I have been adding green smoothie as part of my breakfast and dinner on a regular basis. I only drink green smoothie instead of coffee in the morning and eat less dinner to save room for smoothie. My wife is also on board with the diet. In fact, she’s much more knowledgable about nutrition than me. The posted the two recipes I like in the eatery section: My Green Smoothie and Ultimate Green Smoothie. If you have come up with great recipes, hook me up. If not, here are a few sites I pulled together with plenty of green smoothie recipes:

• Simple Green Smoothies (Lots of choices here)
• The Ultimate Guide To Green Smoothie (Note: Although I am a web designer, it took me a minute to realize that I have to click through the black circle with an arrow on the right to see the recipes.)
• 5 Best Green Smoothies Recipes from Blendtec (The blender I use and recommend)
• 10 Cancer-Fighting Juice & Smoothie Recipes

My mother’s 8th sister passed away yesterday at the age of 65. She was another victim of cancer. Only two months ago that she found out she had stage-four breast cancer. The diagnose came too late. The cancer cells were already taken over her liver.

Less than two weeks ago when American oncologists recommended hospice, her husband took her to Mexico for an alternative treatment. Unfortunately, that method didn’t work. On her way back to the States, she was admitted to the hospital in San Diego because she couldn’t breathe and that was where she drew her last breath.

In my mother’s family, auntie 8 was the first one to migrate to the States. She then filed all the paperworks and found sponsors for the rest of the family members. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here today. That is something I would never forget.

Goodbye auntie 8. May your soul rest in peace.

Without prior knowledge of Carla Bruni as a pop singer, I wouldn’t have imagined that the sultry voice on Little French Songs came from the former first lady of France. Unlike the image of a glamorous politician’s partner who rocked Dior suits, Bruni comes across as a sensible singer playing an acoustic guitar. The music in the album does convey that laid-back intimacy and simplicity. Although she penned most of the album herself, my French is too limited to comment on the lyrics. I am not going to pretend I understand what I am hearing, but that doesn’t deter me from enjoying the beautiful French singing backing up by the spare, elegant arrangements. From the groovy Latin flavor in “Chez Keith et Anita” to the Happy Feet in “Le Pingouin” to the gorgeous melody in “Dolce Francia,” every track on this album is Français.

Next week is going to be awesome. I’ll be attending An Event Apart in D.C. on Monday and Tuesday. After two full days of soaking in all the information, I’ll be joining my in-law’s family for their annual reunion at Lake Anne to relax for the rest of the week. I am not so sure about the relaxing part since I have to look after the two loud, energetic kids. Still, I can’t wait.

Ánh Minh is one fine-ass shorty. Whenever she appears in front of a camera, it’s a visual treat. After she has joined Thúy Nga and the Paris By Night crew, her performances are much more sexier. Something about a chick in skimpy clothes swinging on a rope is so damn seductive.

Sunrise is her first solo release for Thúy Nga and it is sadly a huge disappointment. The title track kicks off the album with bland club beat, banal lyrics and robotic vocals (courtesy of Auto-tune). The next two tracks keep the groove up and her voice is lost behind the dance productions. The forth track slows things down a bit with a syrupy ballad that sounds pretty much like any other kiddy pop. Once you catch your breath, the next track picks up pace again with a dance duet featuring one of the most dullest male vocalists in the Vietnamese pop scene. Lyrically, the catchiest phrase on the track is, “ey ey,” the two wordless syllables that has nothing to do with the meaning of the song.

In all fairness, Ánh Minh is not in the camp of Như Loan (all visual no vocals). She has a decent voice and she could pull it off with the right tune, which something she did often when she was still with Asia. Her rock-up rendition of “Tình Yêu Tuyệt Vời” is quite splendid and her biker-chick image is pretty darn sexy. The differences between the two productions are clear. Asia is where she can push her vocal and Thúy Nga is where she can push her visual. Asia may be the right home for her after all.

Album mới của Phương Thanh khởi đầu với bài chủ đề do cô viết lời Việt. Phải chi cô hát hoàn toàn tiếng Việt thì sẽ hay hơn nhiều vì Anh ngữ của cô có quá nhiều vấn đề. Cô gào thét chữ “mid” (trong “midnight”) như người đàn bà rao bán “mít” lúc nữa đêm. Nghe cũng thèm thèm. Thật là điều đáng tiếc là vì cách hát và lối hòa âm đậm chất rock nghe rất khác so với bài chính của Chris Norman.

Phần còn lại của album là những bài của Toàn Thắng và Phạm Khải Tuấn. Tuy những ca khúc này mới nghe lần đầu nhưng có cảm giác như chúng đã bị quên lãng đi mấy chục năm về trước. Giai điệu trong “Nụ Cười và Nước Mắt” của Toàn Thắng nghe như một sáng tác của Quốc Hùng. Còn “Làm Sao Để Quên Một Người” tựa như một bài ngoại quốc được Phạm Khải Tuấn chuyển sang lời Việt cho Phương Thanh và Lam Trường song ca.

Hai bài cuối được đưa vào cho đủ album quả thật không giúp được gì cả. Có lẽ nhạc sĩ Anh Bằng cũng không ngờ rằng “Anh Còn Nợ Em” sẽ bị nhắc mãi. Nợ nhà, nợ xe hay nợ nhà băng cùng lắm là phá sản. Nợ du đãng tệ nhất là bị chép chết là hết nợ. Còn nợ em thì không bao giờ trả hết. Tuy nhiên bài này rất hợp với Phương Thanh là vì cô ca y như đang giận dữ đòi nợ.

The correct name should probably called Pho Capitol since the logo, which looks quite decent, has an illustration of the U.S. Capitol building. In any rate, I noticed this place a while ago since it is locating on Little River Turnpike, but never tried it out. I also read some negative reviews on Yelp, but decided to give it a try anyway since the location is convenience from my house.

I ordered a large pho togo yesterday for the kids to eat at home since Dan really loves Pho. Unfortunately, both Dao and Dan took one spoon and didn’t want it anymore. Dana said it was not good. I also took one spoon and it tasted really bad. The broth was not only watered down, it also had a sour taste to it as if it had started to spoil. I ended up throwing the entire thing out.

I went back to Yelp to read some more reviews and came across one patron who found a cockroach in his pho. If I read it before, I would had skipped this place. Nowadays, our regular spot is Pho 50 since Dan really loves this place.

I have read a handful of books on JavaScript, and yet John Pollock’s JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, by far, is the easiest to learn. While most authors have done a great job of explaining the core concepts like variables, functions, operators, conditional statements and loops, they don’t show you how these fundamentals are being used in the web page. Pollock, on the other hand, provides step-by-step tutorials on how to create an HTML page with each concept he taught. What makes this book stands out is the connection between theory and real usage. With other books, you’ll get the programming theories, but you’ll understand how to applied them with this book.

When it comes to recommend a good book on JavaScript for beginners, people tends to point out Eloquent JavaScript, JavaScript Enlightenment, Professional JavaScript for Web Developers and JavaScript: The Good Part. Having read three out of four, The Good Part is on my reading list, I highly recommend A Beginner’s Guide as a starting point.

Virginia governor GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli pushes for reinstatement of state’s anti-sodomy law:

The law makes consensual oral or anal sex acts felonies, even for married couples who commit the acts in the privacy of their own homes.

Dude, keep your faith to yourself and stay the fuck out of our bedroom. I don’t need another religious nutjob running our state.

Hồ Quỳnh Hương has a marvelous range: raspy on the low and husky on the high. Though well-known as a pop star, she could maneuver her way around jazz and blues with ease and seduction. In her new release, Tĩnh Lặng, she’s back to the pop mainstream.

The album kicks off with her own tune “Nỗi Nhớ Anh Mùa Đông.” The track is a powerhouse ballad that starts out soft and launches into full force. It’s definitely a big hit that showcases her vocal competence. “Hallelujah” is the other track that she penned the lyrics herself. It’s actually a smart move on her part to write the lyrics in Vietnamese rather than singing in English. Even though her English is not so bad in “Love Me” (Phi Vân), she isn’t quite comprehended the nuances.

The rest of Tĩnh Lặng is filled with romantic numbers from hit-writers like Minh Hà, Mạnh Quân and Nguyễn Hữu Đức. Even though the album is nothing more than a typical pop ballad, it is enjoyable because of Hồ Quỳnh Hương’s voice.