WEB: Dispatchwork

Installations are my favorite type of art. Mix that with my favorite nostalgic toy and ZONINO!, the perfect storm of artistic greatness.

This site, Dispatchwork, features the work of Lego (registered trade mark blah, blah, blah) artist Jan Vormann. Lego installations have been completed in locations such as Tel Aviv, Berlin, Amsterdam, and many other far-flung places. I really love how the work appeals to different generations; bringing young minds close to art and taking old minds back to their younger days. Also, the installations are completed in building sides that are hundreds of years old, thus creating an interesting juxtaposition.

BONUS: If you check out Jan's work you'll also see a page where international art events can be found!

AmErica

BOOK: You Shall Know Our Velocity

I think a lot of people enjoy stand up comics because they have a way of expressing the humorous sides of every day situations in ways most people can't. Dave Eggers, author of the phenomenal novel, You Shall Know Our Velocity!, has a similar talent though his leans more toward the accessing of every day thoughts and ponderings.

The story follows two life-long friends, Will and Hand as they aim to travel once around the globe, distributing money (about $32,000 worth) along the way. Their journey begins in Chicago and then proceeds to Senegal, Morocco, Estonia, Latvia, and a few other brief stops along the way. The giving of the money is sometimes arbitrary and sometimes purposeful and judging, opening the characters to some humanizing debate about charity and what exactly they are doing.

Eggers has an almost supernatural way for descriptions. Often times I thought that, in any one else's hands these words would come off as trying too hard to be creative. One of my favorite descriptions came when the main characters were in Heathrow Airport in London. While talking to a booking agent, Eggers describes her "tired happy face" as that "of a third grade teacher in her last year."

I recommend this book to anyone who likes stories that explore the human nature, any guy approaching or recently having past his 10 year high school reunion, or anyone who has traveled outside of the United States. This book is identifiable on so many levels and makes for a fast, enjoyable, thought-provoking read.

Sergio del Limónar

WEB: Davey Dance Blog

This is your ZONINO! Monday pick-me-up. Davey Dance Blog is a collection of videos posted by some intrepid guy named Davey who like to travel, dance, and listen to some pretty awesome music. It seems Davey picks a spot in front of some tourist site, sets up his camera, cues up a song, and rocks out for a few minutes.

It's kind of nice to escape to someone else's "happy place" for awhile...

Sergio del Limónar

PS: Shout out to Amir from Jake & Amir who posted a video from Davey's site on his own blog.

MUSIC: "Runaway"

The jokes about country music as a genre are well known. Those ignorant to this class of musicianship often claim if its not about an old dog and a pick-up truck, than it's about bustin' Grandma out of jail and getting drunk on moonshine from a mason jar.

Truth be told, country music is ripe for lots of sometimes clichéd themes. There's the tragic heartbreak tune and the "I'm a rough-neck country boy/girl and ain't changing" declaration. And who doesn't love a good whiskey-soaked drinking song? A personal favorite of mine is the "getting-outta-dodge" sub-category.

I don't care what the reason is for wanting the change that causes the singer the unmistakable drive to hop in whatever semblance of four tires and an engine they have at their disposal and just go; leave nothing but a dust trail behind. Carolyn Dawn Johnson did it with "Georgia" and Trace Adkins' (also Julie Roberts') "Breakdown Here" covers the leaving because of a going-nowhere relationship road (no pun intended). "Ready To Run" and "Heads Carolina, Tails California" by the Dixie Chicks and JoDee Mesina, respectively embody the leaving for a change mentality while Dierks Bentley's "Every Mile A Memory" reminisces about days gone by on the freedom of the open road.*
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This list could go on and on. Most recently the debut single, "Runaway", from new group Love & Theft** can be inducted to this list. Written by the talented Canaan Smith, the song has it all - a flat tire, an awful boss and job, and a girlfriend that won't return calls. All the more reason to "pack my bags and never look, run a parallel line to the railroad tracks." The reference to the rear-view mirror is also critical, with it's great pedal-pushing melody, to stamping this song as an anthem for those dreaming of leaving it all behind!

Sergio del Limónar

*There are no doubt many older more classic songs that have clearly been neglected in this excruciatingly short list. My apologies to die-hard country fans that they did not immediately pop into my head while this was being written.

**Love & Theft, as a band have not been deemed ZONINO! When they stop acting like wannabe boyband frat-boys at their concerts and put a little effort into actually identifying with the genre they supposedly represent, they may be reconsidered. Recording "Runaway" was a very fortunate business decision, gentlemen.

EAT OUT: Grand Avenue Coffee Cafe

If you're ever driving the stretch of interstate between Chicago or Madison, WI, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, be sure to stop in Eau Claire, WI, for a bite to eat at the Grand Avenue Coffee Cafe. Loving known to the locals and university students as the "Grand Av Caf," this small cafe is tucked on a side street around the corner from the city courthouse and next to the Eau Claire River, at 119 W. Grand Ave.

With probably less than 12 tables inside, which are packed tightly together as it is, and two or three on the sidewalk in nice weather, the intimate atmosphere makes for the perfect place to enjoy a delicious sandwich lunch with friends over tea or coffee. The wait staff are attentive and friendly and the ambiance of the old building, with the large front windows, reminds you of a simpler time when this could have been a bakery or a hardware store, or both.

But, the one thing that you must try before leaving is the bread pudding. Coming here and not having a order is almost sacrilegious. The flavors are plentiful and vary on a daily basis, but they are all fantastic! It is advisable to not get one to share; a better idea is to have each guest get one and then play the passing game.

Just don't pass by Eau Claire without stopping in to treat your stomach!

Sergio del Limónar

TRAVEL: Dinosaur Kingdom, Natural Bridge, VA

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Self, I wonder what it would've been like to have lived beside dinosaurs." And then you thought, "OOOh, and I was also an 1863 adult male." Well my friends, now there is a way you can finally answer those burning questions.

Mark Cline has put together an attraction in Virginia that is unlike any other. Dinosaur Kingdom in Natural Bridge, Virginia is a walk through time as if two different times in our past had collided. The Triassic period and the Civil War era. Seriously, the guy is a genius.

As if the Dino/American Civil War wasn't enough of an attraction to real you in, Mark offers two for one passes to the Professor Cline's Haunted Monster Museum. How could you go wrong?

AmErica