The new Tình Vẫn Thiết Tha indicates the emancipation of Y Phương. She is free from drowning her soul in Asia’s mechanical, recycled productions. Hearing her sensual voice covering non-Vietnamese standards without Asia arrangements is quite refreshing.

Y Phương is also experimenting with something new in term of getting the record out. Tình Vẫn Thiết Tha is released through digital channels like Amazon and iTunes rather than the traditional distribution, which is quite impressive, but the only issue is that she didn’t put too much effort into the album design. No credits are listed even though the producer had done an outstanding job of keeping the arrangements simple and tasteful, particularly on the bossa-nova flavors like “Bài Ngợi Ca Tình Yêu,” “Ngàn Đời Chờ Mong” and “Yêu Nhau Đi.” Her rendition of “Bài Ngợi Ca Tình Yêu” is the only Vietnamese version that is pretty damn closed to Ngọc Lan’s thanks to the swaying rhythm.

In many ways, this album could also be a tribute to the late great Ngọc Lan. From “Chuyện Tình Yêu,” “Chờ Phone Của Anh,” Yêu Nhau Đi,” “Người Yêu Đã Ra Đi” to “Người Yêu Ơi Giã Từ” are all classics that Ngọc Lan had built her fame on. Y Phương obviously got her inspiration from Ngọc Lan, but she also held her own. In Asia, Y Phương has been known to be a belter, but she has learned to refrain and to lay back. In “Ngàn Đời Chờ Mong” she never pushes beyond her range and only glides up just a tiny bit to give the lyrics a nice touch.

Y Phương caught my ears when she opened Asia 53: Bốn Mùa with Nguyên Khang back in 2007. I knew she has potential, but then she kept on disappointed us with release after release from Asia. It’s about damn time she makes her own record.

Bun B is back in full force. Trill OG: The Epilogue offers 12 concise tracks filled with a handful of compelling productions, some excellent guest spots and a whole lot of aggressiveness from the king of the trill himself. Even when his wordplay is hilarious, “Opinions is like assholes and I don’t like assholes / So stick your opinion in your ass ho,” he doesn’t seem to be amused. Without a doubt, Bun takes his craft very serious and he has issues with “pussy niggas” through the exceptional cuts including “No Competition,” “Gladiator” and “Stop Playin’.” Rap is a competitive sport and he has every reason to go after the studio gangsta: “You born a sucker, die a sucker, yea you get the picture.” Going after women, however, is unnecessary and the filthy, misogynistic rhymes that aren’t even quotable here just make him sound like an asshole that he hates. Other than that, Trill OG is an impressive record.

Over Thanksgiving break, I had a chance to go through two books on grid. Both Grids and Page Layouts by Amy Graver & Ben Jura and 100 Design Principles for Using Grids by Beth Tondreau are filled with great case studies and informative tips, but they don’t delve into the technical details of designing with grid. If you want to dig deep into the technique, start with Khoi Vinh’s excellent Ordering Disorder first before reading these two books for inspiration. The only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is in Grids and Page Layouts where the quotes aren’t hanging. I don’t mind serif all-cap typeface, but the unhung quotes are unforgiven.

Around this time of the year, one of my favorite things to do is kicking back to Christmas music. Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas is the one that I return again and again each Christmas season. That “Linus and Lucy” joint gets me every time. In addition, “Christmas is Coming” and “O Tannenbaum” bring out the holiday spirit in me. This year, the album gets a remastered release, which I am more than excited to revisit this classic. Gosh, I love the trio’s delightful swing. I can listen to this album all the way to 2014, but there are additional Christmas releases this year as well.

A Mary Christmas from Mary J. Blige brings out the soulful vibe from the hip-hop-r-&-b queen, especially “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “Mary, Did You Know?” The standout track has to be “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Who would have imagine that MJB could swing? Not only she could swing, but she could also scat. The track ends with MJB saying, “Man, that was fun.” There is no doubt she was having a blast recording this tune.

While MJB’s take on “My Favorite Things” is tasteful and laid-back, Kelly Clarkson’s swings it up in her new Christmas release titled Wrapped In Red. Clarkson has a few flavors on her Christmas covers and a few exceptional include country blues “Blue Christmas,” jazzy “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (a duet with Ronnie Dunn) and soothing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

Whereas Mary J. Blige’s and Kelly Clarkson’s album are straightforward and jolly, Nick Lowe brings wit and subtlety to his Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family. “Christmas at the Airport” brings out the sentiment of traveling during the holidays. The track that has been on repeat for five or six times straight while on the road is “The North Pole Express.” Our two-year-old Dan has been watching The Polar Express the time he wakes up until the night he goes to sleep. Both Dao and Dan love “The North Pole Express.” Every time Dan hears this song, the first thing that comes out of his mouth would be, “All aboard.”

It’s not a coincident that “Silent Night” appears on all three albums. Lowe’s rock, up-tempo rendition is not doing the tune the justice. MJB’s version has the Spanish verse with Marc Anthony and it doesn’t sound quite right either. As much as I appreciate the new flavors on Lowe’s and MJB’s, I still prefer the classic approach from Kelly Clarkson. She just delivers the tune with her big voice backing up by a choir. That alone does the trick.

As for the past Christmas records, I still enjoy the eccentricity of Jingle All The Way from Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, the joyfulness of Christmas with the Puppini Sisters, the tasteful Christmas Songs from Diana Krall, the soothing Jazz Piano Christmas from Beegie Adair Trio and multicultural mixtures of Joy to The World from Pink Martini. Damn, that’s a lot of Christmas records. The good thing is that I have a whole month to enjoy them.

I am obviously not doing well under stress. Between taking care of my mom in the hospital and missing my wife and kids, I have been eating like there’s no tomorrow.

I had fried chicken wings and Alize for three days. Took my mom out to a Thai restaurant to regain her strength. Took my niece and nephew to TGI Fridays and Friendlys and stuffed ourselves with burgers, fries and all the junkie food. I have such a bad influence on them. I’ll get them to excercise once the weather gets nicer.

Now that my mom is recovering and I am about to head back to my wife and kids. This is actually the first time that I am away from them for a week. I need to get back to a healthier diet, but Dan’s birthday and Thanksgiving is coming up. Ok, maybe after Thanksgiving, but then Christmas is coming up. Alright, let’s make it a New Year resolution then. I know I say that every year.

Trần Thái Hoà is apparently very boring. Like many Vietnamese singers, particularly the oversea ones, Trần Thái Hoà has locked himself into a one-dimensional style. He hardly pushes his delivery out of his comfort range, which is quite limit.

What makes his latest release, Quên Đi Tình Yêu Cũ, incredibly dull is that he had chosen a handful of bland ballad including the title track by Trịnh Nam Sơn, “Mùa Đông Sắp Đến” by Đức Huy and “Tình Đã Vụt Bay” by Vũ Tuấn Đức. On top of his song choices, his productions aren’t so exciting either. Even the bluesy vibe on “Một Lần Nào Cho Tôi Gặp Lại Em” (Vũ Thành An) and the Latin flavor on “Tình Đã Vụt Bay” are just yawn-worthy.

The album closer, “Buồn Ơi, Chào Mi” (Nguyễn Ánh 9), is the only track that isn’t so monotonous. Then again, Quên Đi Tình Yêu Cũ is Trần Thái Hoà’s tenth solo release of this same old shit. He must be doing something right.

My goal is to make some changes to Visualgui every year. Despite my crazy schedule, Visualgui for 2014 comes a bit earlier this year since I have a bit of time on my hand while staying in the hospital with my mom. Whenever she fell asleep, I worked on it to pass time.

The focus for this year is the work section. I want to combine everything into one page. My colleauges and professors say that I have way too much crap in my porfolio. Potential employers don’t have time to look at everything. They just want to see my best work. While I completely understand thier perspective, I have no intention of making this site for employers. The work section is not a portfolio. It’s an archive of all my works. Now with just one click, you can see everything in an hierachy. The top hero showcases the most recent projects. The featured section displays the sites I want to highlight. If you want to see more, the three-column are list of works that still exist on the Internet. It could be overwhelming, but I do want to have everything.

In previous designs, I restricted myself to the screenshot of the works. Every time I want to do a redesign, I have to keep the width the same so that I don’t have to recrop each and every screenshots every time. The new work section is do away with all that. Now if I want to do a redesign, I only have to deal with three images.

The new logo is also a huge departure. I am going for a very minimal initial of the V simply because I am getting tired of seeing the word Visualgui. Another reason is that I now have a better understand of branding after taking the two graduate courses this semester on brand and identity. They both were very valueble courses even though they took up so much of my time.

As for typography, I chose Roboto sans for body copy and Roboto Slab for headers. Since they both come from the same designer, big up to Christian Robertson, they complement each other well. In addition, both typefaces support Vietnamese characters.

The new layout isn’t drastically different. I still like the one-column blog for readability. I also do away with comment entirely. I no longer have to include the comment functionality as well as the CSS styling for them. I do thank and appreciate all 17, 047 comments left on this blog. Even though they are no longer available to the public, I still have them for my own muse.

If you still reading and visiting this blog, I hope you enjoy the renovation. I also gave the Strength page a new look. My mom and I need some strength right now.

Mom is still not discharged from the hospital. Her pneumonia is under control, but she is still very weak. Her heartbeat has been irregular; therefore, they still want to monitor her to prevent her from getting a stroke. She’s still coughing quite a bit.

In term of mobility, she could move around a bit with my help or the nurse’s assistance. They are planning on transferring her to a physical rehab facility to work on her strength once she’s discharged from the hospital. The nurses here have been very nice. Some go the extra miles than others.

The technicians come around the clock to draw her blood, take her temperature and pressure and give her respiratory. It’s a bit calmer today. She is just mostly resting. To pass time, I am redesigning this site for 2014. It’s not a complete redesign, but I have been itching to give it some changes.

I am missing my girl and boys quite a bit. Can’t wait to see them soon. Poor Dana having to take care both of them all by herself. Dan is getting quite wild. Last Monday, he broke Eric’s treasures. He destroyed some of the legos Eric had spent so much time to build. When Eric saw what happened, he broke down and cried. I know how much he loves and guards his works and I felt so horrible. As promised to get him to calm down, I took him out last night to buy new set and he picked out one that cost $105. Ouch!

Everyone turns “sến” these days. No crime in that. We all need a bit of over-sentimentalism once in a while. Thiên Kim’s latest release, Xa Vắng, is not a bad record of “sến.” Her simple delivery turns out to be quite effective. She goes for the core emotion rather than the superficial drama.

“Chiều Tây Đô” is a great example. She covers the song in a straightforward manner. No pitch correction nor tonal embellishment was needed. In fact, her voice even cracked at several spots as if she came down with a cold and that is the raw beauty of her delivery. Unfortunately the production is counterintuitive to her voice. The programmed strings and steady percussion work against rather complemented her vocals. The outcome would have been much more compelling if only the picking guitar accompanied her voice. We don’t need to count the beat to figure out it’s a fucking bolero rhythm.

Again, the vocal delivery on both “Phút Cuối” and “Duyên Kiếp” is superb, but the arrangements are so typical of Asia productions. “Tình Lỡ” would have been a better solo piece. Quốc Khanh just doesn’t have the chops for “sến.” The “Lâu Đài Tình Ái” duet is also a mismatch. It feels such a letdown after “Chiều Tây Đô.”

Though her version of “Hận Đồ Bàn” is quite good, it doesn’t stand a chance against Bảo Tuấn rendition. He fucking owns that song like Tuấn Ngọc owns “Riêng Một Góc Trời.”

I am in the hospital with my mom. She’s diagnosed with pneumonia. It’s around 12:25am and she’s talking in her sleep mostly things about my nephew like telling him to wash his hands. She also seems to be talking on the phone with her friend. I asked the nurse if she’s hallucinating, but he doesn’t know for sure since they didn’t give her any morphine. Very strange. I hope she’s ok.