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Convering With Stars

By Shim Hyun-chul Staff Reporter Last year, the nation's first rocket, Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) unfortunately failed to make it into space. Yet scientists are ever busy preparing for a second attempt with the Naro-2, in addition to the launching of the satellite Cheollian. Human civilizations have studied the sky and stars since ancient times, looking to constellations to guide nocturnal voyages and to make choices regarding the fate of kingdoms. Today, space science is the pinnacle of modern technology. The Seoul Museum of History is currently holding a special exhibition, ``Celestial Rendezvous,'' featuring various items related to astronomy that were donated by local citizens. The scale of the event may be small, but a wide-ranging array of objects from different time periods can be viewed. Moreover, the relics reflect not only astronomical technologies but also the thoughts of the time periods from which they originate. Furthermore, they provide a sketch of how East Asian astronomy has evolved. The exhibition is split into three parts: the astronomical c

Seoul Sings Her Heart Out

By Shim Hyun-chul Staff Reporter ``The river flowers, underneath the 3rd Han River Bridge,'' Hye Eun-ee croons in her hit track, ``3rd Han River Bridge.'' The 1970s music video, featuring the namesake river as the backdrop, can also be seen. The sight of old LCD records and yellowed music sheets, chronologically ordered, evokes nostalgia and instantly takes you back to the past. A special exhibition, ``Seoul: Popular Songs,'' continues through May 23 at Cheong Gye Cheon Museum, Majang-dong, near Cheonggye Stream. The exhibition took over a year in the making to compile 1,141 popular songs about Seoul by over 700 artists. The items on display belong to popular music critic Choi Gyu-seong. His personal collection of records and music-related documents span from the Japanese Colonial Period (1910-45) to the present, and include over 300 music sheets, album jackets, photo albums of artists and music award trophies. Among the featured songs about the city, the late songwriter Park Chun-seok, who recently passed away, has contributed the most with 22 tracks, followed by ve

Moon-side Village With Art

By Shim Hyun-chul Staff Reporter Less than 10 minutes away from the jungle of tall concrete apartment buildings, the labyrinthine ``daldongne,'' or slum town can be spotted, located at the steep foot of the mountains surrounding Seoul. A small girl climbs up the narrow, serpentine alleyway, each step growing heavier and wearier, but cheerful drawings of sunflowers and puppies along the wall greet her. A bus steers toward the summit of old houses, piled up and leaning against one another, like a time machine to the past. Gaemi (Ant) Village, Hongje-dong is one of the city's few remaining daldongnae. The village sprouted up in the aftermath of the Korean War (1950-53) and it was where the poor started settling down. Many lived in shabbily constructed tents that resembled Native American tepees in Western movies, and so the area was nicknamed, ``Indian Town.'' It then became known as Ant Village after the hardworking residents. An 81-year-old, identified as Jo, has lived here for more than 46 years. ``Before we didn't have a faucet so we had to go all the way to the bott

Mr World 2010 D-1

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter They learned taekwondo kicks together, chopped carrots side by side and shared in their nervousness backstage before walking the runway. The preliminaries of the Mr World 2010 contest ― sporting, talent, cooking and fashion challenges ― tested the inner and outer strengths of the participants, but their competitive spirit was more friendly than fierce. The event, bringing together 74 young men from different corners of the world, was an opportunity for cultural exchanges and camaraderie. ``How else could I meet all these guys from different parts of the world, like my good friend here? I'm having the best time,'' said Canada's Ron Wear about buddy Kendrick Kemp from the Bahamas. Spending time in Korea also meant discovering the local culture. They visited museums, temples and national parks. The young men shopped in downtown Seoul and did stretches with locals at Mt. Nam. They even got a peek at North Korea at an observatory in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). ``I like Sandara Park,'' said Mr Philippines Alvin De Joya about the Korean sin

WHO IS Mr World 2010?

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter ``Jeongsin charyeo!'' (Wake up!) The select members of the 2010 Mr World contest had never received military training before nor did they understand Korean. But the men seemed to have no trouble following the directions of a Korean Marine officer during a special training session, Monday, in Muuido, Incheon. In this battle to become ``the world's most desirable man,'' the 74 contestants have pushed the limits of their physical and mental abilities ― from trekking the icy Mt. Deogyu, North Jeolla Province, Wednesday, to getting a whiff of local history in Gyeongju, Thursday, and all the while picking up Korean words here and there. Competitors must display the virtues of an all-around modern gentleman ― someone who is not only charming and physically fit, but also intelligent, humanitarian and artistic. The young national representatives will continue to challenge themselves by volunteering in a house-building project, Saturday; participating in a Korean food cooking competition, Sunday; and strutting down a runway in a charity fashion sho

HS Seoul Typography New Tool of Design

By Shim Hyun-chul Staff Reporter Handwriting is as individual and unique as one's fingerprint. When a given penmanship adopts a consistent set of rules, a writing font is born. All letters have different typographic styles, and they can become a symbol depending on how they take shape. Omnipresent advertisement billboards and storefront signs feature innumerable types of typefaces, each screaming out colorful designs to stand out more than the others. As much as designers pour in time and energy to create them, fonts play a critical role in delivering messages. When one thinks of Seoul, landmarks and symbols such as the Han River, Mt. Namsan N Seoul Tower, Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbok Palace come to mind. The tourist signs always have a signpost providing maps and information, and the featured typography also become a symbol of the city. Calligraphic fonts symbolizing Seoul include serif-type Hangang Type and Gothic-style Namsan Types. A typography exhibition is underway at the event hall of Dongdaemun History and Cutlure Park, downtown Seoul. The event highlights font d

HS Design Passes Through History of Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Meet the past, present and future of design in Seoul at the Seoul Design Assets Exhibition, which is held on the first floor of the Seoul Museum of History in central Seoul. The exhibition was originally planned to close Sunday, but was extended to March 28. Opened on Jan. 8, the exhibition had drawn some 80,000 visitors as of Wednesday. Seoul is designated as World Design Capital (WDC) 2010 and the Design Assets Exhibition displays Seoul’s design history through modern technology as a part of the events celebrating WDC 2010 Seoul. The exhibition features the 600-year history of the capital through high-tech. It is divided into prologue, five zones . Seoul in Harmony, Seoul Life, Character of Seoul, Seoul Assets and Design Seoul . and epilogue. In each exhibition hall, visitors can experience design using state-of-the-art technology. Visitors also can meet Haechi, the symbolic character of Seoul City. The 51 Seoul Design Assets, designated July 2009, are the representative design properties of Seoul from traditional and modern architectu

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Welcome Spring

By Shim Hyun-chul Staff Reporter Migratory birds are flying away, the fields are showing glimmers of green, and trees will soon sprout flower buds. Spring is seeping in. ``Ipchun," a harbinger of spring and the first of 24 seasonal divisions of the lunar calendar, has come and gone but the chill is still here. Nevertheless, there is no denying the arrival, or rather the anticipation, of the arrival of spring. The streams are defrosting, and grass is sprouting in fields in the countryside. Department stores windows are already feature brightly-colored spring outfits, and apartment verandas hang cleanly washed blankets. The plants along the roadside seem ready to bloom. Most tellingly, the colors of the flowers at the flower market say that spring is here. "It's still winter, but you can feel spring coming when you visit the flower market. Flowers arrive a season earlier in our markets, so you can see hyacinths, tulips, magnolia trees and cherry blossom trees," said Park Ki-joung, owner of Joeun Garden, a flower shop located on the third floor of the Express Bus Ter