The Vinyl Word's DJ Poll has provoked less controversy than the Kaohsiung mayoral elections, but it is already whipping up excitement across the island. A strong showing for party scene-sters outside of the capital demonstrates that our friends in the south are mobilizing their supporters in the traditional patterns of southern electioneering. Up north, many of the usual suspects have cropped up again, with a few new faces.
No jokers have nominated Chiang Kai-shek or Ma Ying-jeou (who, uncannily, resembles Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry,) which was slightly disappointing, but a sharp eye will be kept on the nominations. Those who are either a) not or no longer based in Taiwan or b) not DJs will be struck off the list. Nominations close today at 3pm and the voting begins tonight at 9pm. Head on over to the Web site at www.taipeitimes.com/poll/dj, choose your three favorite DJs of 2006, and click 'vote.' Last year's overall winner was Victor Cheng, with a staggering 3,168 votes, while foreign favorite was Marcus Aurelius, with a slightly less suspicious 202. As in previous years, the final winner will receive absolutely nothing in the way of prizes, save for the honor and glory associated with romping home in one of the island's most prestigious popularity contests.
CKS Memorial Hall is the spectacular backdrop for tomorrow's Winter Love/I Love Taipei bash featuring seven hours of music and mayhem. The entertainment begins at 3pm, and throughout the day and early evening there'll be mainstream pop fare and then hip-hop from live band Machi and Taiwan's very own DMC champions E-Turn and Noodle. Noodle was also DMC's first female DJ to compete at the world final last year. Later, things go all electronic as Soulutions take to the stage alongside the Loop Residents, and Ferry Corsten playing the last set until they kick everyone out at the shockingly early time of 10 pm. It looks like a fun day out and even better, it's completely free.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Luxy and The Loop are hosting the party and one reason for the free-ness is they are leading by example and encouraging the city's ravers to dig deep for charity. They've teamed up with Yahoo Charities (tw.charity.yahoo.com/) which is a new site (though at the moment only in Chinese). Donations to various good causes can be made through the wizardry of the ATM machine.
Elsewhere, tomorrow sees current Sabbatical resident Rithma heading down to Liquid Lounge in Taichung. Those in the capital who want to continue long after they've been turfed out of CKS can carry on at Luxy's after-party; those that want to continue in the charity spirit can catch Reggae for a Cause at Bliss, with the NT$100 door damage going to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not