Wally World invasion

We all know too well this giant retailer is taking over the world. Within a five-mile radius, there are two Wal-Marts in Gettysburg and the nearby Hanover, Pa. I must admit, I visited Wally World quite often during my 4-year stay at G'burg; however, they are killing the local stores, the neighborhood specialty stores and even hurting the cultural communities. I almost cried when the iron store closed down and the local ethic restaurants went out of business. If the coffeehouse disappears, I'll never go back to G'burg with the same enthusiasm again!

What's the deal with Wal-Mart!? Now they're coming to Capitol Plaza Mall, my town!! taking the whole 142,000 square-foot. Many residents came out to voice their concerns, but the resolution has been written and it looks like Wally World will invade. It's the Wal-Mart in the role of Adam Smith's invisible hand now. The workers' rights advocacy organization, American Rights at Work, has taken initiative against the retail giant's unfair practices in the workplace. Wal-Mart employees who just want to negotiate for decent wages, affordable health care, and basic protections on the job encounter huge obstacles and overwhelming resistance. Check out the site and take action!

I finished Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Great writing style and eloquent research, but he gave such a somber view of the future. (Perhaps that's why I've been depressed lately) Furthermore, he does not offer any concrete solutions to our environmental problems, maybe he wants us to study the past and come up with projects for our future sustainable existence. I never finished Atlas Shrugged--3/4 through the book and I tossed it behind my bookshelf. Unbelieveable people! Why do they (Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart) hate society so much and enjoy hated by people? Capitalism my ass. Objectivism, it's just a selfish philosophy.

Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

New Orleans is one of my favorite places. My great friend Chenoa is there at the time for her graduate study. I can't help but worry. No news yet. I know there's an established system of evacuation from tropical storms in the city. I remembered there were numerous street signs that printed "Hurricane Route". I saw the super dome when I was there. Now, there's a leak and a threat to safety from the people seeking shelter inside. Hopefully, there'll be no causualties from the hurricane. Be safe Chenoa.

UP-TO-DATE: Chenoa (aka Denise Defreece) is well. In fact she's heading back home to NJ soon. It has been two days after the terrible storm, and the Red Cross is doing their best for this disasterous emergency. Hundreds are dead and survivors are being found all the time. This is such a tragedy. My sympathy goes out to the families and people in New Orleans and in Mississipii. The city must be rebuilt and it will be spectacular again, with higher levee systems. Bring back Boubon Street, Mardi Gras and the Jazz culture that made New Orleans one of my favorite cities.

Let it out, let it all out.

Way to go Cindy Sheehan. I attended a vigil a while back to support Ms. Sheehan's saga on her position that Dubya is accountable for the Iraq war. Funny (and sad) how the media can't see the obvious. Like how George W Bush is widely reported saying:

He said he has thought "long and hard" about her demand to "get out of Iraq now" and strongly disagreed, saying a premature withdrawal would betray the Iraqis just as they are being trained to defend themselves and allow for a U.S. pullout.

Now, that's not what she means. Her position is simply saying that Dubya is accountable for the war and that the media has to hold him accountable. What kind of (scary) power does the President have on the media!? This is a man of mere negligence. I'm just so moved by Cindy Sheehan. I wish I was as brave as Cindy. Read her postings on the Dialy Kos. No matter what, don't give up.

Speaking of courage, I mowed the lawn (front and back) for the first time yesterday. Quit your snickerings and titterings. I never had a lawn to mow before. It took me an hour to get the mower started. I damned near killed myself when I pulled the working mower backwards and the blades cut the hard plastic sheet piece that flew right passed my face. Tammy's mower runs on gasoline. I feel bad for using, but hey, I turn off my lights when I leave the room and I even use the candle lights when I'm in my room. It's all in the strategy when it comes to energy conservation. Since we're on the topic of oil, I shed a tear or two when I go to the gas station with Cammy. Her ever so thirsty six cylinders engine drain the money out of my wallet. Oil prices spiked $67 a barrel on the news. I know this service station, J&K on the confluence of Annapolis and Landover Rd where you can get it for just 56 dollars. Like a stingy person that I am (heck, I'm no cheapskate--this peak oil is all about high gasoline prices, those damn oil tycoons are only looking for profits), I only put $20 every time I visit the gas station, that way the prices are steady and they don't fluctuate. For another cheapskate energy tip, you should chill your beer in the freezer. Multiply that by hundreds and thousands of beers, and you save a ton of energy. Speaking of beer, come by Steph's place tomorrow for a Beirut tourney. Geesh, this is when I wish I don't have to work on Saturdays.

Tammy's niece, Huong Giang is coming to live with us, a bit rebellious and boy-crazy (looks like I have a challenger to the man-eater crown) but I can understand that since she's at a tender age of 20 (great, more competitions). I guess I should start participating instead of hating. She'll be in the room with the huge closet. I guess I should clean my mess and dirty clothes to the laundry mat and do something about the mildew. Get a humidifier? Maybe next spring. I need to invest in a portable heater. I'm starting to feel the cold. Hey, sound is a form of energy. You can heat your home simply by speaking in a VERY LOUD VOICE. Like yelling at Rocky for urinating on my furnitures and books. I could also crank up to max listening to Live's The Dolphins Cry" or Metallica's Whiskey in the Jar. You guys take care. Over and out!

Va Beach vacation aftermath

Gần hai phần ba trong số 2,000 bậc cha mẹ tham gia nghiên cứu cho biết nhân vật hoạt hình Homer hoạt Bart trong phim hoạt hình
The Simpsons, vốn nổi tiếng là thích ăn bánh rán ngọt - đã cổ vũ cho thói quen ăn món ngọt béo không lành mạnh.

Aight, enough of the junk food and heart attacks. I hope my youngest brother is reading this post. When we came back from our Va beach vacation, I discovered a tomato plant growing inside my basement! Check out the photo below. How the heck could it support itself on no nutrients or watering? It's not hydroponics of any kind. Just growing behind the curtains. Every night before bed, I find myself resting on the recliner with my ottoman thinking -- again, this is never good. Then, I read a chapter of my book. Currently, reading
Collapse:How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Fantastic book so far. Will tell more as I progressed through the hardcover.

(1)An unlikely tomato plant.
(2)Find the typo on this public posting.
(3)Anh Hai and chi Yen. New beginings? or total family feud internal combustion?
(4)Va Beach boardwalk

It's been awhile

I know this is "old news" but I must comment on it. We should all be amazed by what we do not know. The universe is still a big question mark. With the Discovery space shuttle safely landed, we can further advance our space explorations. We have been searching for extrasolar planets (planets around other suns), and here we find a new one, with its own moon, in our own solar system! This, to me, is further proof that we need to continue space research. NASA is needed. New discoveries are out there, waiting to be found.

We will miss our beloved ABC anchor Peter Jennings. I first learned and favored Jennings over Rather and Broshaw when I was glued to the TV during the 9/11 Tuesday event. The image is so terrible that Jennings couldn't grasp what he was looking at. But even on that day he never lost his cool. He did get emotional. The events of that day wore him down, and he went back to cigarettes, we now learn. This tragedy brings me to the continuous concern of my smokestack friends. Kimball! Nicolay! Chari! Meg! Spillman! and Wayan! My confession: I smoked quite a bit during college, in secret mostly. I've stopped a few months ago, so I expect all my strongwill to quit now or else! Kimball!

We're back from our semi-family vacation to Virginia Beach. We were illegally crowded in Cammy the Camry, but we managed to have everyone in seatbelts. Thanx to my nieces and nephews for putting up with me. I was the driver, as always, so I made a decision that we should stop at Hampton, Va for a reststop. The area was nice and colorful. We drove through HU, and the summer students there quite friendly. I stopped to ask for directions, and this African American dude smiled and gave me a thorough instructions to Va Beach before I could even ask the question "Uh, hello, I'm lost and my cranky nephews and the beachball brother are ready for a swim, so this would be a silly question, but how do I get to VA beach?" I'm not sure what the dude was thinking, but I definitely saw his headshake when I looked back at the reariew mirror. Anyhow, we played 'honk the horn, Mr. Trucker' while we were on the road. We swam, played on the beach, caught a few crabs, fished for a little while and found my brother! The End. Hey, shits happen, and I'm proud to be part of it. I just don't wanna tell you about, at least not here. To get my confession, buy me a beer. Shoving me into the confession room won't help, trust me.

I've commited another federal offense, can anyone guess what it is this time? Brownie points for the first to guess it right. It happened at the beach, Virginia beach. The last blog is a give away (although it's in my language, eh). Just so you know, I'm bloggin' in Vietnamese and English texts--it'll all depends on the mood.

Âm nhạc cuộc sống

Đôi khi ta rong chơi, rong chơi bằng những nốt nhạc. Khi buồn ta cũng leo lên trên nốt nhạc để giận hờn, để đánh đu với những cảm xúc đang chảy ngược trong lòng. Khi vui ta lại tung tăng nhảy múa cùng nó để tận hưởng cái cảm giác êm đềm mà nó mang lại. Có thể nói, âm nhạc là một phần của cuộc sống.
Cảm nhận. Ừ, Có thể là cảm nhận mà cũng có thể gọi là cảm thụ. Nhưng có lẽ với nó hai từ hình ảnh đúng hơn. Nó cũng ko cần biết người ta sẽ bắt bẻ câu chữ của nó như thế nào bởi hơn ai hết nó hiểu chính nó cần gì. Muốn gì và âm nhạc chảy tới đâu trong tâm hồn nó.

Có những khi long rong trên phố, bất chợt nghe một bản tình ca, bao ký ức lại về. Buồn có. Vui có. Giận hờn cũng có nốt. Nói chung là tất tần tật mọi cảm xúc trên đời đều có thể bị dội ngược trở lại chỉ vì In My Life....
Cũng khó biết tự bao giờ Âm nhạc đã len lỏi vào tận trong tâm hồn, chảy vào từng thớ thịt, từng tế bào của nó để rồi mỗi khi cất tiếng hát, từng nốt nhạc dường như bung ra cùng với cảm xúc đang cuộn trào trong nó. Nó biết nó đã hát bằng cả trái tim, bằng cả tình yêu thương dành cho Âm nhạc...

Mỗi lần nó viết điều gì là mỗi lần nó nhận ra mình ở trong đó. Nó không viết chỉ là viết. Nó ít khi viết về những cảm nhận của nó về bài hát hay giai điệu do một con người cụ thể thể hiện mà là nó viết ra từ trong sâu thẳm trái tim mình. Những gì nó đã đi qua và trải nghiệm. Nhiều khi nó bật cười với cái suy nghĩ thật trẻ con "Có lẽ bài hát này sinh ra là của mình". 23 tuổi, cái tuổi không phải già nhưng cũng ko thể gọi là trẻ con và có lẽ chỉ với Âm nhạc nó mới thế....
Nó ko có trình độ về nhạc lý. Nó không hiểu biết về các nhóm nhạc. Nó không có khái niệm về các dòng nhạc. Nó cũng không quan tâm đến đời tư của các nhạc sĩ hay ca sĩ. Vô tâm thật. Nhiều khi nó cũng tự hỏi phải chăng nó "dốt" ? Ừ, có lẽ là như thế thật. Yêu nhạc thì phải quan tâm, phải nâng cao trình độ hiểu biết và Cảm thụ âm nhạc chứ. Ai yêu nhạc lại như nó bao giờ. Nó cũng không hiểu chính mình. Nó chỉ biết duy nhất một điều : Nó đến với âm nhạc bằng tất cả những gì nó nhận được từ cuộc sống và bằng trái tim. Thế thôi...

Âm nhạc là một nửa cuộc đời của nó.