Monitor picks: Five things we think you'll really like
Everyday 'Gourmet'
The editors of Gourmet magazine have assembled a panoply of recipes, from eggplant kuku to Philadelphia clam pie (64 dishes in all), in their stunning new book The Best of Gourmet. The really exciting news? Dozens of pages of mouthwatering food photography. Bring your bib.
Ad artistry
A handkerchief does a star turn as a jellyfish and a necktie plays an eel (convincingly!) in the Clio-winning "underwater world" advertisement crafted by Leo Burnett Italia of Milan for an Italian washing machine called the Ariston Aqualtis. Now generating deserved buzz for its potent creativity (look for it on YouTube), the ad won kudos at Cannes last year.
Pass the tongs
Bowl-smoked shrimp, grilled-banana s'mores, and Giada De Laurentiis – all on one show? Yeah, we'll tune in Sunday, May 27, for the Food Network's All-Star Grillfest: South Beach (10 p.m. ET/PT). Also joshing and sizzling beside the blue water: spice-rub king Bobby Flay, down-home queen Paula Deen, and others. Learn how long to soak your skewers and where to sprinkle cilantro. How-to TV is seldom this inspiring.
'That Thing,' Round Two!
Tom Hanks's spunky directorial debut about a fictional '60s band, the one-hit "Wonders," didn't make much noise at the box office in 1996. But That Thing You Do! won a rabid cult following from video rentals and word of mouth in the decade since its release. Now its loyal fans have been rewarded with a new two-disc DVD set, including an extended director's cut, band rehearsals, and a playful cast reunion.
Roundball read
Know a bookish 'tween reader – or a 'tween you'd like to see become a more avid reader? Try passing along a copy of sports writer Mike Lupica's Summer Ball. Fictional youth Danny Walker – the talented but not very tall basketball player introduced in Lupica's exultant 2005 book, "Travel Team" – heads off to summer basketball camp in this vivid and breezily written sequel.
