Around 3 pm I received a call from Cu Dao’s teacher reporting that he vomited again after taking 5 oz of milk. She also said that his temperature was about 100.4F. I had to come pick him up and he won’t be able to return to class until Thursday.

I took him home and he seemed fine. We had some mango salsa with peach, which is Cu Dao’s favorite snack. We measured his temperature again and it was dropped to 99F. We fed him and sent him off to bed. Tomorrow he’ll spend time at home with grandma.

Around 4pm, Duke’s evening teacher called because he threw up. Dana took him him around 4:30. When I got home from work, he was too busy catching up with grandma that he didn’t even noticed that I was there.

Duke didn’t eat much and refused to take milk while he was at the daycare. He did sleep and enjoyed the ride outside. I dropped him off this morning and he started to cry as soon as I placed him on the floor. The teacher picked him up and tried to sooth him while I was stocking his food and filling out the form. I said goodbye to him and walked out. I could hear him screamed outside the door.

Last night I was so bummed out that I immediately went to catch a nap right after dinner. Dana gave him a bath, fed him and put him to bed. I got back up around ten to do some work and I was very productive.

Alone with the piano, Hiromi’s takes listeners on a roller-coaster ride around the world in her Place to Be. The first stop is “BQE” (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) where traffic vibe is built using series of chromatic scales; then we jump over to France for delightful treat of “Choux a la Creme” (sweet and full of textures); and on we go. While the infectious “Capecode Chips” shows off her boogie-woogie chops, “Somewhere,” a tribute to someone closed to her that passed away, displays her sentimental side. Place to Be, which captures some of Hiromi’s finest and impressive jazz improvisations, is a testament that Hiromi can be placed anywhere on this earth and she will make her voicing heard.

Dana and I were up past midnight packing things and preparing foods for Cu Dao’s first day away from grandma. The anxiety of sending him off to daycare caused me not to sleep so well. I got up around 6 and went through the checklist one more time to see if we had everything covered. I came back to the room around 7 and Duke was still sleeping. I had to wake him up to get him ready to go. I am responsible for dropping him off and Dana is responsible for picking him up, but we both went since it was his first day. It turned out to be much less frightening than what I had imagine. The teachers seemed to be very nice and caring. He did cried when we left, but we just let him go. I am sure he will be alright.

Update: Duke is still crying. Poor little guy!

In two weeks my boy will turn one. It still feels like yesterday that we welcomed him into this world. Not a single day went by that I don’t look forward to spend time with him. I still can’t get over the fact that the tiny guy in a big car seat (the day we took him home from the hospital) is now can hardly fit in it anymore. I put him back into that old car seat the other day and he made the car seat looks tiny. His feet were sticking out and I could hardly buckled him up. If a year feels like yesterday, 18 years will be a breeze as well. Before I know it, he will be his own man.

In preparing for Duke’s first birthday, we’re trying to gather things for him to pick. I am not sure if it is the Vietnamese tradition, but on the child’s first birthday he gets to choose a bunch of things like stethoscope, mic, comb, scissors and so on. If he picks the stethoscope, he would end up being a doctor. Dana, in particular, would really want Duke to be a doctor. What parents wouldn’t? For me, whatever makes him happy. I will be supportive of him for whatever he choose to do in life.

Dana and I had been debating about this topic on many occasions. Her argument is not to force him to be a doctor, but to encourage him. If he could be a doctor, that’s great. If not, it’s fine. I understand her view completely, but I don’t want to set an expectation for him. I don’t want him to feel disappointed if he can’t make my expectation. I want him to do what he wants to do for himself and not for me. As long as he has the passion and works hard toward his goal, I will be behind him one hundred percent.

Anyway, we’ll see how he will turn out. I can’t predict anything from the future, but I am filled with joy to have him. Here are some of his latest snapshots.

Although Dr. Tran Viet Tan doesn’t make a living off his music, he sure knows how to put together a high-quality album. He either has the strong connection or plenty of dough to scoop up four brand-name vocalists (Hong Nhung, Thanh Lam, Ha Tran and Tung Duong) as well as big-name producers including Hoai Sa on his new release Cham Vao Dem. Furthermore, the album cover was well designed: stunningly simple and typographically clever.

Even with all that jazz, it can’t hide the fact that the doc is not a melodic composer. Hong Nhung had done her best to bring some life to “Vo Oc Thoi Gian,” “Bai Ky Niem” and “Song Ve,” but still can’t save them from being dead boring. The melodies are just flat. Thanh Lam tries to give the title track some rough edges with her irritating flow and annoying vibrato. She ends up making the tune unbearable. Even Tung Duong fails to make the doc’s song exciting. On “Dem Sapa,” he sounds as if he tries to kill an ant with a sledgehammer. The beat is light and bouncy, but his voice is so heavy and dull.

Listening to Cham Vao Dem is like going to an upscale restaurant. The decoration looks expensive and the presentation appears to be enticing, but the food simply has no taste. The up-tempo of “Hay Coi Nhau Nhu Tinh Nhan” performed by the doc himself is like the extra red bean soup you get at a Chinese restaurant at the end of the meal.

About two months ago, Hung Hoang, founder of VN Collective, invited me to a Vietnamese concert titled Dem Nho Ve Sai Gon (Memories of Sai Gon) in Mississauga. He also wanted to use two of my slideshows, “Bien Nho” and “Vietnam In Memoriam,” for the event. Although none of my work was shown for technical (and some political) issues, I still drove across the border to attend the show. The reason being that I haven’t seen neither Tuan Ngoc nor Khanh Ha live.

Tuan Ngoc didn’t disappoint. He had proven that age ain’t nothing but a number and he often joked about it during the show. By the way, his dry humors were clever and brought out the not-so-serious side of him. His outstanding performances of the night included the nostalgic rendition of Tram Tu Thien’s “Dem Nho Ve Sai Gon,” soulful take on Trinh Cong Son’s “Phoi Pha” and Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Ao Lua Ha Dong.” Loved the bossa-nova arrangement on “Ao Lua Ha Dong” and the way the piano comping behind Tuan Ngoc. His weaker performances were Trinh Cong Son’s “Ha Trang” (the mid-tempo arrangement ruined the lyrical imaginations) and “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” Tuan Ngoc can sing English, but not so great. His flow was stilted and his accent was transparent.

During intermission, I had an opportunity to catch up and thank Hung Hoang for the invitation. Knowing that Mr. Hoang is the organizer, a not-so-bad-looking lady in her mid thirties interrupted our conversation to request a song from Tuan Ngoc. She wanted to hear him sing “Rieng Mot Goc Troi.” I wanted to slap her for one of my visitors, but I looked at Mr. Hung and laughed instead. Tuan Ngoc did delivered “Rieng Mot Goc Troi” near the end of the concert and still managed to show off his technical skill for the 999 times he had sung the tune.

Unlike Tuan Ngoc, Khanh Ha was quite a disappointment. She literally fucked up the theme of the show simply because she came way too late to practice with the band. She started out with Van Phung’s “Toi Di Giua Hoang Hon” out of tune. She sang in one key while the band played in another. The saxophone kicked in at the bridge caused her to dropped out instead of finishing up the song. Her version of “Autumn Leaves” was a mess. The band, which consisted of Canadian players, and her didn’t communicate. It was so horrible that she had to request a kid who could play some classical piano to accompanied her instead of the jazz band. She managed to pulled off Anh Bang’s “Khuc Thuy Du,” Truong Sa’s “Xin Con Goi Ten Nhau” and “Unchain Melody” with just a piano behind her. She went as far as singing Hoang Duong’s “Huong Ve Ha Noi” in an acappella style, although the theme was clearly about remembering Sai Gon. I guess she wanted to take a detour.

If this was a Tuan Ngoc & Khanh Ha show, it was decent. They both delivered their signature songs well. However, for a show with a concept of Dem Nho Sai Gon, it was all over the place. The song selection didn’t take the listeners back to Sai Gon. Choices like Thanh Tung’s “Giot Nang Ben Them,” Pham Dinh Chuong’s “Nua Hon Thuong Dau,” Duc Huy’s “Bai Di Canh Chim Bien,” Pham Duy’s “Kiep Nao Con Co Nhau” didn’t evoke the images of Sai Gon.

Musically, the band’s playing was way too restricted. Unlike Say Thu with Thu Phuong, in which the band swung, played the blues and added some Latin flavors, they played mostly pop ballad and only accommodated the vocalists. They hardly brought out their solos and improvisations. They didn’t played with confidence.

Dem Nho Sai Gon was disorganized and it was out of the organizer’s control. I could see how tough it was to put together a show; therefore, I have already abandoned my idea of my ideal concert.

As I was going through my boxes of old CDs, which had been sitting in the basement ever since we moved into the new place, I came across Tuan Ngoc and Thai Hien’s Doi Mat Nguoi Son Tay. I brushed off the dusk, popped the CD into my stereo and the music sounded fresher than ever. With Duy Cuong’s lust, sensual orchestration backing up two of the best balladeers, what’s more can one ask for?

Thai Hien kicks off the album with the title track. I could visualize the sparkling, gorgeous eyes in Pham Dinh Chuong’s “Doi Mat Nguoi Son Tay” (poem by Quang Dung) through Thai Hien’s angelic alto. Tuan Ngoc follows up with a trip to memory lane in Cung Tien’s “Huong Xua.” The gentleness in his tenor along with Duy Cuong’s classical arrangement gives the tune a filmic nostalgia. Thai Hien returns with Pham Duy’s “Nuoc Mat Mua Thu.” Unlike Le Thu, Thu Phuong and Ngoc Ha who use their vocal power, Thai Hien uses her quiet tears to lyricize the sentiment of the song and the result is quite striking without belting.

The album only has two duet tracks and they both from Le Uyen Phuong. Only the first one, “Tren Da Tinh Yeu,” is truly a duet. The second one is just a medley with each takes on a tune similar to Asia’s approach on its video releases. Other than that, the album can be experienced from start to finish and on repeat. Doi Mat Nguoi Son Tay is definitely an oldie but goodie.

A couple weeks ago, a Visualgui.com visitor sent me Camille Huyen’s Cung Tien Art Songs for review and the album has become a personal favorite for Duke (my son) and me. Besides Lullaby: A Collection, Art Songs could put both of us to sleep, rain or shine. Dana drove us to Duke’s Gymboree class earlier today and both of us in the backseat knocked out listening to the album by the time we arrived.

As sleepy as it sounds, Art Songs is a genuine work. The tracks on the albums are so intimate that they required undivided attention, preferably in a quiet area with the lights dimmed. With minimal arrangements, the music is all close ups. Camille Huyen was born in Hue and although she is currently living in Switzerland, her exquisite central accent has yet escaped her. With a trio (led and orchestrated by her classical guitar teacher Walther Giger) backing her up, Camille Huyen transfers Cung Tien’s compositions to a whole classical level.

On “Doi Bo” she floats her haunting, deep-sorrow alto into Quang Dung’s lyrics while the picking guitar reflects her forlorn. Another mesmerizing track is also based on Quang Dung’s poem “Ke O.” Love the way the guitar responds to the voice as if it feels her sadness. In fact, most of the songs are accompanied by an acoustic guitar with a few exceptions like “Vet Chim Bay” and “Khoi Ho Bay,” which included hypnotic double bass from Fumio Shirato and doleful violin from Noriko Kawamura. What makes “Khoi Ho Bay” a guilty pleasure is Nguyen Tuong Giang’s erotic lyrics: “Nho em nguc nho moi ai ngam / Mat ngot tran gian huong ngat ngay.” Nguyen Ngoc Bich has translated, “Your [small breast] where my lips come to anchor / To taste in ecstasy the honey of the world.”

The tracks are so consistent that you either listen to the entire selection or not at all and if you listen to it passively like we did, you will end up falling asleep. Although Art Songs released three years ago, it is the freshest Vietnamese album I have heard so far this year due to the endless cover of old songs with nothing new that is dominating the pop scene.

When I got home from work yesterday, the wind was picking up and the sky was about to rain; therefore, I couldn’t take Cu Dao to the playground. I decided to give him a haircut instead. Duke loved the sound of the clipper. He sat still for about fifteen minutes, which as long enough for me to buzz off his thin hair, before he got bored and moved around. He actually looks pretty cute with a bald cut although I didn’t shave all the way this time. Of course, I gave myself a buzz as well. Every time we’re together, the complement I always get is, “he looks just like you, especially his head.” Like father, like son.