A few snaps around the Falls.

Damn, Jay’s leaked tracks so far so hot:

“Hello Brooklyn” with Weezy
“No Hook“

Can’t wait to get my hand on the album. American Gangster baby!

Ben Stocking on Hoang Thuy Linh’s online sex tape:

But for many in communist Vietnam, new ideas about free love are much harder to accept than the free market. And unlike men, women who break the old sexual taboos are not easily forgiven.

Vassar homepage gets a warm, welcoming look from Tim Brown.

“A High School Under the Hood“:

Ms. Silberman tells the students she does not want to hear hardship sob stories. She was born in the Pink Houses, a public housing project in Brooklyn, and managed to graduate from Vassar College.

A comic game runs by Kevin Cornell and Matthew Sutter. The rules are simply:

Player 1 draws a character with a power. Player 2 then draws a character whose power cancels the power of that previous character. Repeat.

Via Tim

NPR profiles Red Norvo:

Credited with bringing the xylophone, formerly a vaudeville instrument, into jazz, Red Norvo was a sideman with Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman. Norvo led one of the most admired bands of the Swing era, and he served as a catalyst for the career of musicians whose ranks include Charles Mingus. While Red received acclaim throughout his life, his innovations on the mallet instruments were far ahead of his time.

Like always, check out the program.

Published in the same year after his death, Trinh Cong Son 1939-2001 is a collection of essays on the life and work of one of the greatest Vietnamese songwriters of all time written by his closed friends and confidants around the world.

Songwriter Van Cao kicks off a short piece as an introduction. Painter Buu Chi reflects on the last memory before TCS laid down to rest. Poet Trinh Cung shares their friendship and the fortunate of having TCS composed his poem titled “Cuoi Cung Cho Mot Tinh Yeu.” Philosopher Thai Thi Kim Lan points out his love for Hue in his songs including “Nhin Nhung Mua Thu Di,” “Tnh Nho,” “Diem Xua,” “Mua Hong” and “Moi Ngay Toi Chon Mot Niem Vui.” Singer Khanh Ly refers to him as “a half of her life.” Singer Hong Nhung thanks fate for allowing her to meet him. Law professor Cao Huy Tan breaks down TCS’s peculiar lyricism and his unorthodox wordplay.

Still, the best pieces are from TCS himself. From his philosophy on love, life and death to his personal reflections, we could understand why he writes music the way he did. Furthermore, who could reveal the inspiration and motivation responsible for the classics such as “Uot Mi,” “Diem Xua” and “Ha Trang” better than the man in his own words?

Canadian chick sings southern Vietnamese folk songs. Truong Ky did a program on Doiron. I appreciate her effort.

Ang Lee’s new film, Lust, Caution, tripped up quite a few American critics. Words used in reviews include slow, sleepy and snoozy. The best one is from Anthony Lane’s of the New Yorker: “…ninety-five. That is the number of minutes that elapsed, by my watch, between the start of the film and the start of the sex, and from that you can calculate your own schedule.” A typical Hollywood erotic motion picture would start with a sex scene before the story unfolds. Whereas Lee makes you wait an hour and a half into the film to give you the lust part. Your patience will be rewarded, my friend.

Lee shows no hesitation when pushing the sex button. If he had succeeded with gay sex in Brokeback Mountain, what is there to hold back? The media has always portrayed Asian male as sexless, but Lee has proved them wrong. Lust, Caution reveals a dark, juicy affair between a school-play performer and a cold-blooded traitor. Tony Leung, a handsome, bohemian actor who has never been afraid of walking down the path he has not taken, gives his superb performance as a misogynist bastard who is in ruthless control yet bangs like porn star. Tang Wei has a luscious-yet-innocent look that could melt a frozen heart and increase tremendous testosterone level. Together they bared almost everything—even bushy armpits and pubic hair (Lee is a detail freak).

Lust, Caution clocks in at 158 minutes, yet the progression isn’t tedious at all because Tang Wei, the exotic visual, is in almost every scene. Lee has once again demonstrated the genuine master of his craft.