Whether you’re looking for a new table to store your baby’s toys or need one to hold all of the chargers and wires in your office, you’re in luck. This simple, versatile end table can do a lot without taking up too much space, and it’s currently 50% off at Target.
The Vasagle End Table is on sale for only $40, which is half off the original $80 price tag. This item boasts over 20 five-star ratings at Target and comes in nine colors that all sport the same spectacular deal. Because of the stellar deal, it’s a hot trending product at Target, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see more colors sell out in the coming days.
This compact end table can serve many purposes. The two most notable are acting as a nightstand with storage, thanks to its fabric basket that can hold everything from shoes to books, and then, of course, as an end table alongside your sofa. The table’s surface can also hold up to 77 pounds, and the overlapping, U-shaped steel legs ensure this table will never collapse or fall over unless you’re trying to do so.
While plenty of online furniture product pages claim easy assembly, this table seems to have actually delivered. The reviews are filled with customers saying it was a simple process and can take as little as 5 minutes.
In terms of price, this is a fair deal for a simple Target table. The fact that it’s not premium wood or massive in size helps lower the cost, and $40 is pretty standard for such an item.
As mentioned, shoppers raved about this table’s simple assembly. “Beautiful little table and it was so easy to assemble,” one praised.
Another reviewer enjoyed the fact that the table indeed looked like what they ordered (which isn’t always a given). “This came exactly as described!” they said. “Stable and a perfect addition for a small room.”
The Vasagle End Table is 50% off at Target right now. Check it out today before the trending table runs out of stock.
In recent years, the video game industry has had a trend of focusing on longer, player-driven experiences over shorter, tightly designed packages. Games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Crimson Desert, and Dragon’s Dogma 2. That trend, though, might have actually begun over two decades ago with the release of one of the greatest open-world RPGs of all time.
Today, May 1, is the 24th anniversary of the release of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, a game that would put Bethesda’s name on the map as an open-world game developer and usher in a new era of player choice and customization in video games. While it’s certainly not the first open-world game, it is the one that many players and critics look to for the early blueprints of what would come for these massive video game projects in the future.
Morrowind, like a few other games in The Elder Scrolls series, begins with the player-created character being imprisoned. After making a character and leaving the tutorial area, players are free to go virtually anywhere and do anything they wish whenever they want.
While that concept is commonplace in 2026, it was quite rare in 2002, with most games focusing on smaller experiences. Morrowind stood out from the crowd, and in doing so, would pioneer an era of Bethesda role-playing as a towering juggernaut in the industry.
According to Metacritic, the original PC release of the game is sitting at a metascore of 89. Critics praised the game’s openness, variety of content, customization, and scope, while some felt the game’s bugs and glitches created a feeling of general lack of polish–something that become a frequent point of contention with Bethesda releases in the years that followed.
Since Morrowind‘s release, Bethesda has released The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, both of which have been re-released several times across console generations. A built-from-the-ground-up remake of Oblivion was released early last year, too.
The future of the series is both clear and mysterious: The Elder Scrolls 6 is in active development and has been for years, but there is no sign of it coming anytime soon. For now, fans may want to take a nostalgic trip back to Morrowind.
MTV is a network that continues to go through changes and is preparing to make a big one that may shock many. Earlier this year, in March, MTV announced that Jersey Shore: Family Vacation was wrapping after nine seasons. This is a bittersweet goodbye for many fans who first met the likes of stars Snooki, Mike, Pauly D, and JWoww back on the original TV show Jersey Shore when it premiered in 2009.
Now, Jersey Shore aside, it appears MTV is also pulling the plug on another fan-favorite, announcing on May 1 that an always active, and at times salacious, franchise is coming to an end. However, fans can prepare to say goodbye in an interesting way.
‘Love & Hip Hop’ Ending with Six-Part Special
ATLANTA, GA – JUNE 13: Karlie Redd, Mimi Faust, Erica Dixon, Mona Scott, Josephine Hernandez and K. Michelle attend the VH1 “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta” premiere party at Frank Ski’s Restaurant on June 13, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/FilmMagic)
Photo by Prince Williams/FilmMagic
Paramount (MTV’s parent company) announced in a press release on May 1 that Love & Hip Hop was ending, seemingly implying that all iterations of the show were cancelled. Meaning Love & Hip Hop: New York, Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, Love & Hip Hop: Miami, and arguably the most popular, Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, will soon be off the airwaves delivering new episodes. That may come as a blow to the millions who have watched the ins and outs of the cast members and their storylines for years. Some true stars originated from the show, most notably Joseline Hernandez, and of course, Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B.
To bring things to a close for a franchise that started with New York in 2011, MTV is airing a six-part special titled Love & Hip Hop: The Final Chapter later this fall. Paramount says of the special:
“Love & Hip Hop: The Final Chapter explores the rise of its breakout stars, the business empires they built, the headlines that dominated the conversation, and the franchise’s lasting cultural impact.
“Featuring new interviews with cast members from every city – New York, Atlanta, Hollywood, and Miami – alongside the producers and executives who brought the franchise to life, as well as journalists and cultural critics who have followed its evolution from the beginning, the series offers a comprehensive look at the phenomenon that reshaped reality television and left an undeniable mark on the culture.”
Additionally, it’s worth pointing out that Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and Love & Hip Hop: Miami, will continue airing their current seasons on Tuesdays on MTV and Wednesdays on BET, respectively.
Things over at Paramount continue to shift in 2026, and the company continues to grab headlines. With its pending acquisition of Warner Bros., Paramount+ preparing to roll out BET+ properties, the infamous leak of the highly anticipated The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender film earlier this spring, and now this cancellation, Paramount has certainly left TV and movie watchers with a lot to talk about.
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There’s no shortage of gear hitting the market at any given moment. New boots, new tools, new tech, new blades—the product pipeline never slows down. Every week we test, carry, wear, ride, and otherwise put a bunch of new gear through their paces across hiking trails, farms, workshops, and rural roads. Most gear is fine, some of it is good. A small percentage is genuinely worth your money and attention—and an even smaller portion earns a permanent place in our gear loadouts.
Once a month, we take a step back from the week-to-week gear grind and pick out what actually stood out over the last four weeks. It’s usually not the flashiest new release or the most expensive item that landed on our front porches—it’s the products that proved themselves in the field over multiple uses. The ones that helped solve a real problem, performed better than expected, or simply represented the best (so far) version of what a piece of gear can be.
What you’ll find here isn’t sponsored content or a regurgitation of press releases. It’s the honest result of real-world use by editors and contributors who spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about what makes gear worth owning—and keeping. If something made this month’s list, it earned it.
One of our top picks is Polk MagniFi Mini AX soundbar—it isn’t invisible, but at only 15 inches long, it’s about 60 percent smaller most bars and it has five drivers paired with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to create a sense of sound moving around and above you. For those eager to get back to lawn care duties, the Milwaukee’s M18 Brushless Blower works really well for small yards, apartment living, quick spot cleans—it’s relatively quietly, lightweight, well-balanced and requires far less maintenance than gas blowers. And if you’re itching to lose that winter scruff, the Philips Norelco i9000 Prestige Ultra Day & Night Special Edition Shaver is worth a look with self-sharpening nanotech blades and built-in beard trimmer.
Polk Magnifi Mini AX Soundbar
When you install a TV with an art mode, one of the fastest ways to ruin the illusion is to put a big slab of glossy black hardware in front of it. Whether you’re displaying “Starry Night” or not, a soundbar is a necessary evil with most flat screens, but more isn’t always better. The Polk MagniFi Mini AX isn’t invisible, but at roughly 15 inches long, it’s about 60 percent smaller than my previous bar—and I don’t miss the extra bulk.
Setup is quick, and the package includes a wireless subwoofer and an intuitive remote. You can spend more, but for casual streaming, it’s hard to argue you’ll get more meaningful results. Inside are five drivers—three midrange and two tweeters angled to spread sound—paired with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to create a sense of sound moving around and above you. The system also analyzes your room and pushes audio toward its edges to mimic a wider setup than its size suggests. My previous soundbar relied on docking, battery-powered rear speakers I rarely bothered to place, and the Polk gets surprisingly close to that layered effect with a single bar.
Engineers also include a genuinely useful feature: adjustable dialogue enhancement from the remote that makes voices clearer without cranking the volume. In back, connections cover the essentials—HDMI eARC, optical, an old-school 3.5mm aux input, and USB-A for firmware updates (no over-the-air support). The subwoofer hits harder than you’d expect from something roughly the size of a child’s small backpack, but placement matters. I set the speaker too close to a wall with the rear port facing it. The airflow created a loud slapping noise where the wall meets the ceiling—I initially thought I had a raccoon in the attic. Before I prepared to battle the masked intruder, I figured out the problem. Turning the subwoofer 90 degrees was the fix. Streaming a YouTube subwoofer test track is a quick way to check placement (and will probably spook the dog).
Streaming is straightforward over Wi-Fi via Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, or Spotify, as well as Bluetooth 5.0. The black cloth wrap is a welcome break from glossy plastic, and the top-mounted controls are easy to read and use. I don’t see myself going back to a larger bar anytime soon, not when my room gets everything it needs from a speaker that’s about the size of the one I take to the beach. —Sal Vaglica, contributor
One of the many major adjustments required to move from a life with mostly cars to a growing obsession with motorcycles inevitably involves a few experiences adjusting to smaller batteries. Little lead-acid and AGM batteries for motorcycles can run out of juice much, much quicker than typical car, truck, or SUV batteries. Smaller batteries fit into motorbikes better, though, and contribute less to overall mass. But this means everyone who takes up motorcycling, either at a young age or as a midlife crisis like me, will quickly learn to turn off their bikes’ ignition immediately at the end of every ride.
To help combat my ingrained behavior when I first started converting a 2002 Honda CBR954RR into a street-legal track build, one of the very first items I researched was a potential lithium-ion battery conversion. Little did I know that there’s no conversion necessary. And in the end, I wound up selecting the ATZ-10 Re-Start from Antigravity for a number of varying reasons.
First of all, lithium batteries shave a lot of weight. This ATZ-10 Re-Start with a beefy 360 cold-cranking amps only tips the scales at a svelte 2.6 pounds. Compare that to the average lead-acid battery for the CBR954RR at over 7 pounds, and I found a quick savings of 65-70 percent (which sounds silly, but this little change represents about 1 percent of the bike’s full weight). That mass tucks right under the seat, too, which allows for easy access but detracts from ideal weight distribution.
While choosing the Antigravity, I considered a similar battery from Shorai after a solid experience with one that the previous owner installed in my 2006 Ducati Monster S2R 1000. Shorai enjoys a good reputation, but the wiring and unique trickle charger connections cause me regular frustrations. Given the fact that the bike is, after all, a Ducati, I want to keep it on a trickle charger at all times. But Shorai’s incomprehensible plug connectors come apart far too easily, the charge box’s form factor looks downright prehistoric, and the power cables lack the length to stretch across my garage floor without an extension cord.
Antigravity makes installation easy, since despite weighing so much less, the battery occupies the same dimensions. This meant I could skip using any plastic or foam bracings. There’s no liquid inside, either, so no need to worry about spilling or leakage. And Antigravity decided to install terminals at all four corners to make wiring easier for a wider variety of motorcycles.
I do keep the Antigravity on a lithium-specific trickle charger from CTEK, even though lithium-ion chemistry allows Antigravity to claim twice the service lifespan versus a lead-acid battery, because I’m always juggling a few loaner cars and bikes at any given time so my own collection frequently gets neglected. Wiring up the CTEK’s pigtail only took a few extra seconds while installing the ATZ-10. An onboard battery management system can help to prevent self-discharge. But I still learned that the battery will die if drawn down due to user error.
How, you ask? Well, enter one of my main reasons for selecting the ATZ-10 Re-Start. As the name suggests, this battery can self-jump itself. The self-jumping feature became a priority for me after I left my CBR outside overnight in sub-freezing temps before my first track day at Chuckwalla. In the morning, the battery simply would not crank the inline-four over despite showing just under 12 volts on a voltmeter. I needed to find a jump pack to use, which took away time from typical track prep.
With the Antigravity, I only killed the state of charge enough to keep the bike from firing up once—while changing the oil before my next track day, which took so much longer than expected that I wound up working well into nighttime. My garage and overhead lights being under construction at the time, I used a headlamp and also kept the bike’s headlight to help visibility in my work area. This drew enough juice that by morning, when I tried to load up into my truck, the engine wouldn’t crank.
Obviously, that’s not Antigravity’s fault. And nor is the fact that my Honda requires an allen wrench to get under the seat (unlike the Ducati’s vastly superior engineering, which pops up the seat just with the key). But once I got under the Honda’s seat, I pushed the Re-Start button on the battery and the bike fired right up. I let it idle for a few minutes while strapping down my gear, and when I got to the track, the motor turned over no problem once more.
Antigravity’s lithium-ion batteries might cost a bit more than other options available, but are worth every dollar given that the ATZ-10 Re-Start saves weight, fits well, installs easily, and can become a lifesaver if I mess up and kill the battery. After all, I’m never going to carry a jump pack on a motorcycle—and now I’ll never need to. —Michael Teo Van Runkle, contributor
For some, it’s a slow adoption. I know it was for me. But battery-powered yard tools are here to stay. With spring cleaning in full effect, I had the chance to test Milwaukee’s M18 Brushless Blower and I was impressed by how handy it turned out to be.
It’s important not to ignore the limitations that come with an electric blower, especially when it comes to battery life. On higher-tier batteries, you’re looking at just under half an hour of use. That works really well for small yards, apartment living, quick spot cleans and even blowing snow off your car. I would argue that’s exactly who this model is for. It runs relatively quietly so you’re not bothering your neighbours, it’s lightweight, well-balanced and requires far less maintenance.
If you’re dealing with larger properties or heavier workloads, you’ll likely need an extra battery or be comfortable working in shorter bursts. That might sound inconvenient but it’s actually quite manageable. With a Super Charger, you can be back up and running in about 45 minutes and depending on what other work you’re doing this type of rotation can work just fine for some folks.
In terms of utility, the blowing power is capable of tackling all your typical jobs. It clears leaves from gutters, pushes dust out of the garage and driveway, cleans off walkways and handles typical spring leaf cleanup without any issues.
Overall, this blower does exactly what it’s meant to do. The real question is how much of a workhorse you need it to be. From there, it’s just a matter of deciding whether one battery is enough. If you already own M18 batteries, this blower sits at a really nice price range that makes going electric a lot more enticing. —Peter Matlashewski, contributor
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tended to skew more toward cautiousness in my outdoor endeavours. Whether mountain biking, motorcycling, e-scootering, etc.—pretty much anything that has you zipping along a high speeds with numerous bone-breaking and shoulder-skinning obstacles all around. The one problem with adding more protection to an aging body is the amount of heat it can generate. And as a profuse sweater, that often deters me from throwing on my armored-up leather motorcycle jacket in the midst of a North Carolina heat wave, or putting on clunky armored shirt for dirt biking or mountain biking in summer temps. Which means I won’t ride as much because I’m not getting out and after it without proper protection.
Enter the Oakley Drop In D3O Full Impact Shirt, and a genuine change of habit. The headline feature is D3O Ghost technology, and if you haven’t encountered D3O before, the short version is this: it’s a polymer that stays soft and flexible under normal conditions but stiffens dramatically on impact, absorbing and dispersing energy before it reaches your body. Oakley integrates D3O ghost pads at the chest, back, and shoulders—the areas that tend to take the most punishment when things go sideways. EVA foam handles rib protection. All of it exceeds EN 1621-1:2012 Level 1 certification, which is the baseline for this category of protective gear.
What sets this shirt apart is how little you notice it once it’s on. The body heat activation is real—the pads warm up quickly and conform to your torso, which eliminates that stiff, bulky feeling that kills most armor setups. The stretch mesh construction breathes genuinely well for a shirt with this much going on inside it. After several hours on the trail or track, including some extended climbs and intense forest riding, heat buildup was minimal. The inner silicone grip keeps everything in place through roots, rocks, and rough chatter without constant readjustment.
Getting it on and off is handled by a lateral zip on the left side—a detail that sounds minor until you’ve wrestled a sweaty protective shirt over your shoulders post-ride. The pads are also removable and the whole thing is machine washable, which matters more than most gear marketing suggests.
The shoulder pads sit a touch flat for my taste rather than contoured to the natural shoulder shape, which is a minor ergonomic miss. And at this price point, Level 2 protection would be a welcome option. —Adam Bible, Gear Editor
As someone who has a perceptual beard in various states of thickness, I’ve always been a little suspicious of high-end electric razors. As a 21-year-old man in 2002, I remember thinking Pierce Brosnan’s Philips Philishave Sensotec in Die Another Day was cool, but I wondered if it really could knock out that massive Jesus beard he’d had at the beginning of the movie. Fast-forward to 2026, and Ryan Gosling has a similar beard at the start of Project Hail Mary, and Philips is once again in the game of promoting an electric shaver connected to a cool guy doing cool stuff in a big movie. I loved Project Hail Mary, and I love Gosling’s look in the movie, so when Philips asked me to test out a Philips Norelco i9000 Prestige Ultra Day & Night Special Edition Shaver, which was connected to the movie, I said yes.
The first thing I’ll say about this razor is that if you’re someone who shaves every day, this will be your go-to razor for the rest of time. But, if, like me, you often have some kind of beard in various states of growth, this is great, too. In addition to the self-sharpening nano-tech blades, there’s also an attachment that just functions as a beard trimmer. Compared to my last very cheap beard trimmer, this was amazing.
But the Philips Norelco i9000 isn’t built just for touching up your beard. This is a serious razor, and so, after trimming my beard, I decided to go all the way. As beard-owners know, going totally clean-shaven can be traumatic, especially if you haven’t done it in a while. (Again, the Project Hail Mary parallel is clear.) But what I love about this razor is that it didn’t hurt at all, despite the fact that I was getting rid of a pretty sizable beard, and when I was done, I didn’t have razor burn at all.
It has several settings, but I defaulted to the “sensitive” setting, which I found worked the best with my skin and complexion. I’m told by the people at Philips that the Norelco i9000 has blades constructed of the same steel as used in the aerospace industry, which is both comforting and terrifying, hence my default to the sensitive setting.
But I came out unscathed with the Norelco i9000, and one of the best features about it is that it’s basically self-cleaning. It comes with some pretty serious cleaning solutions, but a simple rinse is almost all it really needs. The charging station for the razor looks like something off of a spaceship, which means you’ll never lose it or confuse it with a different charger for another device. The instruction booklet also tells me this can shave my head, and as I’m gearing up for my summer buzz, that’s my next adventure with this shaver.
If you’re someone who shaves often, and you want a smooth, no-fuss razor, the Philips Norelco i9000 is a solid choice. It may not enable you to save dying stars or invent an algorithm for talking to an alien, but it will make you feel like you could. —Ryan Britt, Entertainment Writer
Not all smart goggles are built for immersion and sometimes a more sensible innovation can be to simply block everything out. After a few months with Therabody’s SmartGoggles Gen 2, I can say they have firmly surpassed my expectations when it comes to experiencing something new. We spend most of our day bouncing between screens, notifications and distractions. Slipping these goggles on at the end of the day has become a reminder that a mandatory slowdown is a healthy habit to build on.
Once you put them on, you are met with total darkness, followed by a sequence of compression, heat and vibration that works across your temples, forehead and brow area. Quite frankly, I’ve never felt anything like it before.
A surprising feature to come across was the biometric ensor, which tracks your heart rate and adjusts the rhythm of the session to drop below that threshold in order to help you calm down. These SmartGoggles also have Bluetooth and app integration, allowing you to explore guided audio sessions, meditation programs and sleep aid cycles. It’s also meant to accompany you on the road with its compact carry case and foldable design. Whether you’re bringing it on a work trip or using it on a plane, this device is quite easy to toss in your luggage. These Gen 2 goggles charge via USB-C and deliver about two hours of relaxation before needing to be charged.
The wellness space can feel saturated, with many products promising more than they deliver. Very few provide results you can genuinely notice, but these Gen 2 SmartGoggles actually do. Whether you’re into wellness gadgets yourself or shopping for someone special in your life, these relaxation goggles make for a great investment. —Peter Matlashewski, contributor
There is currently a whole host of Ray-Ban deals over at Nordstrom Rack, with savings reaching well over the 50% mark. The most popular deal is for the JFK-esque Wayfarers, but those who want to look suavely smart while keeping the sun out of their eyes need to check out the Ray-Ban’s classic browline Clubmasters, now under $100.
Color Options: Havana brown print, black, black/gold
Style: Browline
UV Protection: 100%
Frame Material: Acetate
Best Use Case: This is a pair of sunglasses for the smart yet tough guy that lives inside of you.
While Wayfarers are built for the everyman, a pair of Clubmasters knows exactly who it is going for, and it’s got the history to prove it. Evolving from AO Sirmont sunglasses, worn throughout the ‘50s by leaders like Lyndon B. Johnson and Malcolm X, the Clubmaster uses a browline style that accents the eyes. The result is a smart, even sharp look that never approaches nerdy.
This particular variation of Ray-Ban’s Clubmaster is done with an acetate frame, bringing colors richly to life while also staying lightweight and comfortable on the face. The Havana brown colorway’s lenses, which provide 100% UV protection, have a slight gradient to them and look a bit more playful than the straight black colorway.
One shopper pointed out something pretty cool about the lenses on the Havana brown glasses. “The brown color of the lenses is only the top half; the bottom half is more clear/neutral, so they are perfect for driving,” they said.
Meanwhile, another shopper put on the straight black glasses and said, “They look classy and make me feel like a million bucks.” And that’s the exact way you should feel in Clubmasters.
Like automotive fuel, jet fuel prices have skyrocketed since US and Israeli missles landed in Iran two months ago. With the Strait of Hormuz still effectively shut despite ongoing talks, prices are set to go nowhere but up. Travelers, though, don’t seem to care. A CNBC report shows airlines forecasting high profits in the second quarter of the year despite high prices for aviation fuel (or Avgas). Airlines have been passing costs on to consumers, but ticket sales show no signs of slowing.
The price spike comes at a time when prices for fuel are already trending upwards. Warm weather in the northern hemisphere and the arrival of spring always mean more people on the road and in the sky, looking to shake off the winter chill. In March, travel-agency ticket sales rose 12 percent from a year ago. Domestic economy ticket prices are up too, 21% from a year prior. The cheap seats aren’t the only ones getting more expensive, either. Premium seats like Business and First Class tickets rose by 17% per trip. “… bookings have remained resilient amidst these changes, which is an encouraging sign,” JetBlue Airways CEO Joanna Geraghty said on an earnings call.
Delta Airlines airplane on landing approach to LAX Airport in Los Angeles.
Jet Blue and Amewrican Airlines sais revenue would rise 11% and 16.5% in the second quarter, respectively. This is in spite of what Geraghty said was the second largest disruption to air travel since the pandemic. “It’s possible especially given air ticket prices have grown well below general inflation since COVID” that fares stay high, saidUBS airline analyst Atul Maheswari. “As such, we think there is room for airfares to go up and stay higher. This could drive significant earnings growth and margin expansion for airlines in 2027 should jet fuel prices moderate. That said, we think demand would need to hold steady for airlines to maintain pricing next year.”
What this means for travelers is simple: airlines will continue to raise costs and blame fuel prices, even after prices have come down. The end result will be price increases on economy seats most of all, as premium seats tend to already have wide margins airlines can lean on. Budget airlines, like Spirit, can flounder as a result of smaller margins on cheap flights, leaving many budget travelers without options.
Video games take inspiration from other titles all the time, even if fans don’t see it in plain sight. Sometimes, the most unlikely predecessor paves a path for something even greater, and that’s exactly what happened with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The 2023 Switch game is now considered one of the best in the series and an all-time entry in Nintendo’s canon. It was everything Breath of the Wild was, but with an even more fleshed-out and advanced world.
The creation tools that allow players to build vehicles to their hearts’ desire are one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about the game, but this is a mechanic that was actually popularized by a cult classic Xbox 360 game, not appreciated by the public.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts didn’t go over well with series fans when it came out in 2008. Developer Rare’s move from Nintendo consoles to Microsoft hardware meant that the game was developed with a different audience in mind.
Instead of traditional 3D platforming like on the Nintendo 64, the game utilized a build-and-operate approach that turned Banjo’s world into a playground for crafting motorized vehicles and completing different objectives that were made easier or more difficult depending on what you were driving.
With almost 20 years in the rearview mirror, some fans on social media are now crediting the density of the building mechanics. Some even think that The Legend of Zelda’s vehicle gameplay is inspired by Nuts & Bolts, but it doesn’t live up to the Xbox 360 title.
TOTK has an amazingly powerful creation toolset that’s utterly let down by a game design that barely incentives engagement with it on any meaningful level.
Nuts & Bolts integrated its build system into the actual gameplay 10 times better. https://t.co/7BbIwAYjId
This fan bemoans that TOTK doesn’t meld the vehicles with the world design as well as Banjo-Kazooie did. Another person thinks that Nuts & Bolts still reigns far superior and believes TOTK has no other legacy beyond the crafting elements.
Kinda funny that it took them 12 years to make this game and its only legacy is the part they ripped off from nuts and bolts https://t.co/9K7UXhu2hG
Both of these games are controversial in their own ways. Tears of the Kingdom is still one of the most critically acclaimed games on the Switch, despite some detractors. Nuts & Bolts is now viewed in a more favorable light than in 2008, but Banjo-Kazooie fans wish for there to be a true sequel to Banjo-Tooie.
Regardless of the opinion on these games, it’s wonderful to see such different game universes collide, emulate, and inspire one another even decades after their creation.
An AP Newsreport found a few Americans are saving money on gas in a creative new way: by visiting Native American reservations. Exempt from gas taxes, stations on “the rez” are cheaper than those even just 30 minutes away. At the Tulalip Market on the Tulalip reservation in Washington, gas is $4.84 per gallon, less than what Junelle Lewis is paying just 30 minutes away in the Seattle metro area.
“I purposely drove here just for the gas,” she said. For some, it’s a long way to go for gas, but in states like California, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and Washington state, there are dozens of tribally owned fuel stations exempt from state fuel taxes. Gas prices have skyrocketed since American missiles fell on Iran, sending the national average to $4.15 per gallon as of publication. At the Chukchansi Crossing Fuel Station & Travel Center near Yosemite National Park, gas is 60 cents less than at nearby stations. In New Mexico and New York, two fuel stations fall as low as $3.79 and $3.65 per gallon, respectively.
Fuel nozzles hang in the holder at a gas station.
Photo by Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images
Ordinarily, tribes pay a federal fuel tax – 18.4 cents per gallon of gas and 24.3 cents per gallon of diesel. Like many other stations, this gets figured into what tribal stations charge for gas. State tax exemptions mean the rest is down to the individual station. US law holds that states don’t have the authority to collect taxes from Native Americans on their land. The precedent is one of the longest-standing in an otherwise long history of walkbacks and violations of Native American sovereignty on reservations. “They’re cheaper here than anywhere else,” Todd Hall of Paden, Oklahoma, told AP News. He likes the “way the tribe operates,” and says the Citizen Potawatomi Nation gas station saves him about $5 a week on gas.
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Over the last 15 years, finding a bottle of Blanton’s Bourbon for sale at a reasonable price has seemed like winning the lottery.
So I have some extremely exciting news: Starting on April 29, and running through Tuesday, May 5, the Men’s Journal Spirits Shop is offering one bottle of the incredibly rare Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel Bourbon each day for just one cent. Yes, really—one cent. At some point every day for a week, the price will drop from its standard price of $212 to a single penny.
What’s the big deal about Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel? The whiskey isn’t cut down with any water. The barrel is literally emptied and the bourbon is bottled at cask strength, which is usually around 130 proof. (By comparison, the standard Blanton’s Bourbon is bottled at 93 proof.) At this alcohol level, you get the purest expression of the whiskey’s flavor, which includes huge vanilla and wood notes. It’s truly a special whiskey that’s worth jumping through hoops.
Blanton’s Bourbon was created by legendary distiller Elmer T. Lee in 1984. His genius idea was to showcase the natural differences between the whiskey in each barrel, which is caused by the location of the cask in the warehouse and its age. Most whiskey brands empty many barrels at a time and blend the whiskey together, which allows them to create a consistent house style. Lee would dump one barrel at a time, which means that Blanton’s can taste different from one bottle to another.
The brand is named after Colonel Albert Blanton, who worked for decades at the George T. Stagg distillery, which we now call Buffalo Trace. Blanton’s Bourbon was first a huge success in Japan and over the last 15 years has really caught fire in the U.S. Its popularity helped kick off the rebirth of American whiskey.
Ford’s latest recall for the Bronco SUV is double jeopardy. The automaker says it needs to go and correct a repair that was previously made to a small number of Broncos to prevent transmission damage. Ford says 4,922 Bronco SUVs may have misaligned transmissions and transfer cases – a major mechanical fault that could cause serious damage.
“On affected vehicles, the transmission-to-transfer case joint may be misaligned due to an incorrectly performed previous repair, which could lead to premature wear of the transmission output shaft splines and transfer case input splines,” reads Ford’s recall report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall covers 2021 to 2025 Bronco SUVs, and states that if the splines wear, vehicles could fail to engage in forward gears, or the parking brake function may not work. In both cases, the likelihood of a crash is increased.
Ford found out about the botched repairs in November, and after two months of investigation, determined misalignment between the transmission and transfer case to be the source of the problem. The brand hopes updated repair materials will help “ensure that the transmission and transfer case are properly aligned when they are reassembled during service repairs.” 25 warranty claims have been filed related to the misalignment issue. Ford says it will have technicians inspect vehicles for misaligned joints or wear on transmission splines, which will require quite a lot of downtime for owners – getting to the car’s transmission and transfer case requires a good deal of disassembly. Any found with evidence of misalignment or damage will need a new transmission and a new transfer case.
Ford leads automakers in recalls so far this year, with 34 recalls active as of publication. Not only is it more than any other automaker, but it also creates a litany of issues for owners down the line, affecting resale values, shaking trust in the brand, and hurting dealer sales. Ford is due a huge $1.3 billion chargeback from tariffs this year, and hopefully, that money will go to improving quality control rather than paying CEO Jim Farley another multi-million-dollar pay package.
