Let’s be frank. No one can do Johnny Hartman like Johnny Hartman. He was a singer’s singer with a deep tenor voice and a distinctive ballad style. He also had John Coltrane by his side. Mahogany has a great voice of his own and he takes on Hartman’s signature tunes with his personal interpretation, like scatting on “Green Dolphin Street.” The live recordings of Mahogany Sings Hartman featured only bass, piano and vocals. While Mahogany’s voice remains terrific, the poor quality of the recording engineer brings down the album.

McCain says that Obama’s lead is growing because “life isn’t fair.” Is he trying to say that life would be fair if he leads or is he wanting to call affirmative action now?

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In a meeting with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register, McCain was “strongly” and “fundamentally” disagreed with everything the board had to say. When asked about his lies on sex education, lipstick on a pig and his pick of Palin, here is what he really meant in his respond: “That’s your opinion. Fuck you. I don’t give a fuck what you think because I know I am right about everything.” We need a leader who would listen to what they people have to say too and not just a hot-headed dweeb.

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.