Following Nice Web Type

Rocking pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Lake Nova web site is sleek, sophisticated, elegant with great use of typography.

Hand-drawn illustrations combining typography and ornimentation. Beautiful work.

Thanh Lam has been flirting with jazz throughout her career, but never cut a jazz record until now. With her new album, Lam Blue Ta, she has no shame labeling it as “Vietnamese jazz” as she’s attempting to establish her position in the Vietnamese jazz scene. Unfortunately, she can’t move beyond her pop territory; therefore, Lam Blue Ta is more like a pop album with a tint of blues rather than the other way around.

The jump-off track, Nguyen Cuong’s “H’Zen Len Ray,” has a nice, subtle, swing groove and Thanh Lam rides the beat in a minimal flow, but she simply can’t scat. In his “Trang Khat,” Le Minh Son has cleverly rearranged the country blues for Thanh Lam that bears no resemblance of Tung Duong’s rendition. He also replaced the piano for a driving saxophone. To stir away from Tung Duong’s fierce delivery, Thanh Lam wisely restrained her fire to give a different feel. From Tran Tien’s “Ngau Hung Song Hong” to Le Minh Son’s “Con Trai Be Bong” to Duong Thu’s “Bong Toi Ly Café,” however, the album started to lose the blues flavors once Thanh Lam moves into her pop zone.

Tran Tien’s “Tuy Hung Ly Ngua O” returns to the swing rhythm to wrap up the scratching-the-surface effort. Thanh Lam has potential, but she will success only if she is willing to take the time to absorb the blues. Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington and Muddy Waters are some of the true blues legends to learn from. If she wants to scat and swing, Ella Fitzgerald and Anita O’Day are among the singer’s singers to draw inspiration from. If Thanh Lam could only take jazz this far, we need some serious development or might as well let it go and quit calling “Vietnamese jazz.” To be fair, Thanh Lam isn’t the only one to be responsible, but also the musicians.

A beautiful, simple personal site of Jon Tan. Love the use of type and the scalability too.

Alex Ross’ The Rest is Noise

Hendrik Hertzberg on Hillery’s laugh: “Complain about her triangulation if you wish, but our unhappy country needs all the laughs it can get.”

Took a stroll through Vassar’s art collection, which includes works from Picasso. Met a very nice guard who I happen to see at the parking lot every morning strumming his guitar in his Honda Odyssey. Asked him how was his day, he replied, “It’s not so bad once you get used to the pace.”

I can still remember the exact words my cousin Phuong told me: “I stay this way to take care of my mum.” Meaning she’ll stay single to look after my aunt who suffered from a stroke that almost took her life. That was twelve years ago and my cousin was in her forties. Although my aunt has recovered, she is still paralyzed and in need of personal care including washing up, changing diaper, and eating. My cousin, being the oldest daughter in the house, has single-handedly taken care of her mom.

My cousin not only has a huge heart, but also a great personality. Prior to looking after her mom, she ran and managed the family’s grocery store. It was her hard work, honestly and smiles that drove the business. Customers loved her. She was so kind that if you could convince her, she would allow you to buy first and pay later. This character of her drove my aunt crazy because many customers wouldn’t pay her back. She ended up covered the lost out of her own pocket.

As for me, she had played an important role in my career. It was her who loaned my mom $1,200 to buy my first PC. In my sophomore year, I knew I wanted to be a web designer, which required a computer to work on my skills. My mom didn’t work at the time; therefore, her finance was limited. Thankfully my cousin covered it for us and mom would pay her back each month. Yet, I offered to pay up after I landed my first freelance gig.

That’s my sweet cousin. The things she has done for all of us are immeasurable, and she never mentioned any of it. She doesn’t need to seek for any recognition. Deep down our heart, we know how much we appreciate her and how proud we are of her.