Saved by the Machine

From BBC:

A baby dying from kidney failure was saved when her doctor designed and built her a dialysis machine from scratch in his garage.

The little girl looks mad cute.

Ernest Hemingway Collection

A gorgeous, elegant site that “has represented the lifestyle, personality, and enthusiasm for adventure espoused by one of America’s most celebrated literary masters.”

GoldCoast’s Speads

I’ve been hooked on GoldCoast’s Maine lobster and blue crab spreads with crackers. A glass of cocktail to complement the spreads is our little treat after a long day at work. Life isn’t so bad.

Puff Mommy

Not sure if Ho Ngoc Ha has been puffing or not, but her voice has gotten very raspy as if the nicotine has rubbed her timbre. Her rendition of Trinh Cong Son’s “Mot Coi Di Ve” is rough on the surface yet smooth underneath, and the result is hypnotic. Even her live performance of “Unchained Melody” is somehow captivating. Her anorexic figure and fragile voice are a reminiscent of Amy Winehouse. She sings like she’s going to break down, yet she is surprisingly capable of hitting the high notes when you’re not expecting her to. Now I can’t wait to see this chick at a concert.

IKIA’s Crayfish Party

My sister-in-law left us two admissions for IKEA’s annual crayfish party before she and her husband went to Mexico for their honeymoon. Yesterday my wife and I attended and cleaned up about five or six plates of jumbo crayfish served cold in Swedish style. The crayfish are so big and meaty that they tasted as good as the lobster tails. The meatballs were also delicious. It was definitely worth $10 per person. The only thing that missing was a pitcher of beer. They did served non-alcohol sparkling wine, which was not so bad.

Although the party was not too crowded, half of the people are Asians. I thought I ate a lot. A Chinese couple sat next to us must have 10 full plates, and they were mad skinny. We couldn’t keep up with them. We finished up the party with a blazing apple pie and a cup of Swedish coffee. Walked around IKEA to digest our food and felt in love with some of its kitchen, bedroom setups. We can’t wait to get our own home.

Big thanks to the sister-in-law and her husband for a wonderful treat. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the party next year.

Ngoc Anh – Romance Cho Anh

Ngoc Anh has a smoky yet sleepy voice. Depend on the tune, she either sounds intoxicating or snoring. Her newest album Romance Cho Anh (Tinh Khuc Phu Quang) juggles in between.

“Trong Anh Chop So Phan” is not a bad starter. The arrangement is vigorous. Her voice is exhilarating along the rock-inflected production. But then on “Chuyen Binh Thuong So 7,” the song is as mundane as its title suggests and her voice starts to get drowsy. The classical “Romance No.1” drifts off further into sleep and the retreated arrangement doesn’t help much either. “May Xua,” a duet between Ngoc Anh and Ha Anh Tuan, is perfect for brunch music. The tune opens with elevator keyboard, and then joins by fake trumpet, wimpy guitar and airline drums to the Caribbean. Their voices are simply bland and unaffected.

“Loi Rieu” picks up where the opening track left off. On the slow-pop arrangement, she is hypnotizing. “Romance No.2” is a standout piece in which she could ride the classical wave. The closeout is another version of “Trong Anh Chop So Phan.” The classical orchestration makes this version much more powerful than the first.