[Album Review] Joanna Connor’s fierce blues on ‘Six String Stories’

Joanna Connor“Six String Stories”(M.C. Records)"Six String Stories" is her first studio album in 14 years, but thousands of gigs in the interim have only enriched Chicago-based Joanna Connor’s fierce guitar skills and expressive, bluesy vocals.Written mostly with longtime bandmate Marion Lance Lewis, Connor goes from blues to rock to near-gospel and back in a striking mix.The time off to raise a daughter has sharpened Connor’s songwriting while also enhancing her dynamic range -- the powerful dr

PerformanceSept. 2, 2016

[Album Review] De La Soul returns with same wildly creative attitude

De La Soul“and the Anonymous Nobody”(A.O.I. Records)Twenty-five years after releasing the mercurial classic “De La Soul is Dead,” the Strong Island trio of Pos, Dave and Maseo return with “and the Anonymous Nobody” -- a modern treatise of anti-establishment hip-hop.For their first full-length album in 11 years, they used hundreds of hours of live music played with session musicians as a sample bank -- and you can feel the analog warmth.The musical styles are all over the place. “Lord Intended” c

PerformanceSept. 2, 2016

[Album Review] Glass Animals focus on others

Glass Animals"How to Be a Human Being"(Harvest Records)For their ambitious sophomore album, the members of the indie-electronic band Glass Animals got some creative help from an unlikely source -- total strangers.Each song on the terrific “How to Be a Human Being” is told from the perspective of someone inspired by a person the band encountered on the road, from taxi drivers to fans. The result is a complex, exciting tapestry of a CD which switches musical styles and reveals new things each time

PerformanceSept. 2, 2016

[Box Office] Latest movie releases

Grand Father(Korea)Opened Aug. 31Drama, action. Directed by Lee SeoWhen elderly truck driver Ki-kwang’s (Park Geun-hyung) estranged son commits suicide, he attends the funeral. There, his granddaughter tells him the death might not have been self-inflicted, sending Ki-kwang on a chase for the truth.Money Monster(US)Opened Aug. 31Thriller, crime. Directed by Jodie FosterTelevision stock expert Lee Gates (George Clooney) hosts the show “Money Monster.” One day, a disgruntled investor ambushes the

FilmSept. 2, 2016

The beauty and tragedy of ‘The Light Between Oceans’

There is no misfortune too shattering for Derek Cianfrance it seems. The writer and director of “Blue Valentine,” “The Place Beyond the Pines” and now, an adaptation of the M.L. Stedman novel “The Light Between Oceans” confidently strides into stories of little hope and painful circumstance, using pretty actors and even prettier settings to create sweeping milieus of human devastation. But where the dissolving marriage in “Blue Valentine” was so tangibly real that it felt as raw as a breakup, “T

FilmSept. 2, 2016

[The Palate] Healthful and humble Wild Perilla plant, deulkkae

There are foods and dishes that are instantaneously identifiable with certain cuisines and become culinary symbols for whole countries: Italy and pizza, Argentina and steak, the US and hamburgers. If there were ever a dish that exemplified Korean cuisine it would most certainly be kimchi. Synonymous with the pungent spicy fermented foods of Korean cuisine, and currently enjoying its moment of fame having stepped out of a less than appealing light, kimchi has crossed many borders and palates arou

FoodSept. 2, 2016

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

Seoul International Fireworks FestivalSeoul International Fireworks Festival is an annual event of extravagant firework displays by firework masters from home and abroad, attracting more than a million spectators every year. Celebrating its 16th year, one of the most anticipated autumn festivals in Seoul is taking place outside the Yeouinaru Station at the Han River Park.Prior to the firework show, visitors will also be able to enjoy various live performances and hands-on cultural programs.The 1

TravelSept. 2, 2016

[Home Cooking] Ojingeo gui (spicy grilled squid)

Cooked in many different ways, squid (ojingeo) is an essential and versatile ingredient in Korean cooking. Grilled squid is highly popular as street food or drinking snack food (anju), but it’s also popular as a main or side dish at home. I used a small variety of squid called hanchi, which has thin flesh and short tentacles. You can also use larger squid for this recipe. The squid are marinated in a spicy gochujang sauce which gives it an intense flavor with heat! Typically, the whole squid is

FoodSept. 2, 2016

Follow Beatrix Potter through Britain’s Lake District

When I was a little girl, my grandparents gifted me with a beautiful set of Beatrix Potter books for Christmas one year. I could barely wait for everyone to finish unwrapping presents so that I could sneak off to my room with my treasure. The first Potter story I read on that long ago Christmas Day was “The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher,” about a determined frog whose fishing trip turned out to be not quite what he expected.Now, all these years later, here I was wandering through the rooms of Hill T

TravelSept. 2, 2016

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

Chuseok Package at Park Hyatt SeoulPark Hyatt Seoul will be offering the Chuseok Package for guests staying at the hotel from Sept. 1-18.The main component of the package is the Evening Chill-out promotion, which includes a late 2 p.m. checkout time, a discounted breakfast price of 30,000 per person as well as free access to the hotel’s sauna, pool and fitness studio. There is also happy hour for two from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Timber House, which has a wide selection of drinks and Japanese dis

TravelSept. 2, 2016

Seoul film fest explores meaning of ‘expat’

The Korea International Expat Film Festival will be opening in Seoul on Sept. 9-11 for its second annual run.The festival shows films from Korea and abroad that are either made with a very low budget or are by or about expats.“We really hope that our programming will answer the question ‘What is an expat?’ and how is that different from what we commonly associate with it,” said KIXFF organizer Kevin Lambert. “And we hope our answer is one that reflects positively and also inspires people to crea

Expat LivingSept. 1, 2016

K-dramas’ global appeal lies in ‘wholesome sexiness’

The international appeal of Korean TV shows lies in their “wholesome sexiness,” according to Sean Richard Dulake, who plays the dreamy male lead Joon Park in the show-within-a-show universe of the online drama series “Dramaworld.” “I had always wondered why Korean content was connecting to outsiders,” said the actor-producer Wednesday in Seoul at Broadcast Worldwide 2016 (BCWW), a media convention hosted by the Culture Ministry and Korea Creative Content Agency. In 2013, Dulake directed “Finding

TelevisionSept. 1, 2016

Actress Moon So-ri attends Venice Film Festival as judge

Actress Moon So-ri made her red carpet appearance at the 73rd annual Venice Film Festival as a judge on Wednesday.　“I look forward to seeing what all that the films I will be judging have to offer, and learning from them,” said Moon in a statement released by her management agency C-Jes Entertainment on Thursday.Globally acclaimed for her leading roles in Im Sang-soo’s “A Good Lawyer’s Wife” (2003) and Lee Chang-dong’s “Oasis” (2002), the 42-year-old actress will be judging in the Orizzonti sect

FilmSept. 1, 2016

BTS to hold 3rd global fan meeting

Seven-member K-pop boy band Bangtan Boys -- also known as BTS -- will hold its third global fan meeting in November, according to the group’s management agency Big Hit Entertainment on Thursday.　Titled “BTS 3rd Muster (ARMY.ZIP+),” the two-day event will take place at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, Seoul, on Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. and on Nov. 13 at 4 p.m.　The group debuted in 2013 with the hit track “No More Dream” from its first single album “2 Cool 4 Skool,” and quickly grew in popularity, toppi

PerformanceSept. 1, 2016

100 years of Korean fashion at a glance

What were the must-have fashion items in Korea more than a century ago? In the early 1900s, stylish people keen on fashion trends were dubbed “modern girls” and “modern boys,” with Western culture making inroads into Confucian society at the time. Women began to wear Western-style dresses instead of “hanbok,” or Korean traditional costume, and they would hold a parasol in one hand to cover their faces, effectively replacing the skirt-shaped headgear used to conceal their faces in the deeply Conf

Arts & DesignSept. 1, 2016

Placido Domingo opens Dubai Opera

DUBAI (AFP) - Spanish tenor Placido Domingo performed Wednesday at the opening of Dubai Opera, a venue the emirate hopes will boost cultural life in the Gulf business hub, organizers said.The 2,000-seat opera house was packed for the opening after tickets sold out months in advance, leaving many scrambling to buy them on the black market in the days preceding the event.Domingo launched into the event with a series of performances including Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” and the Broadway music

PerformanceSept. 1, 2016