Awesome Leisure

Actor, comedian, writer, and musician Steve Martin is joined by the talented members of the Steep Canyon Rangers for a captivating four-song set of country and bluegrass melodies in NPR’s amazing and personal concert venue. The tracks are all from The Long Awaited Album.

An upcoming documentary about the artists behind the brilliantly insane 1990’s animated series Ren and Stimpy. The film will include interviews with some of the show’s creators, celebrity fans, rare behind the scenes footage, and new animations to complement the story.

City Shrouded in Shadow is an intriguing survival game for the PS4. It has Japanese heroes such as Ultraman and Evangelion, but you play neither them or their foes. Instead, you’re just a normal person trying to escape from the battle-ravaged city.

“As they say money makes the world go ’round… Yet they also say the best things in life are free.” Comedian Drew Tarvin’s spoken word performance attempts to sum up the meaning of life using 100 phrases from pop culture and other clichéd sayings. Read the full text here.

The whole All Star but meme thing is already getting pretty played out, but we couldn’t resist sharing Gud Nuse’s version of Smash Mouth’s 1999 hit track, played as a somber minor key ballad on piano, along with a soulful saxophone accompaniment.

Musician Luca Stricagnoli turns in an amazing cover version of Gorillaz’ hit track Feel Good, Inc. on his unusual, but amazing triple-neck Serracini guit-bass, somehow playing the track’s entire melody and rhythm section with just his two hands.

(PG-13: Language) Frank gets enlightened, Fiona is a slumlord, Lip is still a mess, Carl and Ian are selling meth, and we’re still rooting for the Gallaghers despite all of their flaws. It’s par for the course for the eighth season of Showtime’s award-winning series. Drops 11/5/17.

The season 8 premiere of Bob’s Burgers drops on 10/1/2017, and was animated entirely using images based on fan art (er, “fart”) submissions. This brief teaser gives us a sense of what to expect, including the opening titles. This should be a fun one.

Rick and Morty fans will grin ear to ear over never before seen concept art and a fun glow in the dark cover in this pleasing art book. It drills deeper into character creations and also offers intimate commentary from the show’s creators. If you aren’t already a fan, you soon will be.

“In this place, ain’t no such as civilized.” Red Dead Redemption 2 has been pushed back to Spring 2018, but at least it’s still looking mighty fine. The trailer hints at a tale of honor among outlaws, starring the anti-hero Arthur Morgan, the Van der Linde gang, and the wild West.

Trouble making up your mind about some critical life decision? Don’t leave it up to just any old coin. After all, you don’t know where that’s been. The freshly-minted, solid brass Decision Coin will make sure all of life’s little binary decisions are judged fairly and equitably.

Bloodborne’s nameless protagonist finds his way into the waking world as an action figure. Max Factory’s Figma Hunter is about 6″ tall and comes with a Hunter Blundberbuss and a transformable Saw Cleaver. Order it from Good Smile to get a bonus Messengers figure.

The Warp Zone celebrates Star Trek: Discovery with a fun medley of themes from The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. Though we really wanted to hear the lyric “It’s been a long road, getting from there to here…“

“I realized that this is what I was gonna do, what I was going to die trying.” HBO and critically-acclaimed producer Susan Lacy (American Masters) present “an intimate portrait” of one of the most talented and prolific directors of all time – Steven Spielberg. Premieres 10/7/17.

Musician “The Little Strummer Boy” and vocalist pal Kurt Grunsky performed a great cover version of R.E.M.’s 1991 hit Losing My Religion with a twangy country/bluegrass vibe. We always pictured this song with being played on the banjo for some reason.

In Season 7, Ep.4 of Game of Thrones, Arya Stark takes on Brienne of Tarth in an epic sparring match. This video gives us just a taste of the work that went into the thrilling sequence, though we’re still unclear what parts were the actors, and what parts were doubles.

A biologist joins the latest expedition into a bizarre disaster zone to find out what happened to her husband, who was sent there in the previous expedition. Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later, Sunshine) directs Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac in this sci-fi mystery.

Weighing just 42 lbs, TRAK’s 2.0 Kayak goes from backpack to water in 10 minutes, with a unique compact bag system that can be taken on an airplane. It also adapts to a variety of water conditions with its adjustable rocker and waterline.

From Sideshow Collectibles’ Star Wars Mythos collection comes an amazing 12″ tall action figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Mixing Ewan MacGregor and Alec Guinness’ portrayals, the figure imagines what Ben would have been like between Episodes III and IV.

The 2001 Archie spinoff film Josie and the Pussycats was too smart for its time (and for how it was promoted). But the band’s catchy original songs are some of the better fruits of the mostly regrettable pop punk era. Now you can get them on vinyl thanks to Mondo.

An absolutely incredible bit of archive footage of the late, great Dizzy Gillespie and Jon Hendricks performing at Lincoln Center back in 1980, using only their mouths, noses, hands, and a Jew’s harp to bring a tune to life.

Alabama-based Southern Growler offers handmade and hand-painted ceramic growlers and steins. The growlers have large and comfortable handles and come in 32oz and 64oz sizes. The steins are microwave- and dishwasher-safe and hold up to 24oz.

Shinichiro Watanabe’s (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) prequel short film for Blade Runner 2049. It’s about the catastrophic event in 2022 called the Blackout. A massive EMP set off above the US leads to a global crisis that persists in the movie.