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“BE passionate joyful euphoric intense angry present ALIVE” – that’s the advice from world renowned photographer Jordan Matter. His project Dancers Among Us carries that spirit with it, transforming everyday situations into dynamic, and often nearly unbelievable scenes that capture the human body ALIVE. From the graceful, to the comical, to the intense, Matter has photographed dancers of all sorts in locations around the world – but especially in his home New York. Each image is an encouraging treasure, one that calls us to enjoy the beauty of life in each moment.

on small card stock, LEGO builder Chris McVeigh (aka Powerpig) decided to create his own LEGO versions. That is, he would take pop-culture characters we all know and love and create small portraits of them using only LEGO bricks. After making just one, his fans gave him such positive feedback that he knew he was onto something. As he tells us, "I quickly put together one of Wolverine and posted it on Instagram and Facebook. I was blown away by the response, and so I challenged myself to do more."

In this series, California-based photographer Viktorija Pashuta transformed a variety of web browser icons into trendy fashion statements. The Latvian fashion photographer has always wondered What if girls were internet browsers?, and so, the project brings that vision to life through a creative interpretation of the notable logos. To develop the project, Pashuta envisioned each browser with certain characteristics based on the styles of the popular symbols. She developed ensembles based off of these personifications and chose models Kaylen Dao, Brittany Ryan, Clancy McClain, Tracy Acholonu, and Polina Frantsena to don the inventive garb.

Street artist Francisco de Pájaro (aka “Art Is Trash”) takes piles of garbage found on the street and turns it into quirky art by painting faces and arranging it in humorous ways. The Spanish-born artist recently hit the streets of London and created a series with that city’s trash. Global Street Art’s James Buxton recently interviewed Pájaro for Société Perrier and quotes him, “We consume a lot, and rubbish is part of that, it’s people wasting things. There’s a romantic aspect, somebody’s given it up, they don’t want it, because one little bit is broken, because they don’t want to fix it, that’s the Capitalist mindset, so I give it life, so there’s a sensitive and romantic side to the work. It’s not all about monsters and nightmares in the work. Even when I’m making monsters, I’m taking things and bringing them back to life, giving them meaning.” Pájaro is currently exhibiting at a solo show titled “Police & Horse” at West Bank London Art in West London’s Notting Hill.

Spin VFX has released an amazing demo reel with visual effects breakdowns showcasing the work that they did on season 3 of Game of Thrones. Five-time Emmy nominated VFX Supervisor Jeff Campbell and three-time Emmy nominated Supervising Producer, Luke Groves led Spin’s team to deliver over 200 shots for the season, including Mance Rayder’s Camp, the Direwolves compositing sequences in the Northern Forest, CG crows, the 3D Unsullied Army, the Twins matte painting and The Wall 3D environment.

Russia-based artist SceithAilm has illustrated various characters from The Lord of the Rings as tarot cards. To see the rest of the collection, head over to her DeviantART gallery.

A few weeks ago I was perusing the Renegade Craft Fair and I came across ChaCha Covers. The shop sells nail decals, NOT blankets for your lady parts as I initially thought. They sell nail decals for every occasion. Pizza party? There’s pizza party nails. Jem and the Holograms marathon? ChaCha Covers has got you covered. Wearing a Marilyn Monroe costume? Marilyn Monroe didn’t wear her face on her nails but you totally can. Wu-Tang Clan blasting on your boombox? Oh they got Wu-Tang nails alright and Wu-Tang nails ain’t nuthing ta f*** wit. They even do custom stuff, so you can have any image on the decals. You know what I’m gonna get? A picture of nails on my nails. Nailception! Plus it’s because my nails are all kinds of ragged. I’m a biter!

If (like many) you found Singapore’s Frightening Theme Park Dedicated To Chinese Mythology a little too confronting, but still want to seek out the unusual and strange, you could always pay a visit to the “Magic Forest” in Imatra, Finland. Whether by choice or just bad design, it’s a forest littered with unsettling stone mannequins whose’s expressions are almost as creepy as the scenarios they’re placed in. How about a moustached made in a sharp blue seat, handcuffing a teenager to a tree and beating him with a cane? Or maybe you’d be more interested in a tall lanky local flasher?

Michael Spookshow is just like other normal married guy except in what he chooses to wear… Michael dresses in female clothes as a way of challenging gender stereotypes. He also started a fashion blog called “His Black Dress” where he posts his thoughts on fashion and models his many statement outfits. What do you think?

New York-based artist Justen Ladda has an amazing eye for perspective and distortion. Since the 1980s, he has combined painting with sculpture to produce flat installations that, from a distance, appear three dimensional. With precision and a vivid imagination, Ladda has developed so many different scenes that will just blow your mind! Before creating a piece, the artist visualizes the final work in his mind, paying close attention to the very small details. He works in assorted mediums to create his optical illusions, using everything from pigmented shellac and vinyl paints to fluorescent acrylic and plywood. By mastering angles and paying close attention to very tiny details, the talented artist is able to master all kinds of visual tricks.

You might think you know what patience means, but American artist Liza Lou clearly has a bit better understanding about what meticulous work really is. Her first large scale work Kitchen took 5 years to complete (1991–1996), and is, as the title suggests, a life-size replica of a kitchen, covered entirely in millions of glass beads. Liza placed each of tiny beads separately using a pair of tweezers, and that way created an amazing mosaic surface to every single item in the room, from walls to newspaper to a bag of chips. In 1999, she was back with her new Backyard project, where she used over thirty million beads! Most of them went into creating 250,000 blades of grass around the picnic table. In 2013 Liza presented her last project, called Color Field, which will on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego through November 3rd. Color Field is meant as a tribute to the grasslands of South Africa, where Liza is currently based. The artist says that her work was inspired by traditional African bead crafts, which are still very much alive in the local culture. She cooperated with local artisans, who passed her the secrets of this medium that they have been working with for generations. Check out the mesmerizing results!

Kelly-Marie Pearce is a mom of two who willingly ate this bizarre sandwich combination while pregnant with both her children… Kelly-Marie’s strange craving started when she spotted sand in the cage of a pet parrot. The sight sparked her unusual desire to eat sand, which she then began snacking on daily. She also started eating sponges that she combined with the sand filling to make a tasty treat.

Toy store in Budapest, Hungary is a normal toy store for kids. Except one thing. It has a designer beaver, hairy magnetic filing toy.

No, it's not an ordinary couch. Just see the rest of the photos. There is enough space for 30 rifles inside the couch. And it's the first ever bulletproof couch that can stop a .44 Magnum bullet. You can buy it for $6,700.

I’ll admit that headline is kind of misleading, because while you are about to watch a video of one-time Queen of the Geeks and Nerds, Olivia Munn, going HAM on a swing, you don’t really get to see the best part. You do see the rope snap and her fall to the ground, but as for actually watching her shoulder become dislocated, followed by her walking around with her arm all mangled like one of those skateboard fail videos when some bro’s arm snaps in two, this is sort of tame. But that’s why God gave us imaginations, and we just have to picture the gory mess as it happens. And maybe I’m there and standing over her while shouting, “That’s what you get for leading C-Tates on in Magic Mike and toying with his heart! He’s an artist, gosh dangit! An artist of coffee tables!” or something to that effect.

Before the Clash, before the Ramones, before the Sex Pistols, before the Stooges, even before Operation Ivy (I KNOW, RIGHT?) there was Los Siacos, a four-piece garage rock band from Lima, Peru, that’s often considered to be the first “punk” band. Unfortunately, their loud legacy has mostly been lost to history (that, and their never releasing an official album doesn’t help, either), but Noisey’s hoping to fix that with a new online documentary saluting the undeniable influence of Erwin Flores, Rolando Carpio, César “Papi” Castrillón, and Pancho Guevara. It begins with lead singer Flores ranting, “Punk rock music is a piece of sh*t. It’s music made by musicians who have no idea what they are doing. Musicians play whatever they want, and people who don’t have a clue get excited about it.” #PUNK.

In a move to save approximately $26,000 per year in salary for a living, breathing human receptionist capable of directing people wherever they need to go, the leaders at London’s Brent Council decided that they’d rather spend about $18,000 (or £12,000) for a one-time fee to set up a hologram receptionist that can answer limited questions about services in the government building and will undoubtedly end up pissing a lot of people off when they have to keep repeating themselves. Obviously, some of the borough’s elected officials aren’t too happy about this idea, as they think that it’s going to end up costing the council more to keep reprogramming the hologram, so it can answer even more questions and probably tell some perverts to put their pants back on. And the only reason they even need it in the first place is because people have been complaining that it’s too difficult to find individual offices.

Sick of all these other soon-to-be fiancees using the likes of Zach Braff and Donal Logue to win the internet with their marriage proposals, Paul Phillips made his own romantic children’s book (with the help of illustrator Yoni Limor), had his girlfriend stumble upon it in the library, and then took a knee when the gorilla proposed to the giraffe because life is a fairytale. The whole thing has of course since been elaborately shared on Reddit. It’s all a little too cutesy for me (inter-species relations aside) but everyone else seemingly can’t get enough so who am I to argue with public demand? Real-life vs. children’s book proposal montage below. Full illustrated story here. Someone please email me when they re-use the book and idea to propose to their girlfriend and claim it as their own because THAT is something I very much want to cover.

This season the NFL handbag policy is making fans use NFL-branded, clear, plastic totes instead of their regular purses and handbags because it “improves stadium safety.” You know, because stadium violence begins with purses. Some fans aren’t taking that lying down. My Purse, My Choice is taking a stand, and simultaneously … uh, bringing purse humor to everyone. Just watch. Seriously. Super funny. Plus: gum.

In anticipation of an "exciting reveal" for 'Batman: Arkham Origins' later this week, Warner Bros. Games Montreal has released a few new screenshots from the game, three of which showcase the Batcave. Mind you, this is the first time the Wayne Manor Batcave has been featured in these Arkham games, and it looks just as cool as you would imagine in this universe.

For those of you who are interested in seeing more of Darren Aronofsky's Biblical epic "Noah", here are a few high resolution photos from the film and the set showing off several of the characters in the film. Aronofsky is a crazy talented director, and the fact this is Aronofsky's dream project tells me it's going to be one of his greatest creations. At least that's what I'm expecting! The movie tells the epic biblical story of a prophet who is told by God to build a giant boat that can carry two of every animal from the earth to save them from a giant flood that will destroy every living thing on Earth so that they could have a new beginning. God flooded the world because of its wickedness. The film has an incredible cast of actors as well that includes Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Saoirse Ronan, Douglas Booth, Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Kevin Durand, and Mark Margolis. It comes out on March 28th, 2014.

It’s time to head back to school…did you get all your supplies? You know, the knives and fake severed feet and pregnancy tests? These back-to-school specials are clearly for people who know how to live (or at least how to drink too much and make questionable decisions due to impaired judgment). One thing’s for certain — if you stocked up on all these sales, you’d have a semester you’d never forget (assuming you could remember it).

It’s bad enough that Hitler’s gotten all riled up about Kendrick Lamar’s verse on Big Sean’s ‘Control’ now even fictional rappers are calling K. Dot out on Twitter too. Joell Ortiz was the first to respond to Kendrick’s controversial verse with an east coast call to arms then other MCs saw opportunity to some shine by going at TDE’s MVP. We got entertaining disses from Papoose, Cassidy, Lupe Fiasco and most recently Joe Budden and some less than amazing barbs from guys like Fred Da Godson but no responses from the actual rappers whose names were mentioned in the incendiary verse. And just when you thought #thestruggle for rap game relevance had brought one too many C and D list rappers out of the woodwork a peanut gallery of non-existent rappers are giving their unsolicited two cents on the situation. (Written by Nick Nadel and Timothy Tweets created by Kristy Puchko.

If you want to experience an exotic tropical holiday, have you ever thought about going to Germany? When you think of emerald lagoons, shady palm trees, crystal blue water & quaint wooden huts, it’s probably not the first country that springs to mind is it? Until now. House within a ginormous hanger large enough to hold eight full size soccer fields or the entire Eiffel Tower lying down horizontally is the Tropical Islands Resort. A place so tall, that even New York’s Status of Liberty could stand tall with touching the ceiling. The resort of around 60KM just south of Berlin, in Brandenburg, Germany so you can swap your polar jackets for bikini’s and shorts in just under an hours drive. It’s now officially one of the largest structures on the planet by volume, we’re talking around 5.5 million m³ – which is just as well, because it’s also home to the world’s largest indoor rainforest. You’ll find roughly 30,000 types of trees, bushes and foliage scattered through the dome, there’s even bananas trees popping up everywhere to give you that truly tropical feel. There an artificial sea, a long man-made beach and the climate is kept at a perfect 26c all year round – not overly hot, not overly cold. They’ve even take a leaf out of las Vegas’s habit of appropriating historic monuments but recreating Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and traditional Thai homes. And along with not having to worry about the weather, you don’t even have to worry about things like closing times either – the centre is open 24/7. Fancy a swim at 3am? No problem, just remember you’re unlikely to be alone, the pool itself can hold up to 8,000 enthusiastic swimmers. Would you be keen to go along for a day or two? You can make a booking right here, oh and don’t forget to pack your sunglasses.

It might not have the blockbuster budget of World War Z or Brad Pitt in the lead role, but independent short film ‘Spoiler’ is one of the most original and unique zombie films in recent history, in fact, it might become your new cult classic. Set in an post-zombie apocalypse world and with society slowly getting back on it’s feet, the very real threat of infection still looms large. When things take a turn for the worst, Los Angeles coroner Tommy Rossman is the man they call when things go wrong….

Between open mic comedy and being at The Gathering this past weekend, I think I could go six more lifetimes without hearing someone expecting to be applauded for doing drug use ever again (The Kottonmouth Kings enjoy marijuana – who knew?). But this Supercut, “Drugs in the Movies,” by Robert Jones, is so well put together that you can’t help but enjoy the hell out of it. It’s got all your favorites – Fast Times, Fear and Loathing, Go, Boogie Nights – and extra mega bonus points for including Tim Meadows’ speech in Walk Hard, one of the most underrated and underquoted comedy performances of the last 10 years. I seriously don’t know why that guy isn’t a huge star. Way to go, Obama.

Batten down the cumberhatches: Benedict Cumberbatch is at war with the press, ironically over a situation that could lead to war. Now, I’m sure all you High Brow Harrys and Liberal Arts Lisas have been following the situation in Egypt, so I don’t need to explain it to you; that would be demeaning and insulting to your intelligence. Cumberbatch has no such qualms: while filming Sherlock over the weekend, Cumberbatch wrote a tut-tut-shaming note directed at the paparazzi that read, “Go photograph Egypt and show the world something important.”

It’s a situation that will soon inspire a million hacky late-night jokes: “I know I said Lee Daniels’ The Butler was as pleasurable as a hole in the head, but this is ridiculous.” Tiffany, who tweets as @MsFlowersTweets, went to see The Butler last night in Silver Springs, Maryland. Upon arriving at the Regal Cinemas theater, she and everyone else in the nearly all-back audience were allegedly greeted by armed guards watching them as they watched Oprah. Oh boy. Here’s the full string of tweets.

In our roundup of the greatest Prince GIFs that ever Prince’d, we forgot one aspect of the Oh So Purple One’s personality: Pop Culture Prince. It’s as rare as a copy of The Tora Tora Experience in Best Buy; that’s because Prince has no use for culture — he IS culture, at least the bizarre, Batdancing, pancake-eating part of it. He’s recently started to come around to acting like a normal, boring human, though, beginning with his initial encounter with Twitter last week and extending to last night, when he tweeted the artwork for his new Walt Jr.-disapproved single, “Breakfast Can Wait”: Dave Chappelle dressed as Prince logo.svg from Chappelle’s Show.