I am loving Thu Hoai’s live performance of Phu Quang’s “Em Oi Ha Noi Pho” at Quan Van Nova. Although the tune has been covered countless time, Thu Hoai managed to bring something fresh to the tune without any reinterpretation. It has to be that raspy, sexy voice.

Thanks for dropping by our crib as well as the gifts. We might have a gig for you in August. I’ll get the exact date once the word is out. Hopefully, you guys will be available. I would love to hear this tune again live as well as other songs about Ha Noi.

This has to be a joke:

[B]anh mi pho is stuffed with the ingredients for pho, the sacred soup of Vietnam: beef scented with star anise and cinnamon, fresh basil and crunchy bean sprouts.

I wonder if banh bi pho comes with raw beef on the side. Creative or sacrilegious?

An interesting topic for inexperienced parents like myself.

As promised, here are a few shots of my newly-painted house for your inspiration or amusement. You can also view the before & after photos.

A poignant rendition of Trinh Con Son’s “Mot Coi Di Ve” performed by Thuy Tien and Richard Fuller and accompanied by a one-handed guitarist.

Men’s age could effect the kids as well according to Lisa Belkin:

Data they analyzed from more than 33,000 American children showed that the older the man when a child is conceived, the lower a child’s score is likely to be on tests of concentration, memory, reasoning and reading skills, at least through age 7.

…The little swimmers, scientists are finding, one study at a time, get older and less dependable along with every other cell in the male body.

The baby shower/house warming turned out fun. Lots of family members and friends came. Most of them liked the colors I have picked. Some think the basement, which I have intended to turn into an entertainment spot, is too dark. It was nice to see fifteen kids running up and down the house and around the backyard. We had a little egg hunting that lasted for about two minutes. I told my sister-in-law to let the little ones out first, which she did, but she didn’t wait long enough so the big kids got basket full of eggs while the little ones didn’t get much.

The food turned out good too and I convinced my wife to cater. We ordered fried rice, seafood noodles and fried chicken marinated in fish sauce at Café Trung Nguyen in Eden Center (reasonable price), goi vit (duck salad) at Thanh Tong (most people loved it) and butter chicken curry at our favorite five-dollar-cash buffet. My sister made some banging egg rolls. Mommy made my favorite nem chua. Sister-in-law made some blazing cheesecakes. We also had banh bot loc brought back from Houston.

As for the drinks, folks loved my special mango margarita. We had quite bit of mangos left and they were ripe and so sweet so I decided to do something with them. I added one part Grand Marnier, two parts Jose Cuervo Tradicional, a banana, some slices of pineapple, half a lime and ice into the blender. The result was fruity and exotic with a little kick of alcohol. My mom had two glasses of mango margarita and a glass of wine.

We are deeply appreciated all the gifts for our little guy, especial in the current state of economy. We were reluctant at first about the baby registry, but it turned out well. Friends and families were going to get the kid some gifts anyway so we might as well listed out what we need. That way it saved the folks the trouble of trying to figure out what we need and save us from getting extra stuffs that we don’t really need. A friend of ours didn’t register and she ended up getting tons of clothes for her kid and she didn’t need all of them.

We spent yesterday morning with my sister, mom and the two kids and the evening setting up the traveling system and the crib to prepare for the unexpected member. The doctor said he is getting ready to come out. I guess he knows that his daddy is waiting impatiently to play with him.

The gunman who killed 12 or 13 people in Binghamton, N.Y. is described as an Asian male. Damn, what’s going on with these guys?

Loving the Miles painting by Tadaomi Shibuya.

The great designers at Vassar are having some fun with the homepage. I also dig Chris’s simple and elegant design for the office of the Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs.