Although I am no longer keeping up with Vietnamese music, I would like to point out two notable Vietnamese-jazz albums released this year: Phạm Thu Hà’s Hà Nội…Yêu and Giáng Son’s Bống Tối Jazz (The Shadow of Jazz). Both albums came out about a week apart and both have their own target audience.

If you are new to jazz, Hà Nội…Yêu is a good introduction. Chances are you already familiar with ballads such as “Đoản Khúc Thu Hà Nội” (Trịnh Công Sơn), “Gửi Người Em Gái” (Đoàn Chuẩn & Từ Linh), and “Yêu” (Văn Phụng). The arrangements and orchestrations under the direction of Vũ Anh Tuấn are jazzy, calm, and enjoyable.

Right off the opening track, the upright bass, the muted trumpet, and the drum brushes create a soothing vibe inviting the listeners into an autumn afternoon in Hà Nội. Phạm Thu Hà’s slightly raspy voice is a perfect match for the instrumentations. In delivering these ballads, she doesn’t deviate much from the original compositions. In “Yêu,” she sings with ease and maneuvers her way around the bossa-nova arrangement. Hà Nội…Yêu is an ideal album for late-night relaxation and introspection.

Bống Tối Jazz (The Shadow of Jazz), on the other hand, is more for the adventurous jazz listeners. Unlike Hà Nội…Yêu, all the compositions are written by Giáng Son and arranged in contemporary styles including funk, soul, and rock. Despite its modernness, Bống Tối Jazz is not a challenging album if you can get past the idiosyncratic wordless singing from Trần Thu Hà and Tùng Dương.

Trần Thu Hà, in particular, makes all sort of weird vocables ranging from groaning to moaning to screaming to who knows what she’s doing. On “Thu Cạn (The End of Autumn),” for instance, her emphatic phrasing damn near ruined her singing and the beautiful melody. Her acapella version of “Cỏ và Mưa (Grass and Rain)” irritating and detracting from the essence of the ballad. In contrast, the result is stunning when she just sings and only scats two bars on the title track. “Nắng Muộn (Late Ray of Sunbeam)” is hypnotizing when she plays with her timing rather than her emphasis.

For Tùng Dương, his finest contributions are the fusion pieces such as the jazz-rock “Vệt Buồn (Stain of Sadness)” and the funk-jazz “Những Mùa Hè Lạnh (Chilly Summers).” His signature cadences are all over the tracks. The bossa-nova “Đêm Đợi (Lingering Night)” and “Chạm (Fondling)” are not as strong, but intoxicating nevertheless.

As a whole, Bống Tối Jazz is a fine album thanks to Giáng Son’s skillful lyrics, melodies, and harmonies. It would have been even better if Trần Thu Hà refrains herself from making all the vocal gibberish. Still, if you are into Vietnamese music with some jazz flavors, I recommend both albums.

Email from a reader:

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By Dr. Seuss

The first time I heard of Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! was in a graduation speech at Vassar College delivered by Samuel L. Jackson. Mr. Jackson’s charisma drew me in. I bought the book when Đạo, my first kid, was born. I never imagined that I would apply it to myself, but here it is. I am sure you have read it many times already, but I still want to post the full text without the illustrations. Enjoy:

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look ’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And then things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be as famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t
Because, sometimes they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike,
And I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
You’re off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Happy graduation!

My graduation ceremony will be on this Saturday. I hope that my mom will be able to make it. Because of her health issue, I understand if she couldn’t come to celebrate with me.

Graduation is not big of a deal, but the only person besides me who is excited about it is my niece. I am so glad to hear that she wants to come to share the special day with me.

Again it’s not a big deal, but a moment like this shows who is your real family, who supports you, and who is pretentious. Even if no one else cares, I am still proud of my achievements in the past two and a half years. It is something that I never thought I could accomplish.

Up until I enrolled into the master program, school was never exciting to me. I don’t know how I made it through high school and four-year college. After finishing my undergrad, I promised myself that I am done with school forever. Needless to say, that was not true.

All those years in school, I fluffed my way through. I hung in there and did everything I could just so I could get that piece of paper. I didn’t truly earn it. Grad school was the opposite. I put in my time and effort. I had done the work that I am proud of. I truly earn it; therefore, it is a big deal for me.

On Saturday I will close out this chapter of my life. My next step is refocusing on my expanding family. I will spend the the two-week holidays with the two boys and getting ready for the third boy coming early next year. Looking forward to exciting and exhausting time ahead.

I am now in the fifth season of Mad Men. I knew if I started to watch it I will be addicted to it. What I love about the serious is the drinking. From the sounds (of bottle caps popping, ice dropping on the glass, and liquor being poured into the cup) to the expressions (the way the characters hold their cup, take a sip, and engulf the spirit), drinking takes center of the series. They drink to celebrate. They drink when they get upset. They drink for almost in any occasion and at any time of the day. As a result, I like to drink when I watch them drink. It’s part of the escaping experience. I like to drink, but I am not an alcoholic. The people around me don’t drink so I drink with the Mad Men. It’ll be sad when I get through the entire series, but for now I am enjoying it.

Last Friday, I drove straight to Lancaster General Hospital after work to be with my mom. My sister took her to the hospital early Friday morning because she had her nose bled non-stop. I stayed by her side until Saturday evening when she was discharged. Thanks to the hospital’s staff and particularly Ms. Ariel Shaffer for taking great care of her during her stay. I was exhausted Saturday evening.

Early Sunday, I heard my mom talking to my dad while I was still trying to sleep. I got up when mom said she was bleeding again. She gave me the phone to talk to him while she tried to stop herself from bleeding. I was worrying about her and irritating by his words. I asked how he was doing and he wasted no time denouncing me for not visiting her often and not taking care of her. He went on and on. I just stayed silent until he told me to pass the phone back to my mom.

I didn’t want to argue with him because in my mind he has no credibility to criticizing me. I am there for my mom when she needed me. If he cares about her, he should have been there for her. When was the last time he saw her? A decade ago? He was nowhere to be reachable when she needed him the most. Please, papa don’t preach before taking a good look at what you have done. Until then, your words won’t affect me.

A fascinating debate between Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn—two graphic design legends defending their view on design. Crouwel takes the rational approach and Van Toorn takes the personal approach. Crouwel believes that the designers should not stand between the message and its audience. In contrast, Van Toorn believes that the designers should engage their audience. In The Debate: The Legendary Contest of Two Giants of Graphic Design, each designer makes compelling arguments in his design approach and they proved in their work that design is diverse. The designers need to find a method that works for them and continue to develop and refine their design.

Thank you for taking great care of my mom during her stay in the Lancaster General Hospital. Your patience and kindness gave her comfort and helped her get past the difficult times in the past two days. Despite the long hours (3AM to 7PM), you went above and beyond for your patients. You have my deepest respect for the works that you do for people and for my mom in particular. Although you probably never get to read this, I still want show my appreciation and gratitude. Please continue to do what you do because you make this world a better place to live.

Thanks to the graphic design students in AVT 498 for the lovely card and the gift card. I am glad that the web site for the Senior Show worked out. You did all the work. I only helped out just a bit. Nevertheless, I appreciate your gift and will put it to good use on books over the holidays. Congratulations on final project. Looking forward to seeing your work at the closing reception.

Last night we wrapped the last day for Web Design & Usability. Students presented their portfolio web sites. Some of their codes are still rough, but they have until next Friday to fine tune their site. They seem to have the foundation down. My hope is that they will continue to work on it beyond the class. The only way to learn to is keep working and refining their site. I have been working on my own site for fifteen years and still making changes to it.

Overall, I am pleased with the students’ performance. They put in their share of work. My TA was also great. He helped out by providing good feedback to the students. As for me, this could be my last teaching. I am taking next semester off to spend time with my family, especially the newborn. I am not sure if I will return after that. Regardless, having taught three classes—Introduction to Web Design, Web Design & Usability, and Advanced Web Design—gave me a good experience. I am happy that I did it, especially seeing students improved their design and a bit of coding.