An intriguing piece in the New York Times magazine on Human-flesh search engines in China:

Human-flesh search engines — renrou sousuo yinqing — have become a Chinese phenomenon: they are a form of online vigilante justice in which Internet users hunt down and punish people who have attracted their wrath. The goal is to get the targets of a search fired from their jobs, shamed in front of their neighbors, run out of town. It’s crowd-sourced detective work, pursued online — with offline results.

Xuan Khoi sounds so much like Tuan Ngoc, only sleepier. In fact, Tuan Ngoc is all over his new album, Chieu Mot Minh Qua Pho. As soon as Xuan Khoi begins to sing the first bar on the opening track, Tu Cong Phung’s “Tren Thang Ngay Da Qua,” you can immediately recognize the phrasing. Even the music is arranged in Duy Cuong’s Latin flavor.

Like many of Tuan Ngoc’s followers, Xuan Khoi isn’t capable of reaching the upper register with ease, a skill that sets Tuan Ngoc apart from his imitators. Tuan Ngoc’s influence is even more transparent on Tu Cong Phung’s “Tinh Tu Mua Xuan.” Not only his phrasing, but his flow and his vibrato come straight from Tuan Ngoc’s classic rendition. The difference is that Xuan Khoi gets shaky on the long notes and he lacks the romance and authority Tuan Ngoc brought to the tune. Obviously Duy Cuong’s semi-classical orchestration is unmatchable.

The whole time I am listening to Xuan Khoi, yet all I could think about is Tuan Ngoc. From Pham Duy’s “Tinh Cam” to Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Ao Lua Ha Dong” to Nguyen Trung Cang’s “Bang Khuan Chieu Noi Chu,” Xuan Khoi simply can’t escape Tuan Ngoc’s shadow. Both Xuan Khoi and I have one thing in common: we spend way too much time with the musician’s musician. My suggestion to Xuan Khoi is to stop listening to Tuan Ngoc, stay away from Tuan Ngoc’s repertoire, and don’t even think about covering Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Rieng Mot Goc Troi.”

What have you been up to these days? I just realize that the last time we met each other was almost a decade ago. Isn’t that crazy? We have a lot of catching up to do and I don’t even know where to start. Well, I got married and blessed with a very cute boy. His name is Duke. I named him after Duke Ellington. I always wanted you to meet him one of these days, but I can’t find you.

Last week I called your office, but an operator at Millersville answered instead. He told me that the Upward Bound program is no longer with the University and he didn’t know where you had moved to or if the program has been closed. I went to the main Upward Bound site, but I couldn’t find any information on you. I looked up the phonebook and saw your name listed in Lancaster area. I dialed the numbers immediately hoping to hear your voice. The phone rang four times then someone picked up but slammed right back down. At that moment, I realized that I have lost contact to the person that played an important role in my life.

I don’t know if you knew it or not, but you were someone that got me to where I am today. If it was not for the extraordinary program you ran, I don’t know where or how I would end up. Right from seventh grade, Upward Bound was already prepared me for my future. Those summertime living and studying on Millersville campus were some of the fondest memories of my life.

Your program landed me on all the colleges I have applied and I picked my first choice. After my first semester at La Salle University, I was struggling and wanted to drop out. I came to you asking if I could transfer back to Millersville. You picked up the phone and just like that I got in, but then you also encouraged me to give La Salle one more semester. If I still feel the same, I could always come to Millersville. It was the best advice you had given me. I went back to La Salle and I found what I wanted to do.

In the summer of my sophomore year, I went back to Lancaster and needed a temporary job. I called you up and you put me in charge of the Upward Bound web site. My task was to update the content, but I surprised you with a whole new redesign. You were thrilled and I had my first site for my portfolio. You put me in contact with other departments in Millersville and I began to build up my resume.

I still remember your reaction when I showed you “Vietnam In Memoriam,” my latest motion work at the time. Although you didn’t understand the words, you could feel the emotion from the vocalists accompanying the war-related photos. A couple weeks later, you took me to a conference, which filled with professors, about digital storytelling. The piece moved them and they asked me to explain my intention behind it. It was nerve-wrecking, but at the same time rewarding.

Until this day, I have never once forget the guidance and encouragement you had given me. I have always looked up to you as a role model. What I respect you the most is that as a successful African-American woman, you always embraced diversity. Ms. Cross, if you read this open letter by any chance, please contact me.

Sincerely yours,

Donny

After Duke’s doctor appointment, Dana and I hit The Burger Joint on Washington Street in Alexandria before heading to work. We split The Burger, The Cuban and some fries. Because Dana can’t eat raw meat (for the baby’s sake), we ordered our patties to be medium cooked. It turned out to be quite dried. I wasn’t feeling the prime beef on The Burger. The Cuba was a bit over the top with an addition of roasted pork. The crispy fries were banging though.

We took Duke back to the pediatrician today to monitor his weight. Last month he dropped out of the curve on the chart. This morning he weighed 16 pounds and 7 ounces. He gained 8 ounces in a month. The doctor said that he is doing fine as long as he’s growing at his own term.

Cu Dao has been eating well and drinking milk regularly. He loves to try out new food so we give him whatever we feel it is safe for him to eat. We’re also planning on introducing him to whole milk very soon and hope that he’ll like it as much as the smoothie I made for him and myself after dinner.

Last weekend, we signed him up for the third-level Gymboree class. On Saturday, he didn’t come up to other kids nor tried to head-butt them. He was more like observing the whole time. On Sunday, we tried out a music class and he was not engaged at all. He was just in his own world. We hope that he will participate more in the future classes.

One of the coolest colleagues at GW School of Business had left us early this morning. Larry Layne worked as a specialist in the Office of Special Events, but he was the man to go to for anything around the school.

For me personally, Mr. Layne was the one who took great care of me while I am at work. I locked myself out coming to work several times, he was always there to let me in. At the school’s functions, he hooked me up with drinks (Hennessy and coke or cranberry and vodka) that only him could ordered from the bartender. When there was food leftover from any event, he would holler at me to grab some or he would just save me a plate. After a fancy or formal event, he would put away a centerpiece for me to give to my wife.

Best of all, Mr. Layne was always bringing a positive vibe around us. Whenever I felt stressed out, he was the man to go to. His energy and sense of humor were always appreciated. Unfortunately, cancer had taken a great man away from us. I will miss Mr. Layne enormously.

On her new release, Nguoi Dan Ba Di Nhat Mat Troi, Thien Kim sounds bored out of her fucking mind. When taking on Truc Ho’s tunes in particular, what she really trying to tell him is, “Come on, boss! Do I really have to sing these songs again? Haven’t Lam Nhat Tien and Lam Thuy Van already covered the shit out of them?”

On the remixed version of Truc Ho’s “Vang Trang Tinh Yeu,” she delivers the track like she’s trying to catch some sleep than the club beat. Same goes toward the wimpy cha-cha on “Se Hon Bao Gio Het,” she wants to be cuddle under the sheet more than anything else. The lame-out, upbeat remix of “Mai Yeu Nguoi Thoi” shows that Mr. Truc Ho’s creativity has drought out. Like a manufacture, he makes beats to meet productions rather than expectations.

The most heartfelt moment on here—there has to be something—is unsurprisingly not from Truc Ho. Accompanied by Truc Sinh’s picking guitar and spare-arranged strings, Thien Kim pours out her heart and soul to express Van Dong (Duc Tien)’s lyrical emotion on the title track. Words of advice to “Nguoi Dan Ba Di Nhat Mat Troi”: It’s time to pick up the sun outside of Asia’s sky.

With Dam Vinh Hung as his mentor, no wonder Duong Trieu Vu is a fucktard. His latest release, Mai Mai Ben Em, goes beyond mediocre thanks to Mr. Dam who translated two tunes exclusively for this album. “Nguoi La Ai, O Dau?” is one of those Chinese-melody songs that has translated into many Vietnamese versions. Same music, different words, good job, Mr. Dam!

If we were to take Vietnamese words off the album, Mai Mai Ben Em sounds more like a Chinese record. From “Xa Em Ky Niem” to “Dung Lua Doi Nhau” to “Sad Without You,” there is nada Vietnamese aesthetics in those songs. Even a Vietnamese tune written by a Vietnamese writer, like Yen Lam’s “Rat Muon,” the nursery rap and the Chinese-inflected hook don’t give the listeners a hint of Vietnamese culture. Without reading the credit, one wouldn’t have known that the song is Vietnamese.

With Jimmy Nguyen’s “Mai Mai Ben Em,” Le Quyen’s recent version puréed Duong Trieu Vu’s into baby food from her authoritative vocals to the elegant arrangement. On Do Dinh Phuc’s “Trai Tim Cho Em,” another heavily Chinese-influenced, you can hear Mr. Dam all over it. From song selection to the album art, Mr. Dam is pretty much shaped the direction. Just look at the ridiculous album cover: Duong Trieu Vu looks like he’s posing for an energy-drink commercial.

A mother ordered her young girl who is in her early teens a vanilla ice cream cone at a Dairy Queen takeout while I was waiting for my banana split. When my order came up the girl looked at it and told her mother, “I never have banana split before in my life.” The mother was shocked. I looked at her and smiled. She joked, “I must be a really bad parent.”

What I like about freelancing is the wide range of projects and the ability to work one on one with my clients. As a result, freelancing is always challenging yet rewarding at the same time. I get the freedom to design web sites that truly represent the client’s purpose.

My approach to design is very focused. Instead of giving my client two or three choices to choose from, I narrow down to just one even though I might have come up with severals. I also design the mockup as closed to the finish site as possible to help the clients see what the real site would like look like; therefore, contents are extremely important right up front.

Designing a web site is not too hard, but taking away unnecessary elements is quite a challenge. Take the homepage of Thirsty for an example. The author wants to give the site a dark feel but with a light touch of hope. The background is a powerful image of the steel mill. To convey hope and to stay true to the book, I started off with a few dozens of butterflies all over the page. Then I realized that the butterflies were taking over the dramatic feel. I reduced the number down to three, then two, then just one. Hope is very slim, but it is there.

Another instance is the site for Julie Tran Law. Initially on each page, I had a button to allow users to switch language. So if you’re reading the about page in English, there would be a button that would say “Doc Tieng Viet.” In contrast, if you’re on a Vietnamese page, you would see a button that would say “Read in English.” After clicking through the pages, the button began to bug me. It’s not only distracting contents, but also insulting the readers’ intelligent and that was not my intention at all. Users can still get to where they want to read using the English/Vietnamese navigation so I chucked the button.

Like I said, the beauty of freelancing is that I never know what kind of sites I will be designing. I have never done a book site before nor have I done a law site before. I wanted to work on a restaurant site for a while and Le Mekong was a perfect opportunity. Obviously my love for food and design play a huge part in my inspiration.

Beside designing web pages from the ground up, I also get to freelance on parts of the sites. For Brand3, I put my little PHP knowledge to good use. The good thing is that I have been using WordPress for a while and feel very comfortable with skinning it to fit my client’s needs.

I am also collaborating with a geeky-ass programmer who is also a visitor to Visualgui.com on a very simple but complex project. He handles all the back end and I am in charge of the design as well as front-end development. I pulled an all-nightner last Friday on the project, but the good thing was I was not alone. He was miles away, and at the same time he was right there in my phone.

Mad props to Dana and my mother-in-law for looking after Duke while I crank out these projects. I couldn’t do it without their help and support.