You are currently browsing all entries tagged with 'taiwan'

Random animals in Taiwan

  • May 11, 2012 6:30 pm

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Are You the Apple of My Eye?

  • December 6, 2011 11:57 am

(From You Are the Apple of My Eye)

My introduction to Taiwan cinema was in 1995 when I, still in film school, went to the Vancouver International Film Festival to present my “first” feature Flow, essentially a feature compilation of my student shorts made at UCLA. I met directors Yu-Hsun Chen and Chih-yen Yee and watched their respective first features Tropical Fish and The Lonely Hearts’ Club. I also saw Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Good Men Good Women with my newly met friend Rose Kuo who couldn’t stop sobbing next to me. Taiwanese art house cinema was all the rage in the 90s and the average budget for a Taiwanese movie at that time was around USD$300K. Even up until now, the average budget for a Taiwanese movie is about USD$300K with the most recent exception of Doze Niu’s Monga and Giddens Ko’s You Are the Apple of My Eye, both box office smash hits in Taiwan.

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Taiwan Really Likes Lady Gaga

  • July 6, 2011 12:01 am

The city of Taichung in Taiwan designated July 3 as “Lady Gaga Day.” The singer was in town to perform a “small” concert in front of 4,000 fans but promised to return soon to perform on a larger scale.

And as the following photos can attest, folks really got into the spirit of things:

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Apparently Blogging About Bad Food in Taiwan Can Lead to Jail and Fines

  • June 23, 2011 8:15 pm

We can add one more reason why it’s not such a bad thing to be a blogger in the good ole’ U.S. of A: we won’t be jailed and fined if we criticize something we don’t like…such as the food at a shitty restaurant.

Not so in Taiwan where a High Court this week sentenced a popular lifestyle blogger named Liu to 30 days in detention, two years probation and NT$200,000 in fines (about $7,000 U.S.) for criticizing a Taichung noodle shop on her blog.

And what was the horrible offense that warranted such a harsh sentence? Well, Liu called the food “too salty.” She also said she saw cockroaches inside the establishment and called the owner a “bully” for allowing his customers to park haphazardly causing traffic jams.

The High Court didn’t find her claims of cockroaches to be slanderous because they were just a “narration of facts,” but what it had an issue with was the blogger’s “too salty” criticism which the court found to have “exceeded reasonable bounds” because Liu only had tried one dish on her single visit.  Read more...

Short Film Spotlight: SEPHIROTH, THE WORLD’S ENEMY

  • June 14, 2011 2:36 pm

We’re switching things up for this edition of the Short Film Spotlight. Here’s a stop-motion animation piece based on the classic RPG FINAL FANTASY VII, which I believe Offender Jerome has conquered numerous times.  Although, it’s essentially an adaptation from one of the crucial moments in the videogame’s storyline, the sheer idea of the hundreds and hundreds of hours this young filmmaker went through to meticulously shoot every frame of his toy figurines is simply mind boggling. But, hey, when you’re a game nerd and want to commit to a Machinima-inspired piece, you have to go all out. The camera angles, use of shots, and fight choreography rivals any big budget Hollywood movie.  Check it out, after the jump…..  Read more...

First 3-D Porno Cuming…er, Coming to Hong Kong & Taiwan

  • April 8, 2011 12:01 am

That’s right—it’s the moment humankind has been working toward since we crawled out of the swampy waters millions of years ago and evolved into the amazing life forms we are today…the first 3-D porn flick.

It’s been in the works for two whole years, but starting next week, the lucky people in Taiwan and Hong Kong will finally get to see Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy in all its 3-D splendor and glory…holes and all. There’s supposedly such anticipation for it that thousands of tickets have already been sold and many mainland Chinese (where the uncensored version of the film will not be available–at least for the first five minutes until someone bootlegs it) are already planning trips just to be a part of this historic experience. Here’s the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szz9tsthY8E&feature=player_embedded  Read more...

Alexandra Wallace & ‘Red Dawn’ – Taiwanese Animated Flavah

  • March 23, 2011 12:01 am

It’s been awhile since I’ve featured the work of our friends at Taiwan’s Next Media Animation so figure it’s about time I rectified that. They’re even more prolific than ever—churning out their uniquely animated look at the news of the day at an astonishing rate.

Two of this week’s videos tackle issues that have been front and center in the recent Asian American consciousness. First up, the story of UCLA student Alexandra Wallace who made that video I’m sure everyone already knows about. Yeah, I’m sick of her too, but come on—once more with feeling:

Next, last week’s announcement from the producers of the Red Dawn reboot that they’d be digitally altering the film’s villains from Chinese to North Korean so as not to jeopardize the potential Chinese box office:  Read more...

Asia Sets New World Records & Sexy Umi Wants to Attend Your Party Tonight

  • January 29, 2011 10:53 am

Damn, Asia’s on a roll with two new world records according to the good folks at the Guinness Book.

First, Kawasaki, Japan can now claim to have the world’s shortest escalator:

And if that’s not exciting enough to email home about (and to also show that not all of Asia’s records involve something being the “shortest”), China’s Qingdao-Haiwan Bridge, which connects the Chinese port of Qingdao with the suburb of Huangdao is now the world’s longest bridge at 26 miles long. The previous record was held by the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, which is about three miles shorter:  Read more...

Kanak Attack, Taiwan Style

  • November 8, 2010 10:00 pm

In Hawaii, when you eat way too much and submit to a food coma, it’s called a kanak attack. Here’s the cutest example of one such kanak attack : YouTube Preview Image Poor girl, she’s truly fighting the lure of counting sheep as she shovels precious sustenance. I don’t know what’s funnier, her or her teacher who is videotaping this and guaranteeing her a world of future childhood trauma. I especially like how the teacher swaps the other kid in the head when he is in the shot.  Ah, Youtube….

Taiwan’s Michael Jackson Scarecrows

  • October 6, 2010 12:01 am

I’ve already blogged about how creative the Japanese can get with their scarecrows, but it seems that Japan isn’t the only Asian country with a knack for out-of-the-ordinary scarecrows. Lee Ping-hsing, a Michael Jackson fan in Taiwan, has built scarecrows resembling the King of Pop to scare away birds on his parents’ farm in central Taiwan’s Changhua County.

Lee says the idea for his creations came from Jackson himself: “During harvest, my dad would go to the fields every day to chase away the birds. And I thought, since Michael is good at ‘grabbing his bird,’ I’d invite Michael to grab birds in our fields.”

Makes perfect sense to me.  Read more...

‘The Social Network’ — Taiwanese Style

  • October 2, 2010 12:01 am

The Social Network (a.k.a. the film about the founding of Facebook that Facebook doesn’t want you to see) opens this weekend. But why sit through the whole movie when our awesome friends at Taiwan’s Next Media can tell you the story in just one minute? Who knew Facebook was started by a bunch of horny teens who had yellow fever and were gay for Justin Timberlake:

Happy first weekend of October!

Enjoy Eating From A Toilet? Well, Here’s The Place For You…

  • September 2, 2010 12:01 am

I first heard that there was a toilet-themed restaurant chain in Asia a few years back. I remember thinking that was an interesting marketing concept, but do people really want to eat out of toilets and drink out of urinals (well, beside my fellow Offender Sung with his poop obsession)? The answer seems to be a resounding yes.

I was doing a normal google search for any interesting topics I could blog about (a normal google search in this case meaning I typed in the words: “Asian,” “shit” and “eat”) and came upon this recent piece in the Telegraph spotlighting the Modern Toilet Restaurant chain. The first Modern Toilet outlet was founded by Wang Tzi-wei and opened in Taipei in 2004. Since then, the chain has branched out all over Taiwan and has also expanded to Hong Kong and China. According to the restaurant’s promotional materials: “Our goal is to become The No. 1 Brand in Themed Chain Restaurants. In an era where creative marketing is king, even faeces [sic] can be turned into gold”.

Supposedly, the place is especially popular with the youth and there are plans to expand even further. Could you be seeing a Modern Toilet in your own ‘hood soon? And if so, would you eat there? I guess if the food is excellent and prices reasonable, I might be willing to give it a shot, but check out the photos below…I don’t know—is it me or does anyone else find this a little…nauseating? But on the plus side, if you get sick from the food, at least you don’t have to go anywhere to find a place to…relieve yourself.

Happy eating!  Read more...