Duc Tri demonstrates his scoring skills in the original soundtrack of Ao Lua Ha Dong (The White Silk Dress) directed by Luu Huynh. By the way, check out the list of universities where the film will be shown.

The new design for Vassar College Department of Music has rolled out earlier than intended schedule due to the first live webcast of Vassar College Choir on Friday. In addition to designing the look and feel, I had a chance to work on a real project with Cascade Server (Vassar’s newly implemented CMS). My colleague Megg Brown has been a tremendous help with the CMS as well as in making the site possible to go live.

NPR profiles jazz pianist Sun Ra:

Sun Ra sometimes took jazz in controversial directions — some even accused him of running a cult. However, band members like saxophonist Danny Thompson said, “We’re here to enlighten people’s minds about outer space, and try and better this planet.” Ra also influenced such musicians as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and Jackie McLean, and inspired the creation of the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians — an organization known for its relentless avant-garde aesthetic.

As always, check out the entire broadcast.

The professional retoucher with such an amazing Photoshop skills. Make sure to check out the “making of” pieces to see how they were created.

Chris has done it again on the Vassar homepage. (MIT has a theme for Halloween too.)

After an advanced screening of Ridley Scott’s new motion picture, Jay-Z revisited the booth to cut his own vision of American Gangster. Drawing his inspiration from Frank Lucas, the film’s heroin kingpin played by Denzel Washington, Jay-Z reflects on his drug-dealing days. As a gifted lyricist who could skip the writing step and rap right off his head, Jay-Z completed the album within a month.

His previous record, Kingdom Come, released less than a year ago and received mixed reviews. He claimed that the lyrics were too sophisticated for some listeners. Now back in his comfort zone, Jay-Z delivers each track through a cinematic scope taking the listeners back to a “mind state of a gangster from the 40s.” Although Jay-Z doesn’t write down his words, he still rhymes with intricacy. On “Pray,” he spits with vivid details: “As I head to my homeroom / I observe the ruins / dope needles on the ground / I hear the car go vroom / drug dealer in a BM with the top down.” Jay-Z’s improvisation is even more apparent on “No Hook.” He raps as though words just roll off his tongue: “Hustle cane, hustle clothes or hustle music / but hustle hard in any hustle that you pick.”

Speaking of hustle, Jay-Z is a hustler before rapper. While “Fallin’” catches glimpses of the dark days of hustling, “Roc Boys” shows the appreciation for his hustling success: “First of all I want to thank my connect / The most important person with all due respect. / Thanks to the duffle bag and the brown-paper bag / The Nike shoebox for holding all the cash.” A Jay-Z joint, of course, wouldn’t complete without addressing his rivals. In “Success” he rants: “Is this success all about? / A bunch of niggaz acting like bitches with big mouth?” Jay-Z has proven once again to be an irreplaceable hustler.

This vehicle would be great for getting around NYC only if I can ride it.

Marian Bantjes:

This is a map or diagram of all of my significant artistic influences to date (or all that I could think of), my styles of working and materials. It was created as an assignment to a design class I took this past summer (August 2006). I’m too pleased with it to let it sit in a drawer.

Beautiful online home of a therapeutic riding center in Franklin, TN.

Gorgeous web site for Queenstown’s Organic Shop.