The Jeff Zone

theatlantic: Here, but Not Here: Family Portraits Held Together...

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:56:17 -0400

Here, but Not Here: Family Portraits Held Together by Skype

We live in a world in which some of the people we are closest to are often not near us at all.

When we document our day-to-day existence in photographs and Instagrams, these people are absent. Their presence in our lives is absent in our digital memories.

Photographer John Clang’s series Being Together seeks to correct this. Using Skype and projectors, he captures families visually as they are virtually.

“In these images,” Clang told me over email, “I am marking the time for these families, enabling them to remember these strange moments of togetherness with the technology presently available. The picture doesn’t stop here, it lingers on in their memory. It embraces the intimacy and closeness of a family, no matter how far apart they are.”

Read more. [Images: John Clang]

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Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:55:02 -0400

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Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:54:36 -0400

npr: discoverynews: expose-the-light: Best Pictures Of A Baby...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:16:35 -0400

npr:

discoverynews:

expose-the-light:

Best Pictures Of A Baby Elephant Playing At A Beach Of All Time

My heart just melted and I died. RIP.

Oh my!

Elephants deserve a day at the beach too.

npr: The Return of the Mysterious, Long-Fingered Frog | The...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:16:25 -0400

npr:

The Return of the Mysterious, Long-Fingered Frog | The Hairpin

doctorwho: The Good, The Bad, and The Doctor! Matt, Karen, and...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:21:16 -0500

doctorwho:

The Good, The Bad, and The Doctor! Matt, Karen, and Arthur film Western-style Doctor Who episode on Spanish film set

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are used to getting stuck in any number of sticky situations as their on-screen aliases, The Doctor and Amy Pond in the BBC’s Doctor Who.

And this time, their adventures are taking the actors rather further afield than usual.

Amy and Matt have been spotted filming in the southern Spanish town of Almeria on its famous desert lots.
The desert landscape of Tabernas also provided the backdrop for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
An insider told The Sun: ‘Matt and Karen are really excited about the episode.’

‘Filming on the same set as a lot of western films, together with the Spanish weather, will give it an epic feel.’

Almeria is also sunnier than Cardiff, where Doctor Who is usually shot.

teachingliteracy: 10 Novels That Will Sharpen Your Mind...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:26:45 -0500

teachingliteracy:

10 Novels That Will Sharpen Your Mind [Interactive]

Novels may be made up, but the emotions they evoke are real. These feelings grow out of our connection to the novel’s characters and the relationships between a protagonist and others in the context of the broader society. As we follow the ups and downs of a carefully crafted story, we build connections within the social and emotional regions of the brain. The result, according to recent research, is a better understanding of other human beings and a deeper empathy for others, leading to improved social skills. Historians have also claimed that great works of fiction have lent support to the concept of human rights. (For more on the psychology of fiction, see “In the Minds of Others,” by Keith Oatley, Scientific American Mind, November/December 2011.)

Click the link and check out the interactive features.

This is Puff. Reblog this to make him famous on Tumblr.

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:25:47 -0500

This is Puff. Reblog this to make him famous on Tumblr.

Reblog this if you love woodpeckers!

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:23:00 -0500

Reblog this if you love woodpeckers!

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Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:26:31 -0500

sexy-status: TARDIS guitar at Megacon 2012

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:23:40 -0500

sexy-status:

TARDIS guitar at Megacon 2012

Well, this would be pretty interesting! propagandery: Japanese...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:21:53 -0500

Well, this would be pretty interesting!

propagandery:

Japanese Company Announces Plans to Build 20,000-Mile-High Space Elevator by 2050

Scientists have long considered the possibility of creating ultra-tall space elevators that stretch beyond the earth’s atmosphere to transport satellites and shuttles into outer space without the cost and environmental impact of rocket fuels. Now a Japanese company specializing in major infrastructure projects called The Obayashi Corporation has announced plans to build a space elevator by 2050, with the aim of taking tourists 20,000 miles above the planet’s surface.

A list of things about Classic Who...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:17:40 -0500

A list of things about Classic Who...:

doctorwho:

thebrigadiersmoustache:

Okay so my bestie is going to start watching classic who with me after my birthday (he wants to start with an Unearthly Child, which I’m hopefully getting as a present) and I thought I’d write a list of things to tell him about the classic stuff so that he knows what to expect. I thought I’d share it with you here.

1.This is the Doctor you love, but not the Doctor you know.

To begin with we see a very different Doctor than the one we see today. And that’s fine. In fact it’s more than fine, it’s wonderful. He wouldn’t still be on our screens if he hadn’t changed. Sometimes he is grumpy. Sometimes he doesn’t know the answer. Sometimes he almost gets everyone killed. But one of the many reasons that I love the Doctor so much is that he grows and you get to see him grow. We see him mature, learn how to love, learn how to think, learn how to understand. In the beginning he is driven by excitement, he doesn’t stop to think about the dangers. He’s not always nice. But that’s the beautiful thing about Who. It’s an almost 50 year long journey we take with the Doctor. He literally changes and grows in front of our eyes. But the key thing to do is see how much stays the same. The love of travel, the need for someone else to ground him. Unbridled enthusiasm at the thought of new places, new spaces left unvisited.

2. Effects and fancy sets aren’t everything.

Forget the computer based technology of today. It isn’t going to happen. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. The story’s are beautiful. Some of them are so wonderful in their design and delightful in their execution that you don’t care. The focus is on the characters, their experiences and their struggles. A good storyline beats special effects every time. Of course there are still times where you are floored by what you just saw because you know they were operating on a shoestring budget and you can’t comprehend how they managed to do that for so little.

3. Change. It happens. Frequently.

Characters will come and go, a lot. Often never to be spoken of again. The sooner you learn this, the easier it will be to accept it when the companion you’ve grown painfully attached to leaves.

4. It’s a kids show but it’s not just for kids.

Don’t fall for the misconception that early Who was just for kids and it’s not going to be intellectually stimulating. There is a lot happening, and some of it would fly straight over a child’s head. There are serious tales of oppression, laden with symbolism. There is a lot of violence implied off screen. People die. It isn’t all fun and games, no more than the Doctor Who of now. At it’s core, Doctor Who is a show about the struggle for survival, human and otherwise. It’s something we can all related to.

5. The companions are just as smart, and just as badass.

Heard that the old companions were a bunch of scaredy cats who ran around screaming while the Doctor got **** done? Wrong. Barbara Wright ran over a Dalek with a truck. Jo resisted the Master’s attempts to hypnotise her. Romana could stop both her hearts and fake death. Leela was Leela. Nyssa built a sonic booster by herself to take out an android that had previous disarmed and overpowered Fivey, Tegan, and Adric. Ace McShane gave a Dalek a good old thumping with a baseball bat. Grace Holloway barely reacted when a man who jumped in her car when she was trying to drive home proceeded to walk through a glass door. My point is that the old companions were amazing. Every single one of them.

What else would you add?

doctorwho: Tabloid shots of Matt and Arthur and guest star Mark...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:16:51 -0500

doctorwho:

Tabloid shots of Matt and Arthur and guest star Mark Williams on set.

Does this beach look familiar to anyone?

theodoredow:

It makes me happy that somewhere in the world right now they are filming new episodes of Doctor Who.