It's appropriate that February is the month of loooove since we here at ZONINO! loved at lot of things the last 27 days!
MUSIC
With the Grammy Awards being held recently, we were reminded of a Grammy great, Alison Krauss and her classic rendition of Shenandoah's "Ghost In This House".
Irish band The Script's single "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" is phenomenal but their performance at the 2009 Oxygen Music Festival was epic!
Go to DJ Earworm's website to download and rock out to his Pop Music Mash-up 2009 all of the Top 40 hits of the last year all in one song!
Mariachi El Bronx and their eponymous new disc is a necessity in any good party hosts' collection.
Maroon 5's cover of "The Way You Look Tonight" from the romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" is a victory for the old standards!
The hottest pop music collaboration these days is the Beyoncé and Alicia Keys duet "Put It In A Love Song".
But the hottest music video goes to Colombian sensation Shakira and her hot "Gitana" (Gypsy) video with special guest Rafael Nadal.
Also, check out the first single, "Need You Now", off country trio Lady Antebellum's sophomore CD by the same name.
MOVIE
It's definitely Oscar-season and we here at ZONINO! are definitely doing our research. First up is the inspiring and sweeping Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, about Nelson Mandela's efforts to unite a nation through sport.
Also notable is Precious, the tragic and moving story about a poor and abused teenage girl from Harlem, starring new-comer Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique (both Oscar nominees).
RECIPE
Try out these Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Thingies at your next party; beware, these appetizer will fly off the platter!
WEBSITE
Bookmark Charity Navigator so you can be sure your money is going to the place you think it is.
Be smucky snob you always wanted to be - or beat the one that always seems to show you up - with Smugopedia.
Need some help with those pesky little things...what are they called? Oh, yeah! Life! Try Everyday Loopholes before anything else and you might learn a few things about, well...life!
Successories has nothing on the anti-motivational "posters" at Very Demotivational.
As you're attempting to catch all the Oscar-nominated films before the big night, be sure to check out RunPee.com before you head to the theatre, you know, just in case.
LOLcatz email forwards driving you "catty"?!?! Check out the clever posts over at Hipster Puppies and have your faith reinstated in cute anthropomorphized animals.
Faliblog has tapped into the ridiculously hilarious world of idiots on social networking megasite, Facebook, with Failbook. Be glad these aren't your friends!
YOUTUBE
We had a lot of laughs on YouTube this month, starting with the British parody group The Midnight Beast.
Ever wonder what would happen if Indie film master Wes Anderson directed Spiderman?
I wish the news would show the same creativity. At least we have this Generic News Report from Charlie Brooker.
Cyanide & Happiness short animated film will bring you a little of both served with a hefty side of dark irony.
The stop-motion film work in T-shirt War is amazing and exhausting!
Can you believe this Shiny Suds Commerical PSA for the "Household Products Labeling Act" got pulled from TV for being risqué?!? Loofah!!!!
Speaking of PSA's, this one from Britain, called Embrace Life, about fastening your seatbelt, is genius
WORD
Please don't castigate us for only having one "Word" ZONINO! this month!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
TV: P&G Olympic Commercial
I am loving watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver this year. I am loving watching for the Olympic Moms ad from Proctor & Gamble (makers of all kinds of products like Tide, Crest, Pampers, etc.) almost as much. I will be sad when both stop appearing on my TV.
I was a gymnast when I was a little girl and, pretty much constantly, had visions of myself flipping across the balance beam at the Olympics. I think this is a common dream many kids picture for themselves at one point or another whether they recognize it as a fantasy or not. I think that's what makes it that much more special for the athletes that do make it there. Everyone who has competed in a sport regardless of ability, all had the same dream.
Not that that is the message of the ad, it just makes it relatable. I love the speed skating kids and the sideways look the little boy gives at about :42 seconds into the ad. Although the clincher is, undoubtably, the anticipating look of moms everywhere at the ending shot as the ski jumper is preparing to take flight. I love this ad.
Buzzy
Friday, February 26, 2010
YOUTUBE: Embrace Life PSA
Its amazing to me that there are still people that do not wear a seat belt. Thinking, "I'm just going down the road," "The safest spot is behind the driver" or "Its all residential driving - very slow." All these excuses, of course, are bogus and simply lead to more tragic accidents on the road.
The people across the pond at the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership have released a Public Service Announcement that hopes to drive the point home, pun intended, that wearing your seat belt is the smartest thing you can do in a vehicle. I love that the PSA's title is "Embrace Life" with the dual meaning that not only do your family and friends love and care for your safety, but a seat belt embraces you in a similar way.
Just because those Brit's drive on the "wrong" side of the road, doesn't means they don't know what they're talking about when it comes to auto-safety. CNN has already covered it which is a great start in spreading the message in this viral era. Do your part and pass this video on to those you care about.
Sergio del Limónar
The people across the pond at the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership have released a Public Service Announcement that hopes to drive the point home, pun intended, that wearing your seat belt is the smartest thing you can do in a vehicle. I love that the PSA's title is "Embrace Life" with the dual meaning that not only do your family and friends love and care for your safety, but a seat belt embraces you in a similar way.
Just because those Brit's drive on the "wrong" side of the road, doesn't means they don't know what they're talking about when it comes to auto-safety. CNN has already covered it which is a great start in spreading the message in this viral era. Do your part and pass this video on to those you care about.
Sergio del Limónar
Thursday, February 25, 2010
MUSIC: "Gitana" video (preview)
I've heard of previews for movies, theatre productions, and recordings, but music videos? Something must be really good for a director to leak 30 seconds of a music video ahead of the finished product, right? After watching the sneak peak of Shakira's latest single "Gitana" (which translates to "Gypsy"), I can see the excitement.
The Colombian pop super star, is seen her her usual mid-drift baring garb smiling coyly at the camera while lounging amorously with tennis champion Rafael Nadal. In sepia-inspired tones, the video sample only shows the chorus of the song in which Shakira sings, "aprovéchame, que si llegué ayer me puedo ir mañana; que soy gitana." I'm looking forward to seeing the entire thing; until then, I'll just have to loop the sample over and over...
Sergio del Limónar
*Roughly translated as "take advantage of me, for if I arrived yesterday I can go tomorrow; I'm a gypsy."
The Colombian pop super star, is seen her her usual mid-drift baring garb smiling coyly at the camera while lounging amorously with tennis champion Rafael Nadal. In sepia-inspired tones, the video sample only shows the chorus of the song in which Shakira sings, "aprovéchame, que si llegué ayer me puedo ir mañana; que soy gitana." I'm looking forward to seeing the entire thing; until then, I'll just have to loop the sample over and over...
Sergio del Limónar
*Roughly translated as "take advantage of me, for if I arrived yesterday I can go tomorrow; I'm a gypsy."
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
MOVIE: Precious
Oscar season can be an exciting time. Personally, I enjoy being up to date with as many of the contending films as possible so when I make my water-cooler arguments, I can speak with some intelligence. Many times, films, directors, or actors chosen by the Academy for this annual honor are quite deserving. Other times its hard not to get the feeling someone was just saying "isn't it about time..." or there were a few greased palms in the nomination process.
The later is definitely not the case with Precious. Although the book, entitled Push, by Sapphire, is much more graphic and its vivid descriptions of the brutality the main character endures, the movie does not shy away from them either, although most of them are brought up in dialogue and not through actual imagery. The story is minimally adorned and powerfully acted. Many of the actors involved go so deep into their roles they become virtually unrecognizable as their very different public personas. Mariah Carey, in her minor role as a social worker for the welfare office, is impressive in her caring yet tired office worker stripped of make-up and fashionable designer duds. Comedienne, Mo'Nique, famous as one of the sassy founding "Queens of Comedy," also tones it down and turns it up as the lazy and angry mother of the title character. Also virtually unrecognizable is musician Lenny Kravitz, who plays a nurse is a small but meaningful role, during several hospital scenes.
But major praise should go to Gabourey Sidibe, who plays Clareece 'Precious' Jones with the truth of a girl well beyond her 26 years. Precious is a teenager who has endured incestuous sexual abuse, as well as physical and emotional abuse her entire life. Pregnant with her second child, by her own father nonetheless, she and her mother live in Harlem, on welfare, as her mother continues to work the system. Precious is a good person trying to do right in a world that seemingly doesn't want her. She escapes this hell she lives in through fantasies, based on her desired life as a model, singer, actress, Hollywood super-star with a "light skinned boyfriend." Precious is by no means societies model of beauty, but Sidibe's performance makes us not only care about and love Precious like not many do, but also see that Precious is beautiful.
SPOILER: One of the most powerful and incredible scenes for me was when Precious, upon returning home after giving birth to her second child, a boy named Abdul, is accosted by her mother in a fit of jealous rage, boldly decides to leave home, once and for all. In fight with her mother, the television, her mother's life-blood of sorts, gets broken. After falling down the apartment stairs with her baby in her arms, exhausted from her hospital stay and the fight, Precious then must dodge the broken TV set as it is dropped on her from several stories above by her own mother, back fro one last 'punch.'
As difficult as this film was to watch at times, it occurred to me that this is some peoples' reality. We really have no idea what goes on behind other walls and doors and our "bad days" might be spilt milk to many other people. This movie is beautiful, but just like the book, it was created to make point. I think all Oscar-quality movies should meet this standard before anyone writes anything on a ballot.
Sergio del Limónar
*Good luck to both Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique for being nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Also to director Lee Daniels for Best Director and the entire ensemble for Best Picture. (Precious was also nominated for Best Editing and Best Writing - Sceenplay.)
The later is definitely not the case with Precious. Although the book, entitled Push, by Sapphire, is much more graphic and its vivid descriptions of the brutality the main character endures, the movie does not shy away from them either, although most of them are brought up in dialogue and not through actual imagery. The story is minimally adorned and powerfully acted. Many of the actors involved go so deep into their roles they become virtually unrecognizable as their very different public personas. Mariah Carey, in her minor role as a social worker for the welfare office, is impressive in her caring yet tired office worker stripped of make-up and fashionable designer duds. Comedienne, Mo'Nique, famous as one of the sassy founding "Queens of Comedy," also tones it down and turns it up as the lazy and angry mother of the title character. Also virtually unrecognizable is musician Lenny Kravitz, who plays a nurse is a small but meaningful role, during several hospital scenes.
But major praise should go to Gabourey Sidibe, who plays Clareece 'Precious' Jones with the truth of a girl well beyond her 26 years. Precious is a teenager who has endured incestuous sexual abuse, as well as physical and emotional abuse her entire life. Pregnant with her second child, by her own father nonetheless, she and her mother live in Harlem, on welfare, as her mother continues to work the system. Precious is a good person trying to do right in a world that seemingly doesn't want her. She escapes this hell she lives in through fantasies, based on her desired life as a model, singer, actress, Hollywood super-star with a "light skinned boyfriend." Precious is by no means societies model of beauty, but Sidibe's performance makes us not only care about and love Precious like not many do, but also see that Precious is beautiful.
SPOILER: One of the most powerful and incredible scenes for me was when Precious, upon returning home after giving birth to her second child, a boy named Abdul, is accosted by her mother in a fit of jealous rage, boldly decides to leave home, once and for all. In fight with her mother, the television, her mother's life-blood of sorts, gets broken. After falling down the apartment stairs with her baby in her arms, exhausted from her hospital stay and the fight, Precious then must dodge the broken TV set as it is dropped on her from several stories above by her own mother, back fro one last 'punch.'
As difficult as this film was to watch at times, it occurred to me that this is some peoples' reality. We really have no idea what goes on behind other walls and doors and our "bad days" might be spilt milk to many other people. This movie is beautiful, but just like the book, it was created to make point. I think all Oscar-quality movies should meet this standard before anyone writes anything on a ballot.
Sergio del Limónar
*Good luck to both Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique for being nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Also to director Lee Daniels for Best Director and the entire ensemble for Best Picture. (Precious was also nominated for Best Editing and Best Writing - Sceenplay.)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
MUSIC: "Need You Now"
"And I wonder if I ever cross your mind, for me it happens all the time."
No doubt many a broken couple has asked this question to the emptiness of the night. ZONINO! favorite, country trio Lady Antebellum, nails the sentiment beautifully on their lead-off single, "Need You Now", from their sophomore album of the same name. The single has already reached the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard 100 Hot Country Songs as well as the Canadian equivalent, the Canadian Radio & Records Country Singles.
"It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
I said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without; I just need you now."
"Lady A" has performed this song recently on this year's 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony and 2009's 43rd Annual CMA's, each time with heartbreaking beauty. If anyone thought this group was destined to be a flash in the country pan, they're not thinking that now!
Sergio del Limónar
No doubt many a broken couple has asked this question to the emptiness of the night. ZONINO! favorite, country trio Lady Antebellum, nails the sentiment beautifully on their lead-off single, "Need You Now", from their sophomore album of the same name. The single has already reached the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard 100 Hot Country Songs as well as the Canadian equivalent, the Canadian Radio & Records Country Singles. "It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
I said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without; I just need you now."
"Lady A" has performed this song recently on this year's 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony and 2009's 43rd Annual CMA's, each time with heartbreaking beauty. If anyone thought this group was destined to be a flash in the country pan, they're not thinking that now!
Sergio del Limónar
Monday, February 22, 2010
WEBSITE: Failbooking
If I had to list my top ten pet peeves, I'm fairly confident at least four of them would involve something people do on facebook. Talking about the inane thing they did or did not have for breakfast, leaving an ominously fatalistic status about their day, and joining lame pointless groups like "People who have counted the hairs on their knuckles" all irritate me. But above all, I can not stand a bad speller. I can tolerate text-speak but if you are going for an actual word that normal 4th graders can spell, you need to get it right!
Brought to you by the fine folks over at the previously ZONINO!ed Failblog, comes the head-shakingly true its sad and funny Failbooking. The site documents embarrassing, bizarre, and straight up stupid things posted on the social networking site. The great thing is that, unlike the original Failblog, these gaffes (or ignorant fouls) need no taglines, quips, or captions to point out how badly they fail.
Enjoy, but remember you probably have an acquaintance or two in your "friend list" this dumb. So, definitely keep an eye out the next time they act like a fool and send it in!
Sergio del Limónar
Brought to you by the fine folks over at the previously ZONINO!ed Failblog, comes the head-shakingly true its sad and funny Failbooking. The site documents embarrassing, bizarre, and straight up stupid things posted on the social networking site. The great thing is that, unlike the original Failblog, these gaffes (or ignorant fouls) need no taglines, quips, or captions to point out how badly they fail.
Enjoy, but remember you probably have an acquaintance or two in your "friend list" this dumb. So, definitely keep an eye out the next time they act like a fool and send it in!
Sergio del Limónar
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