Articles by Kim Hoo-ran
Kim Hoo-ran
khooran@heraldcorp.com-
Salina: Simple beauty in Italy’s Aeolian Islands
SALINA ISLAND, Italy (AP) ― As I watch the sun set from my terrace on the west coast of Salina, one of Italy’s Aeolian Islands, I marvel again that the stone headrest I am lying against is so inexplicably comfortable.Its effect is like so much else on this harsh volcanic island, located in the clearest Mediterranean waters: Salina’s very starkness soothingly lulls you into contemplating its simple
Travel May 6, 2011
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New Books
Review: Under the spell of ‘The Sandalwood Tree’“The Sandalwood Tree” (Atria Books), by Elle NewmarkIf you like your love stories sweeping and wrapped in history, “The Sandalwood Tree” by Elle Newmark has it all.The narrative switches between India in two generations, the mid-19th century and post-World War II. The 1947 narrator is Evie, an American whose marriage is on the rocks after her husba
Books May 6, 2011
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J.D. Salinger’s works now seem like so much pretentious talk
I’ve outgrown J.D. Salinger, and I don’t know where that leaves me.I was 10 when my father handed me “The Catcher in the Rye,” and I found not just a voice for all the wild despair and sudden inexplicable elation of adolescence but an acknowledgement that these feelings did not occur in a vacuum. Salinger reached into the “vale of tears” catechism of my Irish Catholic upbringing and lifted me out
Books May 6, 2011
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In Mexico City, author Daniel Hernandez finds a complex culture
LOS ANGELES ― Shortly before Daniel Hernandez moved from Los Angeles to Mexico to write a book about its roiling capital, a friend gave him an order. “I don’t want to see you back from Mexico City until it’s physically altered you, until you are different,” Hernandez was told.The Western Hemisphere’s largest metropolitan area, with about 22 million people, has its existential challenges: toxic air
Books May 6, 2011
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World chef Cheryl Forberg puts flavor first
Food May 6, 2011
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Pandora adds comedy to Internet radio line-up
OAKLAND, California (AFP) ― U.S. Internet radio darling Pandora has added comedy to its line-up of stations that listeners can personalize to their tastes.“We’re excited to say that we are officially in the business of telling jokes,” Pandora founder Tim Westergren said in a blog post online Wednesday.“As with music, we hope that the Comedy Genome Project will let people enjoy comedy they know as
Culture May 5, 2011
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Dancer-turned-actor Kwok is summer star of Chinese movies
HONG KONG (AP) ― May is the month of Aaron Kwok in Chinese movies.The dancer-turned-singer-turned-actor stars in two of the month’s major releases ― Gu Changwei’s romance “Love for Life,” and Oxide Pang’s crime thriller “The Detective 2” ― and has earned rave reviews from both directors.The 45-year-old Hong Kong entertainer’s versatile performances in two closely timed releases are testimony to hi
Film May 5, 2011
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Diabetes: Watch out before it’s too late
How much do we know about diabetes? Kim Sung-rae, chairman of committee of public relations at the Korea Diabetes Association, shares some key fact about diabetes with The Korea Herald to raise public awareness of the disease ― Ed.About 5 million people in Korea are assumed to be diabetic. But only half of them are aware of their disorder and only half those diagnosed with diabetes visit doctors r
Technology May 5, 2011
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Architect dispels myths about hanok
Cho Jung-goo interprets hanok in contemporary ways, while respecting traditionThe following is the final story in a series of articles on the contemporizing of Korean culture ― Ed.The area nestled between Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung to the west and Changdeokgung to the east, known as Bukchon, is a little gem of a place where time seems to stand still.The neighborhood where myriad alleys and “hanok,” or
Culture May 5, 2011
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Kids’ stuff: Authors gather for children’s prizes
NEW YORK (AP) ― Hilary Knight didn’t expect “Eloise” to be a children’s favorite.“Never,” the illustrator said Monday night at a reception before the Children’s Choice Book Awards. “If (‘Eloise’ writer) Kay Thompson were alive, she’d be horrified. She hated when the stores started putting those books in the children’s section. She would go to one store and put them back in the adult section.”The a
Books May 4, 2011
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Hollywood, fashion elite recall McQueen
Arts & Design May 3, 2011
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American Center opens with new services in Seoul
The United States Embassy Library has enhanced its public services.With the launch of the new services, the Information Resource Center will now be known as the American Center Korea and will issue membership cards while expanding its public hours, staying open from 1-6 p.m. on weekdays.The center at 10 Namyong-dong in the Yongsan district will circulate books, DVDs and magazine back-issues to its
Culture May 2, 2011
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Amid ‘war on obesity,’ skeptics warn of stigma
As U.S. tries to curb obesity, some fear increasing discrimination against the overweightThe images are striking: Overweight boys and girls staring somberly from billboards and online videos, real-life embodiments of the blunt messages alongside.“Chubby kids may not outlive their parents,” for example. Or: “Big bones didn’t make me this way. Big meals did.”The ads ― part of a new “Stop Child Obesi
Technology May 2, 2011
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This year, summer movies not only about men
From its earliest days, Hollywood has been a boy’s club.And summer traditionally is the season of boy movies ― big, loud, rude and not terribly smart.So what are we to make of the summer of 2011 when so many titles suggest, well, an estrogen-centric approach?It’s not as if bad boys and manly men will be AWOL from the megaplex over the next four months ― not with “Thor” and “Green Lantern” and “Cap
Film May 1, 2011
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Joys, challenges of journeys with aging parents
I was studying Georgia O’Keeffe’s abstractions, seduced by her simple charcoal curves, pink-and-blue flowers and cloud fields, when my cellphone rang.That afternoon in Santa Fe, I had slipped out of my parents’ hotel. As they napped, I strolled around the Plaza and found myself at the museum devoted to one of my favorite artists.Still, my thoughts of Mom and Dad were never far. When I answered my
Travel April 29, 2011
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