It’s hard to believe this year is almost over. 2008 has been a major change for us. It seems like last month that Dana and I started our new job in a new town. It seems like last week that we were married. It seems like yesterday that Dana has been pregnant. (I am not exaggerating. You can’t tell by looking at her.) Needless to say, we are very excited about our first boy. Seeing him through ultrasound and hearing his heartbeat through monitor make us even more eager. We can’t wait to hear his first cry.

Even though the boy has yet born, all the attentions are on him. Dana and Donny had put together our Christmas wish list for this year. Her wonderful sister and brother-in-law have already ordered the crib and the bedding set for us. We have been holding off our baby shopping because we’re scrambling to get ourselves a place. Buying a home is quite an experience, especially a foreclosure one. Joy of a home also comes with work—lots of work.

Next year will definitely come with new challenges, but we are grateful at this joyous time of year. Thanks for stopping by to read my muses and dramas. We wish you happiness and hope your holidays are filled with peace, love and prosperity. Merry Christmas!

In my initial review of Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak, I was too quickly turned off by Auto-Tune that I didn’t give the album an opportunity to grow on me. After many revisits, I am starting to convince that Kanye has made a good use out of the tool. He can’t sing, yet he didn’t use Auto-Tune to enhance his vocals. His pitch and breath issues could be heard all over the tracks; however, he used the program to create a unique voice.

On the contagious “Love Lockdown,” Kanye starts off singing over the thumping bass. The best use of Auto-Tune is on the high register where he distorts his voice into a screeching alien. Of course the catchy chorus is highlight of the track. The drum loop is just irresistible. “Coldest Winter” is another highly addictive track with the banging beat. Lyrically, Kanye still has his witty moment. On “Welcome to Heartbreak” he rhymes, “My friend showed me pictures of his kids / All I could show was pictures of my cribs / He said that his daughter got a brand new report card / All I go was a brand new sports car.”

The album has quite a share of its dull tracks, but there are a still a number of outstanding ones including “Say You Will,” “Heartless” and “Amazing” featuring Young Jeezy. The most accomplishment of 808’s and Heartbreak is that Kanye has proved his originality, talent and fearlessness in taking his music to a higher level.

Ngo Thanh Van has stepped up her game. Her newest release, Nuoc Mat Thien Than, proves that her music has been upgraded from really bad to not so bad. She knows that her fragile voice alone can’t carry the album; therefore, she relies on the beats and the rapping to make up for her singing.

With infectious, club-driven beats and tolerable raps, NTV cuts the most listenable record so far in her singing career. From the rock-hip hop “Di Tim Binh Yen” to the highly catchy “Mai Mat Nhau” to the booty-shaking “Tinh Yeu Nhac Nhoa,” Nuoc Mat Thien Thien comes on like an all-night-out party taking the girls out of school and into the dark, wild club. Put this record on high volume and you’ll guarantee to be sweat.

Of course the album isn’t perfect and NTV has her limitations. Her weak voice is not ready (or may never been ready) to take on slow-pop songs like “Khi Tinh Yeu Den,” “Tham Mong” and “Giot Nuoc Mat Mau Den.” Nevertheless, I wouldn’t have imagined that she could make some improvements. The album hits the mark for clubbing functionality.

A collection of striking photographs in 2008. Check out the bows and arrows in the battle field shot.

Updates have been sporadic lately. I know I still owe you guys a review of the latest Paris by Night, but it won’t happen this time. I can’t concentrate on anything else right now, but closing out the house. It turns out to be the good time to buy. The house is still in decent condition and is located in a quiet neighborhood close to George Mason University.

I can’t wait to get the key to the place. I have already come up with all the colors I wanted to paint the house. Being a visual guy, I am trying to come up with one color for each room to spice up the place. Colors bring me vibes and emotions. So depending on my moods, I could stay at different room. When my boy grows up, I can just walk him around the rooms and teach him colors. So far my wife is the only one who supports my decision. My mom thinks that I will make the house lose its value even though I am not planning on reselling it anytime soon.

I am actually taking my mind of the damn house tonight to digitize my music collection. I just brought a 750G hard drive at Costco over the weekend. Between the new one and the old 500G hard drive, I am going to keep two copies of my music. If one decided to fuck up, I still have the other one. I’ll keep one at work and one at home. Why didn’t I think of this before? I am also going to make my boy listen to jazz when he comes out. Hope he’ll like it.

While going through my collection, I came across Operatica: Christmas Classics, an album Joseph had sent me a few years ago. The fusion between Opera and Electronica

The new design for Accountancy goes live.

This is a very different record of Trong Tan. For one, he doesn’t pound the songs with his sledgehammer-like voice. For two, he tries to sing northern folk music that requires tremendous versatility. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the chops to maneuver his way around the nuances of Quan Ho. Sort of like banh beo without fish sauce; his flow misses the key ingredient to deliver the folk tunes. Standout is the title track thanks to the jazz tinge and Thanh Thanh Hien whose vocals give colors to song.

When I first heard that Danny Boyle’s new film Slumdog Millionaire has something to do with the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, I was kind of turned off. After seeing the film, however, I was stunned. Boyle has incorporated the game into the story in such a brilliant manner.

The contestant Jamal Malik (a fantastic performance from Dev Patel) answers the questions not based on his book knowledge, but his past experiences. Every time a question is asked, we get to see the flashback of Jamal’s life in the slum of Mumbai corresponding to the question. Right from the first scene, we get to experience the ghetto part of the city through a breathtaking chasing scene (polices go after the kids) with M.I.A.’s blasting beat.

With an incredible cast, stunning visual, brutal violent and sweet romance, Slumdog is simply irresistible and every scene will leave you breathless. Highly recommended.

With seventeen tracks clocking in around an hour and twenty minutes, Ho Ngoc Ha’s latest release, Noi Em Gap Anh, is unnecessary long. The record goes into one ear and out the other. Except for her timbre, which has become raspier, nothing is worth noting. While her sentimental vocals on Trinh Cong Son’s “Bien Nho” try to capture your heart, the glossy, poppy production tries to capture your feet. Not sure if you should break down and cry or break down and dance. Still, nothing beats her duet with Duc Tri on “Van Biet The.” Like the title suggested, he already knew he can’t, but he still sings. Do us all a favor by staying behind the board and away from the booth, dude.

A real-life female robot built by Le Trung. She’s a bit freaky though.