French New Wave Film Director is no more...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/agnes-varda-french-new-wave-film-director-dies-at-90/ar-BBVnBtw?ocid=iehp

VOCAL ART: the divine beauty of music

I don't know what to think anymore: The American dream vs preservation of Vietnamese virtues -- bad acts in government, bad acts in the law, bad acts by Vietnamese on FB and everywhere

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/lawyer-michael-avenatti-arrested-faces-wire-fraud-and-bank-fraud-charges/ar-BBVdojw?ocid=iehp

Is this federal cleanup of bad acts or entrapment of outspoken advocates? 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/im-not-fing-around-prosecutors-outlined-brazen-details-on-how-michael-avenatti-allegedly-attempted-to-extort-more-than-dollar20-million-from-nike/ar-BBVdn3l?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

Avenatti: Ivy League undergraduate; A student in George Washington Law School; life in the fast lane and controversial representations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Avenatti

differences between zealous settlement negotiation of high-profiled claims against corporate giants versus outright extortion for quick money from big pockets.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/im-not-fing-around-prosecutors-outlined-brazen-details-on-how-michael-avenatti-allegedly-attempted-to-extort-more-than-dollar20-million-from-nike/ar-BBVdn3l?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

an old Vietnamese poem that's timeless MAU TIM HOA SIM

In defense of Brigitte Bardot...sued for racist language regarding inhabitants of Reunion

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/brigitte-bardot-faces-lawsuit-over-racist-comments-about-french-island/ar-BBV1Dfa?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=iehp

How is Bardot's choice of words today any worse than "Mission Civilisatrice" of France to refer to  Vietnam before 1945? 

True, in black and white pictures of early 20th century's Vietnam during French colonization, only mandarin-ministers and the Emperor had shoes to wear. Court musicians, officials, guards and soldiers went barefoot...Could someone say that was "primitive"? 

The island of Reunion spoken of by Bardot plus Madagascar were places where France sent the dissident emperors of Vietnam into exile (called Annam back then, well, it wasn't that long ago!!!)

the art of childhood

Vietnamese girls of the 1970s might not recognize this as my vision of Trung Vuong High School, or any all-girl boarding school or secondary school:  

it's like a garden of squashes, pumpkins, and eggplants...

giong nhu cai vuon co ca`, bi', va muo'p...

one more lovely inexpensive home making st. Louis MO worth living

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1019-Robert-Ave_Ferguson_MO_63135_M84026-34473#photo23

another gorgeous cottage

I would move to St. Louis MO for this (assuming other factors are favorable).

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/12020-Aragon-Ave_Saint-Louis_MO_63138_M74522-37992?cid=dsp_forsale_gdn_retarget_dynamic_63138_032019&_c_032019&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4_7qopeN4QIVht1iCh1jYA7lEAEYASADEgL-aPD_BwE#photo31

kindness from strangers

yes, I have had people giving me a quarter, a dollar because I don't have change. The world is blessed with kindness.

http://www.drivepedia.com/luxury/keith-urban-groceries-tb/?utm_campaign=Keith%20Urban%20Groceries%20V2%20Rish%20DSL%20En%20-%20Desktop%20USA&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=msn-msn&utm_term=Woman+Payed+For+Stranger%27s+Groceries%2C+Didn%27t+Realize+Who+He+Was&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fprod-pubplus-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2F312a0648-95ab-4867-96f8-5dedbad4fa2e.jpg

this lovely house in Mississipi

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/395-E-Park-St_Louisville_MS_39339_M87135-29126?cid=dsp_forsale_gdn_retarget_dynamic_39339_032019&_c_032019&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvb6DptaF4QIV3A2tBh1rjQrcEAEYASABEgI4W_D_BwE#photo20

At the beginning of my law teaching career (2001), I was recruited by the law school in Mississippi at the recruitment conference of the Association of the American Law Schools.
A Vietnamese woman teaching law in Mississippi...hmmm (I had never thought of it).
If the same opportunity occurred again, I would take it simply to own this beautiful home in Mississippi, for only $79,500. GORGEOUS: 

BIG DEALS, BIG NAMES, BIG SHOTS: So, elite universities in America must mean a whole lot!

Bribery is a very big deal in America, supposedly a rule-of-law system.
For American celebrities (including big U.S. law firm partners) to commit bribery to get their kids into elite universities, it must mean elite universities are indeed a very, very, very big deal for the powerful and the rich...all those big shots!!!
What does that mean to us, Vietnamese Americans?
We applaud our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all those of us pioneers who got admitted to, and graduated from, the Ivy Leagues without quota, without affirmative action, and definitely without bribes! (In my case, for one thing, my parents were too poor to bribe anyone for me to be admitted to Harvard! For another thing, our elderlies couldn't negotiate the terms of a bribery deal with their broken English!)
"Luật rừng ở VN, làm ơn đừng di ta?n hay 'xuất khẩu" qua bên Mỹ cho chúng tôi khỏi phải vỡ̃ mô.ng vì giấc mộng Hoa Kỳ."   [America the Beautiful, please do not cause the Vietnamese law of the jungle to be emigrated or imported over here for our American dream to become the broken dream!"

I REST MY CASE!

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2019/03/12/in-through-the-side-door-wiretap-outlines-willkie-leaders-alleged-role-in-admissions-scandal-405-33333/

Me-Too Movement in Military told by women in the high places

It's not just Marilyn Monroe's Hollywood:

she is magnificent, but...a question is asked:

it is more likely than not that she is Vietnamese American, not Vietnamese who has just been here for a year and immediately in high school, as she claimed...
Judging from the almost perfect English.  
It is possible that being extraordinarily talented in music, she is also extraordinarily talented in languages to achieve such an accent free manner of speaking, but...
I also detected some imperfection in her spoken English.
So it is possible that in Vietnam she belonged to that "privileged" class who received English training at a very early age, like 6 or 7 years old, if the family has fortunes, lessons and exposure to the language from native English speaking individuals or those that have super native linguistic ability like the scholars and language professors trained in the West.  Yes, I have met those rich kids...

Being talented, one has NO reason to tell anything but the truths about one's background.
What is the truth?
Also, her nose seems to be cosmetically altered.
But, we keep an open mind...

The "AOC" factor for America -- the "bete noire" or "L'enfant Terrible"?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-i-am-as-powerful-as-a-man/ar-BBUlJ2L?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=iehp

Taking all partisan issues out of the equation:  The "AOC" factor stands for the American dream: a young, poor (relatively) immigrant's daughter, yet attractive, educated, daring, and outspoken, could win the race to public service against the rich and the established, thereby carving out the podium in life for herself and others like her. What she needs still is wisdom, plus the sophistication and caution that go with old-age wisdom.  But, after the two World Wars, America, as a continent compared to old Europe, was the "young" country for the "deviant," the revolutionary and the unsophisticated.  It's known as the land of immigrants (before immigrants were divided into "legal" and "illegal" -- the "legal" framework of a country with borders. The American values, however, are supposedly without borders -- that which makes Americans proud. 

Houston's new trendy casual restaurants

Read on to see which spots are worth exploring this winter.

Flying Biscuit Cafe

Open since December, this breakfast and brunch, Southern and traditional American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Southern" on Yelp.

Citywide, Southern spots saw review counts increase by a median of 3 percent over the past month, but Flying Biscuit Cafe saw a 78.8 percent increase, maintaining a sound four-star rating throughout.

Located at 12389 Kingsride Lane in Memorial, Flying Biscuit Cafe offers breakfast all day, along with starters, salads and sandwiches.

Try the Award Winning Shrimp and Grits, with blackened shrimp and roasted red pepper tomato sauce, or the Heavenly French Toast, topped with raspberry sauce and honey creme anglaise. (Here's the entire menu.)

Neyow's Creole Cafe

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Mid West's Neyow's Creole Cafe, the Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.

While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp increased their review count by a median of 3.1 percent over the past month, Neyow's Creole Cafe bagged a formidable 105.9 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating.

Open at 6356 Richmond Ave. since December, Neyow's Creole Cafe offers chicken, pasta, steak, salad and seafood. 

On the menu, look for Neyow's Extravaganza Dinner For Two, which includes two cups of gumbo, two house salads, fish, shrimp, oysters, stuffed crab, stuffed shrimp, one steak, two sides and two desserts. 

The Rustic

Downtown Houston's The Rustic is the city's buzziest traditional American spot by the numbers.

The bar, music venue and traditional American spot, which opened at 1836 Polk St. in October, increased its review count by 65.5 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 3.5 percent for the Yelp category "American (Traditional)."


The Rustic offers salads, burgers, tacos and more. Dining with friends? Try the Triple Pork Chop, served with ancho-lime butter, jalapeño spoon bread and white hominy.

Indianola

Downtown Houston's Indianola is currently on the upswing in the New American category on Yelp.

While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp increased review counts by a median of 2.7 percent over the past month, this New American spot increased its by 30.3 percent—and kept its rating consistent at four stars.

Open for business at 1201 St. Emanuel St. since November, the business offers lamb, steak, chicken, salads and more. On the menu, look for the Pan Glazed Pork Steak, with citrus glaze, coconut collard greens, peanuts, ginger and cilantro, or try the Crispy Duck Wings, served with garlic, fresno chili and herbs.