I just launched Sketches of Miles, an experimental project combining Miles Davis’s albums and web typography. The concept is to design each individual poster-style page based on Mile’s cover art. To make the project more interesting, I also write a Twitter-style, one-sentence review and each piece has to include the title of the album.

What inspired the project? After purchasing Miles Davis’s The Complete Columbia Album Collection a few weeks ago, I am still trying to get through more than 70 CDs with every chance I get. I listen to Miles at work, on the train and on road trips. One night, I just drove Dana and Duke around DC just so I could get through an album. The problem is that I can’t soak in everything that fast. The only way for me to pay close attention to an album is when I want to write something about it, but I can’t review all 52 albums. I could if I don’t have to take care of Duke. Being a parent changes my priority.

So if I could listen to the entire album and sum it up in one sentence, it would force me to be more focused. Sure, I can just post a quick sentence on Twitter, but I don’t want to be lost in the Twitter world. I want to make simple project and learn something out of it. I have been wanting to play around with web typography as well as crafting each page with a unique design.

A couple months ago, I came across an article from David DeSandro about Stacey, a lightweight content management system and how he uses her to create each individual entry. Stacey is simple and very different from a traditional blog system like WordPress. I downloaded Stacey and was impressed by her simplicity, but I couldn’t do anything beyond the default template. I needed a real project to get a hang of it. So I stripped the system down even further to do what I wanted to do. I got stuck and contacted David for assistance. He replied the next day and even showed me the source to his entire site. I was in awed. Mad props go out to David.

Since this is a personal project, I could careless if the site works across all browsers. Safari is the only one I test it on. There are no reset CSS, no layouts and no clear fixes. The site is a very basic HTML5 markup with very little use of CSS. All fonts are real (no images). I am currently using some from Google Font Directory as well as the safe fonts beyond the Helvetica. I’ll try to look out for more free fonts to link to.

So I hope you enjoy this tiny project. I am not sure how often I will update this site, but you could pick up the RSS to be notified whenever a new piece is up.

After hanging out at the mall and had lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Cu Dao, Dana and my sister-in-law, I couldn’t stay awake for the match between Germany and Uruguay. Both Dana and I got knocked out on the couches while my sister-in-law looked after Duke. Besides, I was not too excited about this game. I am looking forward to the final game tomorrow. I pick Holland simply because I had been so wrong in this World Cup. One more wrong doesn’t make much difference. In any rate, I wish both countries best of luck.

It’s amazing how a month of World Cup already over. After tomorrow, things will be back to normal again. The World Cup category will be disappeared on this site as well.

After the disappointment of Argentina’s performance, let’s hope the Spain will give Germany a heck of a game.

After getting back from my vacation last month, I haven’t jogged again. Work is still overwhelming and the rising heat (above 100 degrees) is blocking my motivation. I just stay inside and eat more. When I look at life, she depresses me. Fortunately whenever I look at Duke, he keeps me going even though I can hardly keep up with his energy.

I’ll be surprise if Uruguay could send the Netherlands home. Then again, I was so dead wrong about Argentina.

The World Cup this year has been quite unpredictable. Even Brazil lost to the Netherlands. The next match, Argentina vs. Germany, should be one of the best games in this World Cup. In fact, it could have been a final match. My prediction is that Argentina will advance. Then Spain will advanced over Paraguay. The Argentina will beat Spain to go the the final. On the other hand, Netherlands will have an easier win over Uruguay to get to the final. So next Sunday, the final match will be between Netherlands vs Argentina and my prediction for the 2010 World Cup will belong to Argentina.

I am still in the process of transitioning to a new Mac laptop. I migrated everything except for CS5, in which I am still waiting for the eligibility variation. I sent in both my GW’s ID and pay stub, but I was rejected. Now I have to wait for HR to write Adobe a letter to state that I work for GW in order for me to get the serial number. If I knew that I had to go through all these troubles, I would have stayed with CS4. If this is how Adobe continues to do business in the next release, I will not upgrade to CS6.

Sure I watch “So You Think You Can Dance.” I get to check out Cat Deeley’s outfit, some fine ladies with gorgeous physique and occasionally some great performances. Last night, Alex Wong gave a kick-ass hip-hop routine for a ballet dancer.

On the new release, Mot Khuc Song Hong, Le Minh Son offers his own sketches of Hanoi. After his failed attempt to sing in his last release, Le Minh Son has smartened up to know not to deliver the songs himself; therefore, he enlisted his veterans (Thanh Lam, Tung Duong and Ngoc Khue) as well as rookies (Hoang Quyen and Ha Linh) to help out with the vocals.

Tung Duong sets off the album with “Ha Noi Cua Toi Oi.” As always, Tung Duong delivers the tune with soul, power and individuality. Le Minh Son’s simple strumming guitar is a perfect complement to Tung Duong’s voice. The sensational, Miles-ballad trumpet solo heightens the vibe of the tune. Ngoc Khue continues with “Co Ve Pho,” in which she brings back her child-like signature in Ben Bo Ao Nha Minh. Again Le Minh Son’s accompanying guitar is marvelous along the distinctive sound of the Vietnamese flute. Although Hoang Quyen is new to me, I dig her dark, raspy vocals immediately on “Ret Dau Mua.” On here, Le Minh Son switches up his guitar for some Latin flavor. The best part is when he picks an obstinato in responding to Hoang Quyen’s upper register. The arrangements get more complex after the third track, yet they become less intriguing. Le Minh Son should have stayed with the simple acoustic throughout.

The Lam-Son collaboration used to be a match made in heaven, but now it’s a match made in hell. They should mesh well since Son likes his songs to be sings with authority and passion. Thanh Lam definitely has both. In fact, she is over-qualified. As a result, her vibrato on the big notes is unbearable, especially on “Truoc Giao Thua.” On the title track, Thanh Lam sounds like she’s in a trance and she uses vibrato like T-Pain uses Auto-Tune.

Ha Linh who is also new to me closes out the album with “Han Han.” The song sounds more like Ngoc Dai than Le Minh Son. Nevertheless, Mot Khuc Song Hong offers some refreshing new tunes instead of the endless covering of old tunes that currently dominating the Vietnamese pop scene.

Japan has packed up. It’s time for Spain vs. Portugal. It should be a great match.

Damn Portugal!