’70s music revival captivates unlikely audience

Back in the 1970s, a music salon called C’est si bon, located in Mugyo-dong, Seoul, attracted many youngsters with its special charm.All you needed to bring was the money for your cup of coffee. Once the drink was served, you could stay as long as you wanted, enjoying the live music performed by some of the most talented young musicians of the generation.The C’est si bon musicians, now reaching ag

Feb. 8, 2011

Paik Nam-june deserves more

Concerns mount even as memorial services and exhibitions mark the fifth anniversary of Korean video artist’s deathThere is probably only one memorial service in the world where the mourners can smash up an electronic guitar to honor the deceased: video artist Paik Nam-june’s. Memorial services to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the renowned South Korean artist’s death were held at several pla

Feb. 7, 2011

Filmmaker Yang heads to Berlinale with dreams for future

Sassy and streetwise, this 25-year-old knows what she wants in a film.Film student and director Yang Hyo-joo, whose short film “Broken Night” has been officially invited to Berlin International Film Festival’s (Berlinale) competition section this year, could not hide her obvious talent and artistic nature.“Broken Night” is the third film Yang has ever made. And it was initially a graduation projec

Feb. 7, 2011

Amanda Knox lawyers seek to stop film

ROME (AP) ― Lawyers for U.S. student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend, who were found guilty of killing Knox’s British roommate in Italy, have formally demanded that U.S. television channel Lifetime scrap a planned film about their trial.Attornies Carlo Dalla Vedova and Luca Maori said Saturday they had sent letters to Lifetime warning they would go to U.S. court to try to sequester the film if it

Feb. 6, 2011

Male model behind the Mona Lisa, expert claims

   ROME (AP) -- A male apprentice, longtime companion and possiblelover of Leonardo da Vinci was the main influence and a model forthe ``Mona Lisa'' painting, an Italian researcher said.   But the researcher, Silvano Vinceti, said Wednesday the portraitalso represents a synthesis of Leonardo's scientific, artistic andphilosophical beliefs. Because the artist worked on it at variousintervals for ma

Feb. 3, 2011

Celebrating Seollal in the city

Seoul offers a variety of events for the Lunar New Year holidaySeollal, the first day of the lunar calendar, is one of the most celebrated holidays in Korea. It has been traditionally considered a family-oriented occasion where people gather with their loved ones at home. But this year, more Seollal events are being held in Seoul for those who want to celebrate the holiday spirit and traditional c

Feb. 1, 2011

Indonesian star gets jail after sex-tape scandal

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) ― An Indonesian pop star who rocked this predominantly Muslim nation after several homemade sex tapes found their way to the Internet was sentenced Monday to three years in jail.Nazril “Ariel” Irham’s trial has made headlines and dominated chatter on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for more than three months. Nazril "Ariel" Irham and Girlfriend Luna Maya (

Feb. 1, 2011

‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ more fun as play than film

The famous 1976 novel “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is to be adapted into a Korean stage show which will be even more fun and intriguing than the 1985 film adaptation, the drama’s director said. Actors cast in the drama “Kiss of the Spider Woman” pose at a press call in Seoul on Jan. 25. From left are Choi Jae-woong, Jung Sung-hwa, Park Eun-tae and Kim Seung-dae. (Kim Yoon-mi/The Korea Herald)Aga Com

Jan. 31, 2011

Hot property: built for an Oscar winner

Actor, singer and tween idol Carlos Pena Jr., 21, has bought a Mediterranean-style home in the San Fernando Valley for close to its $1.5 million asking price.The 560-square-meter villa is set back from the road on a gated lot. The paver-stone courtyard is punctuated by a fountain, and the custom front door, with leaded and beveled glass and side lights, opens to a two-story foyer with limestone fl

Jan. 31, 2011

‘Obangsaek’ multimedia extravaganza to promote rich Korean culture abroad

Korean-American filmmaker Benson Lee, who greatly contributed to exposing Korea’s B-boy culture to the world with his 2008 documentary film “Planet B Boy,” has embarked on another ambitious project to promote Korean culture.This time, the scale is much larger and the media more complex.Under the title “Project Obangsaek,” Lee will combine the synergy of theater, cinema and the Web to generate deba

Jan. 30, 2011

Sculptor Catlett’s heroic images on display

NEW YORK (AP) ― When American sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett was a graduate student studying with Grant Wood in Iowa, the painter of the iconic “American Gothic” told his young student to make art about what she knew best.Catlett, who was born into a middle-class family in Washington, D.C., in 1915 and raised by her mother and grandmother, took Wood’s advice to heart and began making im

Jan. 30, 2011

Chris Brown finishes domestic violence program

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Chris Brown has completed a domestic violence counseling program required as part of the singer’s guilty plea to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna nearly two years ago.On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg congratulated the 21-year-old R&B performer for finishing the yearlong program.As a result of completing the required counseling, Brown will no longer

Jan. 30, 2011

Chopin's hallucinations caused by epilepsy - scientists

PARIS, (AFP) - Can anyone beat Frederic Chopin as an emblem of the Romantic artist? (MCT)In the great Polish composer, towering genius combined with a wasted frame and a pallid face behind which lurked melancholy, a brooding over death, adisconnection from ordinary life and sometimes horrifying hallucinations. A force that created this image was the French novelist George Sand, whodescribed lyrica

Jan. 30, 2011

So you want to be a filmmaker?

Bill Pryor is living proof that a career in film (as it used to be called) can flourish far away from the coasts.For almost 50 years, Pryor, 68, has specialized in “industrials,” promotional and training films made for corporate clients. The Texas native was studying journalism at the University of Oklahoma when he began to dabble in film.He worked for a few years in St. Louis before joining Kansa

Jan. 28, 2011

Events calender

Exhibition“Poem and Drawing”: Literary critic Kim Jae-hong and art critic Yun Beom-mo have organized a chance to see works by Korea’s best poets and artists together. This exhibition showcases poems by 74 Korean poets, accompanied by more than 80 artworks by 43 artists that serve as visual aids for the words. The participating poets include Ko Un, Kim Ji-ha, Kim Gwang-kyun and Kang Eun-gyo and art

Jan. 28, 2011