Travis returning to Korea for Seoul concert

Scottish rock band Travis is making its return to Korea, putting on its first solo concert in Seoul in five years with a live performance at the Olympic Hall in March. Led by Fran Healy on vocals, Travis formed in the early 1990s in Glasgow, and made a name for itself as one of the most well-respected rock bands from the U.K. Although Travis has always seemed to skirt away from the main spotlight, the rockers are still often credited for having influenced iconic British bands such as Coldplay an

PerformanceJan. 5, 2014

Phil Everly, half of pioneer rock duo, dies at 74

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― There is no more beautiful sound than the voices of siblings swirled together in high harmony, and when Phil and Don Everly combined their voices with songs about yearning, angst and loss, it changed the world.Phil Everly, the youngest of the Everly Brothers who took the high notes, died Friday from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 74. He left a towering legacy that still inspires half a century after The Everly Brothers’ first hit. You could argue that while Elvi

CultureJan. 5, 2014

‘Nazi hunters’ protest against French comedian

NANTES, France (AFP) ― A Nazi-hunting family has called for protests against controversial French comedian Dieudonne over his vitriolic brand of humor targeting Jews, as a government minister said he must pay fines accrued for racist abuse. France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls is training his sights on Dieudonne, whose trademark gesture is viewed as being Nazi-inspired, and is examining options to try to legally block performances by a man he brands a “little trader of hate.”On Friday, Valls

TelevisionJan. 5, 2014

Ecuadorean navy airlifts Jeff Bezos for kidney stone

QUITO (AP) ― An official in the Galapagos Islands says that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was flown by helicopter from a cruise ship on Jan. 1 for medical attention after suffering intense pain because of a kidney stone. Capt. Santiago Rubio, commander of the port of Santa Cruz, tells the Associated Press that Bezos was near the island on the cruise when he felt the stomach pains. Rubio said Saturday the navy sent doctors to examine Bezos on New Year’s Day. The doctors determined that it was a kidne

PeopleJan. 5, 2014

Saul Zaentz, producer of Oscar winners, dies at 92

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Saul Zaentz, a music producer whose second career as a filmmaker brought him best-picture Academy Awards for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Amadeus” and “The English Patient,” has died. He was 92.Zaentz died Friday at his San Francisco apartment after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Paul Zaentz, the producer’s nephew and longtime business partner told the Associated Press.Zaentz was never a prolific movie producer, but he took on classy productions, specializing in co

PeopleJan. 5, 2014

U.S. senator Cruz hopes to ‘soon’ renounce Canadian citizenship

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ― Canada-born U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has yet to renounce his birth country’s citizenship as promised ― but a spokeswoman said Saturday the conservative tea party favorite plans to finish the process soon.Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for the junior senator from Texas, said lawyers are preparing the necessary paperwork.The 43-year-old Cruz “has been fully focused on fighting for Texans’ values and interests in the Senate for the last year,” Frazier said via email. “He looks forw

PeopleJan. 5, 2014

[Photo News] G-Dragon’s fashionable father garners attention

Idol singer and style icon G-Dragon posted a photo of his father on Twitter Sunday morning with the title “Father and I in Sapporo for Big Bang Japan Dome tour 2014.”The photo shows the idol star taking a picture of his father sitting on a sofa dressed in black from head to toe, wearing a pair of matching black sneakers with a trendy muffler and fedora. The photo went viral among Twitter fans in Korea and abroad, receiving comments that his extraordinary fashion sense seems to come from his fath

Jan. 5, 2014

Calendar

Classical music“2014 New Year’s Concert”: The famed Vienna Strauss Festival Orchestra will hold a New Year’s concert at the Seoul Arts Center concert hall on Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. Willy Byuhhira will direct the orchestra, formed 36 years ago, in its performances of “Overture Der Zigeunerbaron”; the waltz “Kuenstlerleben”; “Vergnuegungszug,” Polka-schnell, op. 281; and an excerpt from “Ritter Pazman” by Johann Strauss II, among others. Soprano Hong Hae-ran, the first Asian female winner of the 2011 Q

CultureJan. 3, 2014

Uncovering the meaning of art and beauty

The office floor of Kim Chang-il, chairman of Arario Group, is strewn with artworks like a statement of his life as an art lover. Four stuffed deer studded with glass balls, an artwork of Japanese artist Kohei Nawa, greet visitors. Then the onlooker’s gaze is naturally drawn to a large photograph hanging in the reception room, and then to more photographs and paintings in other rooms, all of them seen through glass walls. Kim, 63, who boasts a number of occupations ― a businessman, an art collec

PerformanceJan. 3, 2014

Box office: Blue is the Warmest Color, Finding Mr. Right, Shirley ― Visions of Reality

 Blue is the Warmest Color (France)Opening Jan. 16Romance. Drama. Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos), an ordinary high school girl, falls for a woman with blue hair while walking on the street one day. The two run into each other again at a lesbian bar, and Adele learns that the blue haired girl’s name is Emma (Lea Seydoux) and that she is a college student majoring in fine art. Adele, who has never dated a woman before, eventually moves into Emma’s place, stating a rel

FilmJan. 3, 2014

Eyelike: Bieber looks to shed his ‘Baby’ image

 Bieber looks to shed his ‘Baby’ imageJustin Bieber“Journals”Island Def Jam/UniversalThe Canadian teen pop sensation has dropped his latest studio album, looking to put his “Baby” days behind him by upping the sexual innuendo in his new 15-track album “Journals.” The 19-year-old pop star is shying away from the cutesy pop songs of his first album and energetic electro beats of his previous album “Believe” and is showing a bit of maturity in his move to more R&B-inspired tunes. His new album has

PerformanceJan. 3, 2014

‘August: Osage County’ may be Oscar bait, but will anybody bite?

“August: Osage County” travels from the stage to the screen with much of its theatricality intact. Too much. For all the scenic prairie panoramas and lived-in look of the big, rural Oklahoma house that is the setting, it still feels like a play ― with Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and pretty much everybody else projecting to the back row.It’s a sharp-tongued melodrama of cruelty, comical cursing, “big scenes” and shocking revelations. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts kept it all in th

FilmJan. 3, 2014

Newest ‘Hobbit’ locations bring action and adventure to travelers

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ― Bilbo and company are back on the silver screen in the second of director Sir Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation of the adventure fantasy tome “The Hobbit.” While fans flood to theaters, New Zealand’s tourism machine is pumping out new location tours the way only Kiwis do ― with a dash of down-home and a heaping full of adrenalin. From trekking boulder-strewn meadows in Trollshaw Forest, kayaking the Pelorus River in the wake of barrel-bobbing dwarves to horseback ridi

TravelJan. 3, 2014

High spirits on Maui: Take a distillery tour

KULA, Hawaii ― A new tourist attraction here is adding to what you might call, well, the high spirits of visitors.While the sugar-cane industry may be fleeing Hawaii for lands of lower labor costs, one new industry in Maui‘s upcountry is planting fresh fields of the towering, grassy stalks of tropical sweetness. The sugar cane is going into bottles of premium, Maui-made vodka.Ocean Vodka, an 8-year-old company that opened a new visitor-friendly distillery complex last April, is specializing in s

TravelJan. 3, 2014

Around the hotels

Flight and room package at Lotte Hotel JejuCelebrating the arrival of the New Year, Lotte Hotel Jeju presents flight and room in a package. The New Year’s Airtel (Airline & Hotel) Package consists of a two-night stay in the hotel’s Deluxe Mountain View Room and two round-trip Asiana Airlines tickets to Jeju. Bookings for this package are limited to 10 rooms per day. Reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis. As part of the Lotte Mega Gift 5 event, guests can also enjoy five addit

FoodJan. 3, 2014

Modeumjeon (fish, shrimp and zucchini pan-fried in egg batter)

Jeon (or jun) is a term that refers to pan-fried battered food in Korean cuisine. There are typically two types of jeon. The first type is pancake-like dishes such as pajeon and kimchijeon. For these, the main ingredients are mixed with a flour batter and then pan fried into a crispy pancake. The other type is what I made for this recipe. The pieces are individually pan-fried in egg batter to create a soft skin. Variations include: saengseonjeon (fish), hobakjeon (zucchini), saewoojeon (shrimp),

FoodJan. 3, 2014