Well, I hope you enjoyed John Coltrane’s holy sax for the spiritual weekend. I’ve done drive myself and the folks around me insane listening to the entire collection (four more songs like “Acknowlegement“).

As for my weekend, like my man HmL said, “life is good” despite the lacking of cherry blossoms. Big up to my VA big brothers for that savory bun mam. I was thirsty as hell afterward, but it was still banging, baby. I really don’t mind dropping another critical breakdown for another bowl of bun mam. Right Brother D?

I am not a Christian, but I don’t have to work tomorrow, thank God for Good Friday. So an “Acknowledgment” of divine power goes up to the man above for granted me the day off. You are my sweet Lord.

When it comes to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, who else could bring more spiritual than John Coltrane? In fact, his music is so powerful that could blow your mind. So be careful when experiencing the tune. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Happy Easter!

“Sammie, you should to be a doctor when you grow up.” I told my seven-year-old niece. “Why?” She asked. “So that you could help people, including grandma, your mom, and me.” I responded. “Yeah, but I am going to be a fashion designer.” She insisted. “That’s impressive! How did you decide that?” I questioned. “Sophie [her cousin who is two years older than her] wants me to.” She said. “Sophie wants you to?” I puzzled. “Yes. She wants me to be her assistant.” She replied. I was speechless.

Didn’t I say rappers dig Amy Whinehouse? Ghostface remixed “You Know I am No Good,” and now Pharoahe Monch rhymes over “Rehab.”

Last night episode was great. Mad kudos to Tony Bennett. The contestants handled jazz standards quite well. From the slick hair to the white suit, Sanjaya Malakar reminded me of Thu Minh’s performance of “Bong May Qua Them.” The different is that she’s a fox and he’s a grasshopper. Much as I like Sanjaya’s charm, Melinda Doolittle got my vote. She has been a constant elevation every time she takes the mic. Her rendition of “I Got Rhythm” proved that she has surpassed her competitors and will be the next American Idol. If she won’t, it’s America’s fuck-up.

The official Web site of Khanh Ly has been completely revamped, and TTBlue’s comment is right on: “Flash is nice and all, but site navigation is horrible… not to mention it’s annoying as hell with background music (even if it is for a singer).” I am glad to see the criticism is from someone who doesn’t come from a web design background. Using Flash for the sake of Flash is not the best way to design a Web site. One has to consider what he could do with Flash that he couldn’t do with HTML. There are advantages of using Flash, but I don’t see it for Khanh Ly’s site. Like TTBlue, I find the music background to be very annoying, but what worst is that I can’t even turn it off (I clicked on the music symbol on the lower left corner and nothing happened). The texts, especially her journal entries, are very hard to read, which brings me to the visual issue. From the type choice to the gradient to the layout, the design seems to come from someone who knows how to use some Flash instead of a designer.

While we’re on Khanh Ly, here is a classic clip from Quan Van Sai Gon circa 1968 (via HmL).

Continuing his G-Unit beef, The Game goes straight at Tony Yayo and 50 Cent on his new diss-track “Body Bags.” He crosses the line when mentioning 50’s deceased mama, “We’ll put you in the ground like that”. That’s just disrespectful.

“Even the rap game started out critiquing / Now it’s all about killing and freaking,” Wynton Marsalis rhymes in a preaching style over the closing “Where Y’all At?” off his new album From the Plantation to the Penitentiary. Wynton Marsalis is furious as fuck, especially with hip-hop misogynists. He even granted a space on “Love and Broken Hearts” for a young female vocalist, Jennifer Sanon, to front rappers that she ain’t their bitch or their hoe. In addition to attacking rap music, Marsalis is politicking as usual on “Supercapitalism.” Clearly, he is more interested in getting out the message than making innovative music, which is expectable coming from a moldy fig.

I would write a review on Tuyet Loan if I could understand half of the shit she sings on Jazz Lady. Actually, her English singing isn’t so bad for someone living in Viet Nam. Her enunciation issue turns up in some songs (particularly “Stardust”) more than other. Still, she could have turned it into her advantage if she could do it right. Pay more attention to the melody than the lyrics, in a way that the words become completely undistinguishable. The result could be some idiosyncratic scatting, who knows.

Without Ngoc Anh’s breath issue and Bang Kieu’s feminine falsetto, Nguyen Khang brings depths and soul to Phu Quang’s “Dau Phai Boi Mua Thu” (lyrics by Giang Van) and “Em Oi, Ha Noi Pho” (lyrics by Pham Vu). He is at his best when he sounds effortless. By letting his energy, so essential for the high octaves, and his gorgeous scratch weave in and out of the delightful orchestration, he gives Phu Quang’s ballads a fresh rejuvenation. Mad kudos to the arrangers, too.

Alright, I need to get off Nguyen Khang’s dick. I know, I’ve been mad homo lately. It must be all the gang-bang and balls talk. What can I say? I got some real nutty visitors up in here, but it is understandable since I am pretty deranged myself. As for writing about Nguyen Khang, I just realize that I have been promoting his ass like he had paid me to. So if you see him in concert next time, go ahead and collect my fees.