The Official Jay-Z Mixtape presented by Rob E Rob. Impressive cuts, DJ!

This one goes out to the people who try to preach me into believing in God.

“Coke Is It“: Sasha Frere-Jones on cocaine and hip-hop.

Hip-hop may be dead in the US, but just started in Viet Nam. Little Kim represents the ‘hood of Ha Noi.

In retrospect, Visualgui.com came online as a portfolio. After Vassar scooped me up, its main purpose is no longer needed. I then turned the site into a blog, which was my personal journal. It didn’t last too long because the world don’t need to know about my personal life. So I scrapped the journal and started music writing. Whether the CDs were from singers, readers, or my own purchases, I used to review every album I could get my hands on. Thanks to the Internet, music is much easier to get these days; therefore, reviewing music is no longer my top priority. So what will be next for Visualgui.com? I have no idea. It will definitely be around, and I’ll continue to post, but will not devote my time to it like I used to.

It’s time for some Christmas jams.

I posted Bill Evans’s piano solo of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” last year, but it’s so damn good that I am posting it again. Then a short but sweet performance of “Angels We Have Heard On High” by my friend Pham Hong Hanh. Her album, Give Thanks, is fantastic for the holidays. Of course I have to include “Jingle Bells,” the first Christmas song I ever heard, and Diana Krall’s scatting reminds me of how I tried to sing the song without knowing a word of English. Finally, even “Satan Takes a Holiday” (a swing joint from Tommy Dorsey) and so do I.

I am mad “Crazy” for loving you, baby!

Mezzoblue new design: clean, simple, and wide.

Mariah Carey’s trunk is all I want for Xmas.

Hoover: Hip-hop’s cleaner.

Story of Paul Nguyen is deep from his soul. All these years of blogging, I never have the heart to write something like that.

Thuy Nga vs. Vanity Fair

Goodbye to the good, old, clunky Sony Discman, I am now rocking with the cute, petite iPod Shuffle. Not that I want to be down with today’s trend, but I inherited it by a coincidence. I got the Shuffle for her birthday, and her brother also gave her a SanDisk Sansa MP3 Player. It’s a waste to own them both, which I agreed, and she knows that if she gives it back to her brother, that’s it. With me, she could negotiate for something else. Smart girl, I tell ya!

When I first spotted the Shuffle on Apple’s homepage, I was hooked on the design, and not knowing anything about it. Didn’t even realize that the Shuffle doesn’t come with a screen, which doesn’t let you see what tune is playing. That’s one of the reasons she doesn’t like it, and it is a legitimate one. As a tech (somewhat) savvy, I also find the Shuffle to be too simple at first, but now it’s the simplicity that I like. The little machine was design to do its job: to hold and play music. Because of its limitation, it forces me to be more specific on the music I select. As a habit, I often constrain myself to concentrate on a particular artist to soak in his style, technique, and execution, especially in jazz. So if I want to listen to Keith Jarrett, I have to experience his entire collection or albums and no one else until I could fully appreciate his music or can’t stand him anymore. So the Shuffle is useful for that purpose. My only complaint is that the Shuffle doesn’t allow you to import songs from another computer without wiping out what you have in there. Other than that, the Shuffle is not so bad. Every time I look at her these words come to mind: “Anh thay em nho xiu, nho xiu, anh cung.” The little iPod that is.

Kudos to my web team at Vassar for the following links:

Marian Bantjes (simply amazing)
Reza Abedini (wicked typographic posters)
Iranian Typography Now (fantastic typographic works)
Dutch Uncle Agency (sweet illustrations)
PlainSimple Design (plain and simple)
Garrett Murray (clean and simple)
Pen & Think (simple and clean)

This is the reason I love working with these guys.

A fair comment from “a fair person” on my bitching of Asia 51:

Donny, how old are you? The voices you criticise Asia are so acid and angry [emphasis is mine], your sound like a man who is bitter after lost all your money at the casino and your old wife also left you for another man. You should go to learn the fine arts of criticise others to make your life lighter. What did you do for the VN music industry, except these reckless criticisms! If you have ability then, organise a CHEAP music show like Asia, that is the best way to prove your ability. If you can only criticise others irresponsibly like what you did now, it prove you are untalented ho ho.

As a reader of this site, you can see that I have no further interests in reviewing Vietnamese DVDs, which includes Asia, Thuy Nga, and Van Son. Not because of people’s comments, like the one from “a fair person” (which I find entertaining), but I am tired of writing the same old things like the videos doing the same old things. Yet, I am flattered that some readers still interested in my view by requesting and willing to loan me the DVDs so I can write about the latest Paris By Night.

Not that there aren’t any interesting things to say about these shows, but there simply aren’t anything new and exciting. To be fair, Paris By Night could be enjoyable if you don’t give a flying fuck about lip-sync, recycle of songs, mechanical productions, and Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen. Minh Tuyet’s ghetto ass still there; Truc Linh’s solid abs still there; and mad props to Ho Le Thu. She’s carrying the whole Silicon Valley on her chest. All the “Orange” County female singers should join Ho Le Thu in Silicon land. Paris By Night will be hotter than hell. Who wants to hear Khanh Ly with Tran Thu Ha (who looks a bit retarded while sitting there waiting for her verse) and Bang Kieu with Tuan Ngoc singing those old songs in the same old boring way? Just give me Ho Le Thu and more of that crazy bitch Kieu Oanh. That broad is way too damn hilarious, and she has been able to top herself from one act to the next. She was so good that by the time Hoai Linh came on screen (that doesn’t sound right), my jaws were too hurt to laugh.