Hong Hanh gives Nguyen Anh 9’s “Mua Thu Canh Nau” an inebriating rendition of the blues.

“Trang va Em” (Moon and You), a smooth-jazz performance from the soft-and-sweet Jazzy Da Lam. Thanks Joseph for the link.

Although mom was not able to make much food this time because of her surgery, she did managed to make a delicious banana cake, one of my favorite desserts. The light sweet banana is enhenced by the creamy coconut milk, and together they taste fantastic.

A Visualgui.com reader asked me if I’ve heard of Ngoc Anh and if I have to recommend one of her albums, which one would it be? I told him Ngoc Anh was a member of 3A group, and she has a strange scratch, which I adore, in her voice; however, I could not recommend any of her albums because I have not listen to any of them. So this is an opportunity to give Ngoc Anh a try. After a few minutes visiting her site and looking at her records, Ngoc Anh Online jumps right at me. It’s her latest album. The title is cheesy but catchy, and I like it because “online” refers to the web. What can I say? I like anything that has to do with the web.

Ngoc Anh caught my attention when she sang “Anh Da Khac Xua” (You’ve Changed) on Do Bao’s Canh Cung (Bow’s Wing), which featured various artists including Tran Thu Ha, Khanh Linh, and Ho Quynh Huong. Unlike these female musicians who gave Do Bao’s romantic compositions soft and sweet sounds, Ngoc Anh brought the roughness and bitterness into his work with her raspy voice. “Anh Da Khac Xua” is also featured on this album along with Do Bao’s “Bai Hat Cho Em” (A Song For You). “Anh Da Khac Xua” fits Ngoc Anh like a pair of tight jeans because the song requires deep emotions and she has it in her vocals; however, the sugary and chocolaty “Bai Hat Cho Em” fits songbird Khanh Linh better. Ngoc Anh’s style is superior on the hard-rock rendition of Ngoc Dai and Ngoc Oanh’s “Canh Dieu” (Kite’s Wing) and the trance-remixed version of Kim Ngoc’s “Chi La Giac Mo” (Only a Dream).

Lately, Duc Huy’s songs are being covered by a number of young singers in Viet Nam such as Dam Vinh Hung, Thu Minh, and Hien Thuc. Unfortunately, only Thu Minh can revived Duc Huy’s “Va Con Tim Da Vui Tro Lai” (And The Heart is Happy Once Again) with a bit of freshness. Other singers in Viet Nam, including Ngoc Anh, are still not able to match those in the States. Ngoc Anh’s rendition of “Nhu Da Dau Yeu” (Like We Have Loved) lacks the crispness and soulfulness that Ngoc Lan and Don Ho had brought to the work. Both Ngoc Anh and Hien Thuc could not express “Dung Xa Em Dem Nay” (Don’t Leave Me Tonight) as lithe and sultry as Duc Huy’s wife, Thao My. Since Duc Huy’s compositions were born in the States, they should stay in the States.

Online may not be a strong album for song selections, but Ngoc Anh’s gravel voice is always a pleasure to listen to, and the polished productions from Do Bao, Thanh Phuong, and Huy Tuan help too. She turns Phu Quang and Thai Thang Long’s “Muon” (Late) into a hot club joint, and delivers a heart-wrenching, soul-stirring emotion on Phu Quang and Nguyen Trong Tao’s “Mot Dai Kho, Mot Toi” (One Foolish, One Me). I am feeling her gravel timbre: crack on the surface but smooth underneath.

Even a week of relaxing and hanging out with the family zoomed by in a flash. Thanks to those who sent the kind words to my mother. She is doing well now, or else I would not leave her. Although a week was to spend for mom (surgery and doctor visits), I benefited from it too. I needed the time off to clear my head, but now I am back to work.

Just added a slideshow for the McCaskey Alumni Association. I had to select 50 from 900 images from a disk, and the photos reminded me of the good old days. I also upgraded Visualgui.com to WordPress for tighter security. Although I am not taking anymore freelance projects, I can’t turn down my cousin. So I’ll be working on a website for Suzanne Shu after my two major projects for Vassar winding down. The redesign of the entire Development website is going smoothly. The new design is approved but the site is nowhere near completion. As for redesign of German Studies, it is going back to the drawing board.

On another note, Delta Tango Bravo has put together an impressive favicon collection. See if you can spot visualgui.

With gorgeous designs, insightful essays, and comprehensive explanations, Ellen Lupton’s Thinking With Type is not only an essential but also a pleasurable reading on typography. The book is an excellent accompaniment to a course on type design because Lupton’s balances the theory and practice, at the same time, she manages to keep the texts short, straightforward, and accessible.

Divided into three main categories, Thinking With Type walks readers from the fundamental concepts of “Letter” (including size, classification, and families) to the arrangements of “Text” (such as kerning, tracking, and spacing) to the visual layouts using “Grid” (exploring single and multiple columns, modular, and data tables). The structures, illustrations, and exercises are well crafted to help readers enhance their use of type. While most typographic books cover mainly on print design, Thinking With Type deals with both print and web. Many beautiful screenshots of web sites are showcased throughout the book as well as a short coverage of “Web Accessibility” and “Web Hierarchy.”

Thinking With Type is a book that could be read from cover to cover because of the slim in size and simplified in language. Even the “Appendix” is filled with useful information, especially the free advices: “think more, design less,” “spend more, buy less,” and especially for screen designers, “make it bigger.” So buy it, study it, enjoy it, and most importantly, apply it. Still not convinced? Visit ThinkingWithType.com for excerpts.

Mom’s Blepharoplasty (eyelids surgery) went smoothly, thanks to the wonderful Day Care’s staffs at Lancaster General Hospital. They deserve the recognition for their professional manors. Their work is deeply appreciated it.

Mom is back home now, but she is still unable to eat and keep on vomitting because of the anesthesia. During this time, I am so glad to be by her side like she has always been by mine. She still needs to recover as well as follow ups to do in the next couple of days. I am praying that she will get better soon. Looking at her swollen and bruised eyes, I am wondering why would people go through all these pains just to look good? If it was not for medical reasons, mom wouldn’t put herself into this position.

Asia’s Hanh Trinh 30 Nam, a Vietnamese Legacy, is more convincing than Thuy Nga’s 30 Nam Vien Xu. For one, Asia did not make their video looks like they just want to cash in on the event, even though it was one of the main purposes. For two, they were able to stick to the theme throughout the video by eliminating most of the sex-driven performances. All the hosts, especially Duong Ngoc Anh, had done an excellent job of leading the program. Even Trinh Hoi had improved tremendously from the previous show, My Nhan Ngu.

The main theme of Hanh Trinh 30 Nam is to celebrate and look back at what expatriate Vietnamese has accomplished over the past thirty years in America and around the world. The video also brings up some controversial issues, but let just stay with the musical performances. While Thanh Thuy, Le Thu, and Thanh Tuyen continued to sway us with their timeless voices, Phan Van Hung captured our soul for the first time appearring on Asia with his own heart-wrenching composition, “20 Nam.” Mad props to Asia production for putting on a Ngoc Lan’s dedication. While Y Phuong and Thanh Truc had done their best to bring back the indelible image of Ngoc Lan. Tuan Vu and Son Tuyen took us back to the good old days when “Nguoi Yeu Co Don” touched every lonely heart of Vietnamese American. From Ngoc Huyen to Thien Kim to Don Ho, each singer provides emotional strength to the show. Even Trish has written an emotional song for the event. Once again, Asia has created one of the best DVDs of the year.

The joyful part of web design is when the final Cascading-Style-Sheets-driven layout looks exactly like the Photoshop mockup; however, the joy ends as soon as the site goes into Browser Cam, and that’s when the hair-pulling part comes in. The beautiful site is no longer beautiful in Netscape 4.0. The main content is dropped below, instead of beside, the navigation in Internet Explorer 5.5. Why are there a few pixels off in IE 6.0?

After freaking out over the screenshots provided by Browser Cam, the next thing to do is revisit the CSS file and search the web for ways to fix the bugs. Getting frustrated because there isn’t a central place to find all the hacks. Fortunately, Joseph W. Lowery recognizes it, and puts together an accessible reference for designing cross-browser compatible websites called CSS Hacks & Filters: Making Cascading Style Sheets Work.

Because of the concise explanations, clear visual demonstrations, and well-organized contents, CSS Hacks & Filters is the book to have on hand when testing and debugging web pages and CSS files. From filtering CSS for older or hiding it from newer browsers to integrating layouts to building menus to troubleshooting, this is a one shop for all CSS-workarounds resource. Every hack or filter we need is well documented and usually accompanied by a web address if it was pulled from a particular site.

The strength of the book is Lowery’s easy-to-follow writing style. The language is simple and the instructions are comprehensible. For instance, the step-by-step breakdowns of the commented backslash hack for Mac IE is easy to understand, and the simple method to wrap texts around a cursive image is easy to pull off. Lowery is also a Dreamweaver expert; therefore, Dreamweaver users get a special treat at the last two chapters.

I am a designer, not a hacker, and hacking CSS is not my style. I prefer clean and lean style sheets, but in order to design a beautiful table-less layout website to work consistently on various browsers, hacking CSS is inevitable. Until CSS works the way it is supposed to, CSS Hacks & Filters not only saves the designers as well as developers tremendous time, headache, and effort, but also helps crafting their websites to reach wider audiences.

Danny Nguyen, a dear fan of Ngoc Lan, has written, composed, arranged, and sung “Bong Lan Gay,” a special dedication to iLoveNgocLan.com. Although it is a home-grown production, the sincerity and honesty come across through his expressive performance. Mad kudos, Dan.

Heather Park’s “Not That Girl” has a blazin’ production.

A nice selection of Thanh Lam’s music ranging from jazz to folk to pop. The page is nicely designed, too.

The nasty remix of “What Mean The World To You?” with Cam’ron, Ludacris, Trina, UGK, and Juelz Santana.

Vietnamese-songbird Khanh Linh flies freely on her debut Hoa Mi Hot Trong Mua (Nightingale Sings in the Rain). Unlike Ngoc Khue’s Ben Bo Ao Nha Minh (By Our Pond), Hoa Mi Hot Trong Mua does not strike the shocking chord, but the strength is in the relaxing and easy-listening experience. Khanh Linh’s soft, sweet and sensuous voice gives Duong Thu’s folk compositions a fresh rebirth, even though they have been successfully covered by notorious names like Hong Nhung, Thanh Lam and My Linh.

Hoa Mi Hot Trong Mua consists of five tracks from Duong Thu and five from Ngoc Chau who is Khanh Linh’s older brother. Ngoc Chau is also responsible for the splendid production for the album. The flute and the piano on the title track, “Hoa Mi Hot Trong Mua,” are simple but seducing, and Khanh Linh makes the song sounds as if Duong Thu has written it exclusively for her. Her soprano voice is impressive when she emphasizes the word “hot” (bird sings). She almost sings opera but with a much lighter touch. The new-age vibe on Duong Thu and Nguyen Cuong’s “Hoi Tho Mua Xua” (The Breath of Spring) is sharp and ingenious. The exhilarating-saxophone break gives the song a drop of smooth jazz. On “Bai Hat Ru Mua Xuan” (A Lullaby of Spring), Khanh Linh starts off with a soothing a cappella then follows by a breathtaking fusion of horn and strings.

On Ngoc Chau’s compositions, Khanh Linh flows her heartfelt emotion effortlessly into “Dieu Khong The Mat” (Something Can’t Be Lost), a beautiful devotion to the mothers. The modern version of Miss Tam (“Co Tam Ngay Nay”) has both the traditional folk melody (the flute) and contemporary fresh tempo (the beat). Embedded in between the old and new sounds, Khanh Linh’s weightless vocals make “Co Tam Ngay Nay” an attractive hit. However, the record departs from the folk standards on “Qua Tang Trai Tim” (A Gift for the Heart), in which the guitar riff gives a rock attitude. Then the album-closer “Tam Biet” (Good Bye) leaves listeners with a slow pop. Hopefully, these two tracks are only her experimentations. She sounds best on soulful folk, not trendy pop nor hard rock.