LOS ANGELES ― Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, crouched in the pit of a stone quarry in Riverside, California Wearing black jeans and a brown sports coat, he dragged a finger through the sandy floor to draw the northern edge of the LACMA campus.On a key spot in his ad-hoc map, he placed a granite stone the size of an orange, meant to represent a rugged 340-ton b

Performance May 19, 2011

SYDNEY (AP) ― Philip Roth’s latest prize was not a unanimous choice.The author of “Portnoy’s Complaint,” “American Pastoral” and many other novels on Wednesday was named as the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for fiction, a $100,000 honor given every two years. But one of the judges, publisher Carmen Callil, resigned in protest from the commission, telling the Guardian in London that

Books May 19, 2011

CANNES, France (AFP) ― Jodie Foster drew cheers at Cannes on Tuesday for her latest film “The Beaver” and said she thought the experience of making it could be “therapeutic” for her troubled star Mel Gibson.The small-budget drama, directed by Foster and featuring Gibson as a depressed toy company executive who turns to a beaver hand puppet to help him get his life back on track, had a shaky openin

Film May 18, 2011

LARCHMONT, New York (AP) ― Few things are prettier in a night garden than soft pools of light illuminating interesting trees, accent rocks, plants or pathways.Whether on a small terrace or in a sweeping landscape, lighting creates a welcoming and often dramatic atmosphere.But in some cases, buried-wire electric lighting can be costly and impracticable. The answer might be solar lighting.The techno

Arts & Design May 18, 2011

June ought to be called the freshest month. College graduates move into their lives, newlyweds set up house, and a new crop of cooks hits the kitchen.New York food writer Brooke Parkhurst has been there. When she graduated from Davidson College in 2002, she moved to New York for a career in TV journalism. Instead, she became a novelist with “Belle in the Big Apple,” and married a chef, James Brisc

Food May 18, 2011

Weddings put on hold as salons close earlyTUNIS (AFP) ― A flash blow wave but no time for a wash, a quick eyebrow shaping, rushed facials or a hurried massage: anxious women dart in and out of Tunis’ beauty salons before the nightly curfew descends.Used to staying open until 10 pm or 11 pm to doll up clients for parties or late-night weddings, the salons now empty out early as everyone rushes to g

Arts & Design May 18, 2011

CANNES (AFP) ― Belgium’s Dardenne brothers on Sunday premiered their “Kid With a Bike” at Cannes, with the two-times Palme d’Or winners showing again their stunning capacity for unsentimental storytelling.In his first screen appearance, Thomas Doret plays Cyril, 11, who has been temporarily abandoned by his father at a foster home, and from the title to the final shot, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Film May 16, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS -- About a dozen years ago, Paul and Susan Damon of St. Paul, Minnesota, did something radical: They deliberately killed half their lawn.A few years later, they killed the rest of it.Gradually, they‘ve transformed their city lot into a small urban prairie, with more than 130 species of native plants. “We wanted to turn it into a haven for birds and butterflies,” said Paul, a landscape

Arts & Design May 16, 2011

Accessories give one white sofa six distinctive looksBy Stacy Downs, McClatchy NewspapersNeutral certainly doesn’t mean boring. Especially when it comes to sofas.In fact, most designers say a neutral sofa is your best bet. As seasons change and your home decor evolves, you can update a room simply through throw pillows.We thought we’d put that theory to the test with one white sofa, six designers

Arts & Design May 16, 2011

They say Italy is for lovers. But is Italy for kids?It’s certainly a romantic destination, from its spectacular architecture to its beautiful coastlines to its famously fine wine. It can also be an intimidating place to tote little ones, with its cautionary tales about pickpockets, and its very real plethora of crazy drivers and cigarette smokers.But the culture in Italy is so rich and vibrant, an

Travel May 13, 2011

Cutrone speaks to young womenNormal Gets You Nowhere By Kelly Cutrone, with Meredith Bryan, (HarperOne, $23.99)Kelly Cutrone stands out in the fashion world. She always dresses in black, does not wear makeup or do her hair.Yet she founded People’s Revolution, a successful fashion PR company, and has appeared on Bravo’s “Kell on Earth” and MTV’s “The Hills” and “The City.”In her words, this is beca

Books May 13, 2011

Globalized Korea and Localized GlobeBy Park Sang-seek, (Jimoondang, 23,000 won)This collection of essays covers a wide range of events and contentious issues ― at local, regional and global levels ― that have occurred in the past 10 years. The book, which is a selection of Professor Park Sang-seek’s contributions to The Korea Herald, with the exception of one essay, deals primarily with issues con

Books May 13, 2011

Even before the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, pirates were romantic.Now, in “The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook” Jason Heller brings you a guide to all things (Disney) pirate.Piracy has been with us from the beginning of time. Julius Caesar was taken prisoner, ransomed and later crucified his capturers. The infamous Blackbeard looted ships in the eighteenth century. There was little attra

Books May 13, 2011