoli County, is definitely worth a visit. For centuries, kiln products were an integral part of daily life in Taiwan: bricks for walls, tiles for roofs, pottery for the kitchen, jugs for fermenting alcoholic drinks, as well as decorative elements on temples, all came from kilns, and Miaoli was a major hub for the production of these items. The Zhunan Snake Kiln has a large area dedicated