Awesome Leisure

This promo spot for Saudi Arabia’s planned leisure district Qiddiya starts off with a bunch of bored people going through the motions with their humdrum entertainment, then takes the rails off the rides, freeing them to truly enjoy their playtime. Director Nick Roney’s execution of the concept is fantastically inventive and filled with fun moments.

Most of the snowboarding videos we’ve seen have been edited to show the best action. Olympic and X Games snowboarding medalist Sage Kotsenburg shared nine minutes of unedited first-person GoPro footage from his rides through the fresh powder at Eagle Pass, BC. If you’ve never taken a backcountry route, it’s the closest you’ll get to being there.

Forgecore’s playful take on Battleship replaces ships with picnic foods and torpedoes with ants. The 3D-printed prototype has tiny sandwiches, hot dogs, watermelon, and other eats, hundreds of ants, a tablecloth playfield, and a faux wicker picnic basket for its pieces. Sign up here if you’re interested in buying one. Hopefully, Hasbro won’t stand in the way.

Author Brian Barrett looks back at the history of the LEGO Minifigure and how it has evolved from a simple yellow figure into a pop culture icon. The 144-page hardcover book examines the evolution of the Minifig, along with interviews, essays, photos, infographics, and archival visuals celebrating these beloved plastic people.

We’ve seen some of Bob “Rocketman” Maddox’s insane rides before. This vehicle is an improved version of his jet-propelled skateboard that he can stand on while riding. This pulsejet-powered board has handlebars to hang onto, though the helmet-less Robert uses one hand to hold onto his selfie stick. The lack of steering and brakes makes it even more sketchy.

This indie comedy follows a group of henchmen (henchpeople?) who find themselves unemployed after their villainous boss dies. Tired of scraping along the bottom, they decide to stand up and become villains. The cast and crew include members of the JK! Studios team, along with comedy legend Colin Mochrie. Help fund its distribution on Kickstarter.

These figures from Super7’s ReAction series celebrate Sesame Street’s best friends and roommates, Bert and Ernie. The 3.75″ scale figures have articulated arms, legs, and heads and come in retro-style packaging. Bert wears a vertically striped sweater and comes with a pigeon, while Ernie has horizontal stripes and his beloved rubber duckie. Sold individually.

We gon’ boogie oogie oggi, jiggle, wiggle, and dance… and the price is set. Combining Rage Against the Machine’s Testify with Pitbull’s Fireball seems like a match made in hell. Leave it to mashup master DJ Cummerbund to make it work, turning the angry political track into a dancefloor banger.

Based on Matt Kracht’s snarky bestseller Field Guide to Dumb Birds, this irreverent bird-watching journal gives you a place to take field notes about stupid stuff that our bird-brained feathered friends do. It also include funny-but-true bird facts, tips, and flighty comments that lighten the mood and enlighten human do-dos.

Adventurers Chris and Julie Ramsey drove a Nissan Ariya EV from the North Pole to Antarctica. The crossover covered about 30,000 km over ten months, with its only major modification being jumbo 39-inch tires to help it traverse extreme terrain. The duo relied on a mix of public charging infrastructure and a support team in remote locations to recharge the EV.

Yarro Studios’ mechanical dice spinner is a modern spin on a vintage gadget. Push its button, and its flywheels go spinning. Let go, and two random numbers appear in its windows. The Dice-o-Matic is made from aluminum and comes in D20/D20, D10/D10, D12/D8, D6/D4, and D6/D6 with pips. There’s also a Zoltar Dice-o-Matic decision-maker.

Leave it to The Kraken Rum to spawn an anti-Valentine’s Day gift for the blackest of hearts… like your ex, probably. The Beast’s Desolate Rose Bundle pairs a preserved black rose in a delicate glass dome (made by Holy Chic Los Angeles) with a bottle of The Kraken Black Spiced Rum.

The How Ridiculous guys returned to the Utah Olympic Park to see what else they could roll down the snow-free ski jump. After an attempt to score some basketball hoops and a bottom-of-the-hill round of dodgeball, they played a little mini golf – first with individual putts, then with a cascade of 2000 balls.

It takes a special single-malt whisky to stand out from the pack. Waterford Whisky’s three distinctive Cuvée Concepts do the trick, signifying an impressive evolution in the southern Irish distiller’s mission to use terroir-driven techniques to create naturally flavorsome single malt whiskies with no artificial colors or chill-filtration.

Discommon’s elegantly sculptural take on the classic golf divot tool and ball marker combo is as solid and aesthetically pleasing as their bottle opener. The magnetic ball marker detaches with a smile-inducing “No Gimmes” reminder, while the smooth back of the single-prong divot tool encourages players to “drain it,” i.e., sink the putt.

Superstore and Silicon Valley’s Ben Feldman stars in this 12-part series about a man who vanishes from the outback of Australia and his son, who travels to America to find him. The show combines elements of comedies, mysteries, and thrillers and has some incredible talent behind the lens. Coming to Stan 3.14.2024.