VN Cafe: December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year Countdown to 2010 Celebrations Around The World

Times Square, New York, USA:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hong Kong:

Taipei 101 Taiwan:

Tokyo Japan:

Sydney Australia:

Bangkok Thailand:

Hanoi Vietnam:

Singapore:

London England:

Paris France:

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

December Lights by Hoàng Khai Nhan

Trinity Christian Center International, Costa Mesa, CA:
December Lights 2009

Huntington Beach Pier December Night:
Huntington Beach Pier, December 15, 2009

Huntington Harbour 2009 Boat Parade:

Photos courtesy of Hoàng Khai Nhan.
Hoàng Khai Nhan's Photography

Monday, December 28, 2009

Karajan - Beethoven Symphony No. 3 "Erioca"

Janine Jansen Plays Bruch Violin Concerto 1.1

Skyscrapers 2009 - The World's Tallest Buildings

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Âm Nhạc Việt Nam

Dân Ca:

Dân Ca Quan Họ Bắc Ninh:

Hát Chèo Văn:

Ca Trù (Hát Cô Đầu):

Ngâm Thơ:

Ca Vọng Cổ:

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Academy (Oscars) Awards 2009

Academy Awards 2009 Red Carpet:

Academy Awards 2009 Fashion Wrap:

ACADEMY AWARD (Wikipedia)

Golden Globe Awards 2009

Golden Globe Awards 2009 Red Carpet:

Golden Globes 2009 Fashion Wrap:

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD (Wikipedia)

Grammy Awards 2009

Grammy Awards 2009 Red Carpet - Music Biggest Night of the Year:

Grammys 2009 Fashion Wrap:

GRAMMY AWARD (Wikipedia)

Emmy Awards 2009

Emmy Awards 2009 - Red Carpet:

Emmy Awards 2009 - Fashion Wrap:

EMMY AWARD (Wikipedia)

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2009:

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2008:

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2007:

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2003 in Vietnam:

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Saturday, December 19, 2009

12 More days and counting down to the 2010 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES... The 121st Rose Parade will take place on Friday, January 1, 2010, at 8:00 a.m. (PST) featuring spirited marching bands from throughout the nation, majestic floral floats, and high-stepping equestrian units.

Highlights of the 120th TOURNAMENT OF ROSES Activities (2009):

Highlights of the 120th TOURNAMENT OF ROSES Parade (2009):

120th TOURNAMENT OF ROSES Parade (2009) 1:

120th TOURNAMENT OF ROSES Parade (2009) 2:

TOURNAMENT OF ROSES HISTORY

Source: PASADENA TOURNAMENT OF ROSES
Website: 2010 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES

The first Tournament of Roses was staged in 1890 by members of Pasadena's Valley Hunt Club, former residents of the East and Midwest eager to showcase their new home's mild winter weather.

"In New York, people are buried in snow," announced Professor Charles F. Holder at a Club meeting. "Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."

During the next few years, the festival expanded to include marching bands and motorized floats. The games on the town lot (which was re-named Tournament Park in 1900) included ostrich races, bronco busting demonstrations and a race between a camel and an elephant (the elephant won). Reviewing stands were built along the Parade route, and Eastern newspapers began to take notice of the event. In 1895, the Tournament of Roses Association was formed to take charge of the festival, which had grown too large for the Valley Hunt Club to handle.

In 1902, the Tournament of Roses decided to enhance the day’s festivities by adding a football game – the first post season college football game ever held. Stanford University accepted the invitation to take on the powerhouse University of Michigan, but the West Coast team was flattened 49-0 and gave up in the third quarter. The lopsided score prompted the Tournament to give up football in favor of Roman-style chariot races. In 1916, football returned to stay and the crowds soon outgrew the stands in Tournament Park. William L. Leishman, the Tournament’s 1920 President, envisioned a stadium similar to the Yale Bowl, the first great modern football stadium, to be built in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco area. The new stadium hosted its first New Year’s football game in 1923 and soon earned the nickname “The Rose Bowl.”

The Tournament of Roses has come a long way since its early days. The Rose Parade’s elaborate floats now feature high-tech computerized animation and exotic natural materials from around the world. Although a few floats are still built exclusively by volunteers from their sponsoring communities, most are built by professional float building companies and take nearly a year to construct. The year-long effort pays off on New Year’s morning, when millions of viewers around the world enjoy the Rose Parade.

Nicknamed “The Granddaddy of Them All” the Rose Bowl Game has been a sellout attraction every year since 1947. That year’s contest was the first game played under the Tournament’s exclusive agreement with the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences. The 1998 Rose Bowl Game was the 52nd anniversary of that agreement, the longest standing tradition of any collegiate conference and a bowl association. Now, as part of the Bowl Championship Series, the Rose Bowl has hosted the National Championship Game between the top two teams in the nation in 2002 and 2006, and will host the National Championship again in 2010.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Dân Ca Quan Họ Bắc Ninh

Quan Họ Bắc Ninh Folk Songs (UNESCO TV):
In the provinces of Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang in northern Viet Nam, many of the villages are twinned, reinforcing their relationship through social customs such as Quan họ Bắc Ninh folk songs. The songs are performed as alternating verses between two women from one village who sing in harmony, and two men from another village who respond with similar melodies, but with different lyrics. The women traditionally wear distinctive large round hats and scarves; the mens costumes include turbans, umbrellas and tunics. The more than 400 song lyrics, sung with 213 different melody variations, express peoples emotional states of longing and sadness upon separation, and the happiness of the meeting of lovers, but custom forbids marrying a singing partner. Quan họ singing is common at rituals, festivals, competitions and informal gatherings, where guests will perform a variety of verses for their hosts before singing farewell. Younger musicians of both sexes may practice the four singing techniques restrained, resonant, ringing and staccato at parties organized around singing. Quan họ songs express the spirit, philosophy and local identity of the communities in this region, and help forge social bonds within and between villages that share a cherished cultural practice.