At a quick glance, Lênh Đênh Nhớ Phố is yet another Trinh Cong Son’s record from an unknown singer (at least to this reviewer). Once listened, however, the album holds it own. Although Giang Trang’s sultry, raspy voice is the main attraction, the key success of the album is the tight integration between the vocalist, violinist Anh Tú and guitarist Anh Hoàng. In each track, the three come together as a unit.

“Ru Đời Đi Nhé” is a perfect example. The violin sings the opening bars backing up by the strumming guitar. Giang Trang enters the next two bars, but then the violin joins in again to create a marvelous word and wordless interaction. Because “Ru Đời Đi Nhé” is so well-known that the words could be left off without losing the listeners who try to follow the lyrics. While Giang Trang sings with ease like she’s narrating her personal story, the violin soars on the high register to create a deep emotional impact.

“Như Tiếng Thở Dài,” “Vườn Xưa” and “Lời Thiên Thu Gọi” are excellent interpretation. The relaxed tempo in the intimate setting makes the listeners feel the music with their heart rather than just their ears. While “Đời Cho Ta Thế” gets an intoxicating bluesy lick, “Góp Lá Mùa Xuân” kicks up a notch with a groovy ostinato and “Mưa Hồng” is treated with a savory bossa-nova flavor.

To put it simply: Lênh Đênh Nhớ Phố is not a Trinh’s record to ignore. Must-listen.

I never gave a fuck about the MTV boy band until its latest release Nếu Chỉ Sống Một Ngày. Its sixth album struck a cord that is very closed to my heart. As the title track suggested, what if you have one day to live? How would you live it? What do you do when you’re racing against time? Here’s the line that sums up one’s life: “Thời gian thôi đưa chớp mắt đã hết một đời.” Yes, life is over in just a blink of an eye.

“Nhắm Mắt” is another track that cuts straight to the core: “Nhắm mắt, một ngày mệt nhoài trôi qua… Cố thức giấc đi thôi nhận ra hôm nay tôi đây không là ngày hôm qua nữa.” Imagine waking up only to realize that you’re no longer the same as who you were yesterday. “Mặt Trời Màu Đen” is a tear-jerking dedication to those who could never see the sunlight and “Dioxin,” featuring 5 Dòng Kẻ, is an emotional tribute to the victims of Orange Agent.

The album opens with “Trở Về” to indicate the return of MTV. The boys disbanded in 2007 and now they are united as the men. Nếu Chỉ Sống Một Ngày marks a tremendous growth from being a banal pop-rock boy band to a matured, lyrical rock group.

Yesterday was the first day since you were born that I got to spend alone with you. I enjoyed every moment of it. Seeing smile puts a smile on my own frowning face. You observed me cleaning up the dishes, doing the laundry and folding clothes. You kicked your feet with excitement every time I play with you. You laughed out when I joked with you.

You enjoyed the scene when we strolled to the library. You fell asleep halfway there; therefore, I took all the time that I needed to check out the books. You eat well. You sleep well. You smile a lot. You’re also a tough boy. Your big brother has been giving to rough love, but you took it and smile. The only time you cried when he butted his head on your face. Even I can’t endure his hard head; therefore, I feel your pain.

At five month, you have already showed tremendous personality. You’re already making sounds and trying to talk. You show big laugh when people are talking to you. Your mom told me that you woke up at four in the morning and smiling at her. I really love this about, son. Please keep on smiling my dear and you’ll have a much enjoyable life. We love you dearly.

Many thanks to the caring mamas for sending me tips and techniques to deal with Dao’s hitting problem. They reiterate and emphasize that spanking him is not the right solution. I was not quite convinced because it is not about me being tough. It’s about getting him to listen. A visit to the pediatrician last Friday, however, changed my mind.

I took Dao in for his three-year check up. He’s doing well. Still growing even though he hardly eats. He interacted with the pediatrician. She asked him what his name and he replied, “Dao.” She asked him his age and he replied “three.” She asked, “Are you a boy or girl?” He replied, “girl.” We laughed.

She asked me if I have any question and I brought up the hitting issue. To sum it up her point was that, “If I spank him, he would think it’s ok to use violence to solve problem.” That makes sense. My wife also told me one time, that Dao was playing with his trains and he told the first train to go, but the train didn’t move. So he said to the train, “You don’t listen. You’re being bad. I am going to hit you.”

Since the heated argument with my wife, I have not spanked him and he has picked that up. He knows he can get away with it. Now if he hit me and I tried to distract him, he would find a way to scratch me. This kid sure knows how to push the button, but I remain as calm and as patience as I could be. We’re just talking to him and hopefully one fine day he’ll snap out of it.

We’re going through a tough time and facing one of the biggest challenges of our lives. We’re not sure what tomorrow will be like, but we’re hoping and praying for the best.

Duc Tuan’s latest releases, By Request and Ky Niem, show that he has un-sissified his phrasing, which makes his tenor much more pleasant to the ear. As the title suggested, By Request is a collection of his most-requested songs, presumably by his fans. Duc Tuan has been very conceptualized in crafting his albums; therefore, he wouldn’t cut album with this much variety. The result is very disruptive experience. “Sac Mau” is the only track that stands out of the rest due to the ingenious use of Roland TR-808 (ripped out of Kanye West’s 808 & Heartbreak) and Vietnamese traditional instrumentation. “Thoi” is definitely not a Duc Tuan’s choice.

Ky Niem, on the other hand, is carefully selected by Duc Tuan. His choice of Pham Duy’s tunes created an introspection of the songwriter’s life. The title track is probably one of Pham Duy’s most covered classics and there are many better versions than this one. Duc Tuan’s rendition is not that bad. It’s just not unique. In contrast, “Chiec Kep Toc Thom Tho” is excellent. The semi-classical arrangement with a bit of ambient vibe provided the space that is essential for story-telling. “Chieu Ve Tren Song” is another heartfelt cover with string orchestration. The double disc, however, is unnecessary. The English version of “Giot Mua Tren La” as well as the three bonus tracks could have been left off to create one solid album.

Can’t believe you’re turn three today. What a year it has been. Life changes as you begin to discover the world and explore your identity.

You’re now a big brother. Sometimes you might feel like your little brother take over all the attention, but reassure that our love for you have not changed. Because we love you so much that we don’t want you to go through life all by yourself. Believe me, having a brother will be one of the biggest gifts you have ever received. Your mom and I won’t be around you forever, but your brother will for the most part of your life. So love each other and be there for each other. Your mom and I will be extremely happy if we could see that bond between you two.

In the past few months, I have been a little rough on you because you are a tough kid. I promise you that you will have many freedoms in life, but right now I just want you to have the respect and the discipline. I don’t expect much. Just a few simple rules and principles. You’re a bright kid and I know that you understand, but you choose not to listen. Whenever I picked you up from school, you would ask me, “Daddy, do you have something special for me? I want something special. I listen to you daddy. I listen to you daddy.” After we picked out some candies from the store, I said that we have to go home and wash your hand before you could eat it and you followed. Why can’t you do that at other times too?

While you have some issues to straighten out, you’re a terrific kid. We love you, kiddo. Have a wonderful birthday, Dao. And May too.

Last Saturday my sister-in-law had a welcome home party for her newborn. One of her friends who has two daughters came by. Fifteen minutes later, the eleven-year-old girl wanted to go home because she was bored. Her mother told her they they just got here. The girl got mad and punched her mother in her back. The mother who is one of the sweetest ladies I know didn’t respond. Later on when we were sitting around chatting, the younger daughter (seven or eight years old) came up to her and asked for something. She didn’t allow and once again she was punched by the younger daughter.

Seeing kids disrespecting their parent in the public breaks my heart and I feel her pain. We’re in a similar situation with Dao. I get infuriated when he hit his little brother, mom and grandma. I do not tolerate that kind of behavior. The problem is that words have not registered into his head. When he hit me, I told him, “Do not hit me. That’s not nice.” He hit me again and I told him, “You hit me one more time and you’re going to get slapped.” He hit me the third time, I slapped his hand a bit hard so he could remember what would happen when he hit people. I reminded him, “This is the punishment you get when you hit people.” The situation reminded me of how I used to deal with bullies in middle school. Of course, he screamed at the top of his lung as if I just beat the crap out of him. He learned his lesson then, but then nothing registered.

As a parent, the guilt of hitting your kid hurts you more than it hurts him, but what can I do when talking to him is like talking to a wall. My wife has a different approach. Whenever he hit her or other people, she distracted him by directing his attention to something else. The problem with this approach, as I see it, is that she’s not addressing the real issue. Avoiding it is not a solution. I don’t like using that method. I want a more direct communication. I want him to understand that hitting people is not appropriate. If he does it to us and we don’t respond, he’ll do it to other kids his age. I am sure other kids will beat him up if he does that to them. That’s the kind of things I would like to avoid.

Last Friday, my wife and I had a heated argument about it. She gets tired of hearing him cry almost everyday. I feel the same way, but it is better to discipline him now before it gets too late. As always, I lost the argument; therefore, I am backing down and let her do her things with him. I just hope that as time goes by I won’t witness what I had seen last Saturday.

George Mason Law is now featured on Mediaqueri.es. The screenshots were captured a few months ago; therefore, the small-screen version is outdated. The latest version has the entire menu links moved to the bottom. Still, we’re very pleased to see that Mediaqueri.es is showing us some love.

Wind, rain and cold air make a dreadful Monday morning commute, but I don’t let that ruined the spirit of my thirty-fucking-four birthday. Although I have never care much about my own birthday, it gives me a reason to celebrate. I used to think that birthday is just a countdown to the day you die, which is not a bad reason to celebrate, but now
I think it helps me keep track of the days I am still alive. I should be thankful for that. Life is fucking short and unpredictable. You can see that every time you hear someone you know passed away all of a sudden.

When you’re hitting mid 30s, celebrating your birthday is much different. Gone are the days of birthday party and party sex. You just have to enjoy the moment. So I kicked off with a venti vanilla latte courtesy of Starbucks. (Yes, I am a gold member.) Then I’ll go to Viet Royal for salt-and-pepper lobster. It’s going to be my last lobster week. I am going to get back to the grill chicken salad again. It’s been too damn hard to get back to my green diet when I work too damn closed to Eden Center, but it has to happen. I have to watch my diet.

As I was writing this, Dao called and sang a birthday song and suddenly the sun is out. It’s a lovely day again. Thank you my son. I got mad love for you.