Awesome Leisure

Borrowing a page from Drumeo’s book, the YouTube channel Pianote invites keyboardists to create their interpretations of popular songs they’ve never heard. In this video, Snarky Puppy’s Justin Stanton takes on Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now, imparting the dance-pop hit with a smooth blend of jazz and funk after only hearing the drums and vocals.

For over 40 years, legendary music producer Rick Rubin has been helping a diverse array of artists create their seminal and most significant works. The Creative Act: A Way of Being sees Rubin share his observations on creativity and how being creative isn’t about what you make but how you see the world.

Frolk’s whiskey glass set comes with two 11 oz. crystal glasses and a matching 30 oz. decanter, both with a unique twisted base design. They come packed in a pinewood box, along with two XL spherical whiskey chillers, a freezer pouch, tongs, and two slate coasters. Makes a great gift for whiskey lovers.

Why you would want to glide around on skates made out of ice is anyone’s guess, but Works By Design got us to watch his video regardless. He started by testing various mixtures of water and binders for strength. After that, he fabricated custom metal blades and a special silicone ice mold. Our feet are freezing just looking at this thing.

Musicians Alexandr Misko and Alexander Boldachev performed this powerful acoustic arrangement of The Cranberries song Zombie as a tribute to fallen Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The duo’s nuanced performance serves to remind us not to be indifferent zombies and to stand up to oppression.

A small-time con man gets the break of his life when he’s hired to go to Italy and persuade an acquaintance to go back home to the States. Irish star Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Fleabag) stars as the antihero Tom Ripley in this miniseries adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Premieres on Netflix 4.4.2024.

High N’ Wicked’s Foursquare Whiskey is one tasty spirit. The distillery achieves its depth of flavor by aging single-grain Irish whiskey in bourbon barrels and finishing it in casks from Foursquare’s award-winning Mark X 2007 Barbados rum. It starts sweet, like tropical fruit, giving way to bold and invigorating spices as it hits the back of your throat.

Play all your favorite pinball games on one cabinet with a virtual pinball machine from The Pinball King. Their premium models have a 43-inch 4K playfield, an HD backglass, an analog plunger, a shaker motor, haptic feedback, a real DMD (dot-matrix display), and more. They also make a 32″ model. Save $300 on any Kings Choice system with the code “awesomer”.

A coil gun is a weapon that uses electromagnets to accelerate a metal projectile through its barrel. It’s possible to build your own, but the high voltage electricity involved can be dangerous. Using the utmost caution, Jamie’s LEGO built a slightly less deadly coil gun using Technic parts, a bunch of 9-volt batteries, and some 100-volt capacitors.

The Hamster toy blaster from Shanye X Phantom Tech isn’t much thicker than a phone, so it fits easily in your pocket. It can fire a single foam dart or .50 caliber rubber balls. It accepts short or long darts and primes easily with the pull down on its powerful spring-loaded mechanism. Luke from Out of Darts shows how it works and has them for sale in his shop.

TheBlockZone sells models inspired by supercars, trucks, and motorcycles. The kits are designed by car fans and brick-building experts and range from 500 to 11,000 pieces, many with remote-controlled features. Some of our faves are the Widebody German Coupe, the British Off-Roader, The Ultimate Italian Classic, and the Time Machine Pickup.

A machine sold by her dad’s company somehow turns a young woman into a chicken nugget. The story gets crazier as her dad and an intern who has a crush on her team up to undo her delicious dilemma. Renowned comedy filmmaker Lee Byeong-heon directed this upcoming Netflix adaptation of a popular Korean webtoon. Premieres 3.15.2024.

Stanley Kubrick created cinematic masterpieces like 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange. Before his work in motion pictures, he was a staff photographer for Look magazine. Taschen’s coffee table book Through a Different Lens showcases nearly 300 of his black-and-white stills, which he started shooting in New York City at age 17.

Choreographer Sergio Reis and members of Netherlands-based CDK Company flex their muscles with a fantastic modern dance set to Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know. The picture-perfect photography and wide-angle shots are straight out of a Wes Anderson movie. Their performance of Eye in the Wall by Perfume Genius is similarly captivating.

For the first minute or so of this video, we thought it really was a Doors cover. Then the lyrics kick in and it’s clearly Metallica. Musician Denis Pauna seamlessly blends two very different styles of rock music in his remake of Enter Sandman. It’s a slow burn, but a hot one.

This animated film follows the story of Roz, a robot that crashlands on an uninhabited island. Along the way, Roz finds ways to survive and thrive, and eventually, a place among the animals. Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal head up a star-studded voice cast, along with Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, and Ving Rhames.

Mardi Gras might be over, but Jazz Fest is just around the corner. So there’s no better time to enjoy this New Orleans-style cover of the Oasis track Don’t Look Back in Anger, performed with aplomb by vocalist Robyn Adele Anderson, accompanied by musicians Ben Covello, Charlie Himel, Shareef Taher, Ben Golder-Novick, and Jacob Melsha.

Ready to throw down in a game of Go Fish? Carry your favorite playing card deck in this handsome leather case from Misc Goods Co. It’s made in the USA from vegetable-tanned leather, hand-stitched with waxed cotton thread and comes packed Misc’s Black deck, featuring crisp line-art illustrations, black backs, and a black-and-gold tuck case.

As kids, Owen and his friend bonded over a campy monster show. Now grown up, Owen discovers that his once-favorite series is available to stream. But something about it feels off. Director Jane Schoenbrun’s follow-up to We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is a horror film about escapism and repression. Premieres 5.3.2024.

AC/DC sant all of its songs in English. Irish student band TG Lurgan performed this unique cover of the band’s hit Thunderstruck in traditional Gaeilge (aka Gaelic). If you’d like to sing along, the word “toirneach” means “thunder,” and “tintreach” means “lightning.” The band has also done gaelic covers of songs by Oasis, The Killers, and Billie Eilish.

YouTuber 研師Ryota gives us a lot in just a minute. He cut a loaf of bread into slices that are thinner than your typical sliced cheese. He then alternately piled them with cheese slices before grilling them. Mouthwatering ASMR. Now, to find a knife like that.

Most roller coasters don’t incorporate the local environment. The Jais Sledder is a single-car coaster built into a mountain. Coaster Studios takes us on a ride filled with thrilling twists and turns while taking in the rocky desert scenery of the United Arab Emirates. It takes over six minutes to climb to the top, but the downhill part looks worth it.

Barrell Craft Spirits’ new Foundation Bourbon is more nuanced than its 5-year label might lead you to believe. This sippable spirit is a balanced 100-proof blend of whiskeys from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Maryland. It kicks off with a sweet and honeyed fragrance, complemented by a spicy mix of cinnamon and dark chocolate as it hits your tongue.