MONTHLY REVIEW: August

The dog days of summer are coming to an end but it was fun while it lasted...and ZONINO! made it that much better!

MUSIC

Be the first of your friends to know Mike Posner by downloading his song "Please Don't Go" now!

German band The Baseballs have the right idea: see if current hits could have been popular in the good ole rock 'n' roll days. Yes, they can! Check out their version of "Umbrella".

Under-appreciated country crooner Sunny Sweeney hits it out of the park with her single "From A Table Away".

Jazz great Herbie Hancock has done it again with his legendary collaboration projects. Go out and buy The Imagine Project, featuring greats like today!

Cross-over artist Sheryl Crow tries her skills at singing the blues with favorable results on her new album 100 Miles From Memphis.

Need something fresh and different fro your iPod? Check out the single "You've Got A Friend" by MC's Far*East Movement.

MOVIE

Have you gotten in line to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World starring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, and Jason Schwartzman yet?

Could Oscar season have started already? Get a head start by checking out The Dry Land about a soldier's journey post war.

Relive the painful days of middle school from the safety of your own home by watching the hilarious adaptation of Jeff Kinney's book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Its a lot funnier than you remember.

Also, don't miss the incredible German film Die Welle (The Wave) about a teacher who turns his students into the next Nazi regime as part of a civics class lesson.

BOOK

Jhumpa Lahiri has done it once again with a beautiful collection of short stories in Unaccoustomed Earth. The second part of the book is a literary work of art not to be passed over.

WEBSITE

When ZONINO! doesn't have the dirt, bookmark and check Rotten Tomatoes for all your movie-going needs!

Need a midweek chuckle? Visit Buttersafe, Whiteboard Unicorns, or Chain Bear for a much needed laugh!

And never forget about the draw and addictability of the Word Bubble Game!

YOUTUBE

Why can't all classic remakes be as good as Jane Austen's Fight Club? The woman was ahead of her time.

Katy Perry's "California Girls" have got nothing on the "wind chafed legs" of these "Minnesota Gurls"!

Possibly the cutest thing on the internet right now, check out Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, voiced by SNL's Jenny Slate.

Mike Tompkins has a lot of talent...and time on his hands. See his acapella remix of "Teenage Dream" and "Just The Way You Are".

Oh, and then there's this.

RECIPE

Remember when all you wanted to eat was the middle of an Oreo cookie? Now you can indulge your sweet tooth anytime with the recipe for the cream filling!

YOUTUBE: Mustache Baby Music Video

A friend recently sent me this video with a message that said simply, "This is the last music video you will ever need to see in your life." After watching just half of it, I knoew he was right. That being said, I give you Mustache Baby Music Video.

Sergio del Limonar

*This song is apparently by some absolute genius named Riva Starr.

MUSIC: "You've Got A Friend"

This song is great on so many levels! First is that it is a rap song with a positive message and nothing explicitly inappropriate, which lately in the mainstream rap world seems to be a rarity. Second, the group, known as Far*East Movement (or FM for short) is a group of Asian-American MC's. People of Asian decent make up a large and growing portion of the US population and are yet severely under-represented in pop-culture.

The single, "You've Got A Friend", featuring Lil' Rob and Baby Bash, extolls the benefits of not only being a lover but a friend at the same time. This is the Los Angeles-based group's first real mainstream single, however, many people may recognize them from the soundtrack to The Fast & the Furious. Although simple and sweet, this song will become an earworm if you're not careful! Either way, its not a bad one to have on the brain if it does.

Sergio del Limonar

YOUTUBE: Mike Tompkins Acapella cover

My two favorite types of videos on YouTube are those from people with talent and those who have waaaay too much time on their hands. This video, therefore, in double my pleasure and double my fun because it accomplishes both feats.

A gentleman named Mike Tompkins has created an acapella mash-up of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are". Its similar to some Star Wars acapella video I saw awhile back that used one person and some split screened editing to make as many parts as needed, but I don't like Stars Wars much and these songs are just more entertaining. Tompkins sings not only the lead and harmonizing vocals but also mimics guitars, percussion, bass, and somethings called a "kick" and a "pad" which I can only assume to be more percussion (?). Either way, it is incredible and the more this guy clones himself its all the better in my book!

Buzzy

MUSIC: 100 Miles From Memphis

Its not new for artists to venture away from their genres and test the waters in another's pond. Sheryl Crow has had many mutations in her career and explored everything from pop to rock to folk, which makes this morphing to blues less extraordinary. Regardless, it is a genre shift that suits her. Actually, it is a genre that sounds like she was flavoring all her previous works with all along.

Playing homage to the South's other big music draw - other than country and southern rock - Crow works her way through a series of soul-inspired tunes on her newest record, 100 Miles From Memphis. Stand-outs include the titular song and the emotional "Sideways". The song "Sign Your Name", featuring backing vocals by Tennessee-native Justin Timberlake, also makes a nice attempt to sound authentically "Memphis." A bonus track recording of the Jackson 5 song "I Want You Back", in tribute to Michael Jackson himself, will also have you tapping your toes, although the version is nearly identical to the original.

If only other artists could make the change to other genres of music this seamlessly.

Sergio del Limonar

BOOK: Unaccustomed Earth

Jhumpa Lahiri is already a favorite here at ZONINO! so its ashame that it has taken this long for a recommendation of her third book and second collection of short stories. Unaccustomed Earth is similar in subject and style to Lahiri's previous works in that it centers around characters of Indian origins, either in India or immigrants elsewhere in the world; write what you know seems to be her mantra.

Unaccustomed Earth is written in the same simplistic and yet beautifully detailed prose that has put Lahiri on the map. Divided in two parts, the first is similar to her first published book, Interpreter of Maladies, and consists of several independant stories. My favorite involves a Bengali-American man who is attending a wedding at his old boarding school with his American wife and the events that transpire in light of a stressed marriage and mixed feelings toward the bride and his alma mater.

The second part of the book contains one longer tale divided into three sections, each potentially independant in and of themselves. Each is written in a different voice and have their own free-standing sense of beginning and ending that is unique from chapters in a book. The last of the three sections has a double ending in which the second caught me completely, and tragically, off guard. It is not often you can be hit in the face, figuratively, while reading a book.

I like to imagine that Lahiri writes short stories as a way to meet potential characters that may become intriguing enough to keep around for an entire book, as she did with her novel, The Namesake. I thoroughly enjoy her short story wirting and I hope that one of these years she meets another character that can carry her next book.

Sergio del Limonar

MUSIC: The Imagine Project

Many people outside of the music business don't know Herbie Hancock. For those of you in this boat, let me introduce you to him. The man is a genius. He has a collection of Grammy awards and is pretty much deified in the jazz community. He has worked in front of the crowd (as a mutli-talented instrumentalist) and behind the scenes (as a producer).

His most recent series of projects has been to record with a variety of artists, usually on a particular theme. The best part is how Hancock brings people together in these recordings that you would not expect to 1) record jazz and 2) sing together. If this all sounds intriguing to you, then check out The Imagine Project featuring songs of hope and peace by an international and diverse recording community. Relying heavily on African instrumentation and voices, much of the album fuses American jazz grooves with African beats and sounds.

Not to say that that is the whole album though. A unlikely duet, "Don't Give Up", between pop bad-girl P!nk and R&B pianist John Legend is all class and quality. Likewise the Juanes performed "La Tierra" and the James Morrison version of "A Change Is Gonna Come" will have you hitting the repeat button.

Play this in the background the next time you have people over or even quietly at your office and you will have an audio conversation piece. This is a must-own album if I ever heard one.

Buzzy

WEBSITE: Chain Bear

So, earlier this month I posted about Buttersafe, a website with witty and interestingly drawn comics, a good waster of a few seconds of your day. Well, I've stumbled upon another one that just "gets me" and maybe it will "get you" too.

Chain Bear has a whole other style. It's concept is more ironic and focuses on the everyday occuraces that we regualr folk may not see the potential humor in. Often times these comics, created by Lauren Taylor and Stuart Taylor, are on the thoughtful side, creating a smile but also a small warm feeling somewhere inside...but most of the time they're kind of crass.

Buzzy

YOUTUBE: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Written by Dean Fleischer-Camp and SNL's Jenny Slate, who also provides the voice for the titular character, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On may be one of cutest and most instantly infectious things you've seen in a long time, unless of course you are currently surrounded by a houseful of baby otters, because those little guys are adorable.

The short video is kind of a mock-interview/profile of this tiny shell, named Marcel, with one beady eye and two pink and white shoes. Marcel is a nervous twitchy little thing, in that way that a socially awkward five-year old in a room full of strangers might be. Marcel's world is unique at best and he shares with us some of his wishes and favorite activities, like wanting a pet dog but realizing the fallacy in it and attaching a hair to a piece of lint instead.

You will love Marcel. There is no way around it.

Sergio del Limonar

MOVIE: Die Welle (The Wave)

Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and several dozen others throughout the next year, the German film Die Welle - translated literally as The Wave - has been a hit with critics and audiences alike. The story is based on book of the same title by Todd Strasser, and occurs at a German high school where a teacher, attempting to engage his pupils in a week-long civics lesson on autocracies, ends up turning his class into a dictatorship that extends beyond the walls of the classroom and even the school itself. Both book and film were inspired by a Palo Alto, California, history teacher named Ron Jones who performed a similar social experiment at Cubberley High School in April of 1967.

Powerful both in the fact that it takes place in contemporary society and in the realistic dialogue between the students in and out of class, the film shows the viewer just how easily ideas can be manipulated and people can be coerced. Near the beginning of the movie, on the first day of the course, many of the students claim that a dictatorship could and would never be allowed to happen in modern Germany again. By the end of the story - all dressed alike with new "recruits" and gang-style greeting gesture - gathered together in the school auditorium, they get a good look at what they've become.

Sergio del Limonar

YOUTUBE: Minnesota Gurls

Well, doncha know...I think all of us here in the North Star state knew it was inevitable that somebody would do a parody of the hit Katy Perry song, "California Girls". Look at the facts: both states have the same number os syllables, girls from Minnesota are also "unforgettable," and, last but not least, the blonde here is natural (thank you Sweden, Norway, and Germany)!

Check out the hilarious "Minnesota Gurls" video, which, along with crazy accurate lyrics, also has a killer rap verse that even Snoop would have to admit was pretty "chizzle." And you betcha, starting with the first verse the song hits on all it means to be a true Minnesota girl.

"I know a place where summer winter spring and autumn
10,000 lakes finding a beach is not a problem!"

Hitting on everything from lutefisk, Lake Wobegon, the MOA, Prince, Joe Mauer, Paul Bunyan, wind-chaffed skin, and Spam, these kids got it all right. Well, done and about time, eh?!?!

Buzzy

MUSIC: From A Table Away

The name may not be familiar, but Sunny Sweeney is no stranger to the country music scene. Her debut album, Heartbreaker's Hall Of Fame, released back in 2007 was a hit with critics but failed to chart or really get any radio attention. Her debut single, "From A Table Away" off her untitled forthcoming album is doing the opposite, currently at #46 on Billboard's Country Chart.

The song is about a woman who sees the married man she's been seeing at a restaurant with his wife. In the course of the affair, as suspected, he's seemingly been telling her that he is miserable and will leave his wife for this mistress. The events that unfold across the room tell a different story, however.

And I heard you tell her you still love her,
So it doesn't matter what you say,
I saw it all,
From a table away.

It isn't a vengeful song - a route many country artists may have choosen to take - but one of quiet acceptance. The idea that anyone who engages in infidelity can't be as honest and pious as they seem and shouldn't be trusted in either relationship.

You can download the song for free, along with several others by going to www.people.com/free and entering the code into your iTunes account. In the meantime, before the full album drops, check out Sweeney's previous and underappreciated CD. I know I will!

Sergio del Limonar

WEBSITE: Word Bubbles Game

Facebook blocked at work? Getting sick of Solitaire? Then mark today as one of the best Fridays of your life! Luminosity has a game that will eat up hours and hours of your time in a blink while improving your word skills! Word Bubbles is an addicting vocabulary game in which the player is given three letters that conceivably begin many words.

Players earn points by completing as many words as possible using these three starting letters as possible in the alotted time. Points are awarded for the number of letters in each word and when a number "bubble" reaches the surface and pops, that score is cashed out. The more bubbles the player can "pop," the better the score. Each complete game goes for three rounds for a total score.

Plurals, past tense and action verbs, and making adjectives are great ways to get the most out of one stem. For example, if the game gives you P-A-R as the starting letters and you come up with "party," you could also score big with "parties," "partied," and "partier."

Game on!

Sergio del Limonar

WEBSITE: Whiteboard Unicorns

File this website under "bizarre" and "happy place" The writer of Whiteboard Unicorns has essentially created a series of temporary art pieces, centered around unicorns (and sometimes a blue bucket), and all using a whiteboard as the medium. Like one-panel comics, each one has its own unique haphazzard quality remeniscent of something your stoner neighbor in dorms might have etched onto your own message board for you to find the next morning.

Sergio del Limonar

RECIPE: "Oreo" Frosting

I don't know a single kid (or adult, for that matter) who doesn't love the frosting inside an Oreo Cookie better than the chocolate cookie part on the outside. Finally there is a solution!

Ingredients:

- ½ stick (2 ounces) butter (unsalted)
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- 2 cups sugar (confectioners works best)
- 2 tspns vanilla extract

What To Do:

1. Beat butter and shortening together at medium speed until a smooth texture is achieved.

2. Add the sugar and vanilla while continuing to beat the mixture.

3. Continue beating for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the filling is light and fluffy.

Sergio del Limonar

MUSIC: The Baseball's "Umbrella" cover

Who could have imagined the versatility of one very popular pop song from 1997 would be covered countless times in just as many genres by amateurs and established artists alike? Rihanna's 1997 hit, feating Jay-Z, "Umbrella" achieved her three #1 spots on different Billboard charts, as well as being named triple platinum in the US. The single has done other artists well also, including an acoustic folky recording by Marie Digby and a punk version by the band Vanilla Sky. It has not, however, gone back in time yet...until now.

In 2009, Germany band, The Baseballs, recorded a classic rock 'n' roll-inspired version of the song that could have easily come from your parent's collection of 45's from their teenage years. Combining stock footage from the early 60's with new black and white videography, the video might actually cause someone to question the origins of the song!

Sergio del Limonar

MOVIE: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Middle School is a painful time for most kids. Usually when I meet someone who exclaims that they "loved" this awkward time of adolescence I figure they were one of the ones who made my life miserable. For Greg Heffley, however, as much as he tries to navigate the halls of popularity and ridicule, he finds himself slipping further and further down the social ladder.

Based on the illustrated novel of the same name by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid infuses both Kinney's sketches with live action to create an endearing film that will cause cringes and laughs. Whether being separated into shirts and skins in P.E., being surrounded by girls who have all had their growth spurts, or putting up with a good friend from elementary school who hasn't begun to recognize the new social norms - "How many times do have to tell you? Middle School kids say 'hang out' not 'do you want to play'!" - Greg, played amazingly by Zachary Gordon, is the perfect guide.

While its not great nostalgia, but it reminds us that, although we may not want to repeat this time of our lives, we can be oddly proud to have survived it.

Sergio del Limonar

MOVIE: The Dry Land

If you live in Los Angeles, Dallas, or New York City, be sure to check out a film that is sure to be on some critics' lists come Oscar season. The Dry Land tells the story many people know about but too many want to ignore - how troops returning from war handle the transition back to civilian life and what can be done to make it easier.

Starring Ryan O'Nan as James, a soldier returning to Texas from Iraq, the film looks at the human side of the mental roller coaster many soldier go through upon leaving a traumatic and daily-stressing life overseas to return to their often mundane lives of before. With a stellar supporting cast, including America Ferrera as James' wife and Jason Ritter as his hometown friend, the movie hits all the right points. Wilmer Valderrama also flexes his dramatic acting muscles with a turn as James' army buddy, who plays a pivotal part in his coping and recovery.

The movie also contains a gorgeous soundtrack, including two new original songs by Texas' own Lyle Lovett. The film has been winning rave reviews since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will surely continue to do so as it opens across the nation during the month of August.

Sergio del Limónar

YOUTUBE: Jane Austen's Fight Club

Jane Austen has been the author of many books about Victorian women and their societal struggles. Her books have stood the test of time and have even been adapted to modern popular culture in films such as Clueless (a remake of Austen's Emma). Well, according to this parody, there is one Austen story we haven't yet read, this one far ahead of it's time. Introducing, Jane Austen's Fight Club.

Taking obvious inspiration from the cult-film starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, and subtle inspiration from some of Austen's true novels, the fake movie trailer is hilarious, not only in concept but also in how the actresses commit to the part. I personally love the victory fist pump at the end, complete with sunglasses and leopard-print coat. Now, this is a classic for the ages!

Buzzy

WEBSITE: Buttersafe

Hump Day is over but it's not quite the weekend, yet. Who said Monday was the worst day of the work-week, huh? Either way, its a perfect day to log onto Buttersafe and check out the twice-weekly comic posted here. It is my Tuesday/Thursday guilty pleasure; something to look forward to and know I will at least smile if not laugh aloud. (Please note I did not say LOL. When will that die?)

Anyways, the website displays hilarious and beautifully illustrated simple cartoons that the lady in the cubicle next door with the inspirational magnets and cat posters will hate. Which is why I love them and why I love to print them off and post them in eyesight of all who pass by my work domain.

Happy Thursday. Very un-Zonino!

Buzzy

MUSIC: "Please Don't Go"

Put "Please Don't Go" on your next party playlist and not only will everyone be up and dancing but you'll have everyone asking "who is this?!?" Backed by a catchy but not annoying electro-beat, the smooth-voiced artist in question is 22-year old singer-songwriter Mike Posner and hopefully he will have the success he seems to be headed toward. If that happens, everyone will remember the first time they heard of him. Be sure to check out his debut album, 31 Minutes to Take Off, available next week!

Buzzy

WEBSITE: Rotten Tomatoes

A few weeks back, we ZONINO!ed the blockbuster film, Inception. I had gone to see it with a few friends and upon exiting the theater in unanimous agreement that it was indeed a great movie, we began to discuss why some people might have not liked it. Other than being out-right stupid or having ADD and, therefore, not "getting it," we could not come up with a viable reason. Later, I popped on one of my favorite research/reference websites, Rotten Tomatoes, to discover the reason for myself and realized, that this site has never made a ZONINO! appearance and definitely should have. Drum roll...

Rotten Tomatoes is a site that combines the reviews of the major film critics from all of the major and reputable journals, newspapers, and magazines, and puts them all in one place. The site also assigns a general score to each review. Obviously some publications assign a letter grade, some use a star system - some with varying number of celestial symbols - while others do a simple thumbs-up/thumbs-down approach. The site manages to find a happy medium to summarize them all. Also, for quick reference, next to each reviewers' stub, there is a splatted green blob or a ripe red fruit, symbolizing the website's overall take on the critic's review.

This is a good site to bookmark and check out before heading out when you don't know what to see. The site also boasts trailers of upcoming films as well as fun lists and movie trivia. And of course its good when you can't figure out how someone could dislike a movie too!

Sergio del Limónar

MOVIE: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (trailer)

Check out the trailer for the upcoming comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, starring everyone's lovable awkward go-to nerd of the moment, Michael Cera, and tell me you're not a little intrigued. The film, debuting August 13th and featuring a bevy of crowd-pleasers - including Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, and SNL's Bill Hader - looks to turn the dried-up rom-com into a geeky and over the top farce of joyful proportions. It is directed by the same comedic genius who brought us the British comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright, so it certainly could have potential. Hopefully the actual film delivers as much as the trailer suggests.

Sergio del Limónar