[THE WEEKENDER] When's a Mormon not a Mormon?

Leisure Suit Larry got more than he bargained for when he performed in the guise of a Mormon. PHOTO: ALITA RICKARDS

The Lustsluts Burlesque show on Friday night at APA Lounge in Taipei City was a welcome change from the usual nightlife fare in a country where it's legal to buy sex, but not to sell it. These performers revel in sexuality: own it, mock it, and play with it, which was very empowering compared to the everyday instances of objectification we so often see here. The group was well received by the crowd, and as its skits rely primarily on physical expression, not verbal, there was no language barrier.

The troupe members interacted and mingled with the audience during the performance, drawing the crowd in, but with unintended results. A male member of the group (stage name Leisure Suit Larry), who had already performed one scene, began a skit dressed as a Mormon heckling another actor who was dressed as a preacher.

Audience Mike Newsham (the bassist from To A God Unknown) appeared to mistake the costumed actor for an actual Mormon, and punched him twice in the face. Leisure Suit Larry was professional to the last and continued his scene with blood dripping from his chin. Most of the audience assumed it was part of the show. The injury required medical attention, and members of the troupe, who hail from Hualien, took him to the hospital, where he received eight stitches.

To A God Unknown was one of the bands that performed at the event. Sources said apologies had been made and accepted.

Meanwhile, it was a beautiful morning for the final day in Taipei of the Tour de Taiwan yesterday, though turnout was small on what has been dubbed Taiwan's Super Sunday, the final day of campaigning in the run-up to the presidential elections in one week's time. Nevertheless, many local cycle clubs were out in force, even though there was no local rider in contention for the yellow jersey of overall winner.

The eighth stage of the 2008 Tour de Taiwan, with a race track that circuited the Taipei City Government Building, was primarily a duel between John Murphy (US) of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team, who wore the leader's yellow jersey for seven days of the race, and Shawn Milne of Team Type 1. The race got underway at 10am, with racers making 60 circuits of the building, a distance of approximately 60km.

Despite small crowd lining the circuit, there was a palpable sense of excitement as the racers powered around the tight bends, jockeying for position in the early stages of the race. Saturday's race at Nankang had been marred by a major pile up in the main body of cyclists that saw the race temporarily suspended and two racers sent to hospital for treatment. Heavy traffic along the two lanes that remained for vehicles along Songgao Road (松高路) in front of the Eslite bookstore seemed constantly in danger of overflowing the temporary barriers marking off the race track, enhancing the sense of danger as cyclists came screaming out of the straight on Shifu Road (市府路).

For a while it seemed that Kirk O'Bee, Murphy's teammate, was setting out to win the stage, but he soon fell out of contention against a well orchestrated attack by Merida Europe Team, with Wesley Marek and Jezowski Krzysztof taking first and second place for this stage. Marek's winning time was 1:22:10 for the 60km course. Murphy rode a highly tactical race, surging forward during sprints for extra points and then falling back, but always remaining in a strong overall position. With 10 laps to go, it was clear that Milne would have to win the stage to become overall winner, and that only a crash or technical trouble could prevent Murphy from taking the crown for this year's event.

Takashi Miyazawa of Japan's Team Meitan Hompo-GDR and Lai Kuan-hua (賴冠華) of Giant Asia Racing Team, achieved the best times in the Asian Riders category and the Local Riders category respectively. In the team rankings, Giant Asia took first place, Team Skil-Shimano came in second, and Health Net Pro Cycling Team came in third.