A new remix of “My President Is Black” featuring Jay-Z, Young Jeezy responds to O’Reilly’s recent comment on the Factor. He rhymed: “Bill O’Reilly eat a dick, nice try, you’re really being a racist asshole in a nice tie/and tell Dennis Miller his show suck anyway, and I’d rather watch Jimmy Kimmel anyday…”

I have a cousin who is a month older than me. Technically, she’s my niece, but we’re more like cousins. She lived next door to my house in Viet Nam and so we hung out together. We fought and we made up. She scratched me and I pulled her hair. When we were five, we crossed many big streets to go to the park far from our house to use the playground. I could still remember the shock on her mom’s face when our family was searching all over town for us.

In kindergarten, my cousin left Viet Nam to go to America. I came to class the next day and all I did was cried because she wasn’t there. The teacher made me stood outside of the class. I climbed out of school and went back to the playground. I missed my cousin. When I went home, my mom whipped my ass. I didn’t hear anything from my cousin for a while until I received toys, gums, chocolates and letters from her. I was so happy that she still remembered me.

Six years later, we moved to America. I was anxious to see my cousin again. When we finally met, my cousin had changed. She no longer spoke Vietnamese. We didn’t talk much. She had more conversations with my nephews than me. I felt left out. The good thing was we reconnected again when my family moved to her grandma’s apartment. I remembered ordering pizza, eating instant cup noodles and watching TV together.

Then my cousin moved again to a better school district. She went to white school and picked up the whiteness. I stayed back in black school and picked up the blackness. She was into pop-rock music while I was into hip-hop. Despite our differences, we hung together occasionally. My cousin didn’t know how to ride a bike until she was a little older. One time we were riding downhill, she lost control and slammed into a parked car. The lady who was the owner of the car cajoled us into calling her mom and made her mom paid for the little damage.

In college, we went our separate ways, but somehow we both ended up on the creative field. She took up graphic design and I took up web design. We both graduated at the same time, but she never became a graphic designer. Now I am married and about to become a father, yet she still enjoys her single life. That’s my cousin.

A time lapse video of a baby playing with his toys. Almost four hours packed into two minutes.

50 years later, Miles Davis’s 1959 landmark Kind of Blue sounds fresher than ever. If you have never listen to one of the best selling jazz albums in the history, start on the first disc. If you’re like me who had listened to the album for a couple hundred times, skip to the second disc for cover of standards from the all-star group: Miles, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. Pay particular attention to the previously unreleased version of “So What” and look out for Coltrane’s magnificent solo. The freedom of modal scales gave Coltrane the space he needed to blow at the peak of his power. Can’t get any better than this.

Considering the recent DVD releases from various productions, I have to give credit to Thuy Nga for what’s it worth. Van Son 41 in Florida is creatively dead. Tinh 17 in Thailand is just garbage. I didn’t even have to courage to pen a review for Asia’s staled Xuan video. Yet, the second installment of Paris by Night’s 25th Anniversary, Cam On Cuoc Doi, is even better than the first.

After a group-opening performance, Y Lan returned to her elegant and classy look. The red dress was stunning and so was her singing of Tu Minh’s “Hay Cu La Tinh Nhan.” The lyrics fit her personality perfectly: “Dung lam vo lam chong, roi nhin nhau chan ngan. Hay cu la tinh nhan de tinh ta menh mong.” No wonder she changed her husbands like clothes. Then Nhu Loan outdid herself again. The chick was blazing hot and she hid nothing. Even her panties were glittering. So what if she can’t sing. You can still enjoy her performance on mute. Now I understand what Sarah Palin meant when she said that she was fond of Tina Fay’s impersonation of her without the sound on. Hoang Oanh also brought back nostalgia with her fantastic rendition of Mai Chau’s “Mot Nguoi Di.” Her effortless delivery, flawless enunciation and ageless voice are her secret weapons.

The second disc is not as good as the first, but I am pretty sure the broadway-style performance of Bang Kieu and Quynh Vi will be used countless of times at weddings. Obviously Nguyen Hung and Thuy Van burned the dance floor once again with their dance moves. I am not sure how many versions of Tran Tien’s “Ra Ngo Ma Yeu” Tran Thu Ha has recorded, but this particular arrangement is the worst and she doesn’t have the visual appearence to back up her singing either. Trinh Hoi’s backstage-MCing style annoyed me to no end. He should have remained retired.

I find this video to be entertaining even the sitcom (have to hand it to the little kid Nguyen Huy) and the tan co dao duyen from Minh Quynh and Phi Nhung. It must be that my expectation has dropped six feet under.

Comparing to the constant release of Thuy Nga, Asia and Van Son, the three big productions, Tinh only comes out once in a blue moon, yet its latest music video in Thailand is a huge disappointment in so many levels.

First of all, the name should be changed from Tinh to Tuong entertainment since the Tuong brothers have dominated the double DVD. “Thuong Ba Me Que” is Tuong Nguyen and Tuong Khue duet. “Ben Doi Cho” is a Tuong Khue solo. “Chieu Ao Ba Ba” is a Tuong Nguyen solo. “Em Ve Keo Troi Mua” is a Tuong Nguyen and Thuy Khanh duet. That’s not all. They even recruited their sister Nhu Quynh for “Khoc Them Lan Nua.” My brother-in-law mused, “These guys must have paid the production to be on the video.” He might be right.

Musically speaking, Tinh tries to revive old pop hits with not much creativity. Mixing a bunch of Thai’s past hits with a bunch of wimpy, pseudo raps from Justin Nguyen, Kevin Khoa and Huy Vu just don’t cut it. The medley of “C. C. Catch” is even more horrendous on both musical and fashionable counts. The 80’s outfits on the chicks are just trashy. What makes it worst is that some of them are so skinny and flat-chested that the only things they showed were their guts.

What I really don’t understand is why filmed in Thailand? The production ran out of scenes in the U.S.? I am sure Thailand is a fantastic country to visit and I already get a feel of the exotic spot from Van Son production. I don’t need three more hours of music video to remind me once again that Bangkok is a place to travel. What made Tinh memorable in the past was the good storylines that went along with the music. Even the cheesy love story between Huy Vu and Minh Tuyet on “Huong Ruou Tinh Nong” still stuck on my mind. I am not going to lie. I almost shed a tear when I watched that.

Truthfully, I really like to see Tinh to be successful. Unlike other productions, Tinh relies only on DVD sales to make profit, but if this is the direction the production is heading, there won’t be any hope.

Lunar New Year to many Vietnamese abroad is simply just another day. Many of us can’t be around our family to celebrate. To many of us, Vietnamese New Year only exists in our memory. The good old spirit that could never be forgotten. We can’t expect to get the same vibe we had in our childhood anymore. In fact, I don’t expect much anymore. As long as I could be around the love ones and could think about those from afar, I am satisfied. Although I really don’t know all of you who come to Visualgui.com, as long as you’re here, you are visiting my house. So I wish you all a happy, prosperous Vietnamese New Year.

Albert Lee, my college buddy, hosted a clip highlighting the hot spots in Philly’s Chinatown.

Check out the history of Chinatown and shopping in Chinatown (Long Life is my mom’s favorite herbal store).

After finishing up the newsletter, I went out for a jog. The weather was so beautiful that I didn’t need my heavy jacket. I tuned into Hong Nhung’s Doan Khuc Thu Ha Noi for an accompaniment. Not sure why I have been returning to this album again and again like reaching for a bottle of water. Her version of “Ha Noi Mua Vang Nhung Con Mua” gives me nostalgia even though I had only been to Ha Hoi once. It has to be that effortless flow.

The roof is fixed and seal. Most of the minor fixes inside the house are done. The major replacement is going to be the heating and cooling system. From several estimates, we will have to drop at least five grants to replace both units inside and outside the house.

We have three levels (including the basement) added up to about 2500 square feet. Sears quoted us a 3-ton Kenmore heat pump and air handler with 14 SEER for $8,446 and a Carrier model with 15 SEER for $9,480. Evercool, a local company, quoted us a 2.5-ton American Standard at 13 SEER for $4,650.

We have one more estimate coming in, but we know that we would want a 3-ton system with either 14 or 15 SEER. Does anyone have some experiences in field? We would love to hear your advices and cautions. If you have any recommendations, please feel free to do so.

Thanks to those who have offered us your suggestions in the previous posts. Your comments helped us tremendously.