Anh Reiss who was diagnosed with leukemia called myelodysplastic syndrome is waiting for a donor. Houston Chronicle‘s Claidia Feldman reports:

Some 7 million Americans have signed up to be potential donors. But of those registered with the National Marrow Donor Program, only 15,000 share Reiss’ Vietnamese heritage, which is key to finding a match. Already, she has struck out with all of them.

My Vietnamese friends, please consider becoming a donor by signing up to be the Match Marrowthon.

I just put together an infopage for GW Sport Management MBA. Broke down the image brochure and included texts for search engines to pick up as well as accessibility. Hopefully when someone type in “GW Sports management masters,” she won’t land on a Georgetown’s page.

Dana and I left our little Duke yesterday for a few hours with his grandmother so we could head into D.C. to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet performed at Warner Theatre in concluding the Washington Performance Art Society’s 2008/2009 jazz season. It could be our last chance to see one of the jazz living legends. At 89, Brubeck could barely walk by himself, yet his playing showed no sign of aging.

He could still swing hard on Duke Ellington’s “Let’s Take the ‘A’ Train” even when he just played staccato chords on his right hand. With Bobby Militello (alto saxophone and flute), Michael Moore (bass) and Randy Jones (drums), Brubeck took Fred Waring’s “Sleep, Sleep, Sleep” into another direction like he had promised not to put us to sleep. With Brubeck’s virtuosity in both jazz and classical, he brought the two worlds closer through his brother Howard’s “Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra.” His classical piano solos were some of the most hypnotic moments of the show.

While the crowd was pleased as soon as Brubeck struck the “Take Five” chords and saluted with standing ovation at the end, I was left a bit disappointed. It’s unfair to compare Bobby Militello to Paul Desmond, but Militello’s playing was not as fluid as Desmond’s. The band completely dropped out when Jones soloed. Brubeck didn’t do his signature obstinato behind him either. Jones’s improvisation was a long and energy and I was anticipating in hearing Brubeck and Moore to follow up, but the band came back and took the tune out instead.

As we were leaving, I overheard a man telling a woman that if he were a musician, he would be glad if he could play like Brubeck, even in his 50’s. I am sure many musicians wish they could play a fraction like Brubeck, even in their 30’s.

Dana and I used to follow Jon & Kate Plus 8. We adored the kids and admired the parents for putting up with all the craziness. I could barely survive with just one. With all the hardship the couple had been through, we thought that nothing could break the two apart. We were wrong. Cheating damn near ruined such a perfect family. I wonder how Jon going to explain to his kids what he did. Well, mommy wasn’t around and daddy had to have his needs.

Cheating is bad, but it’s even worse when you get caught and you will get caught. Even the formal president Bill Clinton and former governor Eliot Spitzer couldn’t get away with cheating. Actually, Spitzer was just paying for some pussy. Again, a man has his needs.

I don’t cheat because I haven’t heard of a successful cheating story. Even if the fish is on the chopping board, I don’t dare to bait it. I have worked too damn hard to earn her trust since the first day we met. Once you lose that trust, the relationship will be cracked forever. Even if she forgives, she never forgets. It will haunt you for the rest of your life. In addition, I can’t betray Duke. I can’t let our problems to affect his life and I don’t have to explain to him later on why I cheated on mommy.

So if you like to cheat, don’t get married. If you want to get married, don’t cheat. It’s not a game.

This year alone, the ladies are dominating the jazz vocals. Here are the five albums that are heavily rotating on my iTunes:

Madeleine Peyroux’s Bare Bones
Tierney Sutton’s Desire
Melody Gardot’s My One and Only Thrill
Diana Krall’s Quiet Nights
Jane Monheit’s The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me

On the sublime, live-set Unlimited Symphony, the Unlimited gives Vietnamese audience a taste of prog rock with the support of the HCMC Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Do Kien Cuong. While the rock-opera remake of “Phantom of the Opera” (featuring soprano vocalist Ngoc Tuyen) is less than desirable, the 21-minute rework of Le Thuong’s “Hon Vong Phu” epic is a brilliant incorporation of rock, classical and jazz elements into traditional folktale. Yet, on the rock-up cover of “Noi Vong Tay Lon,” in which the crowd went buck wild singing along to Trinh Cong Son’s lyrics, and the band’s original tunes are where the Unlimited truly brings the noise.

A Vietnamese-American woman who worked hard all her life to buy a villa in Vietnam. Unfortunately she didn’t get a chance to live in it so her last wish was to be buried in it. Read the freaky story in Vietnamese.

“Food Party” is a surreal cooking show hosted by a Thu Tran, a 27-year-old artist. New York Times‘ Dave Itzkoff writes:

The show, which graduates from the Web to the Independent Film Channel on Tuesday, is a place for Ms. Tran to bring her colorful and bizarre fantasies to life. But mostly, “Food Party” is a place for its star to share her abiding, and at times overwhelming, love of food.

Learn more about the show at IFC.

Jay Heinrichs teaches his kids to argue because “persuasion is powerful.” He argues:

An argument is good; a fight is not. Whereas the goal of a fight is to dominate your opponent, in an argument you succeed when you bring your audience over to your side.

I have also added a category called Parenthood.

Love her or loathe her, Minh Tuyet is a pop phenomenon. While most of her peers come, shake up the music scene, and then gone, Minh Tuyet is going to be around for a long time. What is her secret recipe? She turns instant Ramen into a savory noodle house with Chinese-inflected flavors and doses of SMG prepared by the CEO of pop franchise Tung Chau.

With her new release, Da Khong Con Hoi Tiec, Minh Tuyet continues to hone her skill as an operatic actress of song, which is her ability to make even the most exaggerated lyrics convincing. On “I am Sorry,” the Vietglish chorus, “I am sorry, I am sorry, em van anh tron kiep loi thu tha,” seems laughable, but she comes across like she means every damn word she sings. On “Hoang Mang,” she phrases, “Vi anh lanh lung bang gia / con toi con tim that tha / Nen minh toi om long dem nhuc nhoi,” like an Academy-award winner, full of heart-breaking melodramas.

An old high school buddy of mine who used to work at Diamond informed me that Minh Tuyet packed the club every time she came through. Even though she likes to capture our heart, she doesn’t want to abandon our feet either. The Latin-groove “Trai Tim Trao Anh” and the title track are for her club heads.

Before many elites among us condemning me for giving such an artless artist a free pass, let me explain. As much as I want to smack her upside the head, I can’t hate her for getting paid by the industry to be mediocre. I don’t give up. I give in.