NEW YORK (AP) ― The Piano Man is now officially a Steinway man.A Billy Joel portrait has been unveiled in New York City at Steinway Hall, home to the famed piano maker Steinway & Sons.Joel is one of only two living artists included in a collection featuring greats such as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. He’s the only non-classical performer.The 62-year-old pop legend joked Monday about his painting’s proximity to Vladimir Horowitz’s, saying he doesn’t know “how crazy’’ Horowitz is about having h

NEW YORK ― If you search online for photos of Tilda Swinton, you’ll find one, from the 2008 Academy Awards, that particularly delights the actress. She won the supporting-actress award that night for playing a squirmy lawyer in “Michael Clayton,” but that’s not why Swinton ebulliently brings up this photo of her and a young mystery man.“I was with the Coens (directors Ethan and Joel) and Fran McDormand. Their son (Pedro) was with them. Pedro and I were standing together. There were some photogra

An expat singer-songwriter will team up with a Korean visual artist to launch an EP on Saturday.Californian musician Leslie Early will celebrate the release of “Chasing the Dark” at Playcafe Yup in Hongdae.She will be teaming up for the showcase with American-born video artist Kwon Soo-jin, who made the video for her first single from the EP, “Tangled.”Early’s gentle folk-tinged acoustic songs and soft voice have a dreamlike quality, which matches beautifully with Kwon’s simple, whimsical line-d

Education policy the focus of town meeting with capital’s foreign residentsExpatriates living in Seoul gathered at City Hall on Friday to voice their concerns about living in the capital to its new mayor.More than 100 of the city’s 360,000 expats attended the 2011 Seoul Town Meeting with Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon.Park kicked off the meeting, his first opportunity to address foreigners specifically, with a brief welcoming speech about his view of the importance of becoming a global city, citing t

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s two-time world figure-skating champion Mao Asada vowed to carry on training “toward my dream” despite suffering the loss of her mother and biggest supporter last week.Kyoko Asada, 48, died after a battle with liver cirrhosis early on Friday at a hospital in their hometown of Nagoya, while Mao was flying home after pulling out of the Grand Prix final in Quebec City, Canada.Mao Asada’s management agency IMG said the skater would not change her immediate schedule, including th

KBO club chiefs give green light  to Park Chan-hoFormer Major League Baseball All-Star Park Chan-ho will be able to play in his home country next year.Presidents of the eight current clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization and one expansion team set to join the league in 2013 on Tuesday instituted a rule change to allow Park to join the league next season, the league office said. The veteran right-hander was released by the Orix Buffaloes in Japan in October.Under the previous rule, Park would

South Korea will actively consider hiring a foreign national to lead its football team, a senior official said Tuesday.Hwangbo Kwan, head of the technical committee at the Korea Football Association, said the vacant job is open for coaches from home and overseas, but officials will have “some concrete discussions” on foreign candidates.“We’re going to look at different names,” Hwangbo said following a meeting of his committee at the National Football Center here, north of Seoul. “But a lot of ou

LONDON (AP) ― Manchester City won’t be running away with the English Premier League. City’s 17-game league unbeaten streak ended as Frank Lampard converted a late penalty kick that lifted Chelsea to a 2-1 victory Monday night.“Chelsea were really lucky in this game,” City manager Roberto Mancini said. “We are disappointed with this defeat but we have time to recover.”Mario Balotelli put the visitors ahead after 105 seconds, but Raul Meireles tied it in the 34th minute.Lampard replaced Meireles i

POSCO founder who also served as prime minister leaves trailblazing legacyPOSCO’s honorary chairman Park Tae-joon, who died on Tuesday at age 84, was a trailblazer who paved the way for the nation to become one of the world’s top steel-making countries.Park, one of the icons of Korea’s economic success, left a legacy in two sectors, business and politics, but earlier said he would be remembered as a businessman. Throughout his life, he led a remarkable career as the country’s top businessman who