The Korea Herald

Aliens ― what’s the attraction?

By Robert W. Butler, McClatchy NewspapersWatch the skies. They’re coming to get us all.“They,” of course, are aliens.Not from South of the Border. From outer space.Hollywood is in the midst of an alien invasion unequaled since the paranoid Cold War fantasies of the early 1950s.At theaters now you can enjoy “I Am Number Four” (alien teens outwit intergalactic pursuers) and, opening Friday, “Battle:

Film March 13, 2011

Why rice is king of the Korean table

Quality grains boast serious pedigree, new varieties not far behindFor centuries, rice has reigned supreme at the Korean dining table, acting as an anchor to the traditional spread of banchan (Korean side dishes). In short, rice is crucial to the daily diet and is taken seriously here. Like wines, grains from certain regions are lauded above others. Rice aficionados even prefer specific varieties

Food March 13, 2011

Tourists reach new beach frontier in Myanmar

Waves lap the vast sweep of pristine, palm-lined sands as a sprinkling of Westerners soak up the sun, their breezy peace punctuated only by the creaks of a passing ox-cart.Welcome to a tourist paradise, in one of the world’s most isolated nations.“I’ve been to a lot of beaches and this is just amazing,” said retired Canadian Hugh Minielly, as he and his wife Mary watched the sun set over the azure Bay of Bengal at Myanmar’s coastal resort of Ngapali.Just a dozen or so hotels are hidden amid the

Travel March 11, 2011

Literary agent Owen Laster dies at age 72

NEW YORK (AP) ― Owen Laster, a literary agent and executive of old-fashioned self-effacement and intregity whose many clients included Judy Blume, Gore Vidal and the estate of Margaret Mitchell, died Wednesday. He was 72.Laster, who retired in 2006, died in his Manhattan apartment after a brief illness, said his friend and attorney Richard Snider.Numerous friends had visited him recently, includin

Books March 10, 2011

Springtime in Paris, but Chanel feels an autumn chill

PARIS (AFP) ― It’s getting to be springtime in Paris, but for Karl Lagerfeld it was the moment to send a chill of autumn through the Grand Palais on Tuesday as he presented a tomboyish Chanel fall-winter collection.In a deliberate contrast to the Parisian garden theme that framed the spring-summer show, Lagerfeld sent darker, looser looks down a wooden boardwalk the length of a venue carpeted with

Arts & Design March 9, 2011

Springtime in Paris, but Chanel feels an autumn chill

Beauty brands go outside the lab for ingredients

NEW YORK (AP) ― They do not quite stumble upon them, but high-tech, skin-care researchers and developers sometimes find new ingredients in unexpected places: under a rock, behind a tree, in the garden.The tips to look outside the laboratory can come from traditional medicine, alternative medicine, folklore and history.Just in the world of botanicals, where many beauty ingredients emerge, there is

Arts & Design March 9, 2011

Fewer young blacks, Latinos attend arts events, study shows

LOS ANGELES ― A new analysis of survey data compiled by the National Endowment for the Arts since 1982 shows that blacks and Latinos have suffered from a collapse in arts education, and that their young-adult rates of arts attendance have declined far more than for whites.Childhood arts education “has played a vital role ... in developing a potential audience” for the arts, the researchers from th

Performance March 9, 2011

The show goes on

Two old friends to stage complete cycle of Beethoven’s violin sonatasThey’re old, but not in spirit. When talking about their passion for music, the two musicians’ eyes twinkle like stars. The 69-year-old violinist Kim Min, music director of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, had thought his most recent recital “My Life, My Music” at the Seoul Arts Center in 2008 would be his last stage performance. Bu

Performance March 8, 2011

McCartney leads a very British day at Paris fashion week

PARIS (AFP) ― Stella McCartney led a very British day at Paris fashion week on Monday, sending out a chic and casual fall-winter collection to an energetic hip-hop soundtrack.Her compatriot Giles Deacon at Emmanuel Ungaro veered towards a more severe dominatrix look driven by the late Ungaro’s famous statement that he dressed mistresses, not wives.Later in the day, Hannah MacGibbon at Chloe widene

Arts & Design March 8, 2011

McCartney leads a very British day at Paris fashion week

Africa ‘Oscar’ goes to incest movie from Morocco

OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) ― A Moroccan film about the incestuous rape of a young woman by her father who believes she is demon-possessed scooped the top honors at Africa’s biggest film festival.“Pegase” by Mohamed Mouftakir from Morocco, late Saturday won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, the grand prize of the Pan African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso’s desert capital Ouagadougou.

Film March 7, 2011

Africa ‘Oscar’ goes to incest movie from Morocco

He’s only got 8 million faces left to draw

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Artist Jason Polan won’t be running out of live models any time soon ― in trying to draw every person in New York, he’s got at least eight million more to go.The plan may sound crazy, but Polan, 28, is serious.Every day he’s out there with ink pen and sketch pad, posting the results on www.everypersoninnewyork.blogspot.com. Three years into the project, he’s up to about 14,000.“I

Performance March 7, 2011

U.S. public media invests in investigative reporting

WASHINGTON (AP) ― America’s national and local public broadcast stations are hiring more journalists and pumping millions of dollars into investigative news to make up for what they see as a lack of deep-digging coverage by their for-profit counterparts.Public radio and TV stations, funded by audience contributions, foundations, and some tax funds, have seen the need for reporting that holds gover

Television March 7, 2011

More relaxed mood prevails at Galliano own-label show

PARIS (AFP) ― John Galliano ― the label, not the man ― presented its fall-winter collection on Sunday in the intimate surroundings of a Parisian salon, and in a far more relaxed atmosphere, after a week that saw the spectacular fall from grace of the iconic British couturier.Eschewing Galliano’s signature passion for bigger-than-life theatrics, the lower-key presentation saw some of the world’s to

Arts & Design March 7, 2011

More relaxed mood prevails at Galliano own-label show

Playboy tames sex appeal for Asia

BANGKOK (AFP) ― Its past may be a steamy affair, but Playboy’s Rabbit logo, stamped on anything from necklaces to notebooks, is ensuring the firm’s image in Asia is more about trend than titillation.With little exposure to the men’s magazines and the raunchy outfits of founder Hugh Hefner’s famous bunny girls, many Asian consumers are snapping up the company’s products without focusing on the sexu

Arts & Design March 7, 2011

As shoppers demand customization, companies say: Do it yourself

CHICAGO ― Blame it on Starbucks. Consumers seem to be looking for ways to personalize everything they buy. It’s not just picking apps for their phones, special touches for their shoes or music for their iPods, but down to customizing everything from mashed potatoes to the water they drink.Alexander Chernev, an associate professor of marketing at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, said co

Food March 7, 2011

As shoppers demand customization, companies say: Do it yourself

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