PHILADELOPHIA ― The photograph that 6-year-old Logan Reed snapped near the place he once lived as a homeless child conveys not a thousand words, as the saying goes, but one plain desire.“My hope is to have friends,” says a quote printed beneath his photo, on a greeting card bearing an image of two young girls holding hands at a playground. His words convey a bittersweet longing against a sanguine snapshot taken by a boy with a fetching, toothless smile.“Maybe because we moved around so much,” sa

CultureOct. 22, 2014

ORLANDO, Florida ― Teresa Apgar once envisioned her senior years as a time of globe-trotting travel and a busy social life. Instead, she’s chauffeuring an 8-year-old to taekwondo, learning about attention-deficit disorder and supervising math homework.“Look, I’m 58. My husband is 67. This is not where we’d planned on being at this stage in life,” the DeLand, Florida, resident said. “Everything in our lives revolves around the school schedule. It’s not like you can just dash off to Vegas.”Like 2.

CultureOct. 22, 2014

CLEVELAND ― Rob Greenfield is standing barefoot and shirtless in a dumpster when he finds the strawberries.He’s ravenous after bicycling more than 60 miles, so he stops rummaging through bags and boxes to open the container of strawberries and pop one into his mouth. He seems not to notice the stench of rotten food wafting up into the Ohio night, or the grime lining the rim of the dumpster. But then again, it’s nighttime and he’s hungry.“Oh, gosh, there’s not even a moldy one in this box,” he sa

CultureOct. 22, 2014

Seoul Players will be running its annual shadow cast production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” for two nights this Halloween.The production is a screening of the movie musical, with a live cast duplicating the movie performance onstage. The performances are something of a cult tradition in the West, with audience members calling out key lines and many dressing up as their favorite characters from the movie.“We get a fair amount of people dressing up,” said stage manager Angi Belsy. “Some peo

Expat LivingOct. 21, 2014

Indians in Korea kicked off Diwali celebrations Sunday with 450 people and hosted by Bollywood celebrity Dev Anand Jr.IIK vice president Rohidas Arote explained that the actor was the first Bollywood celebrity to attend a Diwali celebration here.“It’s quite common in the USA, Australia, Canada, to get in Bollywood celebrities for Diwali festivals,” he said.“But in Korea, we have a small Indian community here, but it is growing, so for the first time we had a Bollywood celebrity here for the Diwa

Expat LivingOct. 21, 2014

It’s apparent that Jambinai doesn’t play music for the masses. The three-member crossover band would love to connect with a larger audience, but has no intention of heeding to the public tastes in today’s music market. Yet, it is this determination to pursue their own distinctive music that makes the obscure Korean indie group one of the hottest acts in the global music festival circuit. “We were surprised at first. People over there (in Europe) knew our music already. And they seemed to like it

PerformanceOct. 21, 2014

Just by placing a fingertip on a pad, you can create your own virtual city out of the labyrinth of a fingerprint and drive through your “fingerprint city” with a joystick. The interactive work on display at the Museum of Art in Seoul National University, employs the “City Engine” technology by Esri R&D Center-Zurich, a 3-D content developer from Switzerland. Visitors to the museum can also get a glimpse of the ambitious Human Brain Project by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne

PerformanceOct. 21, 2014

Following Walt Disney’s groundbreaking success in Korea earlier this year with its animated film “Frozen” ― the first animated feature and second foreign film after “Avatar” in 2009 to attract over 10 million viewers here, it makes sense for the studio’s creative mind to visit Korea to show what the future holds for Disney and for Asia. John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, The Walt Disney Co.’s animation units, says what happened in Korea was “miracul

FilmOct. 21, 2014

Although still considered an unparalleled iconic musician by the generation that grew up listening to him push the envelope with his controversial and politically defiant lyrics, Seo Taiji, who recently released his ninth album, says his relevance as an artist has faded over time and that to him, the heyday of his career actually ended decades ago.Legendary musician and media-shy Seo, 42, finally unveiled his new family-inspired comeback album, “Quiet Night,” on Monday, and turned heads when he

Oct. 21, 2014

TVXQ performs during its Japan Live Tour 2014. (SMTOWN Facebook)Popular K-pop boy band TVXQ will make a concert tour of big cities around the world, including Seoul, this December, the band’s management agency said Tuesday.The duo will begin the tour at Seoul’s Olympic Park on Dec. 6 and 7 before hitting overseas cities later that month, SM Entertainment said, without disclosing the exact dates of the overseas concerts.In the title of the tour, “TVXQ! Special Live Tour ― T1ST0RY,” “T1STORY” is a

PerformanceOct. 21, 2014

 TVXQ will begin their concert tour, “TVXQ! Special Live Tour -- T1ST0RY,” at Seoul Olympic gymnasium on Dec. 6-7.The tour title, “T1ST0RY,” is the combination of TVXQ, “HISTORY,” and the numbers 1 and 0, which imply their 10th anniversary.The group had successfully finished their last world wide tour, “TVXQ! Live Tour ‘Catch Me’” that took place in major world cities such as Seoul, Los Angeles and Hong Kong from November 2012 to July 2013. The group was also recorded as the first Korean group w

Oct. 21, 2014

Many people are probably familiar with the history of blue jeans ― how denim pants moved from work clothes for California gold miners in the 19th century to a must-have item for rebellious youngsters in the 1950s and ’60s to street wear that can be found in almost everybody’s wardrobe. An exhibition that opened in Seoul last week offers a rare glimpse into how the garment became part of the Korean wardrobe and how Korean wearers came to love its individuality and intimacy. “Jeans have become a u

CultureOct. 20, 2014

GUADALUPE, California (AP) ― Archaeologists working in the sand dunes along the Central California coast are digging up ancient sphinxes ― but these are made of plaster.More than 90 years ago, legendary filmmaker Cecile B. DeMille erected 21 giant sphinxes and a 240-meter-wide temple as a set for the silent, black-and-white classic movie “The Ten Commandments.”But in 1923, when filming was over, DeMille abandoned them there among the sands of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in Santa Barbara County.No

FilmOct. 20, 2014

A scene from “Roaring Currents”A South Korean smash-hit movie about a 16th-century Korean naval hero will open in Chinese theaters this year, the film’s local distributor said Monday.“‘Roaring Currents’ will be shown in some 3,000 theaters throughout China within this year with China’s largest state-run movie distributor, China Film Group, in charge of the film’s distribution,” CJ E&M Corp. said.Released on July 30, “Roaring Currents” drew a cumulative 17.6 million viewers in South Korea. On Aug

FilmOct. 20, 2014