I would like to borrow Nguyễn Nhất Huy’s “Tình Mẹ” (Mother’s Love) to show you my appreciation.

“Mẹ đã có phút dấu nước mắt cho con thơ ngây nụ cười. Mẹ đã có những lúc thức trắng cho con bao đêm ngủ say.” (There were moments you hid your tears to bring me laughter. There were times you stayed up all night just so I can have a good sleep.)

Happy Mother’s day! You deserve every moment of it. You mean the whole world to me and there is not a single second that I don’t think of you. You are my love, my life, my motivation, and my inspiration. You spend all your life focus on me. You worked hard everyday just so I can have a better life. You lay all your hopes and dreams on me. All my life, not only you never put your hands on me but also you would never let anyone else touch me. I remember one time you were arguing with dad because he puts his hands on me. Thank you for protecting me all through my life and I am deeply sorry for all the drama I put you through. I know I was not a good kid but you never gave up on me.

Thank you for brought me into this world and never stop loving me. You are the reason that I live and survive in this world. As a kid, I was always sick. Every year, I would spend at least a week in the hospital and you never left my side during those times. At one time, we both witnessed the girl my age passed away in the hospital right next to us. We could not control our emotions. She was just talking to us the day before. Similar to me, she was diagnosed with malaria but her parents brought her to the hospital too late. You would never let that happen to me. You knew exactly when it was time for me to check in the hospital even though we did not have a whole lot of money. Just thinking of all the sweet things you did for me, I cannot hold my tears. You are the greatest.

I pray everyday for your health and I am glad that you are taking great care of yourself. I can’t imagine living in this world without you. I will go insane. You have worked hard all your life, it’s time to relax and enjoy yourself. I can take care of myself now so please do not worried about me anymore. In your heart, I am still your little twelve years old kid even though you have given me plenty of wisdom to stand on my own two feet. I love you with all my heart and I just want you to know, you’re appreciated.

Another day, another design. The Summer Sports Camps site has launched. Yep! Another one page site. Three in a row, what’s up with that? Hey! I am just a designer and it doesn’t matter if it is one page or thousands of pages web site, I still give it the same treatments. The page is valid XHTML Strict with a professional look and feel.

Actually, the title should be Spring…, Summer…, Fall…, Winter…… and Spring. The extra periods are added to warn viewers how long each season takes. Although the cinematography is absolutely beautiful, what you see from the trailer is what you pretty much get in the film. It’s the same place throughout the featured and only the season changes. Wish I liked the film but I couldn’t keep up by the time fall arrived.

What bother me the most about the film are the missing subtitles. They only come up about once every forth line. I guess the other three lines aren’t important so they don’t show the subtitles for those. They probably did that on purpose so that viewers can focus more on the aesthetic qualities; however, the paste is quite slow and there isn’t that many lines to get distracted from the beautiful shots.

Although the film is quite slow, there are some great moments come through nicely. I am not going to spoil it for those still want to see it. One of the themes the film plays on is nature. Obviously the beauty of nature is showcased throughout the featured but the deeper focus is on human nature. Sex, love, lust, angry, and jealousy are part of human nature. If we can’t control our human nature, one thing leads to another will get us deeper into sin. Even a monk commits murder if he can’t control himself. This is probably one of the Buddhist philosophies that the director, Kim Ki-duk, wants to get across.

What intrigues me the most about the film is the wall-less temple. There is a gate to the temple but there are no fences surrounding it. There are doors in the temple to separate the bedroom from the worship room but there are no walls between them. Is this a Buddhist indication of openness and acceptant? If you have any thought on this, I would love to hear it.

As a design junkie, I tend to take my assignment a bit too far. Originally I was only suppose to switch out an image for the Summer Programs website but I ended up redesigned the whole page. The page is now much more organized with a bit of visual design. Hope you enjoy the new look as much as the director and coordinator of the program. Of course, it is passing the XHTML Strict exam.

The title, temporary translated as Blood Money, is a bit exaggerated. Dinh Duc Liem’s Dong Tien Xuong Mau is not quite as dramatic as the title suggested. It’s more like Hong Kong’s romantic drama TV series but lacking the deep impact. Similar to soap opera, Dong Tien Xuong Mau takes forever to build characters. It would have been a great film if it were 2 hours instead of 12 hours series.

Since the plot is not too complicated, it could have been done effectively in 2 hours. Basically, the themes revolve around Dong Tien Xuong Mau are: money, power and relationships. The film emphasizes on the conflict between the old and new generations. In this case, the disagreement is between the father and his children. He’s protective but his children are willing to take risks. The family falls apart when the kids no longer listen to their father and begin to make their own decisions.

While most of the characters are above average, Lam Toi gives an outstanding performance as a father who holds the family as well as the series together. Truong Ngoc Anh is not so bad in her role as Lan Anh but she could have been stronger. Huyen Anh is the pretty one. She’s not drop dead gorgeous but her simple beauty is nice enough to add some visual elements to the film.

Although Dong Tien Xuong Mau is not one of the best Vietnamese drama films, it is still entertaining. If you enjoy Hong Kong’s romantic drama series, you might like this film. What I like the most about the film is the incorporating of Ngoc Lan’s music into the love story. Ngoc Lan’s voice adds tremendous aesthetic experience to the film even though her music was used subtly. Just picture a sad relationship on screen with Ngoc Lan emotional vocal on Tinh Khuc Buon playing in the background, what could be more heartbreaking than that? It’s a perfect enhancement.

Kayne West’s “Two Words” video is a beautiful work of art. The video plays off of an opening movie sequence with fast moving images and text effects. The editing is great, especially in the beginning where the dove takes off, the beat kicks in, then the camera travels through buildings, streets, bridges, etc. So go ahead and enjoy the show! Caution, the video (55mb) might eat up your bandwidth.

After Quang Dung cancelled his performance on the same day as Quach Thanh Danh and demanded the 2 Bee club coordinator to take down Quach Thanh Danh’s ad, I stop listening to his music and stop buying his CD’s. In contrast, I picked up Quach Thanh Danh’s Toi La Toi and totally impressed. Although he is new, his vocal is quite matured. His timbre is along the line of Jimmy JC Nguyen and Vu Khanh mix together.

Quach Thanh Danh’s style is definitely slow and romantic. “Em Khoang Trong Va Toi” is modestly beautiful and he does a great job of expressing the sad emotion. “Duong Phuong Mot Cuoc Tinh” is nice and simple. “Xin Ru Muon Mang” is excellent too. It sounds like Trinh Cong Son’s music but I am not too sure.

The album (released by Buom Dem Music Volume 20) features 17 tracks I have never heard before. Tinh Vu Vo is the only one that I could recognize the melody. Actually, it’s similar to Ngoc Lan’s Ngay Vui Nam Ay. Of course, Ngoc Lan performance is indelible but it gives me an idea where Quach Thanh Danh stands. The overall album is not bad at all. He definitely has potential.

Obviously, bad scandals had helped boost Quach Thanh Danh’s popularity. First, his album got pulled and his live show was cancelled just because of the pose where he shows a bit of his brief. Too muscular for the Vietnamese government, how bullshit is that? Click here to see the photo. It’s nothing like Mark Wahlberg in CK underwear ads. Then Quang Dung was being stuck up and requested to pull down Quach Thanh Danh’s ad. Well, these negative scandals only make him well known to the public. Quach Thanh Danh, good luck and I’ll give you my supports so don’t let me down on your next album.

“What the heo?” Dat Phan was holding down the floor last night. It’s nice to hear someone making jokes on subjects I can relate to. He cracks on the nail business, the family conflict, the Asian roles in Hollywood, the Vietnamese culture, etc. His mother’s impersonation is pretty damn funny. Phan is doing a great job of reaching out the American audience about the Vietnamese culture. Asians are not all the same. Vietnamese doesn’t know kung fu. Calling Phan Chinese is like calling, “Michael Jackson is white.” It’s a nice way of making sure the distinction is clear. The best joke he makes is about his step daughter, “I am the first Asian guy to adopt a white kid.”

Da Phan definitely has potential. His comics are funny; however, he needs to fine-tune his work a bit. He needs to focus on giving more details instead of just touching on the surfaces. Although he is full of energy, too much acting and sound effects gets in the way. He also speaks so fast that it is hard to follow, especially with a squeaking microphone. I have to give Dat Phan credits for making his lines funny without using curse words. The only curse word I could remember is “du ma…” (motherfuck…) something. It’s such a pleasure to see a Vietnamese made it to the mass media with his talent and not sympathy from the audience. The Vietnamese community should be proud of Dat Phan and should show him some love. Dat, you got my support, man. Keep up the good work!

Just launched the redesigned of Vassar’s Women in Science hall of fame featured site. Actually, there is only one page but I felt it is important enough to get careful attention and to look attractive. So check it out! The site validated XHTML 1.0 Strict.

How Asian People Take Pictures