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Yo La Tengo will be in Taipei for two shows at The Wall (這牆) on Wednesday and Thursday. The New Jersey indie-rock legends drew large crowds during their appearances at the Formoz Festival (野台開唱) in 2001 and last year and will likely do so again for their first-ever club date in Taiwan. Formed in 1984, the group enjoys a loyal following for an eclectic sound that ranges from folk and punk to noise and electronica. The trio consists of husband and wife duo, guitarist Ira Kaplan and drummer Georgia Hubley, and bassist James McNew. In recent years the band has recorded soundtracks for acclaimed indie films such as Shortbus and Old Joy. The members of the group are self-professed sports fans and have just released a new compilation of their soundtrack music titled They Shoot, We Score.
▲Yo La Tengo live at The Wall (這牆), B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Call (02) 2930-0162 or visit
www.thewall.com.tw for more information
▲Wednesday and Thursday, 8pm; doors open at 7pm
▲NT$1,800 per show in advance; NT$2,200 at the door; NT$2,800 for both shows in advance. Tickets are available from White Wabbit Records (located inside The Wall’s shopping arcade). Tel: (02) 8935-1454
Events
In a seminar titled The Allure of Physics, Nobel laureate Yang Chen-ning (楊振寧) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology President Paul Chu (朱經武) will draw on their extensive experience in the field of physics to discuss the role of science in contemporary society. In Chinese with simultaneous interpretation in English.
▲Guoguang Hall in the Chinese Petroleum Building (中油大樓國光廳), 3 Songren Rd, Taipei City (台北市松仁路3號)
▲Tomorrow at 2pm
▲Admission is free but attendees must register in advance online at www.civictaipei.org or by calling (02) 3322-4907
The Urban Nomad Film Program at the 2008 Taipei Biennial, which runs until Oct. 18, continues tomorrow night with Odds and Ends, a set of short films inspired by the indie music scene in Portland, Oregon. The shorts are followed by a screening of The Yes Men, a movie about the social activist group of the same name. The film follows several activist-pranksters who pose as WTO spokespersons on TV and at business conferences. On Sunday, there will be repeat screenings of Filipino Activist Shorts 2005-2008, a set of short films on social issues in the Philippines, and Tribu, a film about gang wars in a Manila slum.
Tomorrow night at Taipei Brewery (台北啤酒文化園區), also known as the Taipei Beer Factory, 85, Bade Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市八德路二段85號); Sunday at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號)
Tomorrow at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2:30pm
No admission fee tomorrow; NT$30 museum admission fee on Sunday
Theater
The Prince of Tennis is a musical based on the popular Japanese manga and anime series of the same name. The production takes the form of tennis matches, which in its Taiwan debut are between two rival schools in a national tournament.
▲Novel Hall (新舞台), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3-1號)
▲Today and tomorrow and Sunday at 7pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2pm
▲Tickets are NT$900 to NT$2,200, available through NTCH ticketing
Taiwan’s expulsion from the UN in 1971 serves as the background for Ping-Fong Acting Troupe’s (屏風表演班) latest work Stand by Me (六義幫). Written and directed by Hugh Lee (李國修), the story follows six youths who use an air raid shelter as a meeting place to discuss their roles in history.
▲Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段25號)
▲Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500, available through NTCH ticketing
Blessed with a beautiful voice, a girl moves to the city in search of her dreams in Lil’ Flora (小花) by If Kid’s Theater (如果兒童劇團). While working at a flower shop, Flora is “discovered” by a music executive who encourages her to be the ghost singer for an untalented but beautiful star. After accepting the offer, Flora finds it increasingly galling that the person receiving all the accolades is less talented than herself — a reality that gradually changes her idealistic personality.
▲Chunghsing Concert Hall, Taichung (台中中興堂), 291-3 Chingwu Rd, Taichung City (台中市精武路291之3號)
▲Tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
▲Tickets are NT$300 to NT$800, available through NTCH ticketing
Classical
Michala Petri Recorder Recital (米凱拉.派翠木笛獨奏會) features the renowned soloist performing with guitar accompaniment from Lars Hannibal. The recital showcases Petri’s versatility with the program including Giuseppe Tartini’s Sonata in G Minor, “Devil Trill Sonata”, Bach’s Partita in C Minor for Recorder, Tomasio Vitali’s Ciacona in G Minor, Carl Scheindienst’s Variations on an Austrian Folk Tune, Ernest Krahmer’s Introduction, Theme and Variations Op.32 and pieces from Astor Piazzolla’s Historie du Tango.
▲Today at 7:30pm (Kaohsiung), tomorrow at 7:30pm (Taipei) and Sunday at 7:30pm (Taichung)
▲Sun Yat-sen Hall of National Sun Yat-sen University Art Center (高雄中山大學逸仙館), 70 Lienhai Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市蓮海路70號); National Concert Hall, Taipei City; Taichung Chungshan Hall (台中中山堂), 98 Hsuehshi Rd, Taichung City (台中市學士路98號)
▲Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,200 in Kaohsiung and NT$300 to NT$1,600 for Taipei and Taichung, available through ERA ticketing
Two Stars for Double Ten — A Night With Chu Tai-li and Chien Wen-pin (雙十雙星—朱苔麗與簡文彬歌劇之夜) brings together two greats of Taiwan’s musical scene in a concert of arias by soprano Chu Tai-li (朱苔麗) and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chien Wen-pin (簡文彬). The program includes scenes from operas by Rossini, Puccini, Verdi, Ponchielli and Cilea.
▲Today at 7:30pm
▲National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲Tickets are NT$200 to NT$1,000, available through NTCH ticketing
Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra Concert Series — Su Yun-han Pipa Recital (小巨人絲竹樂團青年演奏家系列:千章掃—蘇筠涵琵琶獨奏會) features the talented young pipa (琵琶) performer Su Yun-han (蘇筠涵).
▲Tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲Tickets are NT$300 to NT$500, available through NTCH ticketing
2008 Formosa International Guitar Festival (2008福爾摩沙國際吉他藝術節) brings top guitarists to Taiwan for recitals in Taipei and Kaohsiung. The event continues this week with two concerts by the Apuliae Guitar Quatuor in Kaohsiung. The FIGF Sextet and Multimedia Concert which will close the festival in Taipei.
▲Tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm (Kaohsiung); Tuesday at 7:30pm (Taipei)
▲Tomorrow at the Kaohsiung City Concert Hall (高雄市音樂館演奏廳), 99 Hesi Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市河西路99號); Sunday at the Wei Wu Ying Center of the Arts (高雄縣衛武營藝術文化中心), 449-1 Nanjing Rd, Fengshan City, Kaohsiung County (高雄縣鳳山市南京路449之1號); Tuesday at the National Concert Hall, Taipei City
Contemporary
Migration Music Festival concludes with free shows this weekend at the scenic riverside area at Bitan (碧潭) in Sindian (新店). Appearing on stage tomorrow is the Amis Aboriginal group Betel Nuts Brothers (檳榔兄弟), followed by Hakka singer-songwriter Lin Sheng-xiang (林生祥) and Japanese guitarist Ken Ohtake (大竹研). On Sunday it’s Hakka singer Lo Sirong (羅思容) and her band, followed by David Chen and the Muddy Basin Ramblers.
▲Riverside walkway at Bitan (碧潭), near Xindian (新店) MRT Station. Call Trees Music and Art for more information (02) 2341-3491 or visit www.treesmusic.com
▲From 3pm to 5pm, tomorrow and Sunday
▲No admission fee
Highlight
Rock ‘n’ roll goes green this weekend with Taiwan’s first Earthfest (地球藝術節), a music festival that aims to promote environmental awareness that event starts today at Kunlun Herb Gardens in Taoyuan County and features more than 40 bands. Ticket proceeds go to environmental action groups in Taiwan.
Performers include punk-garage rockers 88 Balaz (八十八顆芭樂籽), hip-hop outfit Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) and expat favorites the Money Shot Horns. All stage equipment for the bands and DJs will be powered entirely by biodiesel fuel.
In addition to the music, several NGOs will run booths to promote causes including an upcoming march on climate change and a movement to protect Sousa dolphins on Taiwan’s west coast. Featured workshops include cooking with solar power, building compost toilet systems, and qigong. Campo, the roving arts and crafts market, will also be there, selling environmentally friendly goods.
▲Kunlun Herb Plant Tourism Garden (崑崙藥用植物園), 8-2, 1st Neighborhood, Kaoping Village, Lungtan Township, Taoyuan County (桃園縣龍潭鄉高平村一鄰8-2號). For more information, including directions to the festival site, see “Rockin’ responsibly” on Page 14 of last Friday’s Taipei Times.
▲From 4pm today until 6pm Sunday
▲NT$700, NT$600 with flyer (Flyers available in Taipei at The Wall, VU Live House, Witch House, and Underworld; in Kaohsiung at ATT; and in Taichung at Emerge Live House, 89K, and the Pigpen)
▲On the Net: www.earthfest.tw
The year was 1991. A Toyota Land Cruiser set out on a 67km journey up the Junda Forest Road (郡大林道) toward an old loggers’ camp, at which point the hikers inside would get out and begin their ascent of Jade Mountain (玉山). Little did they know, they would be the last group of hikers to ever enjoy this shortcut into the mountains. An approaching typhoon soon wiped out the road behind them, trapping the vehicle on the mountain and forever changing the approach to Jade Mountain. THE CONTEMPORARY ROUTE Nowadays, the approach to Jade Mountain from the north side takes an
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and