The biggest money-losing event in showbiz of recent months is the theatrical production Snow Wolf Lake (
Touted as impressive and sure to wow audiences, tickets for the musical sold out months before the Taiwan premiere at the newly opened Taipei Arena last Friday.
However, organizers forgot to take into account factors beyond their control.
Suffering from a serious cold, Hong Kong pop king Jackie Cheung (
With his ego dented and feeling downcast, Cheung collapsed in tears backstage.
After the less-than-A-list second half performance, organizers postponed the show until tomorrow because Cheung didn't want audiences to pay top dollar for second tier fare.
Fans and stars support his insistence on professionalism, but the move hurt the show's organizers where it hurts most -- in the pocket.
Organizers are facing a big loss that may run into the billions of dollars for the delayed performances.
Annual report cards were handed out to local pop musicians this week. Mondo-pop king Jay Chou (
However, after winning the best new performer award at the Golden Horse, Chou seems to have diverted his focus from music to film. Having been outspoken about his interest in becoming a movie director, Chou has again taken up the role of MV director, this time for three-piece girl band S.H.E.'s new album.
Chou was said to have used visionary filmmaker Wong Kar-wai's (
The on-and-off love affair between actors Shu Qi (
Nicknamed Olivia, the plain-looking, 21-year-old girl works as a waitress at a nightclub Chang has invested in.
Wearing a greenish coat and brown boots that would have caught the attention of the fashion police, Olivia was caught by dutiful paparazzi walking out of Chang's studio and denied the rumored romance. The actor himself simply shrugged his shoulders and flashed enquiring members of the press a "what-you-are-talking-about" look.
Starlet Yan Shu-ming (嚴淑明) got really pissed off at reports earlier this week that claim she used to be a he and underwent a sex change operation in Thailand 10 years ago.
Transvestite celebrities Li Jing (
Super model Lin Chi-ling's (林志玲) birthday wish has come true in six days. Making public her desire to find a bigger house for her whole family on her 31st birthday, on Nov. 26, Lin is rumored to be contemplating spending some NT$55 million on a spacious apartment near the former nightclub Second Floor. When asked about the possible relocation Lin's mom reportedly said, "We are just thinking about it, but with the news all over the place, we have to buy it now."
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