FIR's (飛兒樂團) self-titled debut album, released in 2004, blasted the pop trio to the top of the Mando-pop music scene. Since then, all four of the group's albums have topped charts in China, Hong Kong and its native Taiwan. Tomorrow night, the band, comprised of producer and keyboardist Ian Chen (陳建寧), vocalist Faye (飛) and guitarist Real (阿沁), will hold its first-ever concert at the Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋). Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿) and lead singer Shin (信) of Shin Band (信樂團) will make guest appearances at what promises to be a packed house.
Warner Music, the group's record company, has pulled out all the stops to ensure the debut concert is grand and spent over NT$3 million on the members' garb alone. This includes a futuristic LED-rigged costume to be worn by Faye, said to be inspired by an as yet undiscovered planet, and symbolizing infinite possibilities embodied in the combo's music, according to the record company's publicity bumf.
Technical difficulties have yet to be overcome to conceal six large batteries and 3m wires inside the outfit. Assuming that the petite vocalist can change outfits in three seconds as planned without tripping over the wiring, the threesome will play their signature mix of Mando-pop, J-pop, rock, jazz, blues, dance and world-music tunes.
Since the concert is dubbed as part of a world tour, Warner Music said the act will travel to other cities, but did not specify which, though it's safe to say they'll probably all be Earth-bound.
Most heroes are remembered for the battles they fought. Taiwan’s Black Bat Squadron is remembered for flying into Chinese airspace 838 times between 1953 and 1967, and for the 148 men whose sacrifice bought the intelligence that kept Taiwan secure. Two-thirds of the squadron died carrying out missions most people wouldn’t learn about for another 40 years. The squadron lost 15 aircraft and 148 crew members over those 14 years, making it the deadliest unit in Taiwan’s military history by casualty rate. They flew at night, often at low altitudes, straight into some of the most heavily defended airspace in Asia.
Beijing’s ironic, abusive tantrums aimed at Japan since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi publicly stated that a Taiwan contingency would be an existential crisis for Japan, have revealed for all the world to see that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) lusts after Okinawa. We all owe Takaichi a debt of thanks for getting the PRC to make that public. The PRC and its netizens, taking their cue from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are presenting Okinawa by mirroring the claims about Taiwan. Official PRC propaganda organs began to wax lyrical about Okinawa’s “unsettled status” beginning last month. A Global
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Dec. 22 to Dec. 28 About 200 years ago, a Taoist statue drifted down the Guizikeng River (貴子坑) and was retrieved by a resident of the Indigenous settlement of Kipatauw. Decades later, in the late 1800s, it’s said that a descendant of the original caretaker suddenly entered into a trance and identified the statue as a Wangye (Royal Lord) deity surnamed Chi (池府王爺). Lord Chi is widely revered across Taiwan for his healing powers, and following this revelation, some members of the Pan (潘) family began worshipping the deity. The century that followed was marked by repeated forced displacement and marginalization of
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