Jessica Alba’s main street is high fashion

PARIS (AP) ― The first full day of Paris’ frenzied ready-to-wear shows mixed up iconic fashion veterans like Dries Van Noten with a whole new sort of fashion player: H&M. It may be a tricky ride ahead for the main street shop, which is now attempting to walk the snooty high fashion runway. Yet the company, which has still not been allowed on the official Fashion Week calendar, put on a buzzy show-spectacle replete with strobe lights, plasma screens and Jessica Alba which may go some way in shutt

Arts & DesignFeb. 27, 2014

2NE1 tops major music charts with new album ‘Crush’

Popular K-pop girl group 2NE1 has returned to the music scene ― and with a powerful force.The four-member hip-hop-infused girl group released their sophomore studio album “Crush” on Thursday, immediately sweeping all local real-time music charts.The title track “Come Back Home” topped the music charts of major online music services such as Melon, Bugs Music, Naver Music, Daum Music, Cyworld Music, Soribada and Monkey3. “Gotta Be You,” another title track, trailed behind closely at second place.

PerformanceFeb. 27, 2014

B.J. Novak is writing for you, kid

One More Thing: Stories and Other StoriesBy B.J. Novak(Alfred A. Knopf)The guy from “The Office,” as most people think of B.J. Novak, has written a book ― a fun and unusual one. Though “One More Thing” is subtitled “Stories and Other Stories,” only a few of the 63 pieces are stories in the usual sense. Many are fables, some are comedy monologues, others are nearly prose poems. A few are two-line koans. Almost all 63 of them are smart, quick and funny.Many revolve around taking a common phrase an

BooksFeb. 27, 2014

Engaging thriller about perfume heir

North of BostonBy Elisabeth Elo (Pamela Dorman Books)Scent pervades Elisabeth Elo’s debut outing: expensive perfumes, the tang of fishing boats and the coppery smell of blood.The thriller stars Pirio Kasparov. She’s a descendant of Russian parents who bought their Beacon Hill bona fides, but who feels more at home among Boston’s dockworkers and fishermen.Pirio is heir to a perfume house founded by her parents. Her mother, who died when Pirio was only 10, took the secret of her signature scent to

BooksFeb. 27, 2014

Malcolm Gladwell’s new big idea: Underdog status can be advantage

Over the last 14 years, Malcolm Gladwell has produced one bestseller after another. His books are so buzzworthy their titles become catchphrases, like “Tipping Point” and “Outliers.”Gladwell leads readers spellbound through stories that develop into counterintuitive insights into modern life.His newest book is “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants” (Little, Brown; $29). The book was inspired by a 2009 story Gladwell wrote in The New Yorker about a girls’ basketbal

BooksFeb. 27, 2014

Getting under California’s skin

Is it too much to compare Kem Nunn to Raymond Chandler? Both have used the loose frame of genre to write enduringly and resonantly about the dark side of the California dream. For Nunn, this has meant an exploration of boundaries, both actual and metaphorical; his last novel, “Tijuana Straits” (which won a 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize), traces the shifting landscape of the physical borderland.At the same time, there is also a willingness to take risks, to play against expectation, which mar

BooksFeb. 27, 2014

The most popular countries in the world to visit

France is the most popular country for travel in the world, data showed on Wednesday. South Korea came in at 25.According to data portal World Statistics, France had the most tourists last year at 81.4 million. About 9.8 million travelers visited South Korea.After France came the United States with 62.7 million visitors, followed by China, Spain and Italy with 57.6 million, 56.7 million and 46.1 million, respectively.By Lee Shin-young, Intern reporter (sylee@heraldcorp.com)

TravelFeb. 27, 2014

Actress Choi Ji-woo joins YG Entertainment

Top actress Choi Ji-woo has signed a contract with YG Entertainment, the agency announced on Wednesday. 　“Choi Ji-woo will continue her acting career under YG’s systematic and globalized management,” an official from YG Entertainment said. 　The veteran actress, who recently made a comeback with the drama “Suspicious Housekeeper,” is set to re-solidify her status as a queen of the Korean culture boom in Asia. 　YG Entertainment recently scouted top actor Cha Seung-won and a few other stars, a rare

Feb. 27, 2014

Talk To Me In Korean helps expats fit in

Among the wealth of websites and other online resources for learning Korean, Talk To Me In Korean is steadily carving out a niche.Sun Hyun-woo set up TTMIK with two co-workers in 2009 to teach people around the world how to speak Korean.“Today, there are eight full-time workers in the office and we have made huge progress since then, especially since the Korean Wave started (booming) around 2010.” According to Sun, more than 1.5 million people are learning Korean with the help of TTMIK, measured

Expat LivingFeb. 26, 2014

Filipinos in Korea help Haiyan survivors float

In the days before brick and mortar construction, villagers in the Philippines would help their neighbors by lifting and carrying entire houses from place to place. This tradition, known as bayanihan, is at the heart of the Filipino spirit of cooperation and community. And this spirit, according to Eva Marie Wang, president of the student organization Pinoy Iskolars Sa Korea, made itself obvious in the weeks following Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the central Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, and affe

Expat LivingFeb. 26, 2014

‘Familiar Story’ for new theater company

Eumin Productions, a professional English-language production company will perform its first musical, “A Familiar Story,” in Seoul this weekend.Danny Hwang, the artistic director, founded Eumin at the beginning of the year, with a crew of 35 people.“We are a family-friendly theatrical company with our own concept of edutainment, combining full-scale fun for old and young with an educational background,” said Hwang. “A Familiar Story” is about young siblings Rion and Sam wishing to hear a bedtime

Expat LivingFeb. 26, 2014

JYP Entertainment launching auditions only for teens

Representatives at JYP Entertainment, one of the country’s leading talent agencies, have announced plans to hold an audition session this year exclusively for teenagers. JYP is home to a number of popular K-pop idol groups and is looking for young hopefuls to fill the shoes of these successful acts and ensure the future of the agency. “2PM, 2AM, Wonder Girls, miss A, GOT7 and others are all K-pop stars who are not only popular in Korea but are loved internationally as well and we are looking to

PerformanceFeb. 26, 2014

‘Elegant Lies’ tackles teen bullying

What do you do when your loved one suddenly commits suicide without even leaving a note? What does it mean to lose someone and then replay their last days over and over, searching for clues?Filmmaker Lee Han, who made a huge breakthrough with his 2011 drama “Punch,” a tale about a rebellious teen whose mother is a migrant from the Philippines, is making a strong comeback with another film about vulnerable teens and their families. Unveiled to the press on Tuesday, the film, titled “Elegant Lies,

FilmFeb. 26, 2014

Discover up-and-coming artists at art fairs

With spring just around the corner, the Korean art market is welcoming the new season with the opening of art fairs, offering both novice and seasoned collectors a chance to discover latest emerging artists or add to their existing collections. The Korea Galleries Art Fair, hosted by the Galleries Association of Korea, which was founded in 1976, will be held from March 6-9 at Coex, presenting artworks of both emerging and established artists that each gallery represents. The art fair showcases m

PerformanceFeb. 26, 2014

16th-century Korean paintings discovered in Honolulu

HONOLULU (AP) ― The Honolulu Museum of Art has discovered two paintings from late 16th-century Korea in its collection, including one that’s been called an “earth-shattering” find.“This is like discovering a lost Vermeer,” said Shawn Eichman, curator of Asian art at the museum, referring to the Dutch master, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.  The paintings are from the estate of Richard Lane, an art collector and dealer. Lane, who lived in Japan for about 50 years, helped catalog the museum

CultureFeb. 26, 2014

Park Yu-chun tackles high-stakes thriller

Four years have passed since JYJ member Park Yu-chun tackled his first major role in KBS’ “Sungkyunkwan Scandal.” To date, the 27-year-old K-pop idol and actor has forged a rock-solid television career for himself, starring as the lead in a string of four steady crowd pleasers, including SBS’ “Rooftop Prince” and MBC’s soap “Missing You,” all of which nabbed respectable viewer shares. This year, he is poised to make his big-screen debut in “Sea Fog,” a film produced by “Snowpiercer” director Bon

TelevisionFeb. 26, 2014

Urim Books exhibits book by pastor at New Delhi Book Fair

South Korean publisher Urim Books exhibited books written by pastor Lee Jae-rock at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2014, from Feb. 15 to 23 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.Alongside participants from 25 countries, Urim Books presented “The Message of the Cross” by Lee, author and senior pastor of Manmin Central Church, with copies translated into 56 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil and Nepalese. Five other Christian books by Lee, “Spirit, Soul and Body(1),” “Heaven (1,2),” “Hell” and “The P

PeopleFeb. 26, 2014