VIEW THIS PAGE Jazz Your Mind takes to the stage tonight at Sappho de Base, Taipei’s favorite late-night venue for impromptu jazz sessions. Appearing tomorrow night are The Blues Vibrations, who play blues, funk, and surf-rock. On Tuesday night, the Grace Jazz Trio plays a set, with an open jam afterwards, and on Wednesday the Chris Stiles Trio takes to the stage. Thursday night features the T and T Jazz Trio.
▲B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit www.sappho102.biz for more information
▲Performances begin at 10:30pm on weekends, 10pm on weekdays
▲No admission fee
There is no show tonight at The Wall (這牆). Playing tomorrow are post-rockers Emily (艾蜜莉), indie-electronica groups Digihai and Unfamiliar Friends Party (不熟的朋友派對) and DJ duo Tomodachi. On Sunday it’s more indie-electronica sounds with Alluvial (阿路米爾), Sloth Scamper, and Space Cake (太空蛋糕). Look out for next week’s main attraction, Yo La Tengo, which plays on Wednesday and Thursday (see Highlight).
▲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
▲Tomorrow, Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm (doors open at 7pm)
▲NT$400 tomorrow; NT$300 Sunday. See Highlight for Yo La Tengo ticket information
At Underworld (地下社會) tonight, Back 2 the Future (B2TF, 回到未來) presents Extreme and Industrial Night with DJs International Sex Organization, Nullbomb and Ashen, with Roughhausen from Germany. Tomorrow it’s Kenny From Casino (賭場肯尼), a group that combines emo, punk, Brit pop and garage, and pop-punk rockers Hotpink.
▲B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369-0103 or visit www.upsaid.com/underworld for more information
▲Shows go from 9:30pm to 11:30pm tonight and tomorrow
▲Admission is NT$300 and includes one drink on Fridays and Saturdays; NT$100 on Wednesdays (drink not included)
Appearing tonight at Witch House (女巫店) is John Suming (約翰淑敏), a singer and multi-instrumentalist from the popular college rock band Totem (圖騰). Tomorrow folk-pop rocker Jasmine (假死貓) takes to the stage, followed by Puyuma singer Leo Chen (陳永龍). Indie-rock band Nylas (耐拉斯) plays on Thursday.
▲7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). For more information, call (02) 2362-5494 or visit www.witchhouse.org
▲Performances start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays; 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
▲NT$300, includes one drink
Tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), saxophonist Tung Shuen-wen (董舜文), a veteran in Taiwan’s jazz scene, performs with his band. Tomorrow night it’s alt-rock band Rock Bang (洛客班) and indie act, Wizard of Oz (綠野仙蹤).
▲B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓). Call (02) 2368-7310 or visit www.riverside.com.tw for more information
▲Shows start at 9:30pm tonight and 9pm tomorrow; 5pm and 9pm on Sunday
▲Entry tonight and tomorrow is NT$400 and includes one drink
Soma plays covers tonight at Tone 56 Live Bar. Tomorrow it’s house band Loaded, which plays everything from “rock classics to today’s hits.” On Sunday it’s The Revue Band, playing blues, rock and reggae.
▲1F, 56, Minquan E Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市民權東路三段56號1樓), near the corner of Fuxing North (復興北) and Minquan East (民權東) roads. Call (02) 2517-3869 for more information
▲Music shows go from 9:30pm to 12:30am tonight and tomorrow; 7:30pm to 9:30pm on Sundays
▲No admission fee
Every Wednesday night at the Cosmopolitan Grill there’s a blues open mic held by the Blues Society on Taiwan and hosted by Torch Pratt. All are welcome to bring their instruments and sit in on guitar, bass or drums.
▲1F, 218 Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台北市長春路218號1樓). Call (02) 2508-0304 or visit www.cosmo.com.tw for more information
▲8pm to 11pm every Wednesday
▲No admission fee
Exhibitions
Form, Idea, Essence and Rhythm: Contemporary East Asian Ink Painting (形.意.質.韻—東亞當代水墨創作邀請展). With works by 25 artists from China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, the exhibition explores contemporary Asian ink painting.
▲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). Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm, Saturdays until 20:30pm. Tel: (02) 2595-7656
▲Until Dec. 28
Fantastic World of Daniel Lee (李小鏡的科幻世界). The exhibition puts together three series of digital imagery by the China-born, Taiwan-raised, New York-based artist. 108 Windows, made from 1995 to 2003, comprises 108 portraits. Origin, made from 1999 to 2003, is a series of manipulated images that show human evolution based on the artist’s imagination, and Harvest depicts a group of livestock as hosts of human organs.
▲Center for Arts and Humanities, National Yang Ming University (國立陽明大學藝文中心), 155, Linnung St Sec 2, Beitou Dist, Taipei City (台北市北投區立農街二段155號). Open Mondays through Fridays from 10am to 4pm. Tel: (02) 2826-7000 X6026
▲Until Oct. 30
Wu Tung-lung Solo Exhibition (吳東龍個展—記憶逐漸成為一種收藏). Immediately after his residency in Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, up-and-coming artist Wu Tung-lung (吳東龍) presents several of his latest oil paintings that demonstrate his interest in expressing inner experiences through abstractionism.
▲VT Artsalon (非常廟藝文空間), B1, 45 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街45號B1). Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 2pm to 11pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 2pm to 1am. Tel: (02) 2516-1060
▲Until Oct. 25
B-Side Ecology (B面生態學). Susan Stockwell from the UK works with everyday industrial and domestic materials as “ready-made signifiers” to reveal their hidden politics and beauty.
▲MEME Space, Hong’s Foundation for Education and Culture (洪建全基金會覓空間), 12F, 9, Roosevelt Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路二段9號12樓). Open Mondays through Fridays from 10am to 5pm. Tel: (02) 2396-5505 X122, X132
▲Until Nov. 28
In Pursuit of Temporality, Nationality and Self-Realization: An Exhibition of Donated Works by Kuo Po-chuan (時代性、民族性、自我性的實踐者—郭柏川作品捐贈展). Born in Tainan City in 1901, Kuo was adept at fusing Chinese and Western artistic sensibilities in his celebrated still life, figure and landscape paintings.
▲National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung (國立台灣美術館), 2, Wuchuan W Rd Sec 1, Taichung City (台中市五權西路一段2號). Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (04) 2372-3552
▲Until Feb. 8, 2009
Highlight
Ever wonder what Vibe would be like without the flashlight-wielding security? With DJs who played good music? With DJs who could actually deejay? Find out tomorrow when the old nightclub Spin is resurrected for a one-off party at Paris Night Club in Ximending. Former Spin DJs Fish, Mykal (林哲儀) and Alex 36 will drop an eclectic mix of highly danceable tunes ranging from Brit pop and indie-rock to electronica and punk. Among the other familiar faces expected to be there: ex-Spin bartenders and other former staff, organizers say.
▲Back to Spin, with DJs Fish, Mykal and Alex 36
▲Paris Night Club (夜巴黎舞廳), 5F, 89, Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市武昌街二段89號5樓). The venue is above the IN89 (Hoover) movie theater in Ximending
▲Tomorrow from 10pm until 4am or 5am
▲NT$600 for men, NT$400 for women; NT$100 off ticket prices with a flyer (available at Underworld, 地下社會) and for holders of Spin or Party Room VIP cards
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