Rome makes history shine for visitors

ROME — Buongiorno, my hundreds of fellow tourists crowding the Trevi Fountain on this bright spring day. Doesn’t it look magnificent? Isn’t it grand? Aren’t you happy to be the first high-season tourists to see the place again without scaffolding? The baroque fountain was recently closed for 17 months while it was cleaned, scrubbed, repaired and restored to the glory intended by sculptor Salvi when he began carving it in 1762.“I am happy to see it. I love ‘La Dolce Vita,’” said Jessie Cantrell,

TravelJune 17, 2016

[Travel Bits] Round up of travel news from around the world

‘Fun Taipei’ all-inclusive discounted travel package In an effort to promote travel to Taiwan’s bustling capital city of Taipei, Fun Taipei has unveiled is new all-inclusive discounted travel package.The Fun Taipei travel deal offers guests round-trip airfare from Incheon to Taipei with China Airlines, hotel accommodation for two nights, two days of free Wi-Fi, a one-day “Easy Pass” travel card as well as a free travel guidebook, all starting at the low price of 274,000 won (excluding taxes and

TravelJune 17, 2016

Brillat-Savarin cheese makes a buttery companion to grilled pears

Brillat-Savarin and I have been getting together — a lot. Not the man, who expired 190 years ago. But the cheese, which is immortal.Who can resist those square shoulders, that tender soul? Who can turn down the triple-cream brie named for Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, the savant who said: “The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star.” This is the wit who declared (in French, no less): “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”Wh

FoodJune 17, 2016

[Box Office] Latest movie releases

Proof of Innocence(Korea)Opened June 16Crime, Drama. Directed by Kwon Jong-kwanOnce a model cop, Pil-jae (Kim Myung-min) now brokers cases to lawyers. One day, he and his lawyer partner (Sung Dong-il) receive a mysterious letter from a criminal on death row claiming his innocence. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows(U.S.)Opened June 16Action, Fantasy. Directed by David GreenThe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are living in secret, when a villain, Shredder, joins forces with mad scienti

FilmJune 17, 2016

[Around the hotels] Round up of hotel events and news

Exotic summer vacation at Imperial Palace Seoul HotelImperial Palace Seoul Hotel presents Midsummer Night Package from July 16 to Aug. 31, presenting a perfect summer vacation at the exotic outdoor swimming pool.The package includes one night’s stay at Deluxe or Business room, access to night outdoor pool or voucher for two for happy hour at Lobby Lounge, and two movie tickets. Molton Brown travel kits and Instyle magazines will be given to the guests.Free access to the fitness studio and indoor

TravelJune 17, 2016

[Album Review] Band of Horses takes it easy on ‘Why Are You OK’

Band of Horses　“Why Are You OK”　(Interscope Records)　Band of Horses takes it easy on “Why Are You OK,” wordy songs rooted in domestic situations that pleasantly glide but rarely soar.　Producer Jason Lytle from Grandaddy gives Ben Bridwell’s tunes a trebly treatment, adding sonic minutiae without causing clutter, sometimes resembling carefully arranged, faux low-fi.　Bridwell spent the years since 2012’s “Mirage Rock” helping to raise four daughters and there are plenty of lyrical references to li

PerformanceJune 17, 2016

[Album Review] Kristofferson hits 80 with new album of beloved hits

Kris Kristofferson　“The Cedar Creek Sessions”　(KK Records)　The title had some Kris Kristofferson fans fearing his 2013 album “Feeling Mortal” was his last. Now, entering his ninth decade, Kristofferson is feeling sentimental, with a new offering that’s like a living epitaph.　“The Cedar Creek Sessions,” recorded live, features 25 of his best known songs in a collection that celebrates the legendary singer-songwriter’s enduring mark on American music in the last half century.　Released five days be

PerformanceJune 17, 2016

[Album Review] Allen Toussaint’s ‘American Tunes’ is elegant adieu

　Allen Toussaint finished recording “American Tunes” just weeks before his death in November, an elegant and fitting adieu from the New Orleans master.　Solo piano versions of tunes from the Professor Longhair canon like “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” and “Hey Little Girl” sand down the edges without sacrificing passion and Toussaint shows how deeply rooted he was in that tradition which he both inherited and expanded.　Accompanied by the likes of saxophonist Charles Lloyd and guitarist Bill Frisell,

PerformanceJune 17, 2016

Chinese art trading scheme enters Korea

Artworks are usually purchased primarily for aesthetic reasons and are mostly privately owned, but a relatively new Chinese model of art investment allows multiple buyers to share an artwork. 　The Chinese model of artwork stock exchange, which invites investors to buy and sell shares of artworks, has landed in Korea, with the China National Culture and Art Co., LTD, a holding company under the China’s Culture Ministry, opening the Korea Culture and Artworks Exchange on Wednesday. This marks the

CultureJune 16, 2016

Johnson, Hart say they really were having that much fun

NEW YORK (AP) -- On their first day shooting “Central Intelligence,” their new spy-themed action comedy, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart were given an extremely difficult scene.Difficult, meaning it was impossible not to break up laughing and ruin the shot. They were playing doctor and patient in a therapist’s office, and they were staring at each other, real close, trying not to blink or speak. For Hart especially, this was very hard to do.“Kevin could just not keep a straight face,” says directo

FilmJune 16, 2016

Music festival in the mountains

The 2016 PyeongChang Music Festival and School, formerly Great Mountains Music Festival and School, will present a refreshing moment to enjoy beautiful harmony in the mountains of Gangwon Province.　Cellist Chung Myung-wha and violinist Chung Kyung-wha, artistic directors of the festival, pianist Son Yeol-eum, who was recently appointed as assistant artistic director, and chairman of the Gangwon Art and Culture Foundation Kim Sung-hwan introduced the program and vision of PMFS at the press confer

PerformanceJune 16, 2016

Second woman claims sexual assault by Park Yoo-chun

A second woman has filed a complaint against actor and singer Park Yoo-chun for sexual assault, police said Thursday.　The complaint comes after the woman who previously claimed sexual assault by Park last week withdrew the charge Wednesday morning. Police, however, said the same day that they would investigate the case nonetheless. 　The second woman claimed she was assaulted by Park on June 12 in much the same manner as the first woman, inside a bathroom at a Gangnam bar in which she worked, pol

PerformanceJune 16, 2016

Japan's Uniqlo targets global stature with fashion identity

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo has leveraged its prowess in mass production to build a fashion empire filled with shelves upon shelves of affordable, good quality items like down jackets, underwear and T-shirts. Now the 17-nation, 1,734-store retailer is on a quest to beat Western giants like Gap, H&M and Zara to become the world's biggest apparel-maker.In the overcrowded, highly competitive casual fashion market, size is important, but no guarantee of success: Analysts say Uniqlo’

Arts & DesignJune 16, 2016

Longoria asks film grads to use Rita Moreno as guiding light

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eva Longoria has some advice for new graduates of the American Film Institute: Use Rita Moreno as a guiding light to use myriad points of view.Longoria presented the legendary stage and screen actress with an honorary doctorate of fine arts Wednesday in Los Angeles.“As you go on to write and direct and produce ... rise above caricature, as she does. Create complete and complicated characters, as she does,” Longoria told the audience of students and their family members -- inc

PeopleJune 16, 2016