“Tinh Khuc Buon” and “Tinh Cuoi Chan May” were two of my favorite videos from Don Ho. They sure bring back the good old days.

Translation of Trinh Cong Son’s “Xin Cho Toi.” The translator is unknown:

Please let clouds protect man’s fate
Please give me a morning’s shine
Please give me a one bright full smile
To forget the recent grave
I’ve begged for myself a thousand times
I, who only knows to fool around
I just ask to have peace

Please let me sleep soundly for once
Please let the night be without bombs
Please let the birds sing in the sky
I wish to be like flying clouds
Please release me from our life
Until peace has returned to the world
I wish to have my life back

Please let me rebuild my love
Please let me revive peace
Please let me forego obstacles
To see the blood stream in his heart

Please give me mother’s embracing arms
Please let me hear the joyful sound of children’s footsteps
Please let my country have a peaceful sleep
I’ll love you from that moment on.

Please let me come back in one body
To let me hear nature’s songs
Please let me forget imprisonment
To let me be the bitter wine
Please give me the whole life
So one day when a child sings in his cradle
Please, just give me one day.

By the time Round About Midnight released, Miles Davis had disbanded his group and moved on to a new musical direction. Nevertheless, this album is one of his finest works. His Harmon-muted solos on Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight” are just achingly beautiful. Every note he played is streamlined and refined to create a deep emotional impact. Unlike Charlie Parker, Davis stripped down everything on “Au Leu-Cha” and only played the most essential notes. It’s the thoughtfulness in his phrasings that made him stood out.

Miles Davis couldn’t cut a bad record if he wanted to. Even his experimentations were good. Circle in the Round is a compilation of his conceptual ideas from 1955 to 1970. Starting out with up-tempo “Two Bass Hit” from the Kind of Blue session and ending with David Crosby’s space-out “Guinnevere” from the Bitches Brew session, this album showcases Davis’ expansive musical sketches.

In five months I am going to be a father. Just the thought of being a parent is daunting me. Like most parents, I want my kids to turn out good, but I don’t want to be a helicopter parent either. I have witnessed so many Vietnamese-American parents who spoil the shit out of the kids. They give the kids everything they wanted. They beg them to eat. Yet the most intolerable is the lack of respect from the children.

The overparenting continues even when the children go to college. I knew a couple who would think twice about buying something for themselves, but would provide their only boy whatever he desires. They worked hard and paid full college tuition for the boy. They bragged about him every chance they get. The parents even apologized when the kid was angry. From an outsider perspective, I felt bad for the parents.

I was also a spoiled child and I still am feeling guilty about it. My mother would give me everything that I needed even though she didn’t have much. She was always there to protect me in any situation. When I grew up enough to face the real world, I had a hard time dealing with reality when I realized that no one out there gives a fuck about me. No one pampered me the way my mother did.

It hit me hard. I was devastated and it took me quite some time to make the readjustment. I do not want this to happen to my kids. I want them to be ready when they face the real world. I want them to have the space to grow. If they fail, I want them to get up and learn from their failures. I hope that I won’t be so blind when dealing with my kids like the way the parents I have observed dealing with their kids. It would be a definitely failure on my part to spoil them.

On the day Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, Seal’s rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” hit YouTube. The timing was perfect and the cover was promising. Unfortunately the album, Soul, doesn’t live up to the lead-off track. Seal is a fine singer with a fantastic tenor of a voice, but he hardly brings anything fresh to the classic souls. When it comes to soul, the production has to be slow, simple and sensual. Too many embellishments would get in the way of the vocalist. Seal’s soulful voice is drowned in the polished orchestrations and mid-tempo beats. His version of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” is instantly forgettable.

I hate moving. With the help of my friends, we have moved three big truckloads full of stuffs for my sisters last saturday. The amount of supplies, including detergents, paper towels, toilet papers, she has bought could be used for the next ten years. I am still exhausted with a headache. I slammed my head into the garage top from coming off the U-Haul.

Let’s see how many times I have involved in a moving in the past year. Moved my mother from Poughkeepsie to Lancaster. Moved myself from Poughkeepsie to Springfield. Moved my wife from Wappingers Falls to Alexandria. Moved myself again from Springfield to Alexandria. Moved my sister in-law from Alexandria to Fairfax. Moved my sister. Soon will have to move mom to sister’s place. The final move (I hope) will be once we find a new place. Damn, I can’t wait for all the moving to be done and over with.

I just thought of a list of people who still owe me money: ex-roommate, ex-landlord, ex-best friend and even ex-girlfriend. Obviously they will never pay me back. I forgive, but I never forget.

Eric, my little nephew, got me hooked on Madagascar three years ago. I used to love watching him (two something at the time) imitating every animal in the movie every time he popped in the DVD. So when the sequel hits the theater, I have to take him and Samantha to see it. Unlike most of Pixar’s animated features, DreamWorks’ Madagascar 2 is strictly for the kids. Except for some quick laughs, I didn’t find anything inspiring, even the visuals. Maybe Eric would convince me when he has a chance to learn the characters. I should have waited until the DVD released then watch it with his live acting, but Eric and Samantha seemed to enjoy the film.

Bao Yen’s new release, Chieu Ha Vang, under Asia production is surprisingly good. She has the ability to maneuver her way across pop hits and sentimental ballads. Her phrasings aren’t over-the-top dramatic like most “sen” singers and the raucousness in her voice helps cutting away the syrupy crap.

Over Asia’s streamlined productions, Bao Yen soars like a bird with a wounded wing on Tran Thien Thanh’s “Mot Doi Yeu Anh” and cuts to the pathos of Truc Phuong’s “Thoi Doi” as if she has lived the lyrics. Elsewhere she brings the pain on the Tuan Khanh’s shouting-rock “Tra No Tinh Xa” and gives a sensual rendition of Quoc Dung’s “Coi Mong.”

Although the album is all over the place, Bao Yen has proven that she could take on whatever being thrown at her. From the opening title track, Nguyen Ba Nghiem’s “Chieu Ha Vang,” she seduces us with her “Hue” accent. On the closing “Niem Co Don Cuoi Cung” (Sy Dan and Vu Tuan Duc), she mesmerizes us with her rockability. And finally she makes us love “sen” ballad without having to feel embarrassed about it.