Korean-American restaurant Kimchi House is located on Richmond highway, which is the road we take everyday. We drive by Kimchi House all the time and usually only one car parked in front of the place. As we were driving home and didn’t know what to eat so we decided to stop by and try it out. Kimchi House is a family-run restaurant. The place is small, neat, but featured all kind of strange, artsy decoration. I had Bul Go Gi (sliced sirloin beef marinated in special sauce). The beef was a bit too sweet, but tender. Dana ordered Ko Galbi and Doen Jang Chi Gae (mackerel marinated in spicy sauce and bean-paste stew with tofu and vegetables). The fish is a little bit plain (not spicy and salty enough). The food was not bad, but the price was cheap and the folks are so nice. I hope they’ll do well since it’s a fairy new joint.

McCain told NPR: “I’ve turned to her advice many times in the past. I can’t imagine turning to Sen. Obama or Sen. Biden, because they’ve been wrong.”

Many times in the past? Wait a second, didn’t McCain picked Palin after he met her once, which was a about a month ago. Lie, lie and more lie.

I heard bits and pieces of the Swedish jazz trio’s new album called Leucocyte yesterday on The World and amazed at the imaginative sound they created. Check out EST’s awesome video on YouTube.

Do Bao’s Thoi Gian De Yeu features way too many vocalists. The record is all over the place like a compilation of songs rather than a well-crafted concept. If Do Bao worked closely with just one singer, preferably Nguyen Thao, and focused on one or two styles, preferably blues and jazz, the result would have been tighter and more coherent.

Out of all nine vocalists, Nguyen Thao seems to be the most suitable singer for Do Bao’s lovely melodies and romantic lyrics. She has a gorgeous voice—sweet and slightly gravel—and she could maneuver her way around the pop-jazz arrangement on both the title track and “Nhung Khuc Troi Khac.” Nguyen Ngoc Anh is another mesmerizing vocalist who gives an intoxicating rendition of the bluesy “Chim Trong Muon Thuo.”

Ho Quynh Huong is a return guest from the first album and she opens with the listenable “Buc Thu Tinh Thu 4.” It seems as if Do Bao is obsessed with his love letters. One or two is enough; three or four is a little bit too much, unless he has four different lovers. Ha Tran also returns with two tracks and only “Cau Tra Loi” is passable. The other guests—Tung Duong, Thanh Lam, Le Hieu, Tan Minh and Huy Pham—aren’t contributing anything worthy.

A vice presidential nominee can’t even name a newspaper or a magazine she reads, and she was majoring in journalism. I guess she establishes her world view by looking out her window.

Saigon Lounge, a collaborative effort between MC/singer Nguyet Anh, songwriter/producer Quoc Bao, and French arranger Laurent Jaccoux, is a perfect cure for insomnia. Like its title suggested, the album is intended for lounging bars, café shops, and maybe some make-out places in Ho Chi Minh City. Over electronic, mellow-out arrangements, Nguyet Anh delivered Quoc Bao’s eight familiar tracks like a really-bad-French-romantic-ballad singer. On “Vang Em,” her indistinctive voice comes through like an audio-reading device. Then there’s the horrendous Caribbean jazz groove on “La Yeu Chua Tung Yeu,” an unbearable smooth sax on “Cho Em Noi Them Trang,” and “Vua Biet Dau Yeu” is more like a disco joint than a relaxing track. Saigon Lounge is supposed to be for chilling out, but I rather kick back with Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond, or Stan Getz.

Exactly two weeks ago, when McCain said the fundamentals of our economy are strong, banks filed for bankruptcy and Dow Jones dropped 500 points. Today, right after McCain claimed the credit for passage of the bailout bill, it collapsed and the Dow plummeted 777 points, the worse loss ever. I am not blaming him for the Wall Street crash, I am just saying how dead wrong he is on the economy. Shouldn’t he suspend his entire campaign for this?

Quynh Lan, a bar singer with a sensual, smoky voice, knows a thing or two about intimacy. On Nguyen Anh 9 songbook, Ky Niem, she sings his song as if she’s living it. The minimal setting, accompanied by guitar or piano, helps bring out the personal interpretation in her phrasings.

Over a gorgeous strumming guitar, Quynh Lan gives “Co Don” a sense of solitude. She doesn’t belt out, but her words are filled with passion even on the low register. Many singers covered “Tinh Yeu Den Trong Gia Tu” in a bossa-nova groove, but Quynh Lan approaches it in a much slower pace and just bares her soul over Nguyen Anh 9’s elegant piano. The advantage of singing it in a relaxed tempo allows her the time to express the lyrics word for word. “Mua Thu Canh Nau” is another savory take on the blues. By leaving out drum, bass and horns (saxophone or trumpet), the piano provides only the essential chords and what left are simply the raw emotional vocals.

Though Ky Niem is not groundbreaking, the record is perfect for those who enjoy Vietnamese intimate ballads. Listening to it song for song on a rainy night is a pure melancholy pleasure.

I am glad to see someone who shares some of my views on politic, but could express them much better than I can. Nhien made such a great comment that I have to turn it into a post. You can read the entire piece here, but here is the highlight:

For us Vietnamese, many are still trapped in the bottom, most are still lower middle-class. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve done well in the short 33 years. Asia Productions and to some extend Thuy Nga have done a nice job in presenting this idea. I have done well myself in my current position. The truth is however if we look around we would immediately know that we, as a group, have a way to go. We need to help each other.

For me, voting for McCain and the Bush policy, or the any with an Republican ideology isn’t going to help our cause. They will in no way help level the playing field for the little people. Vietnamese veterans are turning a blind eye to the true issues at hand which is their own interest, social security, and. Worst yet, for some, simply just because Obama is black, they will choose not to vote for him. I find this is quite unfortunate. People don’t choose the color of their skin. Did we choose to be Vietnamese? We are Vietnamese. I think fate chose us. We came from a country with great people with great moral. We should be and have every reason to be proud.

There have been so much that are already documented in college libraries everywhere on the “white-privilege” issue where whites will tend to get a preference treatment. “When does this white-privilege happen?” you asked. In an elevator, in a court, on a bus, in a store, down the street, in renting, in selling, in buying, in hiring, those are some of the when’s. Most these are unspoken but I think we all know instinctively they exist and research back this up. Yes, we should never apply a reverse discrimination. However, the matter is if one thinks just because he is white he is going to be better and/or if he is black, he is undeserving is simply wrong. I am not implying that any one reading this might be thinking that way, but I do imply that some of our parents and uncles do think that way.

In the end, I admire Obama for what he has been able to do despite of everything. He endured all discriminations and has the capacity of hope to stand above it all! He has broken through many ceilings on purely his own merit and Hoang was kind enough to point out one of them.

On November 4th, perhaps Obama will get a chance to break through the highest ceiling of all. If he does this time, he wouldn’t have done it alone. He would know that it was people like Lincoln, Park, and Dr. King that paved the way for him. His grandparents, his mom, and others have nurtured him. Millions of others would have also believed in him and would have joined him.

I think it would be extremely sad for this country if a person like Obama was lose the election as a result for the mere the color of his skin. I hope this country is better than that. In reverse, I think it would be a great day for America to know if this country is above all that. And that you, I, and our children, if they too have hope, faith, and work hard enough, can achieve them all.

Like many others, I have been skeptic about politicians and the political process. It was not until this election that Obama drew me in and say that I too can make a difference.

In this election, Obama stands as beacon of hope for me, for us – yellow, black, white, and red. He serves as the best man to stand up for Vietnamese cause and people from everywhere in all walks of life. We were outcaste once not long ago as refugees. This country openly took us in. We love this country. This country however is in turmoil. It needs us in return. We in turn need a leader, a person like Obama to help bring about true change. America needs him. This world needs him. Your children and my children will need him. If you haven’t already, wouldn’t you join Donny and I and many others in this fight for a better America and a better world through this election? It is much too important to stay on the sideline.

Thanks a bunch.

http://www.barackobama.com

Thanks Nhien.

I will be attending the “Tinh Khuc Mua Thu” show courtesy of VietDC.org. I will be looking forward to Quang Tuan’s live performance.