Vladimir Ashkenazy will be putting on two eagerly anticipated shows with the Philarmonia Orchestra next week
By Bradley Winterton
In January 2000 I was sitting in the fourth row of Taipei's National Concert Hall listening to Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra in a rehearsal of Brahms's frequently boisterous First Symphony. Watching the famous man, I whispered to myself under my breath, "He's acting out every note!" To my utter amazement, Ashkenazy turned round and looked at me. His acute musician's hearing had detected my presence, and possibly even heard every word.

[ FULL STORY ]

`Tragedy is about fundamental human nature, which is political. The issue of how to be a human being is political,' says the director of `Thebans'
By Vico Lee
Graham Mclaren has never doubted his choice of an all-classical repertoire for his theater company. "Show me a playwright who's ever written something as great as Oedipus [Rex]," he challenged. As the artistic director of the Scottish classical theater group Theatre Babel, Mclaren's confidence is well-grounded as the group's reputation has grown in recent years, particularly after 2001's hit Medea.

[ FULL STORY ]

If only Pop Stop could have been in Beijing last weekend for Jay Chou's (周杰倫) stadium concert. The show sounds like a comedy of the type only China is capable of cooking up.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Yu Sen-lun
It's widely known that Taipei's Eslite Bookstore is open 24/7, but a 24-hour circus venue?

[ FULL STORY ]

By David Momphard
"World music" and "Texas" aren't often seen in the same sentence. It's even rarer that a world music band from Texas would make it's way to Taiwan.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Jules Quartly
Welcome to The Vinyl Word, a new regular feature on the dance-music scene in Taipei and beyond that will take a look inside the clubs and at the star DJs to find what's keeping the country up all night.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Lin Chieh-yu
Since the world's biggest computer software company Microsoft released XBOX two years ago, the game console market has become a battleground in the struggle between the US and the Japanese powerhouses.

[ FULL STORY ]

Hollywood hasn't done a bad job of remaking Peter Collinson's 1969 classic `The Italian Job,' but the dearth of new material in recent big budget blockbusters is choking us all
By John Patterson
They keep springing up like old friends from the distant past: Get Carter, Traffic, The Ladykillers and, now, The Italian Job. Except they're not our friends. They're like those pods in the basement in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers: evil, soulless versions of people we think we know and love.

[ FULL STORY ]

The film fails to make a mark, though it goes through its generic paces with enough flair and mystery to keep you moderately entertained
By A. O. Scott
In Identity, which opens today in Taiwan, a group of strangers find themselves stranded at a ramshackle motel on -- how to put it? -- a dark and stormy night. Like the setting, the characters themselves have the damp, bedraggled air of cliche. There is a spoiled, has-been actress (Rebecca DeMornay), whose limo driver, a former policeman (John Cusack), has apparently driven in from a French movie, with his dark overcoat and his dog-eared copy of Being and Nothingness.

[ FULL STORY ]

Address: 71 Wanshou Rd, Taipei (台北市萬壽路71號)
Telephone: (02) 2936 6704
Open: Every day 11:30am to 2pm, 6pm to10pm
Average meal: NT$350
Details: No English menu. Credit cards not accepted
By Max Woodworth
For panoramic views of Taipei most people go to Yangmingshan, forgetting that at the southern end of the city are hills that provide some equally superb vistas and less crowds -- at least on most days. It's here at the end of a winding mountain road, above National Chengchi University, that the Monkey Mountain Chicken Farm enjoys a solitary perch with a truly spectacular view of the city.

[ FULL STORY ]

Address: 705 Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 6, Taipei (中山北路六段705號)
Telephone: (02) 2871 5289
Open: 6:30am to midnight, bar 6pm to 2am
Average meal: NT$400, including beverage
Details: English menu
By Gavin Phipps
Since Jake Lo opened his aptly named Jake's Country Kitchen in 1979, the diner has become one of the capital's most popular Western-style eateries, catering to both Taipei's expatriate community as well locals looking to chow down on good Western-style grub.

[ FULL STORY ]