Louvre cements spot as world’s most-visited museum

PARIS (AFP) ― The Louvre said Thursday its new Islamic art wing helped cement its position as the world’s most-visited museum with nearly 10 million visitors in 2012, over a million more than last year.The exact figures will be released early next year, but in the meantime the Paris museum said there was a “remarkable progression in Chinese visitors, who now figure in the top three groups (of non-French visitors) alongside Americans and Brazilians.”Next came Italians and Germans, it said in a st

Dec. 23, 2012

Violence, gunplay baked into U.S. popular culture

NEW YORK (AP) ― The Showtime network aired a disclaimer warning audiences of violent content in the season finales of its dramas “Homeland’’ and “Dexter’’ last weekend, just two days after a gunman killed 26 people in a U.S. school.The political thriller “Homeland’’ featured the burial of a bullet-ridden body at sea. “Dexter,’’ about a serial killer, had a couple of murders.Viewer sensitivity, it seems, was not an issue. “Homeland’’ became the highest-rated episode in the two years the series ha

Dec. 23, 2012

Better to get a 'bad gift' than gift card

Those ready to wrap up Christmas shopping by getting gift cards, a U.S. philosophy professor suggests reconsidering and buying a gift instead. Steven Gimbel of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania discourages last-minute shoppers from purchasing gift cards because they primarily serve as an easy way out for the shopper."To avoid giving bad gifts, people have turned more and more to gift cards," Gimbel said in a statement. Gimbel said people need to remember why they are giving a gift. People are o

Dec. 23, 2012

English names for cultural heritage fixed

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Friday announced a set of guidelines for the Romanization of the names of cultural assets that will kick off from New Year’s Day. The authorities decided to Romanize the whole Korean name then add the English meaning, despite the inevitable overlapping. For instance, Gyeongbokgung will be noted as Gyeongbokgung Palace even though “gung” means “palace” in Korean. Bukhansan also will be written as Bukhansan Mountain though “san” overlaps with the word “mount

Dec. 21, 2012

A therapy dog to help students in school

Therapy dogs visit hospitals and nursing homes, comfort dogs are in Newtown, Conn., and soon a dog will help students in school with anger, officials say. School psychologist Angela Mullally says she is hopeful a therapy dog will be working at School 19 in the Rochester City School District in New York this school year to help students with anger issues, WHAM-TV, Rochester, reports. Mullally is working with the National Education for Assistance Dog Services to get a therapy dog in School 19.  "W

Dec. 20, 2012

Hallyu cited as face of Korea

Hallyu has become the representative image of Korea thanks to K-pop, Korean drama and Korean cuisine. In a survey of 3,600 foreigners living in nine countries conducted between October and November, the first thing that the respondents came up with when they thought about Korea was Korean food, followed by TV drama, K-pop and electronic goods, all included in the broad concept of hallyu. When asked about the main attraction of hallyu, 56.1 percent of the respondents said, “being new and differen

Dec. 18, 2012

Pre-dawn calls and hard beds at Korea’s Buddhist temples

As a paying guest at Mihwangsa, there’s no need to book a morning wake-up call. It’s provided well before sunrise, at 4:00 am to be precise... and it isn’t optional.Instead of a phone call ― none of the rooms have phones ― guests are roused by a monk walking past their rooms, knocking on a wooden block to call them for a round of pre-breakfast chanting and meditation.The dozen guests who make their sleepy way to the temple’s main hall ― clad in identical grey loose-fitting outfits ― are all taki

Dec. 18, 2012

Contested Chinese seal auctioned in Paris for 1.1m euros

PARIS (AFP) ― A French auction house Monday sold a historic Chinese seal for 1.1 million euros ($1.4m) despite threats of legal action alleging it may have been stolen from Beijing’s Forbidden City in 1860.The green jade seal, which dates from the Qianlong period (1736-95) and had been expected to fetch up to 200,000 euros ($263,000), went for over five times that amount to an unidentified telephone bidder.The Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APACE) had urged auction hous

Dec. 18, 2012

Foreigners pick 'entertainment' as top positive image for S. Korea

Entertainment such as K-Pop and dramas topped the list of positive sources about South Korea's national image among foreigners residing here, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.The ministry gleaned the results from essays submitted by 455 foreigners from 59 countries for a contest hosted for two months from September on the subjects of South Korea's image and distinguishing features.The largest share representing 49.2 percent of entries described entertainment including K-Pop, soap operas and spo

Dec. 18, 2012

Auction house urged to drop sale of China imperial seal

PARIS (AFP) ― An association for the protection of Chinese art on Sunday warned it would pursue legal action if a French auction house goes ahead with the sale of an imperial seal it says was looted.The Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APACE) urged auction house Artcurial to withdraw the jade green seal, dating from the Qianlong period (1736-95), from its auction on Monday.It said the seal, expected to fetch up to 200,000 euros ($263,000), was stolen during the sacking of

Dec. 17, 2012

New-found tale could be Hans Christian Andersen’s

COPENHAGEN (AP) ― For years, the somber fairy tale about a lonely candle who wanted to be lit dwelt in oblivion at the bottom of a box in Denmark’s National Archives. Its recent discovery has sent ripples through the literary world because it is believed to be one of the first tales ever written by Hans Christian Andersen.The famed Dane wrote nearly 160 fairy tales in his life, including classics such as “The Ugly Duckling’’ and “The Little Mermaid.’’ The tale of the candle may have been written

Dec. 16, 2012