Environmental Studies
This oldie but pretty little site gets fresh new codes. Except for the courses page, which pulled for a database, all the pages are retrofitted.
This oldie but pretty little site gets fresh new codes. Except for the courses page, which pulled for a database, all the pages are retrofitted.
William Hung’s Inspiration drops April 6th then Jin‘s debut The Rest is History dues out in the summer. It’s nice to see Asian American making it big; however, I am not sure how the record sales will do.
After listening to William Hung’s sample songs, especially I Believe I Can Fly, I am definitely not going to get the album. What is the marketing strategy for this album? Sympathy?
The latest addition to Double R family, Jin claims to be “the original chinky eye emcee.” What’s original? All I see is a Chinese thug wanna be in the rap game. 50 Cents is the hardcore thug. Jigga Man is the fly thug. Snoop is a pimp thug. Now we have a Chinese thug. That’s something new. Come on Jin! Give me something else. In his video Learn English, Asian women are being exposed just like other women in any Hip Hop videos. They are all about sex appeal so what is the different?
As far as I can see, William Hung’s album will have no chance. I can’t really say much about Jin based on just one song but if he’s going with that Chinese’s thug image, he will not stand a chance. Let’s wait to see when the album drops.
It is 60 degrees with cool breeze in Poughkeepsie, New York. The sun is gorgeous so I decided to leave campus for lunch. As I was rolling down the campus, Vassar chics were breaking their necks to the tune of Jay-Z’s 99 Problems from the Grey Album. The remix beat for 99 Problems is mad wicked. The whole album rocks from start to finish. Mad props go out to DJ Danger Mouse.
By the way, Banned Music has launched. You can download both the Grey Album and the Double Black Album for $free.99.
Speaking of Ngoc Lan, check out her interview with Eye On LA. I just love the way she spoke English. She sounded so sweet, “What you have to do you have to do. When I get up on stage and people applause, I have a great feeling and at that moment, I think about the time I was in Viet Nam and the time I was in the boat. It’s a strange feeling.” Ngoc Lan was too adorable. Gosh! I miss her.
After seeing Minh Tuyet in concert, I decided to take down my review on her solo video Ve Cuoi Duong Tinh. She is such a sweetheart and I could feel her sincerity when she interacts with fans. Minh Tuyet is a talented and I am looking forward to see she grows as an artist.
Although my review is no longer available, you can still check out Minh Tuyet’s photos in concert: Minh Tuyet 1, Minh Tuyet 2.
Had a nice time last night enjoying Saigon by Night live show at Foxwoods. Although all the performances were excellent, I came for Dam Vinh Hung so let’s get straight to him. It’s just unbelievable how his popularity had spread. Thought I was the only one who paid just to see him; however, I had a feeling many people were too. Everyone was eager to see him.
Of course, he was the highlight of the show so they arranged him to be the last performer. Although he did an excellent job, I was quite disappointed because I was expecting to hear his latest songs but instead he performed Tinh Say, Trai Tim Tinh Si and a “lien khuc” including Tinh Oi Xin Ngu Yen, Tinh Tho, Vung Troi Binh Yen and several old songs. These songs are good but they are played out. I was hoping that he would perform Hay Song Cho That Long or Uoc Mo Xa Tam Tay from Nguyen Nhut Huy’s album or Neu Co Yeu Toi or Giay Phut Chia Tay from his latest album.
Not sure why he chose to perform those old songs. Was it marketing reason that made him not want to take a risk with the US audiance? I don’t know but I was not satisfied.
The latest Thuy Nga’s video once again flopped. It takes me less than an hour to watch the six hours long Paris By Night 72 in the fast-forwarding mode. I am so tired of Nguyen Ngoc Ngan and Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen’s yakidi yak. What is the deal with Nguyen Ngoc Ngan? He sounds as if he owns Canada. And what’s up with the pointless explanations: “Tron tria co nghia la map” and “Doi co nghia la gian hon.” Well, duh? Is he insulting the audience’s intelligence?
The performances are more bad than good. Luong Tung Quang can’t even come close to Dam Vinh Hung in performing “Giot Nuoc Mat Cho Doi.” Van Quynh can’t reach My Tam’s level in singing “Uoc Gi.” The rest of the performances are pretty much average except for a few. So let’s focus e the good part. Tu Quyen, Loan Chau, Nhu Loan, and Rebecca Quynh Dao are sizzling hot for the opening. Minh Tuyet is bangin’ in “Anh Thi Khong.” She reminded me of Ngoc Lan so much. Even though there are similarities between the two (the red dress and the rich and handsome men), each has her shines. Loan Chau is flamboyant in “Vai Phu.” The new face Huong Thuy gives a beautiful touch on “Ca Dao.” Her voice is promising. The sitcom is not that bad especially the newcomer Uyen Chi, who is double D and funny.
Too bad, there are only about 5 good performances out of 25 and the hosts are not helping either. Thuy Nga production needs to come up with innovative topics in order to compete with other productions. If they keep producing same products like this, they will fall down.
Recoded and redesigned the Registrar‘s little site. Trying to keep it to the minimal yet elegant.
Brought the Urban Studies website up to web standards. I only did the coding; someone else did the design.
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