A special guest checked us out this week. Taiwanese movie godfather, Hou Hsiao-hsien (
After sending the sketchy information to our film expert for analysis, Pop Stop concluded that the film could be Hou's long-awaited project The Best of Our Time (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Now back to the bitchy side of show biz. Nationally acclaimed as ``the most beautiful woman in Taiwan,'' age-resistant Stephanie Hsiao (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
After 15 years in the entertainment industry, Hsiao is now tapping into the Mando-pop music scene and introduced her first album earlier this month. Since then, the musical freshwoman has been running around, popping up at as many events as she can in the hope of boosting her not-so-promising record. Judging from the reviews and sales so far, the star still has a long way to go.
But another foxy lady is on the rise. Despite a previously plump figure (plump by the industry's standards), Little S (
Not only is she the spokesperson for a body-sculpting cosmetic brand, but Little S also got a big fat red envelope from a Taiwanese diet-drink manufacturer for endorsing its products.
Local media put the super-model Lin Chih-ling (
When asked whether she has the confidence to win back the title of ad queen by the end of the year, the sweet, well-cultivated lady Lin gave her typical response, ``I always put 100 percent effort in each and every job. Titles to me are not important at all.''
While Little S will use her fat check to take her whole family abroad for a luxurious vacation, Singaporean pop singer Stefanie Sun (
(
During this time of happiness when everyone is preparing for the New Year break, show biz is still able to generate miserable break-up news. Chang Chen (張震) -- the actor who has frequently starred in works by Ang Lee (李安) and Wong Kar Wai (王家衛) -- has broken up with his singer girlfriend Lu Jia-Hsin (路嘉欣) after six years of their low-profile relationship. Chang chose to remain silent after the news broke, but Lu made a brief and ambiguous comment: ``Right now, I feel everything is illusion.''
Taiwanese chip-making giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) plans to invest a whopping US$100 billion in the US, after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on overseas-made chips. TSMC is the world’s biggest maker of the critical technology that has become the lifeblood of the global economy. This week’s announcement takes the total amount TSMC has pledged to invest in the US to US$165 billion, which the company says is the “largest single foreign direct investment in US history.” It follows Trump’s accusations that Taiwan stole the US chip industry and his threats to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent
On a hillside overlooking Taichung are the remains of a village that never was. Half-formed houses abandoned by investors are slowly succumbing to the elements. Empty, save for the occasional explorer. Taiwan is full of these places. Factories, malls, hospitals, amusement parks, breweries, housing — all facing an unplanned but inevitable obsolescence. Urbex, short for urban exploration, is the practice of exploring and often photographing abandoned and derelict buildings. Many urban explorers choose not to disclose the locations of the sites, as a way of preserving the structures and preventing vandalism or looting. For artist and professor at NTNU and Taipei
March 10 to March 16 Although it failed to become popular, March of the Black Cats (烏貓進行曲) was the first Taiwanese record to have “pop song” printed on the label. Released in March 1929 under Eagle Records, a subsidiary of the Japanese-owned Columbia Records, the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) lyrics followed the traditional seven characters per verse of Taiwanese opera, but the instrumentation was Western, performed by Eagle’s in-house orchestra. The singer was entertainer Chiu-chan (秋蟾). In fact, a cover of a Xiamen folk song by Chiu-chan released around the same time, Plum Widow Missing Her Husband (雪梅思君), enjoyed more
Last week Elbridge Colby, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, a key advisory position, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that Taiwan defense spending should be 10 percent of GDP “at least something in that ballpark, really focused on their defense.” He added: “So we need to properly incentivize them.” Much commentary focused on the 10 percent figure, and rightly so. Colby is not wrong in one respect — Taiwan does need to spend more. But the steady escalation in the proportion of GDP from 3 percent to 5 percent to 10 percent that advocates
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