Andrew.frampton

Unless you work out at Crunch (which as far as I can tell is a giant adult playground made of oversized foam gears), spending hours at the gym can be incredibly boredom-inducing. Not for this guy, who turned a vanilla elliptical sesh into serious realness.

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When he’s not breaking hearts on the medal stand, Olympic hottie Matthew Mitcham is usually making the internet swoon with his ukulele covers of pop jams. Last summer he caused a little frenzy when he covered “Single Ladies.” He’s back and now he’s tackling over gay-faves, Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse.

In a duet with an unnamed performer, Mitcham spices things up with the Brit-classic, “I’m A Slave 4 U.”

In a dedication to his dog Louie, he covers “Cherry” by Amy Winehouse.

Watch all his videos here.

Taun Taun, the mama panda, gave birth to this little lady on July 7th. The little tyke isn't ready to meet the world, but the zoo released photos of her:

The cub has been kept away from the public's gaze with the zoo saying visitors will need to wait three months to see her.

The zoo said the cub has grown to 1,140 grams (2.5 pounds), more than six times her original weight when she was delivered.

Zookeepers have also kicked off a naming campaign for the cub, with the public voting on what to name her and the final result expected to be announced on October 26.

Link -via Babble | Photos: Taipei Zoo

Monarobot draws Pokémons in the style of ancient Maya art. They are called Pokémayans! Pictured at the top are Gible, Gabite, and Garchomp, with Articuno below. She'll draw your favorite on commission. Gotcha catch 'em all! Link -via WhatAnArt

We all played with paper cutouts as kids, but Helen Musselwhite never grew out of it. In fact, she elevated the whole thing into works of art. The details are stunningly gorgeous!

Beauties Butterfly

Beauties Garland

10

Hawthorne Blackboard

Sanctuary (L) and Wild Wood (R)

Ghost Butterflies

Under The Moon of Love

Happy House

View more over at Helen's website - via Yatzer 

Water color painting by Sarah Nieman

Samantha Bee recently interviewed Matt Slick, seen above, founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. His daughter Rachel, now an atheist, describes what it was like to be raised by such a man, offering a disturbing glimpse into the fundamentalist psyche:

Conversation with him was a daily challenge. He would frequently make blatantly false statements — such as “purple dogs exist” — and force me to disprove him through debate. He would respond to things I said demanding technical accuracy, so that I had to narrow my definitions and my terms to give him the correct response. It was mind-twisting, but it encouraged extreme clarity of thought, critical thinking, and concise use of language. I remember all this beginning around the age of five.

I have two sisters, three and seven years younger than myself, and we were all homeschooled in a highly strict, regulated environment. Our A Beka schoolbooks taught the danger of evolution. Our friends were “good influences” on us, fellow homeschoolers whose mothers thought much alike. Obedience was paramount — if we did not respond immediately to being called, we were spanked ten to fifteen times with a strip of leather cut from the stuff they used to make shoe soles. Bad attitudes, lying, or slow obedience usually warranted the same — the slogan was “All the way, right away, and with a happy spirit.” We were extremely well-behaved children, and my dad would sometimes show us off to people he met in public by issuing commands that we automatically rushed to obey. The training was not just external; God commanded that our feelings and thoughts be pure, and this resulted in high self-discipline.

She goes on to chart her fall from faith, and closes with these striking thoughts:

Someone once asked me if I would trade in my childhood for another, if I had the chance, and my answer was no, not for anything.
 My reason is that, without that childhood, I wouldn’t understand what freedom truly is — freedom from a life centered around obedience and submission, freedom to think anything, freedom from guilt and shame, freedom from the perpetual heavy obligation to keep every thought pure. Nothing I’ve ever encountered in my life has been so breathtakingly beautiful.

Freedom is my God now, and I love this one a thousand times more than I ever loved the last one.

My homegirl @chloestrix is at the Linc to see Taylor Swift and sent me this, the funniest thing ever. pic.twitter.com/7878yt1F8i

— ryan petzar (@petzrawr) July 19, 2013

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It is a known fact that any photo of a beautiful man can be greatly enhanced by the addition of a puppy, so it’s only natural that Abercrombie & Fitch has gone to the dogs for their 2013 “back to school” ad campaign.

The world’s largest retailer for anorexic folks has employed celebrity photographer Bruce Weber to shoot 11 different “stars on the rise,” including Glee‘s Jacob Artist, Texas Chainsaw 3D‘s Scott Eastwood, Taylor Handley, Alexander Ludwig, Lily Rabe, Julio the Skateboarding English Bulldog, and Carrie The Dancing Merengue Dog, among others.

In case you can’t tell, they’re supposedly promoting the new A&F Jeans Collection, which from the looks of it are still covered in bleach spots, rips, and gaping holes.

Mike Jeffries, company Chairman & CEO, is extremely excited about paying these thin celebrities to wear his clothes, because he discovered them first and you can’t say anything to the contrary or else you’re fired:

“Identifying talent during the early stages of their careers has been something we have always been excited to be a part of. We enjoyed working with these 11 actors selected for this campaign and look forward to watching them flourish in their careers.”

So here they are! Who wore these distressed A&F jeans best?

Alexander Ludwig:

Jacob Artist:

Scott Eastwood:

Alex Kaluzhsky:

Taylor Handley, who has a hard time looking cute in anything since trying to murder Ryan and Marissa on The OC. But this works:

James Frecheville:

[h/t Homorazzi]

These special photos have likely been in existence in books and online for a while, but they have recently made the rounds on Tumblr, and they're just too good not to pass on. The pics offer a peek behind the scenes of Sesame Street in the 1970s, when Jim Henson didn't take great care of his Muppets, and they're rather enchanting. They offer glimpses at Snuffleupagus storage, Slimey's 4th Of July apparel, and how two puppeteers work together to make Ernie look like a fully functioning entity.

Ren & Stimpy breakfast treat spokesman Powdered Toast Man has graced the Comic-Con floor with his toast-enhancing presence. We can't speak to the quality of his flatulence, but he's still absolutely Toast-a-rific.

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via meaningfulgraffity

Back when Kanye West‘s “Black Skinhead” first emerged, it soon became Web fact that the song sampled Marilyn Manson‘s “Beautiful People.” But once the Yeezus credits were posted, we all learned that the assertion wasn’t actual fact, as there was no such sample used in the song. But thanks to mashup mastermind Girl Talk, we now know what such a marriage would sound like. Greg Gillis mashed up “Black Skinhead” with Manson’s goth-industrial hit at a recent set in Charlotte.

For his second trick, Gillis paired Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky” with Michael Jackson — but in classic Girl Talk fashion, he didn’t go the obvious route and mix the track with disco-leaning Off The Wall material. Instead, he chose the Dangerous classic “Remember The Time.” Hear the two mashups below.

“Black Skinhead” x “Beautiful People”

How does it compare to the “Black Skinhead”/”Personal Jesus” combo?

“Get Lucky” x “Remember The Time”

[via Consequence of Sound]