The best part of Thanh Lam and Tùng Dương’s new release, Yêu, is the spellbinding orchestral work. Lê Phi Phi’s elegant, captivating arrangements, which lift the vocalists to a higher level, stand out by themselves. In fact, I hope they would release an instrumental version of this album for pure classical pleasure. In particular the magnificent orchestration of Phạm Duy’s “Kiếp Nào Có Yêu Nhau.”

Vocal wise, Tùng Dương has done an exceptional job of delivering Nguyễn Văn Túy’s “Dư Âm” and Phạm Duy’s “Ngậm Ngùi.” His phrasing is at the borderline between technical and emotional, noticeably the use of vibrato in “Dư Âm.” Although the technique is an obvious influence from Thanh Lam, he knows not to abuse it. As a result, he is still listenable.

On the other hand, Thanh Lam’s overuse of vibrato is irritating. In Cung Tiến’s “Hoài Cảm,” she applies the technique in every bar. I must admit that I have this issue with her for the past few years already and can’t seem to get past it. I am starting to wonder it might just be me being an asshole about it; therefore, I revisited some of her earlier works to see if I am just hearing things. Re-listening to both Tự Sự and Ru Mãi Ngàn Năm confirmed that she treated vibrato with subtlety and her phrasings were clean. She ended each bar without extra emphatic. The precision in her delivery not only made her a strong vocalist, but also a woman with authority. She didn’t fuck around.

Now the excessive sentimentalisms in her delivery make her sound whinny, uncertain and fabricated. Nguyễn Ánh 9 was spot on when he criticized her performance of “Cô Đơn” as a theatrical act more than conveying the lyrics. Even though she pulls herself back on this version, she didn’t go not far enough, especially on the high notes. I wish she could strip all that out and refocus on the emotional core once again.

Aside from the technical annoyances, Yêu is a solid record. Their duets on Phạm Duy’s “Kiếp Nào Có Yêu Nhau,” Cung Tiến’s “Hương Xưa” and Văn Phụng’s “Yêu” are compelling. Tùng Dương turns out to be a much better musical partner for Thanh Lam than Trọng Tấn and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng.

Phương Vy’s youthful new release, Khi Ta 20, gives a grown-ass man like me nostalgia. She brings back the era of Don Hồ, Dalena, Thái Tài, Thúy Vi, Kenny Thái and Ý Nhi. What makes Khi Ta 20 sound modern, however, is that Phương Vy and her tasteful, talented musicians reinvigorated the old pop collection by returning to the basics.

The album kicks off with a refreshing rendition of “Tình Có Như Không” (Trần Thiện Thanh). In the past, this tune is usually arranged in a bright chachacha rhythm. In Phương Vy’s version, the song is stripped down to acoustic picking guitar and savory keyboard licks. Phương Vy’s vocal is also cut down to the emotional core, which gives the tune a deeper, thoughtful feel. The follow-up “Em Đẹp Nhất Đêm Nay,” a ballad from Charles Aznavour and Georges Garvarentz with the infamous Vietnamese lyrics penned by Phạm Duy, gets even simpler. The song begins with an electric bass accompanying her vocals and the killing-me-softly-with-his-finger strumming guitar picks up at the bridge.

With “Mây Lang Thang,” which is a translated piece from Sonny Bono’s “A Cowboys Work is Never Done” that most Vietnamese listeners had been mistaken as a Nam Lộc’s original, the producer brings back the hillbilly vibe with the soaring harmonica and a light swing rhythm. Speaking of jazz, “Gặp Nhau Làm Ngơ” gets a hypnotizing bossa-nova makeover. It’s one of the most elegant renditions of Trần Thiện Thanh’s song up to date.

“Khi Xưa Ta Bé” (Vietnamese lyrics by Phạm Duy) is another excellent rework of Sonny Bono’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” The tune is reduced to just sensuous piano and guitar in the beginning, but progresses into mid-tempo swing rhythm. The crisp percussion, thumbing bass and sharp guitar are outstanding and they never overpowered the vocals. Glad to see Phương Vy flirts with some scatting. She should explore more into that territory.

With the title track, the producer takes us to Jamaican for a grooving reggae vibe. The acoustic version is also included as a bonus track, but the reggae joint feels more suitable for twenty-something. Khi Ta 20 goes out with “Biết Ra Sao Ngày Sau,” a cover of Jay Livingston’s “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” with Vietnamese lyrics by Phạm Duy). The song starts out with keyboard imitating the wind-up music box sound, particularly the ones with the ballerina goes round and around, then Phương Vy sings with doubts about her future. Although I concur with her mother’s response, “Whatever will be, will be / The future’s not ours to see / Que sera, sera,” Phương Vy has a glorious future ahead of her. Khi Ta 20 is one of the most re-imaginative albums coming out of the Vietnamese pop scene in a while.

A short list of typographic resources. If you have suggestion, hit me up.

Butterick’s Practical Typography

Read this book if you haven’t. If you want more, check out my 10 Recommended Books on Typography.

Copy Paste Characters

Useful when you need to copy and paste quick HTML codes for a certain characters.

Five Simple Steps to Better Typography

Mark Boulton’s tips on measure, punctuation, ligatures, size and weight.

Modular Scale

Developed by my good friend Tim Brown, modular scale is a great tools for making harmonic headings.

PXtoEm

I use PXtoEm all the time to do calculations for responsive type and layout.

Smart Quotes for Smart People

Jason Santa Maria’s one-page guide to use smart quotes.

Typoguide

This little guide has useful keyboard shortcuts for things like quotes, apostrophes and dashes.

Upping Your Type Game

Jessica Hische’s detailed post on typography.

For those of us celebrating Vietnamese New Year in the ass-freezing weather, Hồ Trung Dũng’s new release, Xuân Thênh Thang, is a pleasant treat to warm up our soul for the holiday spirit. Unlike most xuân music, which has to have an upbeat vibe, Hồ Trung Dũng’s goes for mellow xuân selection.

Standout is his sensational, charming rendition of “Cảm Ơn Một Đóa Xuân Ngời.” His amiable baritone brings out Quốc Bảo’s romantic lyricism, especially on the low stanza: “Em qua cho tình ta dâng lên / Tình ơi hết thơ ngây rồi / Em qua tha thướt lụa là / Rào đón cơn mơ nguy nga.”

Production wise, most arrangements are elegant and straightforward with the exception of “Hãy Mang Đến Những Mùa Xuân” (Nguyễn Đức Trung). By incorporating some Arabic rhythm, Minh Hoàng, a producer to keep on ear on, gives the standard a brand new flavor.

With Ngọc Tuyền’s operatic support, Hồ Trung Dũng closes out the album with his own song. He wrote “Thênh Thang” for himself as well as the lonesome hearts. He reminds us that this is the time of the year to leave all the worries behind and let our spirit shine.

Dealing with children’s fever is daunting. While staying up all night checking on Dan’s temperature in the past two days, I came across an informative guide from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to help me demystify fever.

What is fever?

Fever is the body’s normal way of fighting infection. It alerts us to keep an eye on our child. Normal temperature is between 97°F–100.4°F. A child has a fever if his temperature is higher than 100.4°F.

Putting the fever in perspective

Fevers between 100.5°F–105°F are common in children with illnesses. The height of the fever does not necessarily correlate with severity of illness. We treat children with fever reducing medication to make them more comfortable. Never wake a child just to take a temperature or to give fever reducing medication. Fevers are generally not dangerous until they are over 107°F. Children under 3 months of age with a temperature over 100.4°F should see a doctor.

What to do?

If a child has a fever, dress him in light clothes and encourage him to drink fluids. Avoid bundling him in heavy blankets. Sponge and cool baths are not recommended and may make a child more uncomfortable. If you choose to use a fever reducing medication, we recommend either acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil). We do not recommend alternating these medications or giving them at the same time. These medications will reduce the temperature 1-2 degrees and last several hours. Reducing a temperature to normal is not necessary because a little fever can be beneficial in helping a child fight infection. How a child looks and acts is more important than the number on the thermometer.

Contact doctor’s office if the child is:

• Very irritable
• Not drinking or urinating
• Looking and acting very sick or seems confused
• Feverish for longer than 3 days
• Having difficulty breathing
• Unable to swallow
• Very sleepy and hard to wake up
• Or if you have any concerns

Seizure

Parents are often concerned that a child’s fever will cause a seizure. It is important to note that the risk of seizures is very low. In addition, seizures from fever are not known to cause any long-term problems.

Hendel’s book on book design is insightful and compelling. He speaks to leading designers in the industry about their process, philosophy and typography. The type choices that they made fascinate me. The designers have done their job if readers could get through the entire book without noticing anything about the texts they set. Hendel also managed to get Kent Lew to share his design of Whitman. Even though I probably will never design a book, I still find this book useful for someone whose interest is in designing a pleasure reading experience.

For the more adventurous taste buds, bún mắm, is now offered in various restaurants in Eden Center. Hải Dương was the first that got me hooked. The bowl had been savory and consistent for a long time. I was satisfied every time I went there for it. Now Hải Dương’s bún mắm is still good, but not as good as the good old days. The broth is sweeter and less savory.

A friend recommended bún mắm at Thanh Tòng and I had it once. I can’t recall exactly how it tasted, but was I was not impressed. I also tried once at Cơm Tắm Sài Gòn. While the broth was decent, the fish had that old, freezer-like smell. The whole bowl was ruined.

A month or so ago, I checked out the new joint Viet Gardens and it was the worse so far. The broth was watered down and the pork was chunky and chewy. The owner used to run Làng Nướng Tây Đô a few years ago only for a few months.

Where Làng Nướng Tây Đô used to be is now a brand new Eden Kitchen, which is a division of Phở Factory in Alexandria. It also offers bún mắm so I gave it a try today and it turned out be a disappointment. It lacked all the varieties of ingredients and the broth was not piping hot.

At this time, the best place to have bún mắm in Eden Center has to be at Rice Paper. With various ingredients including eggplant, bún mắm at Rice Paper has a rich flavor. The broth is probably a bit salty for most people; therefore, just add more lime juice to balance it out. Rice Paper is still one of the most crowded place in Eden for some of its delicious dishes. The only thing that Rice Paper needs to work on is its customer service. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either.

Trevor Noah, a young comedian from South African, shares his fresh, hilarious perspective of the “American-centric” such as language usage, airport security and Black American. He’s charming, thoughtful and witty. Unlike most comedians, he pulls off his punches without dropping the F-bombs and explicit sexual content.

For 2014, my resolution is to focus on less. Here are the ten things I want to do less:

1. Eat: Less junkie food and sweets. Somehow I developed an appetite for high-calorie food such as hamburger, cheesecake and flan. I’ll have less of those in 2014.
2. Coffee: Each morning I had to have an extra-large coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts. After work, I would crave for another one and my excuse would be night class or if I had to stay up late. I want to cut back to just one cup a day and if I could go down to just a large size.
3. Work: I want to work less, but more efficient. All that I need to do is managing my time better.
4. Stress: Don’t stress myself out too much over every little things. Just deal with the matters at hands and let everything else go. It’s much easier said than done, but I can do it.
5. Grumpy: Whenever I get stressed out, I become grumpy. If I could reduce stress, my grumpiness will be subside as well.
6. Sit: Get off my ass and get back to jogging. I have been slacking off lately.
7. Yell: Less yelling at the kids when they disobey or fight with each other. I can’t control my emotion when I see them hurting each other.
8. Social Media: Less use of social media. I don’t use Twitter much anymore other than checking on what’s up with the industry. I need to cut back on Facebook as well.
9. Read: This might seem ridiculous, but I need to devote less time on reading. These days, I try to read every chance I get. I want my kids to take a nap just so I could have an hour or so to read. Whether reading a book on typography, CSS or jazz music, I can’t seem to stop once I started to get into a book. I want to learn everything I could when I read; therefore, I have no time for fiction. I should just put the books away and just go to sleep with the kids. So that when they wake up, I also have enough strength to keep up with them.
10. Petty Fight: When you live and interact with someone everyday, petty fight is inevitable. My wife and I had our ups and downs and most of the time because we’re exhausting. The good thing is that we get beyond that and still love each other dearly. In 2014, my goal will be to make less petty fight, more sweet love (I wish).

The past two weeks had been fun but also exhausted. Being a full-time dad is not as easy as I had imagined.

The first week was not so bad since we were on an all-inclusive vacation. We got up around 8, got to breakfast about 9. Around 10 we headed to the swimming pool or the beach. The kids jumped around all over in the shallow water. I just had to keep an eye on them, which was not an easy task because of a few topless sun-bathers around. The mojito kept me focused on the kids.

After that we would head to lunch. At this point the kids got tired and ready for nap. Dao is the exception so I had to push him on the stroller around the property until he would fall asleep. Then I would stop at the bar, picked up a drink, headed to the beautiful landscape area. Let him listened to the waterfall while I enjoyed reading a book.

Once they woke up, we headed into the water again until dinner time. They were once again exhausted so they would go to bed early. Even though we were on vacation, we all went to bed around 9. Other than Dan running all around the property, getting out of his high chair and running all over the restaurants, we had a good time.

Once we headed back to the States, my day started at six in the morning forcefully and didn’t end until 10pm at night. That’s a sixteen-hour shift. When Dan had a fever at night, I was on call as well. I couldn’t sleep and had to check his temperature every fifteen minutes or so. On a good day, I was too exhausted to do my own things after 10pm.

The good thing was that the holiday season in DC has many model train exhibitions. Each day I tried to take them to different show. Staying home a whole day with them would give me massive headaches. The raining days and they days my wife was sick were the worse.

Then again, time spent with them went by so fast. Two weeks also come to an end. I am getting a cold myself. After tomorrow, I go back to work and they will go back to daycare. Life will be back to normal again.