Our 2011 Toyota Sienna is crumbling one thing at a time. Both the sliding doors are broken and they are too expensive to replace. The struts hadn’t been supporting the liftgate for a while,
but I didn’t think they would be easy to replace. Fortunately, this YouTube clip shows how easy it is to replace them. The struts were purchased from Amazon for $23.

Tôi chưa nghe qua nhạc của Jack nhưng tình cờ đọc qua bài phê bình “Ca sĩ Jack và sự ngạo mạn kém văn hóa” của tác giả Ngọc Tiền viết cho Báo Phụ Nữ. Ngọc Tiền cho rằng ca từ của Jack không tôn trọng khán giả, chẳng hạn như hai câu: “Mấy đứa không ưa anh ngoài đời làm sao mà dám / Anh hát chơi chơi hơn một kiếp của nó đi làm”. Cô cho là câu thứ hai, “lại càng phản cảm hơn, vì hàm ý hạ thấp giá trị lao động, phô bày cái tôi ngạo mạn và xem thường nỗ lực của người khác”. Ngọc Tiền đánh giá thêm:

Người nghệ sĩ có quyền sáng tạo và thể hiện cảm xúc, nhưng mọi sự sáng tạo đều cần đặt trong giới hạn của văn hóa. Với người của công chúng, lời nói và ca từ không chỉ là cảm xúc cá nhân, đó là hình ảnh đại diện cho họ trước khán giả. Khi ngôn ngữ trở nên hằn học, xúc phạm hoặc gợi phản cảm, người đầu tiên bị tổn hại chính là nghệ sĩ.

Theo tôi thì hai câu của Jack không có gì quá đáng. Câu thứ hai, “Anh hát chơi chơi hơn một kiếp của nó đi làm”, chỉ để nổ thôi. Quan niệm người Việt mình khắt khe quá, nhất là với thế giới “xướng ca vô loài”. Chỉ bấm nút nóng một chút là bị phán xét thiếu văn hóa, thậm chí còn cho là mất dạy.

Tôi là người Việt lớn lên trên đất Mỹ và đã quen với văn hóa tây phương nên tôi rất tôn trọng và quý mến quyền tự do ngôn luận. Hơn bao giờ hết tự do ngôn luận ở nước Mỹ bây giờ rất quan trọng. Nếu người dân Mỹ không biết giữ lấy, mất đi tự do ngôn luận là mất đi nền dân chủ của nước Mỹ tự do.

Nhạc rap ở Mỹ được thành công và chinh phục cả thế giới là vì tự do ngôn luận. Tôi nghe nhạc rap ở Mỹ quen rồi nên cũng không cảm thấy phản cảm trước ca từ của Jack. Nếu như Ngọc Tiền cảm thấy khó chịu với ca từ của Jack thì chắc chắn cô sẽ không thể nào chịu nỗi những lời rap của nhiều rapper ở Mỹ. Hai câu của Jack làm tôi gợi nhớ đến hai câu trong bài “Get ‘Em Girls” của Cam’ron như sau: “Whips on my fists, houses on my wrists / Your budget on my neck, your spouse on my dick”. Miễn dịch nhé. Tuy hai câu của Jack và Cam’ron có ý tưởng giống nhau nhưng khác một trời một vực.

Mùa hè hai năm trước, tôi có dịp qua Ottawa, Canada và được nghe ca sĩ Đào Nguyên hát live. Tôi có quay lại một clip ngắn chị trình bày ca khúc “Tình lỡ”, sáng tác của nhạc sĩ Thanh Bình. Cuối tháng này sẽ được nghe chị hát live tại Reston,Virginia. Anh em nào thích nhạc acoustic thì đến cùng thưởng thức nhé.

Saturday morning, I opened up Facebook’s Marketplace and spotted a free piano. To my untrained eyes, it still looked good. I messaged the seller and got an immediate response. She told me that her family just moved into a new house. It was smaller; therefore, she needed to get rid of it as soon as possible.

I told her that I would need to hire a mover. I fell right into her trap. She told me she could recommend a mover who moved her piano yesterday. They did a great job carrying it to the second floor. She gave me their phone numbers.

I called and asked for a quote. A man answered and said that his company will charge $500. The company policy was that half must be paid first then the rest must be paid when the job was completed. I told him I couldn’t pay $250, but I could make a $50 deposit. He said that the piano was on the second floor; therefore, he needed to get a crane. He was willing to take $100. I asked him if he would take credit cards and he said no. I said how would I know if he was not scamming me. He told me to hire another local mover. We ended our conversation.

Of course, I was texting my wife during the whole transaction. She told me to be careful of scammers and advised me to ask for the piano owner’s address. When I asked for her address, she stopped responding. I reported her account.

My wife was right and she saved me from being scammed. I went back to the Marketplace and saw lots of similar listings. Beware of the free piano scams.

Two weeks ago, Ðán, my second son, wanted to try Dave’s Hot Chicken. He ordered extra-hot chicken tenders. I ordered a reaper chicken sandwich to see how hot it was. The cashier made me sign the weaver. As soon as I paid for our food, he told the staff that someone ordered a reaper. The entire staff in the kitchen chanted, danced, and cheered. I knew I was in trouble.

When the food came out, I took a bite of the sandwich. The heat quietly took over my body. I drank water and ate fries and pickles. Sweat started to pour from my head. The flare lasted about 5 minutes. I could have taken another bite, but I didn’t want to risk internal bleeding.

Ðán wanted to try. I advised him not to, but he picked up my sandwich and took a small bite. He said, “Not bad.” Then the reaper kicked in. He asked me to get him lots of water, which I complied. I was glad he made it through.

It was definitely an experience. The reaper was no joke!

Hân hạnh mời anh chị em ở vùng Hoa Thịnh Đốn (DMV) đến tham dự đêm nhạc acoustic, khiêu vũ, và karaoke cùng với hai khách mời đặc biệt đến từ Ottawa, Canada: ca sĩ Ðào Nguyên và pianist Viết Tấn.

Xem poster thêm chi tiết!

Tôi đã từng nghe Ðào Nguyên hát live ở Ottawa, Canada. Cô có chất giọng bốc khói và hát rất truyền cảm. Hãy nghe thử ca khúc “Cần thiết” của nhạc sĩ Nguyên Sa và Hoàng Thanh Tâm do Ðào Nguyên trình bày.

Anh Viết Tấn thì một người bạn thân và anh đánh đàn piano rất sành điệu. Anh Tân đam mê âm nhạc lắm nên tổ chức cho vui. Thậm chí anh còn bỏ tiền túi ra.

Bạn nào ở Virginia hay gần bên muốn đến tham dự và ủng hộ thì email Doanh để giữ chỗ nhé.

Today marks my fourteenth anniversary with Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. One of the major changes of last year was launching a brand new website and switching to a new content management system. Nevertheless, my role hasn’t changed. I am still Director of Design and Web Services who is responsible for the law school websites.

In my fourteen years at the law school, I worked under three supervisors and three deans. The current dean will conclude his term in the summer of 2026. My supervisor will also retire around the same time. I don’t know what the future will hold. I’ll just have to go with the flow.

I am grateful that I am still here making ends meet to raise my family. I am content with my career choice. I still enjoy the work and the people I work with everyday. I appreciate the flexibility. As long as I take care of my business, I can do other things such as spending time with my family, teaching snowboarding and skiing in the winter, and pursuing different creative works outside the law school. I only take on small projects that I want to do. Having that option is a privilege.

It’s hard to believe I will reach a decade and a half next year. Maybe I will make it to 2 decades and then retire. Who knows. For now, I am thankful that I still have a job while the government is still in a shutdown. I can’t ask for more than that. Thank you, Mason.

I loved 2pac and I didn’t think there would be any Vietnamese fellow who would know more about him than I did until I read Words for My Comrades. Beyond music, Dean Văn Nguyễn, an Irish-Vietnamese music critic, dived deep into the political history of 2pac. In the first 128 pages, Nguyễn takes readers all the way back to the Black Panther movement and the involvement of 2pac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, in the party.

Along with 2pac’s extraordinary life, Nguyễn writes eloquently about his music. He makes me revisit all of Pac’s album starting with 2Pacalypse Now. Lyrically, my personal favorite has to be Me Against the World. Right after the news report intro, 2pac kicks off the first track, “If I Die 2Nite” with : “They say pussy and paper is poetry, power and pistols / Plotting on murdering motherfuckers ’fore they get you.” Nguyễn favorite album is The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. Interestingly, the opening of “Hail Mary” has a similar concept. Makaveli aks 2pac rhymed, “I ain’t a killer, but don’t push me / Revenge is like the sweetest joy next to gettin’ pussy / Picture paragraphs unloaded, wise words bein’ quoted / Peeped the weakness in the rap game and sewed it.”

After the murder of 2pac, Nguyễn wrapped up the book with capitalism in hip-hop. He covers big names including Master P, Dr. Dre, Biggie Smalls, and Jay-Z. Even though it felt off-topic, I enjoyed his cultural criticism. His writing takes me all the way back to high school, which was more than 30 years ago. After hearing the news about 2pac got shot and killed, I was fucked up. Even though I didn’t know much English, I could understand songs like “Trapped,” “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” and “Keep Ya Head Up.” Of course “Dear Mama” touched me heart deeply. Even though my mother was not single, but she raised my sister and me on her own while my dad was still in Việt Nam. She was on welfare too. I could relate to many rhymes in that song, but these lines in particular had helped me tremendously: “I wish I could take the pain away / If you can make it through the night, there’s a brighter day / Everything will be alright if you hold on / It’s a struggle every day, gotta roll on.” These words summed up my early life in America.

Thanks Nguyễn for the reminiscent of the good old time through his excellent book on 2pac. If loved 2pac like we did, I highly recommend this book to you.

I have been looking forward to reading weekly update from our manager at Whitetail Resort as we are getting closer to the winter. Here’s a little except in which he teases us:

As I sit here this morning looking over at the bottom of Northern Lights, I can’t help but get excited knowing that before we know it. The guns will be running, the lifts will be turning and all of us in blue jackets will be getting ready to circle up and have our morning meeting. I can’t wait to see all of your smiling faces and the smiles that you all put on the faces of our guests.

I just can’t wait!

Yesterday morning, my wife introduced me to Đinh Hương. Since I had not heard of her before, I hesitated to listen to her latest release, The Best Song of Đinh Hương. Furthermore, I was skeptical of “The Best of” compilation for marketing purpose. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot.

The lead-off track, her rendition of Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” hooked me in immediately with her slightly smoky timbre. She has a sexy voice and her English pronunciation is flawless even though she was born and raised in Việt Nam. In addition, she can fucking swing. Anyone who can make Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” her own has my endorsement. She gives Jackson’s pop hit a bit of funk and a whole lot of soul.

She introduces John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary” as something “nice and easy.” She starts off the tune easy and bluesy, but rocks it up in the second half. The album closes out with Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York.” The jazzy, swingy arrangement gives me the winter holiday vibe and it’s only mid October. Đinh Hương has the chops to be a jazz singer.

This album is a good introduction to a young, talented singer. She writes her own songs as well and I’ll definitely check out her original works.