In his previous Cánh Diều Lạc Phố, Nguyễn Đình Thanh Tâm was under the influence of Tùng Dương. In his new release, Gặp Tôi Mùa Rất Đông, Thanh Tâm has completely stepped out of his idol’s shadow by putting a restrain on his vocals and making pointless dance music that Tùng Dương would never record.

After almost two and a half minutes of an unnecessary intro, the title track, which written by Mew Amazing, begins with an atmospheric backdrop and then progressed into some inaudible rapping. “Nghe Ta Hồi Sinh” (music by Đỗ Hiếu and lyrics by Thanh Tâm) picks up the club beat with annoying ad-lib in the background. Then the catchy “Liêu Trai” (Nguyễn Hải Phong) makes you want to register for a Zumba class. Đỗ Hiếu’s production is infectious.

Still, highlights of the album are the none-dance tracks like the electric excellent “Bóng Tối.” The dark, hunting vibe brings to mind the Chemical Brothers. The second version of the title track is also way better than the first. The orchestration, which includes guitar, zither and strings, is astonishing. With only seven track on the album, Thanh Tâm should have concentrated on electric music instead of dance shit. It’s a missed opportunity.

The first assignment in Professional Design Practices, an advanced studio course on special topics, was a do-over project. After looking at my portfolio, my professor who also taught the branding course last semester suggested that I redo Sketches of Miles. It would give me a chance to finesse the typography. At first I was not thrilled because Sketches of Miles was a side project to teach myself HTML5 and CSS3 a few years ago. The typography was rough because it use design using CSS rather than Photoshop or Illustrator. The do-over project was to take a few sketches and make them into a series of posters.

After spending the weekend thinking deeper into the project, I came up with a different concept. Rather than going from the web back to print, I wanted to go forward to an app, particularly for the iPad. Instead of me making the sketches, I wanted to design an interactive app that would allow Miles’ freaks like myself to create their own sketches.

The app is very straightforward. Once fans downloaded the app, they could sign up using Facebook, Twitter or Google credential. Once they logged in they become the users. On the home screen they could see a gallery of sketches that other fans have created. They also have an option to create their own. I designed a set of very simple user interface to let the users play around on their iPad. They could change the texts, draw their own sketches or import graphics into the app. Once they are done sketching, they could share their work with other fans as well as other social media networks.

The app turned out to be a fun project. After creating the interface for the app, I also created a handful of sketches to show what users can do with the app. With the timeline as well as the scope of the class, which focuses only on design, I only get to do the prototype of the app. Besides, I don’t have the mobile development skills to create a robust app like that. It is definitely a great project to learn iOS programming. Maybe that would be down the line. Still, the prototype is worth checking out.

Teachout’s Duke is an engaging biography of an accomplished composer, renowned bandleader and skillful pianist who loved music, food and women. (Duke referred to himself as a “pussy freak.”) As an admirer of his work, particularly the Ellington effects, I find his composing process, which based on what he heard from his musicians, to be inspiring, but his way of treating women and his collaborators, especially how he took credits from the talented Billy Strayhorn, to be appalling. Then again, it is reassuring to know that even a great genius is deeply flawed just like the rest of us.

On an unrelated note on book design. Setting italic on long block quotes is quite distracting and hard to read.

This morning riding to daycare

Dao: Daddy, today is show and tell.
Dad: Did you bring anything?
Dao: Yes, my train.
Dad: What are you going to tell about your train?
Dao: My train is very very fast.
Dad: Is it reliable?
Dao: No, it’s just a toy train.
Dad: Do you know what reliable mean?
Dao: No.

Last night at bedtime

Dan: Daddy, are you OK?
Dad: Yes.
Dan: Daddy, are you OK?
Dad: Yes.
Dan: Daddy, are you OK?
Dad: Yes. I am OK.
Dan: Daddy, are you tired?
Dad: Yes.
Dan: Daddy, are you tired?
Dad: Yes.
Dan: Daddy, are you tired?
Dad: Yes. I am tired.
Dan: Daddy, are you sleepy?
Dad: Yes. I am very sleepy.
Dan: Daddy, you’re a sleepyhead [Smurf reference].

Bằng Kiều and Minh Tuyết aren’t just pop singers. They are pop savvies. Their latest collaborative effort, Lâu Đài Tình Ái, is the proof once again that they know exactly what their fans want and they deliver just the way their fans desired. They don’t challenge their listeners and they ruffle no feathers.

Like most new releases coming from Thúy Nga production, Lâu Đài Tình Ái is an album filled with old popular ballads. Both Bằng Kiều and Minh Tuyết are on-the-page vocalists; therefore, they bring nothing new to these new tunes. In fact, they stay as faithful to the written melodies as they could. The result is safe but sincere. For instance, Minh Tuyết’s solo rendition of “Đừng Xa Em Đêm Nay” (Đức Huy) is the only cover that comes closest to Thảo My’s original. While her vocal delivery is straightforward, Đồng Sơn’s elegant Latin arrangement makes the tune sounds fresh.

As for Bằng Kiều’s solo performance, his take on “Nha Trang Ngày Về” (Phạm Duy) is reflective and nostalgic. In addition to Tùng Châu’s simple, sensational arrangement, what made this version works is that Bằng Kiều has restraint himself from belting out his falsetto. I was expecting to hear him wailing out on the last bar, but thankfully he ended the song in the low register.

Out of their four duets, “Tình Bơ Vơ” (Lam Phương) stands out. Their vocal deliveries are what fans from both camp would anticipate. What new is that Tùng Châu gives the song a Latin rhythm with sprinkle of bluesy keyboard licks. Without a doubt, the productions make Lâu Đài Tình Ái enjoyable for at least one or two listens.

At dinner last night, I shared with my wife a few things about Duke Ellington I have been reading. I said that he was a spoiled child. Dao asked me, “What does spoiled mean?” My wife replied to him, “What do you think it mean?” He said, “It means when you get a lot of toys.” My wife and I both know that Dao is a bright kid and he’s also very stubborn. The combination makes him a hard-headed child to deal with.

I notice his behavior has changed drastically in the past year. He enjoys going to school and interacting with his friends. At home he plays well with his brother except when Dan plays with the toys that he liked. For instance, when Dan played with a garbage truck he tried to take it away from Dan. If Dan wouldn’t give it up he would start a fight. I stepped in tell him that Dan is playing with it at the moment he needs to wait for a bit. He would start to lose control if he couldn’t get what he wants. When that occurred I sent him to timeout.

Once Dan is done playing he would give it to Dao. Dan usually doesn’t play with a toy for too long. Dao thanked him and then he moved on. As soon as he grabbed a train, Dao wanted that train as well even though we have ton of trains in the house, he had to have the one Dan was playing with and then we go through the same timeout again. This behavior of his is driving me off the wall and I can’t seem to get through to him at the moment.

Như thường lệ sau khi đọc xong hai quyển sách thì tôi tắt hết đèn để thằng Đán ngủ. Hôm qua mệt quá nên tôi thiếp đi. Đến 9:30 giật mình thức dậy thì thấy nó vẫn chưa ngủ. Khi đưa tay ôm nó thì tôi đụng cái tả. Ngạc nhiên là tại sao tả lại rớt ra. Tôi bật đèn đọc sách lên thì thấy nó đã lột hết cả quần lẫn tả và đang nằm vuốt cu. Cái trò này hơi bị mới.

Hôm qua là ngày tổng thống đáng nhớ.

The first assignment for our graduate seminar, which focused on analog typography, was to explore the expressive range of non-traditional type. We had to choose a theme: “fire, water, earth and air” or “summer, spring, winter and fall (or autumn).” Then we had to create each word without the use of the computer and each composition must be executed with one of the following media: wet (paint, ink, etc.), dry (pencils, crayons, charcoal, ballpoint, etc.), collage (2D or 3D) and mechanical/photographic means.

For my project, I chose “fire, water, earth and air.” For the execution, I selected food as my media. For fire, I used crushed chilly peppers. The reason is obvious: hot peppers burn like fire. That was the easiest one to do and it met the dry media requirement. For earth, I wanted to convey organic; therefore, I made a collage of whatever my wife had at home (green beans, onion, carrot, mint, garlic and tangerine) into the word. For air, I picked popcorns since they are as light as air. To meet the mechanical/photographic means, I took a shot of the composition.

Water was a bit tricky to pull off. My initial concept was to freeze the ice cubes with food coloring. Once they are frozen, I could assemble them into the word “water” and let the ice melt a bit before taking the photo of it. Then I came across some watermelon in the refrigerator and the idea went off. Water in watermelon, get it? So I smashed up the watermelon and let the juice spilled over the canvas with the word “water” spelled out. That also met the wet media requirement.

I had fun playing with this project. It’s a special feeling to do the craft with your hand instead of relying on the computer even though I used some Photoshop to clean up the photography. I also had a personal assistant helping me out with the execution. Thanks baby!

My boys are fascinated with trains. Dao loves trains when he was about one. He also has a huge influence on his younger brother and cousin. From The Polar Express to The Little Engine That Could to Thomas & Friends to Chuggington, the three of them could watch train movies all day day long. One of the songs that played the most in our minivan during Christmas travel was “The North Pole Express” by Nick Lowe. Seeing them loved that song so much, I came up with the idea of pulling together a jazz train collection for them to get them to listen to jazz. Last night, I came up with about forty songs in my collection and the one song that has been covered the most was Duke Ellington’s “Take the ‘A’ Train.” I narrowed down to just ten and the requirement had to be fun for the kids to enjoy. So here’s my final list:

1. “Daybreak Express” by Duke Ellington: When it comes to train songs, this one comes to mind immediately. It’s a thrilling composition filled with the “Ellington Effects.”
2. “Hobo, You Can’t Ride This Train”: Gotta love Pops’s gruff voice on this record.
3. “All Aboard” by Wynton Marsalis: This is one of Dao’s favorite train tracks. It’s definitely an Ellington’s influence.
4. “So Many Roads, So Many Trains” by Otis Rush: Gotta throw in a good old blues train into the mix.
5. “Take The ‘A’ Train” by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Although I have about ten versions of this tune ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Ben Webster, I have to go with the original record.
6. “The North Pole Express” by Nick Lowe: This is the track that inspires this collection. The kids are already in love with it.
7. “That Same Old Train” by Snooks Eaglin: Another blues train with the sensational bluesman Snooks Eaglin.
8. “Honky Tonk Train Blues” by Meade “Lux” Lewis: Gotta have some boogie woogie in the mix as well. I hope it would inspire one of the boys to pick up the piano.
9. “Mystery Train” by Junior Parker: The original blues tune that became a rockabilly standard.
10. “Blue Train” by John Coltrane: A hard bop joint from Coltrane is more for me than the kids.

The following report came from one of Dao’s teachers:

Yesterday, we went to the gym and we saw a few bugs and the children were very intrigued about them, so today we asked them.
Miss Rachael: What did you guys see in the gym?
Kassie: We saw a bug
Alex: we saw a stink bug.
Eva: I think I saw 5 stink bugs. There were one had 2 babies and the other had 1 baby.
Miss Rachael: What do you know about bugs?
Dao: if you squish them, they die.

I never taught him that.

Because Dao is eloquent with language, Dan picks up his motor skills from him as well. The other day, Dan dropped a container of cereal while we were riding to the daycare. He said slowly, “I spilled cereal… Dao can you pick them up?” Early today, I was putting on his diaper and joked with him, “Cu đẹp đâu rồi?” (Where is your pretty penis?) He tried to take off his diaper and replied, “Let me show you. Let me show you.”