Never mind what I said about no comments. It’s getting mad cold up in here, let’s bring the heat back. I’ll try to find other solutions for the hosting problem.

Visualgui.com sure feels cold and lonely without the visitors’ voice. Comments make this place more exciting because they give her a sense of community, but dealing with them takes tremendous efforts. Whenever comments are enabled, so are spams, but let’s not get into that. The much harder part is to go through every comment to see if it is appropriate or not. Ninety percent of the time, I don’t care if the comments are aimed at me (What can I do? Some people just love throwing rocks at my throne.). But when controversial issues bring to the table, people breaking them down like scientists, and then attacking each other like chemical warfare. As a moderator, I always have a difficult time deciding which comment should stay and which one should go. I try my best to weed out insulting comments, but no matter what I delete, I am accused of being biased. As a result, my only solution is to shut down the entire post.

The not-so-good part of closing off the comments is that the site feels empty, and I have received complaints on it already. The good part, however, is that I get private messages from regular readers who I have conversed back and forth on certain topics, but never get a chance to know them on the personal level until now. I am thankful for that. You know who you are.

While we’re still on the comments topic, I find Jeremy Keith’s post, “Comments on Community,” to be interesting. He breaks down the pros and cons of allowing comments on a blog, and I agree with most of his points, especially this:

I don’t think we should be looking at comments to see conversations. It isn’t much of a conversation when the same person determines the subject matter of every dialogue. The best online conversations I’ve seen have been blog to blog: somebody posts something on their blog; somebody else feels compelled to respond on their own blog. The quality of such a response is nearly always better than a comment on the originating blog for the simple reason that people care more about what appears on their own site than on someone else’s.

The perfect example is what Buddhist With an Attitude posted on her blog commenting on the controversial issues on this site. Thanks for the holla, lady. On a side note, the photo, which is perfect for the title, “Long Suffering Vietnam,” is disturbing: an AK pointing at women’s head. Does it matter if she’s a communist or not? That’s not how we treat a human being, especially a senior citizen. But let me not bringing up any more heat on this subject.

Back to the commenting. Although prohibiting comments is a temporary solution until my site gets back on the regular server, I might continue to do so if it works out well.

From the beginning, I have never felt easy using copyrighted photos on “Bonjour Viet Nam” without asking for permissions. What worse is that I didn’t even give the photographers the credit they deserved. I was taking a risk and putting my ass on the burner for a lawsuit. Now that the piece is all over the web, the chance has increased. Fortunately, I didn’t even get a threatening email. One of the photographers, Hoang Nhiem, whose work is accountable for 90% of the slideshow, has discovered the piece through Thanh Nien News. Of course, he has every right to be upset with me, but he didn’t. When I explained the situation, he totally understood. Hoang Nhiem not only has agreed for me to use the photos courtesy of HNH Images, but also offered an opportunity to collaborate in the future. I am very graceful for that. In addition, thanks to the Visualgui.com readers who have recognized the work of Pham Hong Hai and Doan Duc Minh. If you guys come across the name of the photographers whose work I have used, please let me know. I would like to once again apologize to all the photographers and thank them for allowing me to use their work. It’s a good thing that I don’t have to pull another plug because of copyright issue—at least not until Marc Lavoine and Pham Quynh Anh knock on my door.

Woke up early this morning, washed up my baby before the place is packed and got all that nasty salt off her. She deserved a nice bath for working hard during the winter. I also did my laundry. While I was drying my clothes, I had a chance to exchange a few words with a woman who washes, dries and folds clothes for people who are too damn lazy to do their own dirty laundry. I asked her typical questions like how much it would cost to wash a bag of clothes. As we were folding at the same table (I was more like pairing up my shocks and throw everything into my basket), she told me, “I fold pretty neat.” I just smiled and watched her carefully managing men’s Fruit-of-the-Loom draws with some thoughts running through my mind. When Americans (only the discriminated ones) said that, “you immigrants come here and take over our jobs,” I was disturbed, but this woman made me feel a bit guilty. From the way she breathes heavily in and out, I could tell she hates her job, but she’s not complaining and whining about it. The weather is gorgeous outside and people just dumped their shit on her. She gets paid hourly; therefore, her check is still the same no matter how much clothes she washed. I hate doing laundry myself and I only do it when I almost have nothing clean to wear. Imagine working forty hours a week, not including weekend, just doing laundry would drive me insane; therefore, I respect her for what she has to do to make ends meet.

I would like to dedicate the new layout to all my Vietnamese ladies around the world on International Women’s Day. So don’t say that Donny doesn’t care about women. My inspiration for this design is drawn from the captivating photograph on the left. Once again, mad kowtows to Hoai Nam and the Ao Trang‘s folks for allowing me to use their work. I emailed them this morning asking for permission, and I received an instant reply with, “We’ll always backing you up 100%.” That makes me feel so good, and I am grateful for it. Anyway, enjoy your special day, ladies! And keep your head up!

It seems like the only thing Dam Vinh Hung can brag about these days is his obsessions with brand-name design: “I got a small suitcase for $2,000.” Wow! I am so impressed. In another interview, he said that he dropped 35 Gs on designers’ clothes. I am sure he can spend that much with the kind of money he’s making, but the brand doesn’t make a man. In Lan Song Xanh 2005-2006, Mr. Dam hosted the show and changed clothes every time he appeared on stage. Yet, he looked ridiculous most of the time. When he performed “Bac Tinh,” dude rocked high boots, tight pants, and faux-fur scarf that goes with his Kangol-styled cap. I just can’t believe that fool blew all that money on those junks. If I were DVH, I would take five grants to get some Armani suits and invest the rest else or donate to the needy. Thirty Gs can feed many hungry children in Viet Nam. He’ll get more respect that way than the craps he puts on his scrawny, flapped figure.

Update: I found some photos on his site
The infamous “Bac Tinh” performance I mentioned.
Unmatching reds. I haven’t seen them red jeans since ’95.

Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Cau Mirabeau” performed by Tuyet Dung. Quite beautiful!

Wendy’s “We brave the terror that’s Yangtze” is mad hysterical. She is a great blogger who goes out of her way (into a porn theater) to bring her readers such a fantastic story. One of her observations: “All around us we heard plastic bags tinkling and zips being unzipped. Worse of all, there was ACTUAL LOUD MOANING!!”

When Dat Phan ridicules the hell out of the nail biz, people laugh. When I say something about it, people get furious. I guess he’s a comedian and I am not. I am not mad at him though. Albeit I find his mother-mocking accents to be annoying, he is one funny muthaflucker. Mad props to him. As for me, I like what someone has told me: “It sucks being you.” Damn right, baby!

37 Signals’ Getting Real (an online book) sold over 1,750 copies in one day straight from their web site. With $19 a pop, they made 33 Gs in one day. Isn’t that impressive? No paper wasted, no publisher to go through.

The new design of Veerle’s blog is simply stunning with gorgeous illustrations and well-thoughtout organization.

Joseph Kosinski motion graphic is mad ill.

Pimp My Ride

Even Albert Einstein thought, “Visualgui.com rocks!” (Courtesy of Hetemeel.com)

Spell with Flickr (via Tim)

When John Coltrane recorded “Psalm,” the forth piece on his classic A Love Supreme, he was actually reciting a poem, which has the same title as the LP, he wrote with his saxophone. Although Coltrane hinted in his liner notes—”The last part is a musical narration of the theme, ‘A Love Supreme,’ which is written in the context”—no one knew about it until Lewis Porter discovered it eighteen years later after Trane’s death. Reading Trane’s poem while listening to his solo yields an amazing experience. One can feel Trane’s spiritual expressions through his superb phrasings. I am sure all the jazz freaks already know about it, but I still want to share with those who have yet to experience Trane’s marvelous accomplishment. So download the poem, which is taken from “John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme: Jazz Improvisation as Composition” by Lewis Porter, and sing along with the music.