Actor Kim Soo-hyun donates W300 million for Sewol victims

Kim Soo-hyun, one of Korea’s hottest TV stars, will donate 300 million won ($289,000) for the young victims and survivors of the Sewol ferry sinking, joining a slew of celebrities in offering aid, donations and condolences in the wake of one of the country’s worst maritime calamities ever. “Kim Soo-hyun will be donating the money directly to Danwon High School in Ansan. All decisions, including the amount and recipients, are his own,” the actor’s agency said Thursday. Over 300 students and teach

April 24, 2014

Real Elizabeth Seton revealed

American Saint: The Life of Elizabeth SetonBy Joan Barthel (Thomas Dunne)Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was an American original. Born into New York’s upper crust in 1774, she was the daughter of a prominent doctor, raised a devout Episcopalian, married a well-to-do businessman, William Seton, had five children and worked with others from her parish, Trinity Church, to assist needy widows and children. When the Napoleonic Wars took several of his ships, William Seton suffered bankruptcy, and Elizabe

BooksApril 24, 2014

‘Shakespeare’ novel rewards patience

The Secret Life of William ShakespeareBy Jude Morgan (St. Martin’s)We know so much about William Shakespeare, and yet we know so little.Through documents public and private, we know that indeed Shakespeare did exist; we know about his family (his father, for instance, was a once-prominent leather worker in Stratford); we know he married a woman, Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older and who gave birth six months after their marriage; we know they had three children and their only son died at

BooksApril 24, 2014

Prolific writer lived a life full of contradictions

When John Updike died in 2009 at the age of 76, followers of American literature could not quite comprehend it. Novels, criticism and poetry (60 books) had flowed like a river from Updike’s pen since his years as a Harvard undergraduate. It was as if the writer vanished midsentence.One of Updike’s last public appearances before his lung-cancer diagnosis was in 2008 at Seattle Arts & Lectures ― at the time Updike thought he had “walking pneumonia.”He appeared with Seattle novelist David Guterson,

BooksApril 24, 2014

‘You Must Remember This’ recalls Hollywood’s golden era

Robert Wagner is in a reflective mood.“Movies last forever,” noted the veteran actor (“Broken Lance,” “The Pink Panther,” the “Austin Powers” series), but the Hollywood he once knew has all but disappeared.“I turned around, and it was all gone,” Wagner, 84, said recently in Beverly Hills.Known as R.J. to his friends and colleagues, he’s dapper, charming, handsome and very much cut from the same cloth as the suave characters he played in the TV series “It Takes a Thief” and “Hart to Hart,” in whi

FilmApril 24, 2014

Ewha Womans Univ. names new president

Ewha Womans University announced Thursday that Choi Kyung-hee, a professor in the department of science education, was named its new president.The university board held a meeting early in the day and confirmed the 51-year-old educator as the school’s head. She was selected out of three female candidates, all of whom are currently members of the university staff.She will begin her four-year term on Aug. 1, succeeding Kim Sun-uk.Choi received her doctoral degree in the same field in 1994, and has

PeopleApril 24, 2014

Tourism hit hard by ferry accident

Local festivals, school trips and ferry tours have been canceled or delayed after the deadly ferry sinking off the southern coast last week, bringing the tourism industry to a grinding halt. Provincial governments are now scrapping plans to start spring festivals in May. Jeolla Province announced it has canceled the popular Hampyeong Butterfly Festival, scheduled to kick off on May 2. Other major spring festivals such as the Icheon Ceramics Festival, originally scheduled to start on Friday, and

TravelApril 23, 2014

[Uniquely Korean] Street food evolves

Kim Hee-sook and her husband came up with a recipe for a crispy sweet pancake, a variation of hotteok, a traditional Korean pancake stuffed with sugar, 18 years ago. They set up a food stall on a street in Insa-dong. Their hotteok made with corn starch and glutinous rice became an instant hit. It is now one of the must-taste street snacks in the popular tourist spot. “Others started imitating us,” she said, constantly flipping the round, flat hotteok. Her hotteok is filled with a mix of up to 13

FoodApril 23, 2014

Reality beyond statistics

We live in a world of statistics. Statistics expressed in the form of percentages, graphs and pie charts are everywhere. Their stated aim is to paint an accurate picture of reality with numbers. But European avant-garde theater group Rimini Protokoll challenges this notion and aims to show what the dry statistics fail to show. With its series of “100% city” shows, it has been giving faces to the numbers, by putting 100 people of a city on stage to answer questions that go beyond regular statisti

PerformanceApril 23, 2014

Neil Patrick Harris crushes it in ‘Hedwig’

NEW YORK (AP) ― It’s obvious from the first moments of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” that star Neil Patrick Harris is doing something special. And it’s not just trying on a new role. He is lowered to the stage in a jumpsuit and ferociously feathered blond wig and immediately begins the show’s first rock-punk song, getting down on all fours, grinding into the microphone stand or licking the guitarist’s strings. The crowd inside of the Belasco Theatre, where the show opened Tuesday, loses its mind,

PerformanceApril 23, 2014

Amsterdam chief conductor Mariss Jansons to step down

THE HAGUE (AFP) ― The chief conductor of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, is to step down at the end of the season after leading the world-famous ensemble for a decade, the RCO announced on Tuesday.“Today ... chief conductor Mariss Jansons informed the musicians and staff members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra that Maestro Jansons will resign his position after the 2014-2015 season,” the RCO said in a statement.Health concerns were believed to be the reason for hi

PerformanceApril 23, 2014

Bon Jovi helps open, fund low-income housing in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― Jon Bon Jovi’s hit tune “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” took on new meaning Tuesday as the rock star cut the ribbon on a namesake housing development for low-income residents and the formerly homeless in Philadelphia. The 55-unit JBJ Soul Homes opened in the Francisville neighborhood after about 18 months of construction. Bon Jovi’s Soul Foundation provided the lead gift for the $16.6 million complex, which he hopes will offer tenants the support they need to get back on their

PeopleApril 23, 2014

A Polish take on ‘Macbeth’

Murder, betrayal, sex and vengeance ― no story shows the savage behavior that some humans succumb to in order to fulfill their ordained prophecies or the unrelenting grasp that evil can have on one’s soul like the power-hungry tale of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”“Let not light see my black and deep desires,” Shakespeare wrote in the depiction of Macbeth’s inner turmoil as he longed to murder the king and overtake his throne. Considered one of Shakespeare’s most diabolical and compelling trag

PerformanceApril 23, 2014

Composer Yoon Il-sang writes requiem for Sewol victims

As the death toll from the ferry accident continues to rise day by day, veteran composer Yoon Il-sang has written a requiem for the victims.“I dedicate this song to the Sewol victims who have passed away ... I pray that they will be happy in the afterlife,” Yoon Il-sang wrote on his Twitter page on Wednesday after unveiling the elegy on his SoundCloud account.“Take Care,” a calm and doleful piano composition, was written, arranged and played by the composer himself.“It was difficult to work on b

April 23, 2014

Dress codes: What should schools limit?

EVANSTON, Illinois (AP) ― They’re called leggings ― popular fashion items that are tight-fitting pants to some, and glorified tights to others. Younger girls often wear them as pants with little fuss. But as those same girls approach middle school, leggings have become a clothing accessory that’s increasingly controversial ― and seemingly, the favorite new target of the school dress code. Some schools have banned leggings outright. Others have set limits. Haven Middle School in Evanston, just no

Arts & DesignApril 23, 2014

London looks to give voice to muted buskers

LONDON (AFP) ― Concerned that London’s seasoned street musicians are being silenced by excessive regulation, mayor Boris Johnson is leading calls for the buskers’ voices, and guitars, to be heard again.Camden Town in north London, with its punks and a main street bristling with “alternative” shops, has long been a favored destination for young visitors. But several months ago, buskers were ordered to silence their instruments by 9 p.m.Some fear that in bowing to the residents’ complaints about n

CultureApril 23, 2014

Magnifying glasses become necklaces, handkerchiefs

As a child, jewelry designer Yoon Hye-rim loved playing with her magnifying glass. “I’ve always been an observer,” she said. “I would use it to observe flowers, insects and other things in nature.”The up-and-coming designer recently launched a brand named “Efluvi,” which offers magnifying glasses in different forms, including necklaces, handkerchiefs, and even paperweights. She is one of the artists-in-residence at Seoul Art Space Sindang, an artist residency program funded by the government at

Arts & DesignApril 23, 2014

CLASH concert to help Justice for N. Korea

Regular expat-Korean charity concert CLASH will run again Saturday, with a show in aid of Justice for North Korea. This is the second CLASH in aid of Justice for North Korea, a non-partisan volunteer organization that helps North Korean refugees escape from China into South Korea and supports them here. JFNK also works with international organizations to push for better human rights conditions in North Korea and raise more awareness of the situation through street campaigns. The opening musical

Expat LivingApril 22, 2014

Lex-i-con to honor ‘self-confessed geek’ killed in road accident

Two events will be held in Itaewon on Saturday in honor of longtime expat Lex Boutilier, who died in a road accident on April 4.An indoor event with a Comic Con feel will be held in the afternoon, followed by a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and live music in the evening.The Lex-i-con events are being organized by a group of Boutilier’s friends, led by Jacco Zwetsloot, who worked with him at Hongik University.Zwetsloot said he got to know Boutilier through a shared interest in scie

Expat LivingApril 22, 2014