Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) was among the first to congratulate Ang Lee (李安) on his recent record-breaking achievement after winning his second Golden Lion trophy in three years. And, according to the Chinese-language media, the Asian megastar expressed keen interest in working with Lee again.
Propelled to international stardom by Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (臥虎藏龍) in 2000, Zhang's desire is understandable since she lined herself up for a role in Lee's latest movie, Lust, Caution (色戒), but lost out to up-and-coming Chinese star Tang Wei (湯唯).
How did Lee respond to Zhang's charming solicitation? The genteel director promised the star he would give her a "better" role next time.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Aboriginal diva A-mei (張惠妹) consolidated her reign over the Mando-pop music firmament with a concert last Saturday that reportedly attracted 30,000 fans. That figure should put her rumored erstwhile lover, Wang Lee-hom (王力宏), to shame as his concert on the same day managed to muster only 5,000 concertgoers.
A-mei pulled off her classic taimei (台妹) look with pink fishnet stockings, stilettos and a bosom-boosting corset, but failed to divert the media's attention from her ongoing relationship with Super Basketball League player He Shou-cheng (何守正), who is 11 years her junior.
The star responded with the well-worn"we are just friends" speech, but entertainer Blackie (黑人), the pair's go-between, sent gossip hounds into a spin by saying the 35-year-old singer is childish and the age difference is not an issue in the pair's relationship.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Top stylists, designer outfits and her taimei getup also help, of course, to keep A-mei looking hip and sexy.
In other babe-related news, queen of cute Rainie Yang's (楊丞琳) status as the "first lady" at music giant Sony BMG was reinforced as her third album hit store shelves last week, ready for a duel with Sony BMG deserter Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), whose new album is slated to be released by the end of this month.
Known as local show biz's dancing diva, Tsai is expected to take the battle to the dance floor with her improved pole dancing, acrobatic and yoga stunts in tight and glittering attire.
The other contender, known as the founder of the cult of cuteness, has practiced her splits, somersaults and twirls, but is said to face a tough fight ahead since she has hitherto built her entire career solely on her baby-doll visage.
The fight is on.
One week after his commendable donation of NT$15 billion to National Taiwan University for the construction of a cancer center and biomedical engineering projects, tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) has reportedly given NT$13 million to veteran producer and funny man Wang Wei-chung's (王偉忠) new television program, which is slated to go on air by the end of the year.
Audiences shouldn't expect to see anything like the zany cast of The Big Pressure Cooker (全民大悶鍋), a TV program that caricatures politicians and celebrities, on the show, but academics, professionals and entrepreneurs lecturing on different topics. The aim of the program is "to help people find new directions or inspirations in life," Wang is reported as saying.
It looks like the country's favorite comic sketch writer is cleaning up his act to suit Gou's charitable ethos.
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