Pham Duy would get a heart attack if he listens to this record.

Both of Le Tan Quoc’s instrumental albums are perfect for Vietnamese café shops with comfortable couches and without sexy servers.

I have tremendous respect for Duong Thu. Through his lyrical virtuosity and his appreciation for nature, I imagined that he is one calm, humble individual. After reading his article, “8 mẩu suy nghĩ về giới trẻ và Élite trẻ,” however, I get a different vibe about the man. He is mad pissed off at the younger generation and criticizing heavily their attitude, lifestyle, music taste and even rhetoric.

Although I don’t disagree with his view on the use of English into the Vietnamese language (like replacing “anh yêu em” with “I love you” in writing), I find it rather amusing that he does it himself. What the heck is “Élite trẻ?” Can’t he find a Vietnamese term for Élite? Duong Thu shows his age. He just sounds like a grumpy, bitter, angry old man.

Dealing with car gives me a headache. My wife’s 2003 Toyota Camry (V4) has failed inspection. The front exhaust needs to be replaced. The water pump and the oil pan are leaking. The dealer’s price is just ridiculous. Does anyone know a reliable, reasonable shop around Virginia area for these type of services? Please advise.

The International Institute of Tourism Studies gets a new look. I always liked this peachy scheme, but it has been passed up until now.

I have a concept for a motion piece that requires beautiful photographic of Ha Noi. I have the song in mind already, but don’t have any photos to work with. If you are a photographer and would like to collaborate, get in touch with me. If you know any photographic works, please let me know as well.

Way before I came on board, the International Business department went out on its own when the School of Business couldn’t provide what it needed, which is PHP and MySQL. Since the school server runs on ColdFusion and the department had everything tied into PHP and MySQL, the challenge was to bring the site back to the school and keep everything else running. As a result, I worked closely with the department’s web developer who resides in New Zealand to redesign and remerge the International Business web site.

The king of pop had left the building. May his soul sets free.

A very interesting take on Ngoc Lan and Trinh music (in Vietnamese):

Đúng rằng hát nhạc Trịnh, cảm nhận nhạc trịnh không cần phải gò bó, phải phá cách, phải gồng mình tìm cái gì đó cho riêng ai – như ai đó đã nói… tôi thích cái bình thường giản dị này lắm, không cần phải lên tới cao vút vẫn tới ngọt ngào, thiết tha trong Hạ Trắng, vẫn nhẹ nhàng mà nồng nàn trong Chiều Một Mình Qua Phố, vẫn da diết và day dứt trong Tình Nhớ , rồi bỡ ngỡ tiếc nuối trong Ru Ta Ngậm Ngùi …một Ngọc Lan trong trẻo ấm áp mà mê hoặc tới lạ thường!!

I am working with an incredible writer, Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, to promote her debut novel, Thirsty, which will be released in October. A web site and a Flash trailer will come soon so keep an eye out for them. In the meantime, go pre-order Thristy.

Kristin lives with her husband and her Vietnamese-adopted daughter in China. Kristin came to me after a friend sent her “Bonjour Vietnam.”