In Japan, the Office Chair Grand Prix has been all the rage for the last seven years. This year, some shops along Jhengsing Street and Tainan City Government have joined forces to bring the race to Tainan City. On April 24, on the section of Haian Road between Jhengsing Street and Jhongjheng Road, Tainan Mayor William Lai fired the starting gun. The competitors suddenly skidded forward and moved along by contorting their bodies into all manner of strange postures, accompanied to the sound of non-stop laughter from spectators.
Lai says the office chair sliding race originates from Kyoto in Japan and for the race’s international debut, it has been brought to Tainan, “the Kyoto of Taiwan.” Tainan residents are honoured the race is being held in their city, says Lai, and are thankful to Japan for the assistance received following the recent earthquake in Tainan. When the decision was made to hold the race in Tainan, Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture experienced a major earthquake, causing a serious disaster and inflicting heavy casualties. Tainan residents send their heartfelt condolences and hope reconstruction and recovery will be swift.
Competitors came dressed up as many different kinds of cartoon characters or as interesting designs. Some, after setting off, slid at break-neck speed to the finishing line, while others toppled over in their chairs onto the ground and even skidded the wheels off their chairs. Several competitors grazed themselves after falling over and had their wounds dressed at an on-the-spot first-aid station. Another two competitors felt dizzy having suffered heat stroke and were taken to the hospital for treatment. There were, however, no serious injuries.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者王俊忠
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
在日本風行七年的辦公椅競速拉力賽,今年在台南市正興街店家與市府合作下,首度引進台南市,四月二十四日在中正路到正興街間的海安路段開賽,市長賴清德鳴槍後,選手們向前猛滑,前進姿勢千奇百怪,觀眾笑聲不斷。
賴清德表示,辦公椅滑行賽從日本京都發源,在日本造成轟動,首次輸出國外比賽,就來到有「台灣京都」之稱的台南市舉辦,台南人很榮幸,感謝日本幫助台南二○六地震;在決定台南舉辦這場賽事時,日本熊本又發生大地震,傷亡災情慘重,台南人也對日本送上最誠摯的關懷與慰問,盼能迅速重建復原。
參賽選手精心裝扮成各種卡通、趣味造型;有的出發後飛快地滑到終點,也有人椅子倒地,連輪子都滑掉了,幾名選手摔倒擦傷,由現場救護站包紮,另有兩名選手覺得頭暈、中暑而送醫治療,均無大礙。(自由時報記者王俊忠)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)