Here are some cool photos of Taiwan's 100% solar-powered coliseum Kaohsiung National Stadium. Opened in 2009 and with a capacity of 55,000, this super solar bowl was host to the 2009 World Games. It has some 8,844 solar panels that power 3,300 lights to illuminate the track and field. Apparently it only takes six minutes for the entire lighting system to activate. The architect for this sun-powered stadium is Toyo Ito. For more information, please visit the stadium's official website. See also: Dahu Park Taipei Taiwan PhotoSomewhere in Southern Taiwan...
Here is an incredible miniature sculpture entitled "Bonsai B" by Takanori Aiba. This amazing artist/designer was born in 1953. He started his art career as a freelance maze illustrator in 1978. His maze drawings were regularly featured in the fashion magazine "Popeye" for 10 years. In 1981 he started his own company called “Graphics and Designing Inc.” His work includes some architectural design and conceptual art. Much of Aiba's work is inspired by the traditional Japanese art forms of bonsai (miniature trees) and suiseki (stone appreciation). See more of Aiba's incredible works here. See also: Makoto Wada Anti Nuclear PosterJapanese Bikini Girls Playing in Shit
This horrifying documentary film is based on the life of Shin Dong-Huyk who was born in the North Korean re-education Camp 14 located in Kaechon, South Pyongan Province. Shin had no concept of the world outside the camp until he escaped at the age of 23. To date he is the only known person to have been born within and then successfully escaped from a maximum security camp in the DPRK. He tells a terrifying tale of extremely dangerous labor, daily beatings, inhumane torture, forced abortions, infanticide, public executions and cold-blooded murder committed by the prison guards. This film also includes the testimonies of Oh Yang-nam an ex-secret policeman and Hyuk Kwon a former guard at Camp 14. Below is the official movie trailer: "Camp 14 - Total Control Zone" will premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival with the schedule of its showing to be announced on August 21st. UPDATE: This film can now be seen on Netflix. See also: North Korean Concentration Camp DrawingsNorth Korean Poet's Rhymes of Murder, DespairCanadian DPRK Documentary "The Defector"Rimjin-gang's Underground North Korea News Update
Via Architizer August 15, 2012 In the bustling city of Zhuzhou, Hunan province, China, there are many factories and textile mills. The recent explosive economic growth and desire for housing located near the working place has inspired some residents to build their dream homes on the top of a city building in an effort to help preserve and protect the outlying countryside. Mmmmkkkaaaayyy... At this time there are only four houses atop a five-story shopping center. This new trend may or may not become more popular in China. But why don't they just build the houses on the ground? Because China. See also: Because China "HFC Hitler Fried Citizens"Because China: Telephone Pole Repair WorkBecause China: Getting Off With Your Lover
Did you ever go to a club and leave soon because the DJ's music sucks? Well, you don't have to run away anymore. The same company that brought us the very popular magical thinking cap known as "Necomimi" Japanese Cats Ears For "Communication", neurowear has teamed up with Qosmo for an all new wacky brainwave scanning device known as the Brain Disco! What is a "Brain Disco"? Well, perhaps it is best understood in the manufacturer's own words:
neurowear, teamed up with Qosmo (http://qosmo.jp/), developed "Brain Disco", where DJ must maintain audiences' "attention", measured with brainwave sensors, in order to keep DJing. If the average attention value remains less than a given threshold, DJ gets kicked out. The first Brain Disco experiment has been held at Gallery KATA Ebisu in July 26. (Video by grkt Inc. http://grkt.jp/)
The above drawings were done by North Korean refugees who were helped to escape from the DPRK by the Life Funds For North Korean Refugees non-government organization. These NSFW illustrations depict torture, human rights violations and the daily despair of living in Camp 12 Chongo-ri Kyo Hwa So. The Chongori reeducation center is located in the North Hamgyong Province and has a very high death rate. The following description of this camp is from the Chosunilbo:
One defector who had a hair's breadth escape from Chongori, has said, "Chongori is a living hell. Yoduk (the notorious prison camp) is a much better place." At Chongori, inmates are doomed to die of malnutrition. Forced to work for 14 hours a day, they are given only two whole potatoes and a handful of cornmeal a day. Few inmates stick it out for more than three months, no matter how healthy they are, because beatings are a daily routine there, he said.
Via CNN August 13, 2012 TAOYUAN--Long-term lesbian couple Huang Mei-yu and You Ya-ting were married in Taiwan's first same-sex Buddhist wedding ceremony on August 11, 2012 in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. Some 300 Buddhists chanted Sutras to bless the couple who are both 30 years old. The couple wore traditional white wedding gowns and exchanged prayer beads instead of rings in a Buddhist monastery. The couple's parents initially agreed to attend the ceremony, but because of the international media exposure they were absent. The couples' marriage is not legally recognized, but Taiwan is one of the most liberal cultures in Asia and many gay and lesbian rights groups are petitioning the government to legalize same-sex marriage. Below is the ITN news video on this historic event: See also: Buy Your Chinese Bride on Ebay Now!A Modern Day Japanese Wedding
It has been said by many of our readers that China is attempting to overthrow Japan as the world's premiere WTF superpower, and we have just now found more evidence to support that theory. In the very competitive instant noodles market, apparently there is a brand new Cup Noodles challenger from China known as Boss Noodles! And here is a very wacky new demonstration video on how to eat Chinese Boss Noodles like a boss: After watching the above clip more than a few times now it sounds as though the Chinese narrator is yelling "FFUUUU BITCHES" at the end! Also right when he yells that, the two Asian females grab onto the white guy and start dancing while the "Fast Business" text appears so whaddya think??? See also: Hilarious 7up Chinese TV Commercial"Rocketeer": Award Winning Hong Kong TVC
Nintendo first developed and released its Mario Kart マリオカート video game as a spinoff from the Super Mario series starting in 1992. Since then there have been nine different types of Mario Kart games published. Nintendo's current game in this series is Mario Kart 7. Just uploaded the other day, here is a nostalgic Japanese TV commercial from 1996 for Nintendo's Mario Kart 64 video game: Related: Remi Gaillard's Mario Kart Is Back!
Via SFGate July 31, 2012 A large colony of giant Asian hornets had killed one man and stung many other people in the small town of Tsz Wan Yuen Tsuen in the Jiangin district of China. The hornets have a very painful sting that is about 6mm (1/4 inch) deep and can include a lethal dosage of venom. Authorities tracked down the insect infestation to a single nest in the village. However, the nest was too large and too high above the ground to manually destroy. So the Chinese army brought in a flamethrower and they killed it with fire: Related: China Bee-Wearing Contest PhotoChinese Military Multifunction Shovel Demo Video
Here are some cool photos of Taiwan's 100% solar-powered coliseum Kaohsiung National Stadium. Opened in 2009 and with a capacity of 55,000, this super solar bowl was host to the 2009 World Games. It has some 8,844 solar panels that power 3,300 lights to illuminate the track and field. Apparently it only takes six minutes for the entire lighting system to activate. The architect for this sun-powered stadium is Toyo Ito. For more information, please visit the stadium's official website. 
See also: Dahu Park Taipei Taiwan Photo Somewhere in Southern Taiwan...
