Twice gearing up for return

K-pop girl group Twice is getting ready for its return to the spotlight.　The nine-member act is currently working on a new release, scheduled to be unveiled sometime next month, according to the group’s management agency JYP Entertainment on Wednesday. 　Although the date and the concept behind the upcoming release is as of yet undecided, the girl group is reportedly collaborating with Black-eyed Pilseung, the leading producer and songwriting duo behind the group’s hit tracks “Like Ooh-Aah” and “

PerformanceSept. 28, 2016

Chin Un-suk named new SPO artistic adviser

Longtime Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra composer-in-residence Chin Un-suk, 55, has been named the orchestra’s new artistic adviser, replacing current interim artistic director Michael Fine, a Grammy-awarding classical recording producer.Chin, a famed local classical music composer based in Berlin, will officially begin her role as new artistic adviser starting Oct. 1. “Back in February I took a business trip to Berlin and met up with Chin Un-suk and practically begged her to take up the position,”

PerformanceSept. 28, 2016

‘Asura’ expected to draw big crowds

Directed by Kim Sung-soo, “Asura: The City of Madness” is predicted to become a blockbuster hit this fall. Nearly 250,000 people had reserved tickets for the movie in advance of its Wednesday release, with estimated ticket sales of over 1.6 billion won ($1.46 million), according to data from the Korean Film Council as of Wednesday morning.　The recent summer blockbuster “Train to Busan” currently holds the record for the highest number of pre-sale reservations, with over 320,000 pre-sold ticket. 

FilmSept. 28, 2016

Chicago blogger Luvvie Ajayi offers wit, wisdom in new book ‘I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual’

“I’m Judging You” By Luvvie AjayiHenry Holt (256 pages, $17)The wit of culture blogger Luvvie Ajayi (AwesomelyLuvvie.com) has earned her quite the following.She has been called upon by the likes of McDonald’s, Comcast and wine brand Rosa Regale to take over their social media accounts, live Tweet events and blog about “Scandal” and “Being Mary Jane.”And earlier this month, Oprah herself crowned the Chicago web strategist, naming her to the inaugural list of Super Soul 100 leaders recognized for

BooksSept. 28, 2016

‘Children of the New World’ finds virtual realities disenchanting

“Children of the New World” By Alexander WeinsteinPicador (240 pages, $16)The typical protagonist of Alexander Weinstein’s cautionary tales in “Children of the New World” is a man who could benefit from reading these stories, but probably never would, unless someone found a way to pipe them directly into his eyeballs.He’s no longer young, though sometimes youngish, emotionally connected to few people beyond his wife (if he has one) and easily swept away by virtual reality, shared-world environme

BooksSept. 28, 2016

Adele cracks 10 million US sales again

NEW YORK (AFP) – Adele’s “25” has topped 10 million sales in the United States, her second album to cross the threshold as the English singer cements her status as the century’s top-selling artist.The US industry body presented Adele a plaque certifying that “25,” released in November, had gone diamond platinum, or sold 10 million, at a ceremony backstage at New York’s Madison Square Garden where she just played six sold-out shows, her publicist announced Tuesday.The Recording Industry Associati

PerformanceSept. 28, 2016

‘Tristan’ makes Rattle want to ‘curl up in a fetal position’

NEW YORK (AP) -- Simon Rattle thought back to his first staged performance of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” in Amsterdam in 2001.“I remember wanting to lie down on the rostrum and curl up in a fetal position and sob,” he said. “While every bone of my body was asking me to do that, the rest of me was saying, no, actually you have to be professional and keep on conducting.”Wagner’s hypnotic love story, composed from 1857-59 and premiered in 1865, returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Monday night

PerformanceSept. 28, 2016

Mara Wilson is not Matilda anymore

When Mara Wilson was a little girl, Hollywood couldn’t get enough of her.She was one of those child actors who seemed preternaturally mature. Her vocabulary was surprisingly expansive. She could carry on full-blown conversations with adults. And she appeared to be in full control of her emotions, bringing out the puppy dog eyes at just the right moment.Interviewing Wilson on the “Today” show in 1994, Katie Couric declared: “Every time I see you in a movie, I just want to put you in my pocket and

BooksSept. 28, 2016

ICC sentences jihadist to 9 years in jail for attacks on Timbuktu UNESCO site

THE HAGUE (AFP) -- War crimes judges jailed a Malian jihadist Tuesday for nine years for demolishing Timbuktu’s fabled shrines, a landmark ruling seen as a warning that destroying mankind’s heritage will not go unpunished.In the first such case to focus on cultural destruction as a war crime, the International Criminal Court found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site during the jihadist takeover of northern Mali in 2012.Mahdi “supervised the destru

CultureSept. 28, 2016

Iraq opens new antiquities museum in Basra

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq opened a new antiquities museum in the southern city of Basra on Tuesday with pottery, coins and other artifacts dating back more than 2,000 years.Only one hall was opened due to a shortage of funds, Qahtan al-Obaid, the museum director, told the Associated Press by telephone. It will showcase artifacts dating back to 400 B.C. that tell the history of the oil-rich city on the Persian Gulf.He said there are plans to open other wings that would exhibit Babylonian, Assyrian and

CultureSept. 28, 2016

Sounds of strings to usher in the fall months

Classical music fans may be seen flocking to the Seoul Arts Center in the upcoming autumn months of October and November to witness some of the finest one-night-only performances from three world-class musicians. 　Anne-Sophie Mutter has been internationally regaled as being one of the greatest violin virtuosos of modern times for the past four decades. The four-time Grammy Award winner gives concerts in all the world’s important music centers, her fame much accredited to her early career under t

PerformanceSept. 27, 2016

Demand on the rise for Han River’s cruise ship

The Han River’s multipurpose cruise ship Araho will continue to expand its onboard cultural services to lure more visitors, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday.Akin to the well-known Bateau Mouche boats on the River Seine in Paris, the Araho has since July been operated by the travel agency Lets Go Korea. (Yonhap)According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the private company has diversified cultural content available on the ship, resulting in an increase in visitors. The city gove

CultureSept. 27, 2016

[Foreigners Who Loved Korea] Soong Meiling, China’s first lady who aided Korea’s independence movement

Soong Meiling was born in 1898 as the third daughter of a wealthy businessman in Shanghai, China.She was educated in the West and threw herself into assisting her husband Chiang Kai-shek when he became China’s top political leader of the time. She was an especially proactive supporter of Korea’s independence movement. Soong’s father, Charlie Jones Soong, studied abroad in the United States and graduated from a Methodist theological seminary. He returned to his country as a missionary, starting a

CultureSept. 27, 2016

‘Bacchus Lady’ offers more than sexual services

As elderly men stroll around lush, sun-soaked parks in the city, equally aged women approach them offering energy drinks called “Bacchus,” which is also the name of the Roman god of wine and debauchery. This exchange is code for a particular type of prostitution among seniors in Korea, and forms the basis of director-writer E J-yong’s “The Bacchus Lady.” The contemplative erotic drama has been garnering international attention, screening at numerous international film festivals -- Berlin, Hong K

FilmSept. 27, 2016