Singer shares secret of Scandinavian music with Korea

After his first performance in Korea on Tuesday, Norwegian singer-songwriter Bellman pondered why Scandinavian musicians often created such music. The musician, whose real name is Arne-J Rauan and who describes his sound as “floating, atmospheric pop music,” said the otherworldly quality associated with Scandinavian groups could be down to the weather in Northern Europe.  “In these countries, when it comes to the winter, it is dark all the time and people they are getting emotional. I think they

Jan. 17, 2012

Toll from pedestrians wearing headphones triples

The number of US pedestrians who have been killed or badly injured while wearing headphones has tripled in six years, according to a study published Tuesday. An attendee listens to music wearing House of Marley, LLC headphones at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada

Jan. 17, 2012

3,000-year-old tomb of singer found in Egypt

CAIRO (AFP) ― Swiss archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a female singer dating back almost 3,000 years in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, Antiquities Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said on Sunday.The rare find was made accidentally by a team from Switzerland’s Basel University headed by Elena Pauline-Grothe and Susanne Bickel in Karnak, near Luxor in Upper Egypt, the minister told the media in Cairo.The woman, Nehmes Bastet, was a singer for the supreme deity Amon Ra during the Twenty-Second Dyna

Jan. 16, 2012

French expert on Korea dies at 67

Philippe Thiebault, who studied Korean philosophy in Korea for the past three decades, died of pneumonia and other complications on Saturday. He was 67. Thiebault, a visiting professor at Seoul’s Sejong University, is especially recognized here for translating “Mongmin Simseo” ― written by Jeong Yak-yong (1762-1836), one of the leading scholars in the late Joseon Dynasty ― into French in 2007. The book, whose title means “Admonitions on Governing the People,” describes the fundamental principles

Jan. 16, 2012

A reworked ‘Porgy and Bess’ is rich and luscious

NEW YORK (AP) ― In the end, “Porgy and Bess’’ didn’t need anyone coming to its rescue after all.A gorgeous version of the American stage classic opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Thursday for the first time in more than three decades with plenty of hand-wringing that this updated version led by director Diane Paulus and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks was messing with a Gershwin masterpiece.Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Paulus and Parks have protected and cared for this th

Jan. 15, 2012

Chris Burden’s new work: art imitating the future

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Chris Burden’s latest kinetic sculpture, “Metropolis II,’’ does more than just imitate life. The colorful display of roads, cars, trains and buildings is art imitating what the artist foresees life being like in five or 10 years.It will be a time, Burden forecasts, when cars will race across Los Angeles’ no-longer-gridlocked freeways and streets, past a skyline of towering buildings and single-family homes, at speeds of 386 kilometers per hour or more.That’s just what the tiny

Jan. 15, 2012

Making lunch break worthwhile

Office workers choosing ‘learning, meeting, resting’ over eating at lunchFor many Seoulites who often find themselves working nights and weekends to survive in the city of excessive competition and gloomy unemployment, lunch break is like a blessing to endure the long, tiring day. Feeling the one-hour break is too precious to waste on eating and gossiping with co-workers, a growing number of people here are coming up with different ideas to make the time more worthwhile. “I recently had three bl

Jan. 13, 2012

Belle had a ball: Paige O’Hara remembers ‘Beauty and the Beast’

From the day it opened 20 years ago, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” has been hailed as perhaps the greatest of the Disney animated classics, nominated for multiple Oscars, including best picture, upon its release in 1991.And as a new wave of ecstatic reviews greet every re-release (“the quintessential Disney masterpiece,” according to Christianity Today), Paige O’Hara, who sang the role of Belle, the “Beauty” of the title, recalls first looking at the songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken for

Jan. 13, 2012

eye like

Unique acid pop carried in five voicesVOY“VOY meet Girl”(Mirrorball Music)Lee Byung-hoon, well-known for directing music for the movies “Sunny” and “The Happy Life,” introduces unique acid pop on his new album through the voices of five female vocalists ― Gyepi, Han Hee-jung, Oh Ji-eun, Ahn Sin-ae and Kim Jin-a. The three-member band’s second album “VOY meet Girl” is clearly “Lee’s album” with the musician taking care of not just the composition, but the arrangement, keyboard and mixing. While “

Jan. 13, 2012

Park appointed CEO of Sejong Center

Park In-bae, the former artistic director of the theater house “Hyeonjang,” was appointed the new CEO of the Sejong Center this week.The 58-year-old, who majored in physics at Seoul National University, has served in many key positions in heavyweight organizations on Korea’s culture scene. The groups include the Korean People Artist Federation and Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, as well as “Hyeonjang.” Most recently, he served as a member of the Advisory Committee for Seoul mayor Park Wo

Jan. 12, 2012

Travel expo offers ideas for discovering Korea

Held just before the Lunar New Year holidays, the 2012 Korea Travel Expo will be offering special gift and travel ideas for visitors, the Korea Tourism Association said.Some 400 local government organizations, travel agencies and related groups are participating in the largest travel expo in Korea, held under the theme “Artistic Landscape of My Country” this year. The Jan. 12-15 event will be held at COEX in Samseong-dong, southeastern Seoul with the opening day broadcast live on TV. Aimed at dr

Jan. 11, 2012

Students learn with donated iPads

GREEN, Ohio ― Teaching grade-schoolers to speak Mandarin might not be difficult in Asia, but in America, the challenge is daunting. But the students in J.T. Kuzior’s Green, Ohio, Primary School third-grade classroom are doing just that, using a computer application that helps them learn the language.Thanks to a local businessman, the nearly 1,000 students at the school in grades 1-3 are getting foreign language instructions and lessons in other subjects twice each week using the latest technolog

Jan. 11, 2012

Nine Korean sites on UNESCO’s temporary heritage list

Nine ancient sites for private Confucian academies in South Korea have been included in a temporary list of potential UNESCO World Heritage locations on Tuesday, the government said.The nine included Dosan Seowon and Byeongsan Seowon, private Korean Confucian academies offering instruction in the classics and honoring prominent scholars with regular memorial rites during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The two academies are located in Andong, 268 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Dosan Seowon was es

Jan. 11, 2012

CNN picks 12 reasons to visit Korea this year

This year is the best time for shopaholics, K-pop fanatics and foodies to check out Korea, CNN’s travel and culture information site reported, selecting 12 topevents and projects lined up in 2012 to lure overseas travelers. With 2010-2012 designated as “Visit Korea Year,” the country is offering exclusive discounts and promotions designed to make Korea more attractive to tourists. The coupons, train ticket discounts of up to 30 percent, free shuttle buses and hotel deals “won’t wait around forev

Jan. 11, 2012