Each year the Vietnamese Catholic Church hosts a Christmas concert that opens to the public free of charge. It’s a great place to meet up new friends or to reconnect with old ones. For the past few years, its own music band could not get the people to stick around past nine. This year Thu Hoai and The Magic Night band brought back the vibe.

From the opening “Feliz Navidad,” she turned some of the most annoying songs danceable. I even dragged my ass out on the dance floor and made a fool out of myself. “I Will Survive” was off the hook. When it came to Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Niem Khuc Cuoi,” a special preview for me, she gave a passable performance. The notes were a bit too high and the lyrics are more suitable from a male perspective. Besides, the tune is best experienced in an intimate setting, not a huge dance hall. Still, thanks for the dedication.

This year I didn’t get to see too many familiar faces. Saw an old pal who is also getting married next year, yet he hasn’t stayed in touch with anyone else either. Another one was a girl who had recently moved back to Lancaster from Virginia after her baby’s father left her and her kid for another chick in Viet Nam. Her eighteen-month baby was adorable and full of energy. She was the reason I had loosen up and jammed on the dance floor. Kids have to be one of my biggest motivations for marriage, and I’ll make sure that they won’t have to deal with their parents’ issues.

A spare yet intriguing collection of typographic puns like “sexxx,” “incomplet” and “!xclamation.”

A romantic masterpiece with an ineffable grace, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is the result of a gigged up between a lyrical saxophone player and a long-note ballad singer. Coltrane’s rich, aching tone is a perfect foil to Hartman’s deep, lush baritone. Every track hits a sensual spot, and their sumptuous phrasings make Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” such mesmerizing lustful pleasures.

One of Charles Mingus’s major albums in the late 1950s, Blues & Roots swings off with a gospel-laced “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting” and never cops out. From the slow, soaring “Cryin’ Blues” to the swift, rousing “E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too,” the nine-piece band plays like a wild beast with lots of soul.

New York Times Magazine‘s minimal cover.

Even the homepage takes a rest too. A gorgeous background of the Library from Tamar whose winter photos also showcase on this site. Thanks Tamar for the great beauty shots and for being such a fantastic colleague. I am going to miss you and working with you.

The sounds Miles Davis and his men Brew up in this double Bitches are not easy to articulate. From the funk-rock rhythm to the haunting horn to the shapeless melody to the weightless harmony to the serene chaos, you will have to experience them yourself. The organic groove, which made up of four drummers, three electric keyboardists and two bassists, will travel up and down your vein, but never to your nerve, not even near.

Chris brought back the black-background hipness for Media Studies at Vassar College.

Of Ming Tan’s How to Attract Asian Women from Amazon:

The tips in this book work on only one woman – the author, Ming Tan.

College Relations’ Christmas party last night was a blast. Charlie, the department’s funniest man, brought down the house once again with his nuttiness. Cathy, the new addition, added quite a lively vibe to the scene as well. Jeff, the Santa, had done a witty job of handing out the presents. I am glad that my secret gift was well received. I had a great time and will definitely miss it; therefore, I have requested a web cast of next year’s party. I also found out that the senior writer had resigned to move on with her own thing. I wish her all the best and hope will get a chance to read her book in the near future.

As I arrived Martha’s house for the party, I ran into her neighbor who happened to be a security guard at Vassar’s Art Center. I got to know Dom a couple months ago in the parking lot. Every morning, Dom sits in his car strumming his guitar before getting to his job. I said hi to him a couple of times and we had mini conversations in the morning. Dom is such a sweet fellow who appreciates the simplicity of nature like watching the patterns of the falling leaves in autumn. So he invited me into his house to check out the model train track in the basement that took him two years to build. It looked amazing so I pulled out my camera to take a few snaps of it. Unfortunately, I won’t get a chance to get to know more about this new friend.