We're gonna be toast!

Portugal slowly approaches the quarter-finals -- sadly without Deco...England seems very confident. It's all you, Christiano. Don't disappoint Scolari.

In the next couple of weeks, I'm playing the waiting game on the side. Wait for a rejection. Wait for an offer. Wait for some type of decision that will eventually come. Back to WC, on this day, Argentina won the World Cup in 1986. They're taking on Germany tomorrow -- my prediction? It's gonna be tough for Argentina. With the enormous fan support, I think Germany will win. But gosh, Argentina does have amazing talents.

The Bob Dylan of Vietnam

I'm beginning to enjoy Trịnh Công Sơn's legacy and lyrics about love and antiwar. My mom is a fanatic of his songs, mostly mirrored by vocalist, Khánh Ly. Here're some of Trịnh's poetry translated in English. Below is relative to my day, it kinda speaks to me, haha.

Mỗi Ngày Tôi Chọn Một Niềm Vui by Trịnh Công Sơn

Mỗi ngày tôi chọn một niềm vui
Chọn những bông hoa và những nụ cười
Tôi nhặt gió trời mời em giữ lấy
Để mắt em cười tựa lá bay

Mỗi ngày tôi chọn đường mình đi
Đường đến anh em đường đến bạn bè
Tôi đợi em về bàn chân quen quá
Thảm lá me vàng lại bước qua

Và như thế tôi sống vui từng ngày
Và như thế tôi đến trong cuộc đời
Đã yêu cuộc đời này bằng trái tim của tôi

Mỗi ngày tôi chọn một niềm vui
Cùng với anh em tìm đến mọi người
Tôi chọn nơi này cùng nhau ca hát
Để thấy tiếng cười rộn rã bay

Mỗi ngày tôi chọn một lần thôi
Chọn tiếng ru con nhẹ bước vào đời
Tôi chọn nắng đầy, chọn cơn mưa tới
Để lúa reo mừng tựa vẫy tay

Và như thế tôi sống vui từng ngày
Và như thế tôi đến trong cuộc đời
Đã yêu cuộc đời này bằng trái tim của tôi

Mỗi ngày tôi chọn ngồi thật yên
Nhìn rõ quê hương, ngồi nghĩ lại mình
Tôi chợt biết rằng vì sao tôi sống
Vì đất nước cần một trái tim!

Flash Flood Warning

It’s been raining heavily the last two days. Part of the Beltway is shut down due to a mudslide. The Orange Metro Line is closed. Many roads are blocked. There has been a few outages and random basement flooding in homes. Luckily, my basement is spared. The loud thunder scares the kids, ha.ha (and even me, hehe). For the next several days, there’ll be more rain coming, more flash flood warnings. What concerns me is the stormwater surface runoff. Right now, the Anacostia River does not smell very pleasant. You can expect a large quantity of pollutant on the waterways after this week's t-storms.

Off on a tangent: Portugal beats Holland -- one to nil! My guesstimate is that they'll go all the way to beat England and go to the semi-finals. Portugal will contend either against Ghana/Germany/Brazil/or Argentina -- they all have really good talents. Boy oh boy!! It's so hard to predict. I hope there won't be any power outages during the game. That would be uncool.

Just a few quick things

Talk about positive feedback… why are people still puzzled about global warming?

The researchers estimate that if global warming continues at its current pace, about 90 percent of the carbon in yedoma permafrost could be released. Most of it would go into the atmosphere as either carbon dioxide or methane, the researchers say.

Maybe the nay-sayers need to go see the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Actually, everyone needs to see it. Surf around the website, especially the Take Action section. You’ll learn a thing or two. It is a really well done website and the movie too. The nearest showing from Lanham is in Silver Spring, Md. So, hop on to the closest bus stop or ride the Metro train and/or carpool to see this awesome film.

In other news, (1) Darwin's Harriet dies. She was recognized as the oldest living chelonian (tortoise or reptile with a shell) by the Guinness Book of Records.

(2) Niece and nephews have moved into our family, for a few months or until Bac Gai returns from Vietnam. With the three kids, my folks’ apartment is illegally crowded. I’m moving back in for a little while to help babysit. Kids are funny and entertaining creatures.

(3) A random gunfire shattered our back porch window, four feet above from my bedroom window. Tammy freaked out, but I insisted it was just a stray bullet. Mary is out-of-town for the weekend. SG said that it’s not uncommon to find bullets lodge in random places around the house. I mean, it’s not like a drive-by shooting or a revenge shooting. It’s simply just a stray bullet that will cost us a 4’ by 5’ window pane. That is all.

(4) Argentina beats Mexico in the World Cup and Germany gains highest point in Group A. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s Portugal v. Holland, too intense.

(5) I got approved to get another passport! It's been almost a year. My passport had mysterious "disappeared" at my folks' ironclad safe. After all the investigation and scrutiny, the USCIS is making me another passport. It'll probably arrive in the next month or so, hopefully. Watch out world!

Cammy's got a bumper sticker

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

Come to the darkside, we have cookies

What Bumper Sticker Should Be On Your Car?

(stolen from Jenspeaks)

Into the dark side, here I come. I hope they have chocolate chip kinds with moo cow milk. Oh wait, I'm lactose intolerance. I'll take the chocolate chip cookies, and Cammy the Camry can have the milk. Oh wait, Cammy is severely allergic to milk. She'll only take petroleum liquid, go figures.

Check out the sunrise at Stonehenge. Happy Summer Solstice!!

Portugal rocks! Good set up by Sabrosa!! Next match: Holland (yikes - a very important game)

Consequences of cờ bạc (gambling)

Có không ít bạn trẻ nghĩ là “ngày mai mình bỏ cờ bạc”. Nhưng các bạn đâu biết rằng ma lực của nó lớn hơn nhiều ý nghĩ đoạn tuyệt của họ. Đôi khi thua thiệt các bạn trẻ lại muốn gỡ gạc, được thì lại muốn được thêm. Vì thế nhiều sinh viên nhà ta đã bị cuốn trong vòng được - mất. Để rồi vài năm không tìm được lối ra. Được thì ai chẳng thích nhưng không ai có thể làm giàu bằng con đường cờ bạc. Nhất là các bạn trẻ lại càng không. Chắc chắn là như vậy. Cờ bạc không phải là một “giấc mộng” để các bạn làm giàu. Nó chỉ kéo các bạn tụt xuống dốc đen mà thôi. Chẳng thế mà phải về nhà kể rõ “sự tình” cho bố mẹ nghe với số nợ. Thế là học cũng không mà tiền thì vẫn nợ.

Trynn có bạn nợ lên đến con số khủng khiếp hơn: $5,000.00. Con số đó làm cho bất cứ ai nghe thấy cũng phải giật mình. Bố mẹ họ giàu, nhưng tiền có phải là vỏ hến đâu mà cho các cậu mới hơn 20 tuổi đầu phá như vậy. Bố mẹ họ cũng chỉ biết kêu giời mà thôi. Hay bạn có một thời đốt tiền chơi thì nay trả nợ hết quay về quy y cửa “trại giam”.

Trynn bây giờ mới biết “đen tình đỏ bạc” nghĩa là gì. Nếu ai đã một lần hay nhiều lần đốt đời theo giấc mộng đỏ đen thì xin hãy dừng lại. Đó không phải là cuộc đời của bạn. Nếu bước vào đó bạn sẽ phải trả giá bằng chính cuộc đời tương lai trước mặt. Bước vào đó bạn sẽ mất cả tiền bạc, học hành dở dang, tuổi trẻ của bạn sẽ chỉ là con số không tròn trĩnh. Sẽ chẳng có ai muốn cuộc đời, tuổi trẻ và mọi ước mơ của mình dừng lại ở tuổi 21. Tất nhiên là như vậy.

If you feel you have a gambling problem, get help. Start with Gamblers Anonymous.

Racism at the World Cup

I like football (soccer), and I don't mean to give a buzz kill at the world's number 1 sport, but this news report is disturbing and disappointing.

In Germany and several other European nations, crowds shower minority players with racial insults at times. Several of the U.S. team's African-American players who compete professionally in European leagues say they have been targets of discrimination and verbal and even physical abuse because of their race — on and off the field. There are concerns about how racial incidents might affect the World Cup in Germany, where the 32-team tournament begins June 9 and will be held in 12 cities.[...]

Players lining up before each game will hold banners condemning racism, and, beginning with the quarterfinals, team captains will read anti-racism messages before games. There will also be two anti-discrimination days during the event. The World Cup's slogan: "A Time to Make Friends."

German officials are concerned that neo-Nazis and other racist groups could try to disrupt the event, citing what they call a recent increase in violence against dark-skinned people. Two weeks ago, Uwe-Karsten Heye, formerly German chancellor Gerhard Schreder's spokesman and now head of an anti-racism group, warned World Cup visitors "with a different skin color" to avoid towns and villages outside Berlin and other rural parts of the former East Germany.

Of course, this is not grounds-breaking news because Europe (and everywhere else) has experienced problems with racism through the ages. I don't see any wrongs in cheering for your country team, but displaying racial pride towards the home team and opposing teams is out of line. African football players sometimes are pelted with bananas and monkey noises during the game. Even certain sections of the stadium are organized between neo-Nazi, Aryan Nation and other disgusting groups all chanting pro nazi slogans flashing nazi salutes and waving the swastikas flags (photo above). Unbelieveable. And this is 2006. I'm ashamed to say that some (mostly of older generation) Vietnamese I know (even family members) have a narrow-minded set against African descent. Though the level of hatred is often subtle, I still can not convince them the alternative. I don't mean to bring this up, but my former bf used to be involved (probably still is) in fights, yes organized gangster fights with other members of another race, be it dark skin or Hispanics descent. I swear, this "hidden" behavior of his is a disease, a mental disease that's really hard to stabilize.

At any rate, I don't know what my point is. It's just disappointing that even "my" team, Portugal is conforming to the racist acts. C. Ronaldo is way too arrogant, not my type, (but thank god for those fine abs, haha). As far as why these bigotry and racial angst occur, some say that it's due to the influx of African immigration and European Union ragged economies. Still not a very good excuse. Haven't they heard, the best Olympians are from African descent.

In the meantime, keep on enjoying the FIFA world cup. To my fellow Vietnamese cohorts: don't gamble, just enjoy the game. You might develop another mental disease...compulsive gambling, ekk!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Ba and Big Brother and all the other fathers out there. This day is about the children and the kids.

The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.
~ Confucius

If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.
~ Bill Cosby

Ninja knows everything, ask him

This video is for you, SG, CD & CS. We now can prove that only ninjas have the ability to climb the walls of Plank Gym to hang those posters. Omigosh, why did I have doubts before?!

Notice the Ninja's emphatic declarations (hilarious) and his mysterious ninja powers. By the way, if you send the Ninja an email, there'll be an autoreply sent back saying:

"The Ninja will read your question carefully and then decide whether or not it's interesting and funny. If it is, he'll answer it and look forward to killing you soon. If it isn't, he'll still kill you, but he won't enjoy it. In the mean time, please go to http://askaninja.com and connect with your fellow ninjas and pirates. Thanks again! -Team Ask A Ninja-

PS Help the Ninja out, go buy a T-Shirt at http://ninjamartstore.com!"

I'd rather die by the hands of the Ninja than to fall out of a kayak and drown. Please, even if I die because of sea-kayaking, make sure you say my cause of death was by the sword of the Ninja in your eulogy. Funeral for Loan Nguyen is tomorrow evening. I'm gonna be speechless at the procession, so don't talk to me.

Potomac River fish kill

This news shouldn't be too surprising to marine scientists that work in the lower Potomac. Virginia and Maryland environmental agencies are investigating a large fish kill in the Potomac River. They have found the culprit:

"The river certainly doesn't look as bad as it did over the weekend," he said. That was when thousands of fish of all kinds washed up dead on the fringe of beach at the base of the cliffs. [...]

The fish, of many kinds and sizes, were apparently killed by an algae bloom, an explosion in the water of a huge cloud of microscopic creatures. The bloom turned the color of the six-mile-wide river from its normal majestic blue to brownish red, Parker said. Scientists in Maryland and Virginia have now identified some likely suspects. All are one-celled. Some are named karlodinium, heterocapsa and procentrum.

All are dinoflagellates, a class of algae with properties of both plants and animals. Dinoflagellates convert sunlight to energy like plants. But the creatures' tiny tales (flagella) enable them to move like animals. The good news, experts said yesterday, is that none of the organisms found so far in the Potomac are toxic to humans.[...]

"I only got a couple of hand dip nets full of dead fish, which is nothing unusual," he said.

Obviously, the dinoflagellates is capable of producing toxins that are harmful to fish. It is safe to say that these toxic organisms can be blamed on pollution. Just check the fish kill index. I enjoy fishing and 'gut n clean' the fish for dinner (oh bite me, TM). I do encourage recreational fisher(wo)men out there to be careful of their catch. Report to the authorities of any sightings of massive number of dead fish. Be responsible and take me fishing!

Disclaimer: this report has nothing to do with the drowning incident. In fact, this news was published a week ago.

Sad news...

I have tragic news. My neighbor’s (Bác Xuân) grand-daughter, 21, passed away yesterday by drowning on the Potomac River. The family and friends were having a cookout gathering by the Harry Nice Bridge on Route 301 South. Her body was found in the water by rescuers about half an hour after she fell off her personal watercraft. She was not wearing a life jacket, and I was told she could not swim. The winds were up to 30 mph, and it could be that the white caps and choppy waters contributed to her demise.

This is truly tough because I’m familiar with the area. I’ve kayaked out there at several occasions and have swim meters out from the shore for clamming. Oh gosh. My condolences go out to Bác Xuân and her family and friends. The grand-daughter (whom I can not reveal her name right now) has entered the United States for nearly a year, but her young life has cut short unexpectedly. Funeral arrangements are scheduled for later this week. My deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the family. Please take care of each other.

Up-to-date (6/19/06):

I found the report, here. Five have drowned in past six weeks in this area. My gosh. I'm taking my niece and nephews for swimming lessons (you too Brother in Black).

Wedding (not mine), hooray!

I've been invited to a July wedding, yay! Congrats to Chi Mi/Phuong/Mai (having multiple names is fun; confusing trynn diesel is much funnier! ha.ha.ha.) I tried to look for love poems in Vietnamese in honor of your happy day (via gigablast seach engine) but can't find any that I like. I stumbled on this cute poem from my writing pad under a stack of old magazines and silly textbooks. I just replaced the words "God" with the "Buddha" -- is all:

Love –anonymous

I asked Samyaksam Buddha for a flower
He gave me a bonquet
I asked Pratyeka Buddha for a minute
He gave me a day
I asked Sravaka Buddha for enlightenment
And he gave me you.

C. Ronaldo is still hot

Ok, I lied. I ended up watching several matches thus far (while working, tee hehe). Gol!!! Thank goodness for basic cableTV at my folks' place and at the shop. The announcer was speaking Spanish, so Espanol is coming back to me :-) Soccer is quite violent, if you haven't noticed already. The Argentina v. Ivory Coast match was ridiculously painful, as in 'stop tripping each other!!' Too many yellow flags were thrown on that game. Way to go, Trinidad & Tobago! That's you, LH, PH and KM! Germany won, but the play was terrible; they better shape up if they want the Cup. England was superb. Michael Owen is ever so cute. Portugal match was intense. C. Ronaldo is still good-looking (muy caliente), even though he fails to make some easy goals. Next stop, going against Iran, easy! Portugal v. Mexico is the match I look forward to. I will not tolerate anymore sloppiness, C. Ronaldo ;-)

Fifa World Cup 2006

Finally, the World Cup is upon us. I was in Toronto four years ago in a bar watching Brazil beating Germany. What a surprise win. I thought Germany would've gotten the trophy, but Brazil’s got Ronaldinho and this FIFA Cup, he’s back again. Here’s a rundown of the groups (via Sky Sports). I won’t post any updates until the finals, so keep tabs on your own. I’m only going to watch a couple of games (at any place that will take me in at an absurd time, that's you SG). Kick off starts mañana!

2006 WORLD CUP FINALS GROUP TABLES

Group A
Costa Rica
Ecuador - just lost to Macedonia, not good.
Poland - no superstars, but a competitive team.
Germany - they're hosting; there'll be a lot of fan support.

Group B
Paraguay - inconsistent, dunno.
Sweden
Trinidad&Tobago - first timers; no idea how good they are.
England - Wayne Rooney (injured, hopefully will recover soon), David Beckham (mid-fielder), Micheal Owen (striker)

Group C
Argentina - great talent
Ivory Coast - first timers, also called Cote-Dlvoire
Serbia&Montenegro - Very tough defensive play by this team.
Netherlands - aka Holland

Group D
Mexico - My neighbors will be cheering loudly for them.
Iran - no chance.
Angola
Portugal - Cristiano Ronaldo, hot!

Group E
Italy - Extremely talented.
Ghana - Didn't do so well at African nations Cup, dunno.
USA - I dunno anyone on the team.
Czech Republic - Stop getting injured!

Group F
Brazil - Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, every football player's fear.
Croatia - high hopes.
Australia - Very good chance.
Japan - very aggressive, they have as good as a chance against hostess, Germany.

Group G
France
Switzerland - Maybe will advance.
South Korea - If Bi-Rain was on the team, I'd root for this country, hehe.
Togo - where is Togo? Seriously, I've never heard of this country.

Group H
Spain - definitely will advance.
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia - dunno background.

Here is the game schedule. The time zone difference will be hard to catch live games, so have fun watching when you can. Check out BBC Sports for statistics and difference in talents of each team. I'm cheering for Portugal cuz Ronaldo is so cute! Go nuts! GOOOAAALLLLL!!!

Up-to-date (6/9/06):

Ok, so who has cableTV in Lanham? I guess this CUP is a great opportunity for me to make new friends in the neighborhood, tee hehe. Found this cool YouTube preview clip:

Go Portugal!!

Number of the Beast, my blog birthday

Brother in Black (of all people) pointed out that this blog is a demonic site. Today is the one-year anniversary of my weblog. No where among my posts do I preach in favor of the Antichrist or the Omen, geesh! I know I'm going to hell at age 77, but that has nothing to do with my blog birth-date, 6.6.06. There's no sum of apostate power or false prophecy or conspiracy theory. I leave all that wickedness in my other blog (just kidding)!

If you feel my weblog is diabolical, by all means, go ahead and perform an electronic exorcism, whatever that is. In the meantime, I'm celebrating my blog birthday by conjuring up a couple of dead people, talk to my four houseplants and cast a spell on my stalking ex.

Al Gore's climate change interview

NPR interviewed Al Gore about his book and film An Inconvenient Truth. Everyone, global warming nay-sayers and believers (the smarter ones) alike, should listen to the man. Just so you know, JA, my celebrity and hero, worked side by side with Gore in Congress back in the days. Genuinely caring wicked smart people think alike.

Excerpt: 'An Inconvenient Truth'

After more than thirty years as a student of the climate crisis, I have a lot to share. I have tried to tell this story in a way that will interest all kinds of readers. My hope is that those who read the book and see the film will begin to feel, as I have for a long time, that global warming is not just about science and that it is not just a political issue. It is really a moral issue.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Note: Under the NPR link, click All Things Consider, search for "Al Gore Sounds Global Warming Alert" and listen to the program. For some reasons, certain computers can not be directly linked to the website above.

This is a bit scary...

Your Stress Level is: 70%

You are prone to stress, and you're probably even pretty stressed right now. Life's problems seem to pile up on you, and this often makes you feel depressed and burned out. Learn to take time to relax and enjoy life, even if things are stressful. It's the only way you'll get through the bad times.

How Stressed Are You?

Now that you know my stress level -- Be careful how you approach me, because I might bite ya. With the heat wave in the combination, come near me at your own risk ;-) Bwah hah ha ha!