After watching Paris By Night 79 (Dreams) and reading my review, a reader, who would like to remain anonymous, challenges me to see if I have the ball to post something he has written. The piece, which based on a verse from Biggie’s “Just Playin’ (R&B Bitches),” demonstrates how a show like Paris By Night can corrupt our mind. I must admit, I was hesitated at first because of the misogynist content, but my ball is as huge as the Epcot Center, so what the heck do I gotta lose? If Nguyen Ngoc Ngan and Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen can read their fan letters on the show, why can’t I post mine on my site? He also sent along a clip of Biggie’s original freestyle. I am feeling it, man!

As I sit back relax,
Poppin’ Paris By Night into the deck
Checkin’ out the sexy singers that I wanna sex
I’d probably start off with Bao Han
Stickin’ that skinny ass just for fun
Then hit her friend Nhu Loan too.
Wait a minute, what about Ho Le Thu?
That lil’ slut can give me head
With Thuy Van and Tu Quyen rockin’ in the same bed.
I wanna do Ky Duyen too, but that bitch talks too much
So I put her in charge of my left nut
While her girlfriend Luu Bich’s on my right
Loan Chau is the one I wanna bone all night
Cause I know that pussy is tight.
Yeah! Minh Tuyet is the cutie with the big booty
I’m ma hit that ass till it gets juicy.

Dreams of fuckin’ all Thuy Nga bitches
I’m just playin’. Know what I’m sayin’.

About a month ago, I received an email from Adam Bray, “a big white guy” (in his own words) who loves Vietnamese popular music, complimented on my review column. Bray took a trip to Viet Nam and loved it so much that he ended up staying in Phan Thiet for two years. He spent his nights at local bars and hang out with the singers. The most intriguing part was that he did freelance Web design to get by. I envy him for his courageousness to live in a place that he just happened to love, and made a living with what he liked to do. I have thought of that, but never have the heart to go forward. As much as I love to live in Viet Nam, I don’t know if I can survive without a steady income. In addition, I don’t even know if I can find a job in Viet Nam. I don’t want to end up doing construction work for my uncle just like the rest of my cousins. Back to the subject, I found an interesting interview with Bray, “Mot Nguoi My Yeu Nhac Viet” (written in Vietnamese), on Giai Dieu Xanh. Bray is back in Maine now for family’s matter, but he hopes to get back to Viet Nam soon.

Hell yeah, back dem thangs up. I am feeling the Asian vibes, baby. The weekend is here, so party like it’s hot!

I have worked with some fine designers who graduated from Kutztown University; therefore, I am excited to see the redesign of the Communication Design Department reflects its excellent program with superb illustrations, gorgeous colors and spendid typography. Not only the layout is visually stunning, but the coding is also clean and validated.

Viet Nam News has written an article called “Forget Hip-hop, War Songs Are Da Bomb.” I know the author tries to be down, but the slang being used here is inappropriate. War songs aren’t “da bomb.” They contain serious contents.

Big shout out to Diem Thuyen Ngoc Tran for her active involvement in the Vietnamese community. She will be participating in the Arizona Ao Dai Pageant 2006 and Miss Vietnamese USA 2007. Based on her extensive interests (thankfully not just sleeping and shopping) and insightful comments on this site, Miss Diem Thuyen is a well-rounded individual who not only strives to excel herself, but also is passionate in helping others. Yet, the most important characteristic of Miss Diem Thuyen is that she cherishes the beauty of our Vietnamese culture, especially in music. We’re proud of her, and we’re rooting for her.

“Blue Rondo A La Turk” (Love the odd timing, the polyrhythms, and the switching of tempos at the bridge)

“Three to Get Ready” (Dig Joe Morrello’s marvelous brushwork here)

“The Duke” (An invigorating tribute to Ellington)

“The Crossing” (An amazing piece that is filled with polytonality)

For more comprehensive experience of Brubeck’s unorthodox jazz style, Time Signatures: A Career Retrospective is highly recommended. The box set featured fifty-nine tracks selected by Brubeck himself including Time Out masterpieces, a Charles Mingus-collaborated “Non-Sectarian Blues,” and the silky-smooth “Summer Song” with Louis Armstrong on vocal.

Music: a bluesy “Nghien” music by Pham Anh Dung, poem by Tho Tho, arrange by Quang Dat and perform by Quynh Lan.

Thy Vi interviews Jazzy Da Lam on RFA (Radio Free Asia) in Vietnamese. The best part is when Jazzy demonstrates how she incorporates the harmony of “Da Co Hoai Lan” into her own “Vong Dem.”

Nguyen Khang gets the polygamous rumor off his chest on VOA (Voice of America) in Vietnamese, produced by Truong Ky. Although his response comes off inappropriate, I understand how he feels when people accused him of having five wives and six kids.

Flash Sites: True to its brand, Fluid Web site navigation is fluidly attractive. One of the best use of Flash menus since Joshua Davis’s PS3. The only thing that turns me off is the use of frames.

Wash-Design‘s minimal approach is not too striking until you hit the “Studio” section.

Vietnamese Hotties: Merina Tram Vo (damn… is all I can say)

Thuy Le Hong Phan (sweet and elegance, the type moms and pops would approve)

Barbara Nguyen (the one that passed the mic on the question “What are the three advantages and disadvantages of being a Vietnamese-American woman?” during the Second Annual Miss Vietnam Usa 2005 contest.)

Read: In his critical column, “Deceptively Conceptual,” on Ned Drew and Paul Sternberger’s By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design, John Updike concludes, “You can, possibly, tell a book by its cover, but the cover isn’t the contents. ”

Cameron Moll‘s article, “Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign,” elaborates on my earlier post about refining Visualgui.com.

When Macromedia announces its new Studio 8, the major buzz is on Flash. Fortunately, Dreamweaver also makes a fantastic release. The obvious improvement is CSS rendering in the design view. Complex CSS layouts look much closer to browsers than the previous release. In the code view, which I use the most, Macromedia finally included the “Code Collapse” features to help designers organize their codes. In addition to the faster performances in the background (site cache and FTP), the new “Tabbed Window” (like Firefox and Safari) is a tremendous enhancement to the workflow. Dreamweaver 8 is definitely worth upgrading.

Any ragtime lovers in here? Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” is one of my favorite rag pieces. Joplin plays it the way he wrote it; therefore, the timing is perfect and the tone is crisp.