Tony Blair's make-up secret is out
The secret of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's famous all-year healthy glow has been revealed -- he spends almost twice as much on make-up as the average British woman. Figures released by Downing Street in answer to a parliamentary question showed that Blair spent more than £1,800 (US$3,150) on make-up and make-up artists over the past six years. In contrast, the average British woman spends £195 (US$345) a year on both make-up and skincare. The written answer was released quietly on the final day of the parliamentary session before MPs begin their summer break.
Download Robbie Williams legally
Robbie Williams may never win any prizes for originality with his hugely popular musical output but the chart- topping singer has signed a novel deal with a mobile phone network that could revolutionise the way fans buy his songs. The singer has signed an exclusive deal with the global telecom giant T-Mobile that will allow customers to download songs, exclusive live tracks and concert footage to their mobile phones. The 18-month deal is the biggest tie-up yet between a big artist and a phone company and will be watched with interest by others convinced that mobile music delivery will become an important factor in boosting flagging record sales over the next few years.
`Paris Plage' starts copycat trend
Paris Plage, the ephemeral beach set up on the banks of the Seine River that winds through the French capital, opened this week for the fourth season of a quirky project that has since spawned copycat beaches in cities across Europe and as far away as Tokyo. This year's version took off with a samba beat in honor of the year-long "Brazil in France" cultural and economic exchange. The now familiar blue-and-white beach chairs, flags and umbrellas are sprawled along a 3.5km stretch of sand and grass named this year after Brazil's legendary Ipanema, Maracana and Copacabana beaches.
Christmas but once a year, Santas say
Some 80 Santas from around the globe meeting at their World Congress debated establishing a second Christmas in July to ease their December workload, but finally decided that the holiday would be feted only once a year, the Danish Santa host said this week. "There was a proposal from the Japanese Santa Claus that was hotly debated, but the delegates, even if they were in favour of the idea, did not want to adopt it because it risks upsetting the children of the world," Denmark's Father Christmas said. "The Christmas date of Dece. 24 to Dec. 25 will not be changed, even though we are about to collapse from overwork. The tradition must be respected," he said.
Artwork stolen, presumed drunk
An artist has appealed for the return of an artwork that consisted of a bottle of water on a plinth, saying he feared it had been stolen and then drunk. US artist Wayne Hill, had devised the artwork, a two-liter clear plastic bottle filled with melted ice from the Antarctic, to highlight the dangers of global warming. Entitled Weapon of Mass Destruction it was on show at an arts festival in Devon, southwest England. "It looked like an ordinary bottle of water, but it was on a plinth, labelled, described and in the program of the whole festival," Hill said. "It was very, very clear what it was -- a work of art."
Coldplay singer `sexiest vegetarian'
Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin has been named one of the "World's Sexiest Vegetarians" in a poll conducted by a US animal rights group, officials said this week. The British husband of Hollywood movie siren Gwyneth Paltrow joined the winner of the American Idol television talent show, Carrie Underwood, at the top of an online poll of more than 13,000 people conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Martin, 28, and Underwood narrowly edged out other non meat-eating celebrities including X-Files star David Duchovny, Legally Blonde actress Reese Witherspoon, British singer Joss Stone, and actor Joaquin Phoenix.
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50