Fixing up the house makes me think about my old man. My father and his entire family in Viet Nam are into construction and they are making quite a decent living at it. If I were to live in Viet Nam, I would have followed the same career path. Actually, I thought of him a lot lately and all the anguish I had accumulated over the years have gone. What if he was around me all these years? How would I turn out to be? One thing I know for sure, I would have a much stronger confidence.

When he arrived in the States for a few months, our family went to Dutch Wonderland, an amusement park close to where we lived. Dad lost his glasses in a bumper car ride. He asked me to report to the staff, but I refused. I was shy and didn’t have enough faith in my English skill to do so. He went to up to the guy and made the gesture of the glasses. The guy understood him right away and returned his glasses.

Until this day, I could never forget that bold and strong impression of him. That particular moment gives me strength and confidence on numerous occasions. I would get nervous whenever I have to give a class presentation, but somehow thinking back to that time made everything seem fine. My father was not embarrassed, so I shouldn’t either. I thank him for that.

I called him on New Year Eve and he broke into tears even though we didn’t talk that much. Men have less communication, but we understand what each other mean.

Miss Narcissus Pageant shows off her unique talent. It’s a very impressive video.

Hong Ngoc drops out of 5 Dong Ke, a fantastic female-vocalist group, after marrying Le Minh, lead member of MTV, a male group no one cares about. The group is now left with Bao Lan, Huong Lan and Thuy Linh. Hope they’ll do well with the adjustment.

That Will Make Your Head Spin, including Diphallia, Polymastia, Hermaphroditism and a Japanese/Filipina porn star whose goal is to have 1,000,000 sex partners before she retires from the business. She has had a gangbang with over 1,400 guys in one session (supposedly).

What a gorgeous-looking site.

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.