After releasing several ridiculous DVD, Hoa Bien productions are finally catching on. Their latest music and comedy video Yeu Nguoi Say (Love the Drunker) is viewable with the mix of singers in Viet Nam and US. Despite the foolish topic (liquor) and the silly host (I am tired of watching Chi Tai), the video provides some entertaining contents.

The song that jumps out at me is Jimmy J.C Nguyen’s “Niem Dau Chom Ha.” He is one rare Vietnamese artist who can write and sing equally well. This song showcases his new style, which is refreshing, reviving, and very “Hue.” His flow is exceptional and his lyric is beautiful. I am sure Quang Linh will cop this song in the near future.

Ngo Thanh Van surprises me with her vocal improvements compare to a year ago when her second album Bi An Van Trang dropped. She’s hot and she has the groove, but her style is uneven on the video. She looks cute in some outfits but discord in others. Her dancers are even worse. Their styles are in between puck-rock and hip-hop, but their moves are not so bad. Together they rocked the video.

Glad to see Thuy Duong’s back. Her voice is incredible on “Tinh Lo” even though her pronunciation of the “th” (thoi) and “dd” (doi) is a bit strange. Thanh Truc pulls off Trinh Cong Son’s “Nhu Canh Vat Bay” adequately. She would sound much better if she could control her breath. Thu Phuong’s performance on “Chen Dang” is pleasurable although Dam Vinh Hung’s version is more expressive.

“Ve Day Thoi Em Hoi” is lyrically inspiring but the video does not articulate the song to its fullest. Tinh production would have captured the song much better. Dam Vinh Hung’s sentiment is honestly delivered. In contrast, his performance with Hong Ngoc on “Lien Khuc Duong Xa Uoc Mua” isn’t quite captivating. Hong Ngoc looks like a Vietnamese version of Da Brat back in the “Funkdafied” days with her braided hair, loose shirt, and baggy jeans.

Rebecca Quynh Giao and Quynh Anh are blazing in the sexy Japanese customs that show off their cleavages on “Say.” Especially Rebecca, she is irresistible. Keep on shaking them thangs, ma!

When the production toned Nguyen Huy down to his age, he is a cute and talented kid. He’s no longer a little pimp, but a “Tieu Hoang Phi Hung” (a little Kung Fu fighter). Although the flying on water and the fighting scenes are filmed with special effects, he has the skill and the charisma to pull them off. Not only that, he can also acts. His performance with Hoai Linh and Thuy Muoi on the skit “Yeu Nguoi Say” is plausible.

Hoa Bien productions have learned from their mistakes and taken away many controversial issues. Luckily, they haven’t taken away the models. I don’t care what people say, but beautiful faces do add something nice to the video. I also must give Hoa Bien props for filming both places (Viet Nam and US). The expenses must be incredibly high. Keep up the good work.

On the desirable Da Khuc Nguyen Dinh Phung, Tuan Ngoc and Thai Hien calm our minds with their vocals and Duy Cuong sooths our souls with his musical arrangements even though the nocturne music takes us a while to get into. Unfortunately, their latest efforts on Ao Mong (Romantic Ballads of Nguyen Dinh Phung) are not too successful. The singings are beyond relax and the arrangements are above quiet. I gave the album plenty of time (twice as much as the previous one) to grow on me, but nothing happens. I still am unable to feel the vibe.

On the first two tracks (“Nhu Tinh Mai Tinh Khoi” and “Mai Em Ve Da Lat”), Tuan Ngoc holds on to the notes too long. He stresses the words too much to match up with the classical chords. The result is unanimated and tedious. The CD-closer “Thien Than Toc Trang Canh Mau Xanh” picks up the tempo a tiny bit with the waltz tune. He does not sound as stretchy, but the music still does not come to life.

Thai Hien is equally tiresome. Her clear but slow and slightly breathy delivery on “Dan Voi Gio Mua” and “Coi Troi Dat La” is more depressing than enchanting. Duy Cuong’s arrangements do not help much. The beats are either too subtle or are not presence at all. For instance, on “Tram Nhanh Song Chia,” I wish he turned up the drums just a notch.

The poems featured on Ao Mong are beautiful, but the drawback is the way Nguyen Dinh Phung transports them into music. The melodies are too passive and subdued. Listeners who are acquainted with classical music might find the album enjoyable. As for me, I am more of a jazz and hip-hop head.

What is the beauty of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) design? Check csszengarden.com. What are the benefits of using CSS? Check csszengarden.com. What do they mean by separating contents from presentations? Check csszengarden.com. Wow! How do they do that? Check The Zen of Design, Visual Enlightenment for the Web, by Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag.

On May 8, 2003, the CSS Zen Garden website proves to the world the power of CSS-based design. Now the book is here to provide the thinking processes behind the works, and how designers take advantage of the powerful and flexible technology to produce complex visual presentations on the web. The heart and soul of the book lies in the deconstructions of thirty-six carefully selected submissions. These examples not only inspire us, but also support the design concepts and the layout techniques presented by the authors. The thirty-six pieces are arranged into six categories: the “Design” that makes our jaws drop; (Ballade); the “Layout” that makes us glance (prêt-à-porter); the “Imagery” that makes us wonder (What Lies Beneath); the “Typography” that makes us marvel (Blood Lust); the “Special Effects” that make us feel hungry (This is Cereal); the “Reconstruction” that makes us realize how coding could be easy and fun (Hedges).

The pleasurable and insightful reading section of the book is where the authors explore the design principles. The descriptive writing is clear, and the screenshots beside the texts help readers more easily visualize the materials. One of my favorite pieces is the psychological use of shapes behind Radu Darvas’s Zunflower. As explained in the text, “Circles are most frequently associated with feminine: warmth, comfort, sensuality, and love, and the extension of those associates… Triangles are thought to be masculine, expressing qualities such as strength, aggression, and dynamic motion” (57). Darvas uses triangles and circles to give his design a sense of harmony. The outcome is a “sensual image, one that is both masculine and feminine, and that creates a very memorable emotion” (57). Although the layout of Zunflower is minimal, the level of attention to detail makes it a perfect selection to showcase the striking visual design and the legible use of typography. I am only scratching the surface here. The book delves much deeper into essential design elements, such as the appropriate use of shadow, the influence of color, and the art of using pattern.

Beside the visual design aspects, the technical explanations behind the sites are impressive as well. To keep the writing clear and focused, the authors leave out CSS 101, and cover the important codes that crafted the visual presentations. For instance, some of the topics include the various implementations of FIR (Fahrner Image Replacement) techniques, the different layout methods (fixed, fluid, vertical, horizontal), the tricks to pull off curved edges, and the use of inheritance, layering, and child selectors of CSS.

The Zen of CSS Design opens with an introduction (pays homage to the Web Standards, explains the general rules of markups, and views the source codes of the set-in-stone Zen Garden’s XHTML file), and closes with sites’ reconstructions to provide readers hands-on experiences. Dave, Molly, and New Riders have published a book on web design that I would like to see more of. The perfect balance between visual and codes describes web design today. A website is no longer an adaptation of a print design or a piece of programming without images. Web design nowadays is the combination of both sides, in addition to many more considerations such as accessibility, usability, and compatibility. My appreciation goes out to not only Dave and Molly, but to anyone who has contributed to the Zen of CSS Garden project. Your work helps making the web a better, faster and prettier place to access information.

The Ho Xuan Huong’s poetry recital was exquisite. John Balaban did a great job of reading the translations while Ngo Thanh Nhan provided his intricate finger-picking zither (dan tranh) playing to enhance the experience. Nguyen Boi Co lends a slightly dark and dramatic of her voice to Ho Xuan Huong’s poetry. Her northern accent combined with her emotional expression on the first line from “Lay Chong Chung” (“On Sharing a Husband”) – “Chem cha cai kiep lay chong chung” (“Screw the fate that makes you share a man”) – gave the audience a feel as if Ho Xuan Huong was reciting it herself.

I also had a great time at the dinner afterward and got a chance to meet all three of them as well as two young filmmakers from NYC who are working on the documentary of Vietnamese women. Sounds like an interesting project and I would love to see it.

As I was walking back to the campus after lunch, a group of Vassar students with red paint covered their T-shirts and faces holding up a military protest sign chasing two Navy officers off the campus. Here is a photo of a student lying dead in Main building. Vassar is an interesting place.

John Balaban along with Ngo Thanh Nhan and Nguyen Boi Co will be performing Ho Xuan Huong’s poetry today at Vassar. Check out the frontpage banner created by me.

Hong Nhung’s Khu Vuon Yen Tinh live show is today in Viet Nam. Wish could I attend. She will be chatting with fans online tomorrow night (Vietnamese time) over at VN Express.

My favorite musical producer has a website, check out DuyCuong.com

Kim Tran sliced off her husband’s “little man” while sexing and flushed him down the toilet. Fortunately, the water utility workers found the “little man” and the surgeon put him back in place. She is charged with genital amputation. Damn! She is not playing around.

Never judge an album by its cover. As a visual guy, I find that principle is hard to follow. I believe that first impression is better than no impressions at all. An album cover should at least give the audience a sense of the work before they make the purchase. The design of Y Biec (Nguyen Dinh Phung’s music) looks like someone who just learned new Photoshop effects and puts his or her tricks to work. The layout is incoherent, the use of types is ineffective, and let’s not going into the background and bevel effects. The visual says nothing about the work. Could it be that the designer doesn’t immerse into the music?

Y Biec is not an easy listening album. Nguyen Dinh Phung music doesn’t seize listeners immediately, but the strength lies in a study in subdued, soothing colors, gorgeous harmonies, and cascades of pure melody. Like a slow-cooking process, the compositions marinate gradually into the listeners’ hearts. Once they are fully absorbed, the experience is rejuvenating.

The album featured three distinguished vocalists and a sonic mastermind. Tuan Ngoc, Thai Hien, and Vu Khanh are at their best on the performances (each covers three tracks), and Duy Cuong is as amazing as always with his soft and sensuous arrangements. Despite what the poor CD cover design might suggest, together they have created a rich level of chamber-music. The best part is the varieties each singer brings to the work. While Tuan Ngoc delivers his calmness qualities on “Sau Y Biec,” Thai Hien flows her illusionary aesthetics on “Hanh Ngo,” and Vu Khanh holds the dynamic steady on “Thanh Pho Thien Than.”

As a master of fine-tuning producer, Duy Cuong caters his sounds to blend in with the vocalist styles. For the cool-under-pressure Tuan Ngoc, Duy Cuong allows tiny fluctuations in his instruments to carry the emotional weight, noticeably on “Mua Dong Hong Van No.” For the pitch-perfect Thai Hien, he wants listeners to hear the particulars, even when the chord weaves in and out of the singing on “Vo Dinh.” The technique is so subtle that the instrumental and the vocals have become an integral, indivisible part of the composition. For the forceful Vu Khanh, he lets the voice to be the essence. “Nhung Loi Nghin Trung” is a vocal driven track, but the beat changes in the background are interesting from slow ballad to jazz.

With Nguyen Dinh Phung’s poetic lyrics, Duy Cuong’s brilliant sounds, and vocalists’ meticulous deliveries, Y Biec is an album I reach for over and over, as if it were a pack of cigarettes, especially when insomnia strikes. Sleep is not something I do well these days, and it seems to get worse as I am approaching the three-zero territory; therefore, slow, relax, and unwind music is my best companion.

Dinh Ngoc is Asia Entertainment’s latest protégé. Unlike most of Asia’s shining stars such as Lam Nhat Tien, Thanh Truc, and Cardin, he is added to the roster to attract more matured listeners. Based on his songs selection on Tinh Khuc Mua Dong, an album released under his label (Dinh Ngoc Productions) and produced by Duy Cuong, he seems to have a clear direction of where he wants to go. The path he has chosen is a smart one because he faces less competition, but the few challengers he’s battling are hard to conquer.

Right off the bat, he is up against Khanh Ha on Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Mot Doi Quen Lang.” The down side is that Duy Cuong recycles the arrangements on both performances. Same beat different vocal makes the comparison even more obvious. Dinh Ngoc’s version is good, but Khanh Ha experienced vocal manipulation leaves him out in the cold.

It gets worse when he covers Trinh Cong Son’s “Nho Mua Thu Ha Noi,” which is one of Tuan Ngoc’s signature pieces. Again, similar arrangement different voice, and Tuan Ngoc’s intricate phrasing and his detail to each word shred Dinh Ngoc’s performance into confetti.

Beside his charming voice, he does nothing new to the aged romantic ballads. He hardly pushes the arrangements, and his steady delivery doesn’t help either. The only time he sounds dynamic is on Pham Trong’s “Mua Thu Khong Tro Lai.” Fortunately, he is backed up by one of the deftest producers in the game. Duy Cuong helps drive Dinh Ngoc’s performance with a pounding beat on Pham Duy’s “Nghin Nam Van Chua Quen.”

Dinh Ngoc has not given enough reasons for listeners to root for him. He needs more drama and passion in his delivery if he wants to go far. Taking the road that is less traveled does not mean he is on a smooth expedition. He still has a long and bumpy ride ahead of him.

Steak, egg and rice or Com Bo Luc Lac is my alternative breakfast or brunch to the usual Com Tam Suon Bi Cha (rice with shredded pork, egg cake, and BBQ pork chop) or Pho (noodle soup with rare steak). Just looking at the tender and juicy cubes of beef, who would want to turn down that heavy and flavorful dish?

“Ready to Die, Reasonable Doubt, and Doggystyle in one.” Dream on, Game. The Documentary is solid, but far away from being a classic. With a portfolio of today’s finest hip-hop producers including Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Timbaland behind the tracks, the production is impressive, but Game’s lyrical skills aren’t deep enough to reach his legends.

Following Tupac Shakur’s footsteps, Game skips the flamboyant flow and cuts straight to the bone. Unfortunately, he only scratches the surface, whereas Pac went all the way to the heart, but that doesn’t mean he cannot deliver. He sounds honest and sincere on “Start From Scratch,” and convincing when he spits, “Homie if I could make ’94 today / I tell Eazy and Dre to bring back NWA.”

Though Game carries the thug’s image just like the rest of his G-Unit crew, he does not sound as cocky as 50 Cent, as misogynistic as Cam’ron, or as flashy as Jay-Z. Instead of rapping about ice, rims, and hoes over and over again, he speaks out his mind on the title track “The Document.” The way his chorus plays off the classics album is clever – “I’m Ready to Die without a Reasonable Doubt / smoke Chronic and hit Doggystyle before I go out / until they sign my Death Certificate / All Eyez On Me / I’m still at it, Illmatic / and that’s The Documentary.”

On the flip side, the album sounds more frivolous than serious, especially with 50 featured on “How We Do” and “Hate It or Love It.” The style switching sounds smooth between the two on “How We Do” and Dre makes the club beat pumping. While Kanye drops a blazing beat on “Dreams,” Eminem flops on “We Ain’t.” The track sounds like the sequel 50’s “Patiently Waiting,” but out of tune. Em kills himself and the Game on his own beat – no pun intended.

Although The Documentary is not a magnum opus, the album has some sparks. Game offers a satisfactory debut with potential for improvements. His references throughout his lyrics prove that he has indeed studied the classics. Keep on learning, keep on dreaming of making a masterpiece , but stop dreaming of “fucking the R&B bitch.”

Duong Dua are worms that eat coconut shoots. They choose the most prosperous coconut trees, bore themselves into the peak, give birth, and together (about 100 at a time) they suck the brains out of the coconut shoots. By the time they are full and satisfied, even the strongest coconut tree could not survived.

When I was nine, my cousins dared me to try them, and I did. They were delicious. Of course, I did not just picked them up and eat them alive. They were grilled inside the bamboo until crispy. Took them out and dipped in fish sauce that was mixed with tamarind, sugar, and hot peppers. Because Duong Dua ate the best part of coconut, they were fat, creamy, and juicy. Along with herbs, vegetables, and the special tamarind fish sauce, Duong Dua is a great dish for drinker. Not sure if I can eat them now.

Although I was only nine at the time, I still remember the vivid details of helping my cousins preparing Duong Dua fries. Picked him up, inserted a peanut into his belly, the milk oozed out, then threw him on the fryer. I called him “Duong chip with tons of protein.”

Imagine throwing a fattest Duong Dua into a bottle of Gusano Rojo Mezcal. I’ll be drunk in a quickness.

Thanks to Pieman for good old memory.