Washington Post‘s Tim Carman:

One of the many attractions of pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, is its open-endedness, its willingness to let slurpers customize their bowls however they please. Pho parlors, of course, enable diners with a small bounty of tabletop garnishes and sauces: hoisin for sweetness, Sriracha for kick, bean sprouts for crunch, limes for tang, jalapenos for heat and Thai basil for an element of anise. You, the eater, become the flavor agent in the house of pho.

Via big bro HmL.

Just came across this guy on YouTube. He talks like a ghetto chick, but quite hilarious, particularly his latest rant: “You Don’t Need A Boyfriend To Feel Good!.” His view on “Sexual Orientation Is Not A Choice” is intriguing. He argues, “I didn’t choose to be gay. Gay chose to be me.”

Biola University’s undergrad web site is strikingly beautiful. The background illustrations are fun, engaging and surprisingly not distracting at all. The color-coded navigation adds a nice touch to the design as well as enhances the user experience by differentiating the sections of the site. Each individual tab invites visitors to click through and explore. The content is organized and straightforward. Scrolling through the main pages, which divided into several segments, feel like scanning through brochures. The design is not only well-executed but also speaks to its targeted audience: the young undergrads.

Out of the box, HTML5 Boilerplate, “the professional badass’s base HTML/CSS/JS template for a fast,” robust and future-proof site, is quite overwhelming. Before diving into the files or giving up, I highly recommend watching Paul Irish’s 40-minute video, in which he walks through the codes line by line, and you’ll see all the awesomeness of the boilerplate.

RxBx Music who produces Thanh Ha’s forthcoming The Evolution of Thanh Ha teases fans with two new tracks “Anh Thi Khong” and “60 Nam Cuoc Doi.” They both sound pretty fresh and promising. Listening to the preview, however, I am a bit disappointed that the records are all over the place. I’ll definitely share my thoughts once I get my hand on the album and spend more time with it.

CBS News’ Betty Nguyen traveled to her birth country of Vietnam to distribute humanitarian aid to those struggling to survive. You go, Betty!

I picked up Coleman Hawkins: Portrait and Lester Young: Portrait today at the closing-out F.Y.E. for $25. Each boxset contains 10 CDs with a 40-page booklet. I can’t wait to listen to them next year.

Vietnam Idol 2010 winner Uyen Linh and diva My Linh took on R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” and literally butchered the song with their wailing vocals. Uyen Linh’s English isn’t so bad, but My Linh’s just kills it. As if the voices aren’t high enough, the soprano saxophone adds another layer of irritation. This is just unbearable.

Wishing you all a joyful spirit for the holidays. Thanks for hanging out with me at Visualgui.com. Now go spend time with your family.

The last issue of 2010 for GWSB newsletter gets a new design. The redesign goes back to table layout and shorter width to accommodate email clients.