Awesome Leisure

The Adele track Set Fire to the Rain is an awesome song all on its own. But we bet you’ve never heard it like this. Musician YAD Oud takes popular tracks and gives them a Middle Eastern flair with unique arrangements and the lead parts performed on the oud – a fretless string instrument that dates back to 3000 BCE.

The sounds you hear in movies can dramatically enhance what you see on screen. But other than dialogue, most movie audio isn’t created on the soundstage, it’s added in post-production by foley artists and sound editors. Paul E.T. explores the importance of sound effects, music, and speech in filmmaking.

The S adds to his arsenal with an impressive-looking cardboard machine gun that can rapidly fire numerous rubber bands. It has a motor drive mechanism that turns a pair of gears when its trigger is pulled, sequentially releasing 16 rubber bands in just a few seconds. We wonder if he could double or triple up on rubber bands or if that would jam it.

Elite military forces like Seal Team 6 and Delta Force have been sending soldiers to Cameron Advanced Mobility for off-road driving instruction since 2001. CAM was founded and is led by Ken Cameron, a veteran not only of the U.S. Army but also the Camel Trophy, where he and his team crossed the jungles of Borneo in 1996 to earn 2nd place overall.

A treasure trove of pirate puns comes to mind when Kraken Gold Spiced Rum entices ye hearties to drink until three sheets to the wind. With notes of cinnamon and vanilla, this smoky-sweet 70-proof gold rum (AKA amber) from the Dominican Republic is lighter in color and flavor than its darker cousin.

Artist Kendra Norton’s unique coloring book has no outlines for you to color in. Instead, it’s filled with abstract blobs of color, and you draw the lines. Whether you doodle dinosaurs, flowers, buildings, or goldfish, go where your imagination takes you. In addition to the original, there are also Through the Seasons and Mindful Journeys editions.

The Johnny Cash version of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt will go down in history as one of the greatest covers of all time. That version served as the inspiration for Hildegard von Blingin’s medieval take on the track. It’s every bit as much of a gut-punch as the previous versions, only with more harp.

We once spotted Katy Perry and hubby Orlando Bloom sneaking into an NCL cruise theater with a sake bottle… which appeared to not be their first of the night. Still, even superstars can’t imbibe 24/7, so we’re not surprised Perry co-founded De Soi non-alcoholic botanical drinks for sober occasions.

(PG-13: Language) It’s really not a good idea to ride a bike down any number of stairs, but that won’t stop someone like daredevil cyclist Adam Hayward. In this POV clip, he takes us on a ride down a seemingly endless flight of snow-covered steps giggling and giving his body the ultimate shake test all the way down.

(PG-13: Language) It’s been a while since we rewatched Breaking Bad. For now, this edit from Diamond Box will have to suffice, capturing three of the most dramatic seconds from every episode of the series. While it doesn’t tell the entire story, it demonstrates the dramatic progression of its characters over its five seasons.

Can wayward pickleballs float? Asking for friends booked on AmaWaterways’ river voyages, where summer cruisers will be the first ever to play America’s fastest-growing sport while sailing past picturesque towns and castles along Europe’s gorgeous Danube river. AmaWaterways has plenty of extra balls stowed away in case of the occasional overboard slam/splash.

The guys from How Ridiculous, aka the Destroy Things for the Fun of It Channel, spun up their spinning katana machine for another go. This time they turned its destructive blades loose on everything from a bowling ball to an iPad to a crateful of rubber duckies. The 6000 fps slow-motion footage provides the best look at the carnage.

If there’s one genre of music we never thought we’d hear on a pipe organ, it’s disco. But it’s the internet, and here we are. So put on your boogie shoes, click play, and listen as organist Vincent Thévenaz plays the 1977 Bee Gees hit Stayin’ Alive on the Great Organ at Geneva, Switzerland’s Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.

Musician Luca Stricagnoli trades his guitar for a banjo for this wonderfully unexpected cover version of Eminem and Dr. Dre’s track Forgot About Dre. Even without the acerbic lyrics, Luca’s pizzicato plucking cuts sharp as a knife.

Springtime brings flowers — including plastic posies. The LEGO Brick Botanicals jigsaw puzzle from Chronicle Books is a blooming, pretty one depicting a heck of a creative build using thousands of LEGO bricks and specialty pieces. Bonus: the 25 x 20” puzzle has 1,000 flat cardboard pieces that don’t hurt like real LEGOs when stepped on.

There are plenty of good books out there for honing your survival skills, but how many of them cover what to do if you’re held captive by furry creatures on Endor, stuck on an exploding Death Star, or frozen in carbonite? Well, you’re in luck, thanks to BBC culture editor Christian Blauvelt and his handy Star Wars survival guide.

Over the years, the guys from novelty shop Vat19 have made a bunch of giant-sized things inspired by stuff they sell. Among their ridiculously oversize creations are a room-size air hockey table, a 250 lb. gummy pizza, a beer pong catapult, and a pool-sized bath bomb. They also made a gigantic bouncy ball.

The Italian distillers of our favorite almond liqueur introduce Disaronno Velvet, an incredibly smooth cream dessert liqueur with the sweet aroma of almonds and nuances of chocolate and vanilla. The velvety drink is ideally served over ice or to add an elegant touch to cream cocktails like the Disaronno Velvet Batida.

NERF makes some cool blasters, but the custom community is always outdoing Hasbro’s factory toys. WalcomS7 shows off the world’s fastest NERF blaster, Gatling Tommy’s M134 minigun. The full-auto blaster has a 500-round capacity and fires 58 darts per second. It’s fed by a belt mechanism and an ammo backpack attached via a massive 3D-printed chain.

While you could buy a playable Pac-Man game for less money, the official LEGO version gives you the joy of assembling one yourself. The 2651-piece kit features a mechanical playfield and scoreboard, spinning Pac-Man and ghost characters on its top, and a light-up coin slot.

Dancer Stephane Deheselle, aka “S,” shows off his insane flexibility in this performance from the 2016 I Love This Dance All-Star Game. After starting with his back to the camera, his robotic moves gradually transformed into smooth, organic ones that made us imagine he was some kind of strange bird from another planet.

Funwhole’s building block sets give LEGO a run for its money with more precise parts and lighting. This 1741-piece camper van kit features a fully-furnished interior, working doors, LED headlights, and details like a roof rack, solar panels, and a canvas shade for its outdoor seating area. The finished model measures 14.9″ L x 8.4″ H x 8.6″ W.