I did not plan to see this film because of the misconception about “a white man portray a Samurai.” When The Last Samurai hits preview, I heard some Asian folks are disappointed because Tom Cruise is casting as a Samurai. Well, I am glad I watched it and Tom Cruise is perfect for his role. As a matter of fact, he gave a wonderful performance as an American warrior, not a Samurai. The title is misleading because The Last Samurai refers to Katsumoto plays by Ken Watanabe, not Tom Cruise. Mad props go out to my man Ken Watanabe. He is the man of the film who gave an extraordinary performance as a great leader, loving father, fearless warrior, intelligent man, and true Samurai. Keep an eye on him for the best supporting actor at the Academy this year.

Although the film is approximately 2 and 1/2 hours long, the characters always keep you in tuned, especially Ken Watanabe. On top of that, the beautiful Koyuki adds some aesthetic experience to the film. She is as pretty as “Hoa Anh Dao” the exquisite Japanese pink flowers. Not sure what they called in English or Japanese. Speaking of flowers, the cinematography is luxuriant. Have to give credits to the designer, John Toll, for bringing the gorgeous scenes to life. Of course, the battle scenes are bloody violence as well.

Overall, The Last Samurai is definitely worth seeing. It’s highly entertaining with great acting, effective storyline, and emotionally captivating. Not to mention some nice comedies that break the atmosphere. Go enjoy it yourself.

About time Dam Vinh Hung comes out with a new album. I was so eager to get it and I was praying that he wouldn’t let me down. Well, he did it again with his fifth album Giot Nuoc Mat Cho Doi. This guy is quite an artist. Every time he comes out with album, it’s 95 percent good and this one is no exception. Here are my ratings for the songs:

1. Giot Nuoc Mat Cho Doi 5/5 (This track is truly his style)
2. Neu Co Yeu Toi 2/5 (He is experimenting with Jazz but doesn’t carry out too well)
3. Tinh Yeu Con Dau 4/5 (Nicely done)
4. Noi Dau Ngot Ngao 3/5 (Good but little bit too slow)
5. Co Don Minh Anh 4/5 (Well remixed with fast beat)
6. Khi Tinh Bay Xa 3/5 (An old track. Good but slow)
7. Tieng Gio Xon Xao 5/5 (Love it when he sings this kind of song. Very soothing)
8. Giay Phut Chia Tay 5/5 (This track fits his voice perfectly)
9. Vung Troi Binh Yen 3/5 (Although it is nicely remixed, I prefer the slow version which he sings beautifully with Hong Ngoc)
10. Mua Chieu Ky Niem 5/5 (Lovely melody, fantastic voice)
11. Nu Hon Xa Voi 4/5 (He wrote the Viet lyrics. He pulls it off well with Jazz on this one)
12. Dem Cuoi Cung 3/5 (Nicely done but little bit boring)
13. Ta Mai Ben Nhau 5/5 (It’s definitely his style)
14. I Need to Know 1/5 (He simply kills this song. I couldn’t understand a word he said. Hung, do me a favor, sing Vietnamese.)

How would this one compare to the previous albums? I wouldn’t say this one is better than the older one because each album has its own uniqueness. If you’re a fan of Dam Vinh Hung, this is another album to add to your collection.

I just want to say “Happy Thanksgiving.” I am posting this a little bit early because I will head home tomorrow to be with my family and friends for the holiday and won’t be back until the following Monday.

By the way, iLoveNgocLan.com gets a new theme (tenderness). Check her out! Isn’t she adorable?

This film is way over-hyped. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (this is the longest URL I have seen) is over two hours long and it surely doesn’t keep me from falling asleep. The film starts off with a battle then begins to build characters for more than an hour and finally ends with another battle. Don’t know why Russell Crowe is so popular. I could barely understand him. They must spent an incredible amount of money building and blowing that ship and they will have a hard time gaining it back.

I thought it was amateur at first but there is a deep message behind the Meatrix.

If every morning I see photos similar to Peter Funch’s Crash series in Bangkok, I wouldn’t be able to eat my egg and cheese. The HESHE series allow viewers to be careful when visiting Bangkok. Or else you’ll be in for a surprise.

To lighten up my day, let’s take a look at some of the beautiful typography from Type Matters.

Congrats Mikki for the new happy design. The sun has shined and a brighter day has begun. Mikki, keep your head up!

Need inspiration and resources for your CSS design? Check out CSS Vault. Make sure you bookmark it and subscribe it to your RSS reader.

Cereal is another fantastic design from Zen Garden. It’s beautifully flow together.

This Viet Flash piece is quite entertaining. The illustrations are great. The lyrics crack the hell out of me.

Stop Stealing Sheep is one of the best typography books I have read. Of course there are many books out there on types but this one sets itself apart from the rest by its engaging writing, clear explanations and real world examples. Erik Spiekermann and E. M. Ginger bring types to live in this book. Not only they explain how types can express emotion, they also provide examples to back up their points. I love the way they use real life metaphors to associate with types to help designers refine their message. They also help designers see types clearly and how to use them appropriately to enhance their designs. Typography is an element of design that I have always fascinated with but had no prior training on. This book has opened my eyes on types and now I am eager to learn more about them.

My condolences to Nguyen Phuoc Sang family. Sang passed away in a hospital in Viet Nam at the age of six while diagnosed with leukemia. Sang lived with his grandmother while his parents worked far away trying to make ends meat. Even in a poor situation, his parents sold everything they had to pay for medical bills. I heard the news when his parents were desperately seeking for donations a couple of weeks ago. I spread the words to iLoveNgocLan.com and received some contribution for him. Unfortunately, Sang couldn’t make it through. He was in a great pain and the last words he said was, “Mom, please help Sang.” Even though I have never seen his face, I am deeply affected by his situation. What a tragedy? Life is so unfair.

The Vassar’s Admission web site gets a new make-up. This is what happens when you hired an advertisement agency to do a web job. The design looks new but the codes are as old as my dead grandma. What happen to consistency? The navigation moves up every time you go through a deeper level page, which makes users disoriented. So once you’re in a secondary or other level pages, how do you go back to Admission homepage? If you click on Home, you’ll go to Vassar homepage (not Admission homepage) in a new window. The only way to get back to Admission homepage is to simply type in the URL. Fantastic. Oh well, this is what you get when you get graphic designers to do your web site.

Just finished polishing the History site at Vassar. Although the design is not too exciting, the code is now clean and lean with CSS and XHTML structured.