Girl band F4 has been out of the limelight for a while now, so what better way to attract attention than simulate a "Janet Jackson" while doing a promotion for local consumer electronics companies earlier this week. Media attention usually focuses on the band members' mammalian protuberances rather than their vocal chords -- and for good reason. But this has drawn the ire of Vice President Annette Lu (
At the event, F4's Fanny managed to slip into a one-strap top and retain a modicum of restraint while doing her promotional spot; but fair-haired Amy's breast popped out while she was engaged in a public arm wrestling match. She insisted, however, that the offending nipple plainly seen in photographs was in fact a "shadow," according to Chinese-language newspaper reports. Wardrobe malfunction or shadow? Either way, no doubt the companies paying for the advertising were pleased at the exposure.
And, as if to confirm Lu's worst fears, there was another storm in a bra-cup this week when poor Jolin Tsai (
We say poor Jolin Tsai because her failed romance with Jay Chou (
In further Chou related news, the classically-trained musician polled a respectable fourth in one of the biggest popularity contests ever held in Asia, which the masses of China are holding on the country's Yahoo Web site. As of press time: South Korea's Rain was way out in front with 28 percent of the tally, or 59,461 votes; China's Li Yuchun (
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and