Aug. 4 to Aug. 10When Coca-Cola finally pushed its way into Taiwan’s market in 1968, it allegedly vowed to wipe out its major domestic rival Hey Song within five years. But Hey Song, which began as a manual operation in a family cow shed in 1925, had proven its resilience, surviving numerous set
The unexpected collapse of the recall campaigns is being viewed through many lenses, most of them skewed and self-absorbed.The international media unsurprisingly focuses on what they perceive as the message that Taiwanese voters were sending in the failure of the mass recall, especially to China, th
The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu (白酒), long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times.Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60 percent alcohol. It’s the usual choic
Before performing last Friday at Asia’s bellwether music festival, Fuji Rock in Japan, the Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車) had previously performed on one of the festival’s smaller stages and also at Coachella, the biggest brand name in US music festivals. But this set on Fuji Rock’
A heatwave scorching Europe had barely subsided early last month when scientists published estimates that 2,300 people may have died across a dozen major cities during the extreme, climate-fueled episode.The figure was supposed to “grab some attention” and sound a timely warning in the hope of avoid
Happy Gilmore 2, the much-anticipated follow-up to the canonical sports comedy that dominated pop culture at the turn of the century, opens with Adam Sandler’s irascible hero catching viewers up on the past 29 years.After humiliating tour nemesis Shooter McGavin (an on-form Christopher McDonald) in
Maybe it’s true what they say about real life-or-death stakes not applying to superheroes. The past couple of years have looked pretty deadly for the once-ubiquitous American superhero movie, with just two such films placing on the list of last year’s top-grossing movies in the US, and three in 2023
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called “Big George.”Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on
Microplastics have been found in the placentas of unborn babies, the depths of the Mariana Trench, the summit of Everest and the organs of Antarctic penguins. But how do they travel through the world, and what do they do to the creatures that carry them? Here is the story of how plastic contaminates
“I acknowledge we’re losing money,” comedian Jon Stewart told viewers this week. “Late-night TV is a struggling financial model. We are all basically operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside a Tower Records.”The remark did not dull Stewart’s righteous anger about his friend Stephen Colbert’s show being
Gwyneth: The Biography opens, where else, with the vaginal egg, an episode that has come to stand for Paltrow’s general ability to sell dumb ideas to credulous rich women using widespread mockery as her marketing rocket fuel. Amy Odell’s book, billed as delivering “insight and behind-the-scenes deta
Trolleys piled high with decapitated silicon monster heads, tattooed dealers lurking in alleyways, bin bags of contraband hidden behind shop counters: welcome to the world of Lafufus.Fake Labubus (拉布布), also known as Lafufus, are flooding the hidden market. As demand for the collectable furry keyrin
A rising tide of artificial intelligence (AI) bands is ushering in a new era where work will be scarcer for musicians.Whether it’s Velvet Sundown’s 1970s-style rock or country music projects “Aventhis” and “The Devil Inside,” bands whose members are pure AI creations are seeing more than a million p
No one saw it coming.Everyone — including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — expected at least some of the recall campaigns against 24 of its lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) to succeed. Underground gamblers reportedly expected between five and eight lawmakers to lose their jobs. All of
Taiwanese residents holding plastic bags of rubbish stand on a footpath as a yellow garbage truck playing classical music over a loudspeaker pulls up.For decades, the tinkling of Beethoven’s Fur Elise or Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska’s Maiden’s Prayer has alerted Taiwanese households to take out thei
A couple of weeks ago the parties aligned with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), voted in the legislature to eliminate the subsidy that enables Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to keep up with its burgeoning debt, and instead pay
July 28 to Aug. 3Former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) reportedly maintained a simple diet and preferred to drink warm water — but one indulgence he enjoyed was a banned drink: Coca-Cola.Although a Coca-Cola plant was built in Taiwan in 1957, It was only allowed to sell to the US military and oth
Taiwan is today going to participate in a world-first experiment in democracy. Twenty-four Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers will face a recall vote, with the results determining if they keep their jobs.Some recalls look safe for the incumbents, other lawmakers appear heading for a fall and
Alexia Fiasco’s work is centered on destruction — or rebuilding — depending on your perspective. Bricks from Taiwan’s military villages sit next to debris from the suburbs of Paris, silently corroborating each other’s stories about displacement, loss and community. A series of worn daily items, take
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