Back in September 2006 when Hoa Tran sent me a couple of his demo tracks, he had not found a voice of his own even though his vocals had potential. With his debut De Danh, he shows tremendous improvement in such a short period of time.

On the opener “Loi Ru Cho Con,” Ha Tran kicks off a folksy lullaby like a mother helping her kid walking on the road to music. Hoa Tran obviously spent a lot of time with his musical mother. No shame in that; many of you do too. Although her influence is apparent in his flow, delivery and phrasing, he has carved out a niche for himself by leaning toward femininity (not as much as Cindy Thai Tai). His gender-undistinguished vocals didn’t impress me at first, but they started to sink in after a few listens. He floats like a nightingale with a broken wing on the nocturnal “Doc Thoai” and scats like a horn on the funk-jazz “Bai Hat Cua Dong Song.”

With snoozing tracks like “Em O Dau,” “Tro Ve” and worst of all “You and I,” De Danh is not a strong album, but it is much more refreshing than those commercial works put out by big productions. At least Hoa Tran is willing to move beyond the mundane recycling of old tunes and willing to invest in new beats. Furthermore, he doesn’t sing to make a living, yet he makes way more innovative moves than most of the current singers who can’t seem to drag their lazy behinds out of their comfort zone. I suppose when music is your passion and not your income, you tend to push yourself more.

NPR‘s second piece on Duke:

This episode of Jazz Profiles, the second in a series of four, follows Duke Ellington from his Swing Era successes through the incredible bouts of creativity that came over his band for the next forty years. It is the story of an acclaimed bandleader meeting groundbreaking talent, adapting to a changing music industry and continuing to innovate throughout his entire career.

Listen to the program here.

men who look like old lesbians

Jay-Z told Diddy: “You can’t executive-producing the executive producer.”

Vassar’s homepage is sporting a gorgeous shot of the Library put together by yours truly.

Paula Scher’s Recent Paintings
Dan Cederholm’s Foamee
Patient with multiple personalities sketches her 17 alter egos
PSDTuts.com: Spoonfed Photoshop Tutorials
KOKOKAKA (Big and bright orange)
2007 Best Cover Winners

Nate Chinen reviews Jay-Z’s liveshow at the Hammerstein Ballroom:

Jay-Z was magnanimous as a host, allowing an excerpt of “Duffle Bag Boy,” a single that Lil Wayne has made one of his calling cards. This courtesy was matched, and then some. “The best rapper alive,” Lil Wayne proclaimed, pointing to Jay-Z. Then, indicating himself: “The next rapper in line.” It was a clearly symbolic gesture, suggesting both deference and a claim to inheritance.

Banh mi from the new Paris Sandwich (located on Mott street in New York Chinatown) is actually pretty good with its own light, crunchy baguette. When I ordered some to go, they didn’t separate the veggies from the meat the way I have instructed like all Vietnamese places do. The parlor actually runs by the Chinese, not Vietnamese. How mess up is that? They make money off our food, charge much more ($3.50 a pop without a buy-five-get-one-free deal), but don’t do it like the way we do. Even though their banh mi is better than most of Vietnamese places in the US, they are nothing compared to the ones in Viet Nam.

Update: Owner of Paris Sandwich, Jimmy Ly, had clarified that the place is not ran by Chinese even though most of the workers doesn’t speak Vietnamese. He wrote:

I would have to make it clear to you that your assumption about us was entirely wrong. It is not run by the Chinese. I am American born Vietnamese entraupenuer at the age of 24, looking to share our culture in New York. Before I opened I noticed the lack of good quality Vietnamese food In New York compared to states such as California, Texas etc. etc. You should come by when you have a chance to see all the great different types of foods that I’m trying to introduce to the people. Our food is truly Authentic Vietnamese. By Far we have made a big impact in the Vietnamese community and trying to unite us all in time on the Eastern sea board.

I was actually making a joke on the whole deal, but thanks for the clarification. In addition, “separate the veggies” was no longer an issue the second time I visited Paris Sandwich. They actually asked me if I wanted them separate; therefore, Paris Sandwich have been my last stop to pick up some fresh sandwiches everytime I go to the city.

From my man HML:

All the above is to say, lil’ bro, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy (even though some of your former readers would severely disagree with me re. the “nice” part.) I am happy for you guys: there’s really no greater happiness than that of a life shared (even over mì gói! :o) )

I really appreciate that. Thanks to my dude TTBlue too.

I am back and officially engaged. The ceremony was brief. The traditions kept to the minimal. The foods (banh beo, banh bot loc, banh cuon) were banging. Even the weather loved us. Many thanks go to both of our families for their love and support, friends and relatives for packing up her parents’ place, and those of you for emailed me the kind words. In my earlier post acknowledging Visualgui.com for hooking us up has sparked some curiosities: “Did you actually meet your lady from Visualgui.com?” Yes I did, and if you are interested, here is the real story.

In April 2006, I received an email from a reader asking for my recommendations on apartments close by Carmel, New York where she landed her job. Although Carmel is about forty minutes from Poughkeepsie, I had never been to the town. Still I offered to help but never did (shame on me). I even asked her for her digits so we could hang out, but didn’t have the gut to call.

Three months slipped away and somehow the feeling of “something might happen” and the thought of “I have nothing to lose” prompted me to pick up the phone. When I did call she had no clue what the heck I was talking about in the first five minutes of our conversation. She didn’t remember the guy from Visualgui.com who didn’t keep his promise. The more I explained the more awkward I sounded. Luckily she did remember and we have a very nice talk.

The next day I emailed her to ask if she would like to check out Upstate Films, my favorite independent theater in Rhinebeck. We were to meet up at Borders bookstore before going to see A Prairie Home Companion. I arrived at the bookstore ten minutes early. Forty minutes had passed and I saw no sight of a Vietnamese lady. I thought she stood me up for my empty promise three months earlier. Five more minutes she finally showed up and greeted me with an I-am-sorry-I-am-late smile and tried to explain that she couldn’t get out of work on time.

After the movie we were both hungry so I invited her to late dinner. She ordered shrimp pasta and I ordered chicken pasta. The plates were huge and she cleaned her all up while I was struggling to shove mine in and gave up after half of the portion. I was so impressed that for the first time a lady with half my size could eat twice as much as I could. Not only that but the next morning she emailed me and said she was hungry already. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t let a girl beat me in eating; therefore, I invited her to dinner again to get my revenge. We ate more and talked more and found out we clicked much more. Sitting by the bench, breathing the fresh air from the Hudson River and feeling each other’s vibe, our conversations went from ten to two in the morning. One time we got into a heated debate on music and she used her hand gesture to illustrate her point. As her hand swung toward my direction, I grabbed it, and to my surprise, she didn’t pull away. I held her hand and didn’t go until we called it the night. And that was the beginning of our story.