Trịnh Công Sơn:

Khi người tình cho bạn một tình yêu, thì trong trái ngọt đã có thêm mùi vị của đắng cay. Tình yêu của mẹ là không hề lợi vị. Ở trái tim của mẹ chỉ có sự tràn đầy, không bớt đi hoặc thêm vào gì nửa. Một người tình có thể ác độc với bạn nhưng trong lòng người mẹ chỉ có từ tâm. Sự ác độc mang đến giá băng trong lòng bạn, và chỉ có huỷ diệt chứ không thể làm sinh nở một điều gì tốt lành. Chỉ có ở người mẹ bạn mới có thể tìm được lòng chung thuỷ tuyệt đối. Hãy tin chắc rằng không thể nơi nào có một lòng chung thuỷ như vậy nữa. Bởi vì đối với mẹ, bạn luôn là mục đich đầu tiên và sau cùng.

“Mother’s Day” by Jae Millz

Vuong Dung’s debut, Trai Cam Mat Troi, was awesome, but her new follow-up Dzung is just awful. Whereas the first was a clever concept, the second is all over the place. She ditched her contemporary folks signature for soft, electric pop. Throughout the album she either sounds like Thanh Lam or Ngoc Khue. The album-closer “Son” (an upbeat folk tune written by Duc Nghia) is the only track that she actually sounds like Vuong Dung. It’s a damn shame to see a stallion going down in the pop race.

The new design for department of Information Systems & Technology Management is by far my favorite color scheme.

Meagan Fisher’s new, simpler, cleaner, brighter, friendlier personal site.

The Turtle Island, a contemporary string quartet, reworks John Coltrane’s masterpiece A Love Supreme. The live performance is available to listen at NPR.

An awesome clip of Eminem freestyling over cha cha cha beat and followed by an uncensored interview. Yes, you could actually cuss on German TV.

Inspired by the critical praises on her recording of Trinh Cong Son’s “Con Tuoi Nao Cho Em,” a simple rendition accompanied by an acoustic picking guitar, Hien Thuc releases Portrait 17, an entire Trinh songbook. Although she is wise enough to pick his less well-known repertoire, she is not smartening up enough to stick with simplicity.

The glossy productions take away the essence of Trinh’s lyricism. The new age vibe on “Chieu Tren Que Huong Toi” is a proof. The electric groove replaces the image of homeland (que huong) with some fantasy planet. Along with the slick r & b beat and Kenny G-style saxophone, her emotionless vocals put “Ve Trong Suoi Nguon” into a lazy afternoon. On the mid-tempo “Niu Tay Nghin Trung,” Tung Duong damn near pushes her off the track.

The turning point of the album is “Cuoi Cung Cho Mot Tinh Yeu” where she returns to acoustic arrangement. The classical-orchestrated “Muon Trung Bien Khoi” would have been exceptional if she could control her breath and eliminated the snoozing sax. The original version of “Con Tuoi Nao Cho Em” is also included as a bonus track. It’s an honest effort, but it is also apparent that Hien Thuc lacks the experience to take Trinh’s music to its fullest. Portrait 17 proves that point.

They look quite creepy.

Expressive nude paintings by Nguyen Kim Dinh

Asia’s latest DVD, Nhat Truong, Tran Thien Thanh 2, depresses the living hell out of me. I can’t get my mind off the image of Bang Tam with her forehead busted open lying in the hospital bed dying while bombs exploding in the background. The entire scene was so disturbing that I wish I didn’t get to it. In fact, I wish I didn’t watch the entire video at all. Now I can’t help feeling deeply sorry for our Vietnamese music.

She is like a cow being trapped in the box allowing Asia and other productions to milk every last drop out of her and preventing her from growing. When was the last time a new, original Vietnamese song was introduced in these videos? Tran Thien Thanh had quite a number of popular tunes and most of them were written in Borolo. Asia didn’t even bother to give them a new arrangement. Sitting through an entire Borolo rhythm with occasional upbeat is quite torturing.

Then again, we can’t really point the figure at these productions. As long as they could sell out their concerts and videos, why not repeating the concept? We need to step up our game before the productions could do their part. It’s all about supplies and demands. Save our music and give her a chance to grow.