On the morning of April 1, 2011, 20-year-old Joe Le ventured out to the Angeles National Forest, intent on conquering the trail up to the Bridge to Nowhere. Little did he and his hiking buddy know that the river currents at the time were more powerful than normal, due to the recent weather changes melting the winter snow. While plunging through the San Gabriel River using the … [Read more...] about G.I. Joe Search & Rescue: Helping You Find Yours
Philanthropy
Solutions for Agent Orange
Hundreds of thousands of children in Vietnam are all too familiar with the long-term impact of Agent Orange. Born with missing limbs, life threatening heart conditions, mental challenges and other disabilities, they embody the legacy of war. Nearly four decades after the war, best estimates are that at least three million Vietnamese and hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers … [Read more...] about Solutions for Agent Orange
Melodies and Motif
Often times, music is one of the first few aspects of a culture that is embraced by people of other cultures. Moreover, most cultures have a very distinct combination of melody, tempo, meter, harmony, texture, dynamics, timbre, and articulation. So, what better way to celebrate Vietnamese American musicians, including both instrumentalists as well as vocalists, than by … [Read more...] about Melodies and Motif
Michael Brosowski & the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation: Hero to Vietnam’s street kids
This week, I had the option of reflecting on that 11-page novel “Paper Tigers” by Wesley Yang that was recently featured in New York Magazine, but seeing as how the topic of Tiger-anything nowadays is simply tiresome, I opted for a dose of something more inspiring instead. If you didn’t catch it last month, the founder of Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Michael Brosowski, … [Read more...] about Michael Brosowski & the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation: Hero to Vietnam’s street kids
The Conscientious Traveler: Enjoy Southeast Asia While Doing Your Part to End Child Abuse
With the apocalypse tentatively out of the way, luckier earth-dwellers among us may soon be planning for a rapture of different sorts--you know, summer vacation and the ecstasy of being away from the office/classroom for a few weeks. On the unlikely chance that my pretentious post crowning Southeast Asia the next tourist hotspot left an impression on anyone, some of you may … [Read more...] about The Conscientious Traveler: Enjoy Southeast Asia While Doing Your Part to End Child Abuse