No one can do Ray Charles like brother Ray himself, not even with the three superstars, Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Norah Jones, came together.

Listening to Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles makes me want to return to The Birth of the Soul box set. Brother Ray brought so much soul into his songs that Willie Nelson’s laid-back style came across as plain lazy. “Hit the Road Jack” and “Busted” for example, Ray sang with so much anguish that you can feel his pain, even though the lyrics suggested otherwise, whereas Nelson just sounded worn out. On “What’d I Say,” Ray’s moaning part was so damn seductive whereas Nelson’s “heys” and “hos” sounded like he needed some viagra to get it up, and Marsalis should stick to the trumpet rather than trying to micmic Ray.

Norah Jones’s version of “Come Rain or Come Shine” was soothing and Marsalis’s solo added a touch of tenderness to the tune. While the vocals are lackluster, Here We Go Again has enjoyable moments thanks to Marsalis’s traditional-but-sensational arrangement.

Nguyen Hong Nhung’s latest release, Duong Nhu, displays her maturity in handling classic ballads. From Cung Tien’s “Hoai Cam” to Pham Duy’s “Nghin Trung Xa Cach” to Trinh Cong Son’s “Ru Em Tung Ngon Xuan Nong,” she delivers each song with soulfulness and tastefulness, but still lacking the uniqueness. Because these timeless tunes have been sung to death from generation to generation, they need to be reinvigorated. Singing them straight on the melody just won’t cut it.

The strength of the album isn’t from the classic covers, but from Mai Thanh Son’s compositions. “Duong Nhu” and “Nghiet Nga” blend surprisingly well with the rest of the tracks on the album despite they are written by a young musician. “Duong Nhu” is captivating thanks to the little bluesy keyboard licks in the arrangement. Mai Thanh Son has not only done a wonderful job of producing it, he has also done an excellent of penning the lyrics. “Nghiet Nga” is also well written. The lyrics and the melody are far better than today’s trendy pop tunes.

When Mai Thanh Son appeared on Asia’s stage singing well-known English tunes, I couldn’t figure out why Asia took him under its wing. His weak, virgin voice doesn’t stand out, but now I can see where his real talent is. He is a fantastic arranger, which I had noticed when he produced some tracks for Nguyen Khang’s show. Now his tunes on Nguyen Hong Nhung’s album make me interested in his work behind the scene more than in front of the camera and on the mic. The good thing is that he lets Nguyen Hong Nhung sings his songs. Listening to both of his and her version of “Nghiet Nga,” one can clearly tell that Nguyen Hong Nhung kicked the tune up a notch.

Before heading out to Wildwood last week, we stopped by Super H Mart to pick up some greens. Dao and I went sampling the foods while Dana did the shopping. At the check out, I was like, “Damn, we spent $120 on vegetables and fruits?” Dana gave me that stop-being-a-cheap-ass impression. So I just let Dao swiped my credit card, something he loves to do when we go shopping, and brought the bags to the car.

Later on that night, Dana checked the receipt and found out that we paid for 22 cantaloups instead of 2. No wonder the total was so high and I was the one to blame again. I suspected the amount, but didn’t bother to check the receipt. Whenever I went shopping with my mom, she would make me check every item to make sure they charged the right amount. Sometimes a couple of bucks were overcharged, but I don’t mind. It’s just not worth waiting in line to explain about a couple of dollars, but the different between 2 and 22 were tremendous.

Yesterday we went back to the store for more groceries. I told Dana to give me the receipt and see if we could get the refund. I didn’t really expect to get our money back because I had no proof. Lucky for me, the customer service rep was a young man who spoke fluent English. I showed him the receipt and explained the error. He got it immediately and apologized for the mistake. I told him, “There was no way I could carry 22 cantaloups into my car.” We laughed and he issued a refund.

Lesson learned: check everything before leaving the store.

The week-long vacation is already over. Time went by fast even though all that I did was relaxing and hanging out by the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey. We were back yesterday and I am still recuperating before diving back into the regular schedule tomorrow.

Woke up early this morning and I already missed jogging on the beach biking on the boardwalk and listening to music. My favorite morning listenings were Art Pepper & Hollywood All-Stars’ Art Standards and Kenny Garrett’s Pursuance: Music of John Coltrane. I returned to these two again and again in one week.

For the first three days, we were completely shut off from Cyberspace, which was really nice. When the whole family, which consisted of eight adults and one kid, took a long nap or watched some TV, I did my reading. I finished a 1000-page book in less than week without Internet. By Wednesday, my sister-in-law’s husband could not stand it so he went out and get the MiFi from Sprint. Even though we were connected, I tried my best to stay offline and I did pretty well.

Dao was the only kid; therefore, he was spoiled by his aunts and uncles. They took him to the arcades on the boardwalk and got him all kinds of toys. He was having a great time, but refused to go on any of rides on the amusement park. The water was a bit cold so he didn’t like that either. In fact, none of the adults went into the water except for me. It was a little cold at first, but it felt nice especially in the afternoon when the temperature hit above 90 degrees.

We went to Atlantic City twice, but I hung out with Dao most of the time rather than playing cards. Pai Gow poker minimum was $25, which was too high for me. I don’t really like slot machines, but Dao loved them. He loved the lights, the spinning wheels and the sounds. I did let him play the slot machines at the arcade.

We didn’t eat out much, except for the first day Dana and I treated the family to a Mexican cuisine to celebrate our anniversary. We cooked most of the food at the house we rented. Dana FedExed 30 pounds of live crawfish from Louisiana. It turned out that 30 pounds weren’t enough for the nine of us. The crawfish were delicious because my sister-law-law used up most of my beers to cook them. In one pot she used 5 bottles of Yuengling and we cooked three pots.

It was really nice to spend some time with the family. I am glad that they have turned this into an annual event.

The 6th edition of David Flanagan’s JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is over 1000 pages and divided into four parts. Part 1, which covers the core of JavaScript, is an essential read for beginners who would like to learn the ins-and-outs of the language. Part 2, which delves into the client-side scripting including HTML5 APIs, CSS, media, graphics and jQuery, is for developers who want to take their web pages to another level with the power of JavaScript in conjunction to HTML5 and CSS3. Part 3 & 4, which provide further references for the first two parts, make this book a comprehensive guide and a must-have for JavaScript programmers and front-end web developers.

On the evening of May 26, 2011, I took the Metro home from work just like any ordinary day, except the heat rised above 90 degrees. My final destination was Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Station. I usually waited by the the bus stop on the northside for my wife and son to pick me up, but on that day I waited inside the terminal to hear two young buskers (a male on violin and female on cello) sawing away some classical pieces. While observing their playing, I could hear faithly a trumpet sound from the southside of the terminal.

Fifteen minutes went by and still didn’t see my wife’s car so I walked over to the other side to check out the other busker. The man who was soaking sweat under the sun was in the middle of playing a mid-tempo solo accompanied by a pre-programmed rhythm section coming out of a speaker that was connected to an iPod.

He had a big tone with clean chops that are reminscent of Miles Davis. At the end of the tune, I complimented him, “You have the Miles sound.” He replied, “Thanks. Today is Miles’ birthday.” I was like, “Really?” He nodded his head while dialing his iPod. He went on, “I got some Miles’ tunes for you.” Then he began to play his own interpretion of “Milestones” and “Four.” He also covered a beautiful ballad, “It Never Entered My Mind,” on both muted and open trumpet.

After hearing the three tunes, I wanted to get his CD, but he only had one left. He warned me that the CD is a smooth jazz and he didn’t think a Miles freak like me would enjoy it. I copped it away.

The trumpeter’s name was Freddie Dunn and Longing for the Moon featured most of his original compositions except for Thelonious Monk’s “Monk’s Mood” and Eden Ahbez’s “Nature Boy.” The album opens with “Looking at the Moon.” The soothing, late-night groove indeed suggests a smooth flavor, but Dunn was able to squeeze out some melodic phrases against the pre-arranged beat.

On “VinBev.com,” “Nature Boy” and “Toonin’ In,” Dunn uses the muted tone to create a startling sound that reminded me of what Miles had done on Tutu, one of my personal favorites of Electric Miles. “Toonin’ In,” in particular, is so hauntingly wicked as if his pointed playing was cutting through the urban beat. “Fre-chan” is a sensational collaboration with altoman Eugene Chapman. After the two horn players take turn chopping up the funkified beat, Dunn returns to the slow, relaxing “Monk’s Mood” to showcase his ballad playing.

Dunn was being modest when he told me that Longing for the Moon is a smooth jazz album. Sure the records are lay back and mellow, yet his solos are anything but sleepy or boring. I am so glad that I spotted him.

Dao loves to be wrapped inside Dana. He holds on to her arm any chance he gets. Yesterday he wanted to hold her with both of his hands. Last night he kept crawling onto her body and wanting to be held. Dana was grouchy because he kept waking her up. After three or four times, I kicked her out of the room so she could have an uninterrupted sleep.

When he turned and couldn’t find his mom, he got up and looked for her. I put him back down and stroked his back a bit. He liked it and went back to sleep. He didn’t get up again until the next morning. I guess, we’ll just have to kick mommy out of bed.

Three days ago, we took him to school, he pointed to a Hyundai Tucson and said, “Football xe (car).” I thought that because the Tucson has a rounded shape; therefore, he associated it with a football. Two days ago, I told my sister-in-law what Dao said and she told me that he was referring to the logo that looks like a football. My sister-in-law has a Sonata and he already pointed out to her the “football xe.”

I like the way Dao associates things based on what he knows. I think he’ll be very imaginative when he grows up. We were looking at a children book that has an illustration of a train. When I asked him about the smoke coming out of the train, he said, “popcorn.” Looking at it again, it does look like a popcorn.

We were watching American Idol Finale and Dao wanted to play his Alphabet Train puzzle. He has yet to learn ABC, but I can tell him what animal is next to fit into the puzzle. So if I say “con voi (elephant),” he would look for the elephant piece and put the puzzle together. Because I was distracted by American Idol, I called out the wrong animal. He picked it, but couldn’t fit it into the puzzle. He went back to me and said, “lon roi,” (wrong one).

By the way, our second child is eleven weeks. The doctor said the kid got a big head. I couldn’t tell from looking at the first photo yesterday, but this is getting exciting all over again. Our family will take a week off to enjoy the beach. So hope you all have a nice Memorial weekend.

Today marks our third anniversary.Three years aren’t that long, but the changes have been tremendous. Our relationship has turned from romantic to realistic. Maybe that’s the way marriage works over time. We share the same goals, but not necessarily the same views. We argue at times, but we enjoys each other’s presence. We have our own issues, but we help each other to get by. We go through tough times, but we manage to stay strong. We work hard to build our family.

For the past two years, we devoted our attention on our boy. He has been our challenge, but also our joy. He sometimes makes us upset, but also makes us laugh. He wears us out, but also provides us strength. He gives us the true meaning of responsibility and spontaneity. Our lives never seem to stand still when he’s awake, yet we enjoy every moment of it, and so to make our family even livelier, we will be welcoming a new member by the end of this year. Yes, Dao will have a brother or sister to play with. We are thrilled!

So three years are just the beginning of our journey. The road ahead will not be smooth and we will be facing more tough time, but I am positive that we can get through as long as we stay together and support each other. At this point in my life, nothing is more important than a strong, loving family. Happy anniversary!

With two country-leaning contestants, American Idol Finale should have named Country Idol. So Scotty and Lauren battled it out tonight for 2011 Country Idol. As I had expected, the two went the opposite direction. After watching the show, I find it really hard to cast my vote. From the beginning, I have always rooted for the country boy for his hypnotic cello-like baritone, but tonight, Lauren convinced me on both Carrie Underwood’s and Jimmy Lovine’s pick. Her final performance won my heart. So sorry Scotty, my last vote for the season has to go to Lauren, but then again one vote for American Idol doesn’t really make a different. Now if Haley was up against Lauren, it would have been a very exciting competition.

Poor thang. My future ex-mistress Hoang Thuy Linh has fallen into a sophomore slump. Luu Thien Huong has made an erroneous move by replicating the success of Hoang Thuy Linh’s debut. Dung Voi Vang ended up sounding like leftover junks from the first album.

Dance-pop formula once again applied, but way less effective on Dung Voi Vang. The productions are still high quality, but static even the club joints. The lyrics are banal with no punchlines. The heavy use of Auto-Tune makes Hoang Thuy Linh sounds more like machine than human. It also exposes her weakness: limited range.

Whereas the previous album has three solid, addictive slow jams (“Cam On Vi Da Yeu Em,” “Anh Co Nho Gi” and “Cho Nhau Loi Di Rieng”), this one has none. “Lai Lan Nua” is just slow and boring. On “Em Se La Giac Mo,” she sounds as if she was rather sleeping than singing. The English hook, “I wanna run,” on “Chay Tron” can get really irritating. The closing “Giau” is the only tune that she’s actually feeling the beat.