Monday, January 28, 2013

Jen's Gems 1/28/13

I have three quick videos to share, but I know a lot of times these things tend to not work in countries outside the U.S. or show up in RSS feeds, so let me apologize now if you can't see them. Especially since they are REALLY cool. (Not helping? :D)

Even if you can't see the vids, though, stick through 'til the end for non-video goodies.

First, the exterior secret door to end all exterior secret doors:

SO COOL!  (Found via Instructables)

I keep forgetting to show you guys this AMAZING Portal Turret music video. Even if you know nothing about Portal, it should give you a big, toe-tapping grin:


I have the original Portal 2 Turret song as my ringtone on my phone right now (it was a free download from Valve ages ago), but now I want to use this one!


And now, three minutes of fake educational hilarity:

Why does he pronounce it "sea whores"? The world may never know.
 (Found via BoingBoing)

The whole "True Facts" series is pretty hysterical, by the way, so be sure to watch the others when you need a laugh.


And finally, thanks to True Blue Me And You's Facebook page I've found my new favorite Pinterest Board: It's called Don't Compare Yourself To Celebrities, and it's a combination of non-photoshopped pics of celebs & models, side-by-side original vs Photoshopped pics, and modern, heavily photoshopped pics where writer Indy Ink points out and explains how you can spot the 'shop. It's a really uplifting, natural beauty-affirming board, and frankly I've never seen so much original content (by way of the commentary on each photo) on Pinterest before.

Here are a few examples, with Indy Ink's commentary:


This is one of my favorites:
That pic just makes me smile. You know, I honestly didn't think I was being all that fooled by digitally altered media, but after looking at this board, I realized I really *have* been blinded by rampant Photoshopping. I was shocked time and again by, say, Rhianna's real body, or how I never realized there are no elbow or knee lines or thighs-that-touch on doctored ads. There are still stunningly beautiful people, of course, but it's a comfort to know that most everyone really DOES look a little bit like me from time to time. (Meaning belly folds, large pores, wrinkles, and the like.)

So, yeah, I went in looking for fun before-and-after shots, and came away a little bit comforted, a little bit inspired, and a lot more educated. Definitely go check it out!

26 comments:

  1. Jen, zefrank is pretty amazing and has a huuuuuge history of vlogging. This is from his new series aShow with zeFrank. You can also check out the archives of his original theShow with zeFrank.

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  2. As someone who does photoshop as a huge part of my job I LOVE seeing the side by side photos of celebrities. I wish everyone (esp. girls) knew how easy it was to use the liquify filters in Photoshop to reshape, push out and suck in any body part you want. My absolute favorite video is: “This commercial isn’t real, neither are society’s standards of beauty.” Film by Jesse Rosten, a parody: Fotoshop by AdobĂ©.
    http://youtu.be/S_vVUIYOmJM

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  3. I haven't seen these photos specifically, but have seen many other similar photo comparisons. Businesses like
    Pageant Photo Retouching make me rage.

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  4. I am laughing so hard at the Sea Whores vid that water is coming out of my eyes. That stuff is awesome. Thank you!

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  5. Oh, I love that Pinterest board! I'm going to add it to the link round-up on my blog. Stuff like that NEEDS to get around. I think Photoshop is one of the most harmful tools to the female body image there is. Thanks for sharing it!

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  6. If you like the Sea Horse vid, you'll probably like the Spiders on Drugs vid (if you haven't already seen it).

    Enjoy!

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  7. I am SERIOUSLY in love with that Pinterest board. I'm trying to lose weight and it's not working due to my own stupid issues, but looking at that board is really helpful. THANK YOU for adding it to this blog post.

    I once saw in some big magazine an article about women in movies without their makeup on. It was so stupid--I could not believe how clearly the women had been photoshopped so they looked gorgeous even without makeup. It was sickening and ridiculous.

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  8. Thanks for posting that Pinterest board - I've spent 5 minutes looking at it and already feel better about myself! Plus I've shared it on Facebook - the more people that realise how fake celeb pics can be, the better!

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  9. lol - "Sea whores"!

    Made up "facts" are always amusing! If you've never seen the BBC series "Look Around You" you really NEED to rent it from Netflix! And it's also on Amazon because you might even want to own it so you can share with friends & family. =)

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  10. I volunteer at our local aquarium and now I'm going to chuckle every time I walk past the "sea whores" exhibit.

    And love the photoshop pin. Although I must admit the Hugh Jackman funny face pics had me laughing.

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  11. Once again, you inspire me! I love your Gems. I've got some new ideas thanks to you. I'm still laughing about the sea whores, too.

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  12. And speaking of zeFrank, one of my favorite of his items is "Someone thinks you're great": http://www.zefrank.com/great/ Hee. Love it.

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  13. Thank you Jen. Thank you.

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  14. I can't wait to check those out. Jen, I'm afraid I might have to take a little break from your blogs since you and John were in my dream last night. Nothing weird, you guys were cool to hang with, but really? get out of my dreams.

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  15. So I went to look for a video of a seahorse giving birth. Am I a bad person for thinking it looked like an alien bursting out of someone's chest? Only with labor wiggles added.

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  16. I kind of expected the airbrushing of people (the missing limbs are my favourite) but then I came upon the most disturbing image WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY LITTLE PONY!?!!

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  17. Ok now how do I get that entier Sea "Whorse" video on a t-shirt? 'Cause that would be awesome!

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  18. In 2002 Jamie Lee Curtis did an interview in More Magazine about what it takes for a celebrity to look so good... It's worth the read:
    http://www.more.com/news/womens-issues/jamie-lee-curtis-true-thighs

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  19. They look more naked without photoshop. I don't know why.

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  20. My board followers told me about your huge shout-out to Don't Compare Yourself to Celebrities. All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope it helps everyone realize that nobody needs to look a certain way in order to matter.

    Thank you again.

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  21. I think the Pinterest board is great about showing the unrealistic expectations that we have of females bodies. My only problem is that it also does the job of identifying anyone skinny as being abnormal or wrong. I am 120 pounds and have been ridiculed my whole life for looking "anorexic, like a stick, or too skinny". I eat healthy and I have a positive self-esteem but I constantly have to defend myself against those who do not feel good about themselves. I just want people to consider that its not just about being okay with a curvy body but being okay with ANY body.

    That being said, I love those sea whores.

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  22. I'm sorry you feel the board "does the job of identifying anyone skinny as being abnormal or wrong." I disagree. I'm naturally thin and have been so all of my life, so I am squarely in that exact group. (Took me years to shed the nickname "Olive Oyl. Shudder.) I have not declared naturally thin people bad or wrong, not in everyday life, and not on my board.

    Not everyone who comments on the board agrees with me on that.

    I do believe it is harmful to declare one body type as the sole representation of ideal beauty when it's detrimental for most people to attempt to attain that body type, and it's reflected in the things I research and pin.

    The readers can visit the board, research these things themselves, and decide.

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  23. I really appreciate your point of view. I think its such an important topic that I'm glad you're bringing to the forefront. Its not just about body type but even ageism and racism in some cases, with the removing of wrinkles and lightening skin. I just wish we could focus on everyone's positives instead of some people's negatives.

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  24. Me too, Michelle. I definitely agree with you on that. :-)

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  25. Ah! I can't believe that I'm just now seeing this post. My daughter did a variation of the photoshop thing as her science fair project. She took headshots of some of her friends (all early teen girls) and then retouched them in stages. She showed the pictures one at a time to the girls (no work, a little work, the barbie effect, and full on manipulation such as eye and hair color changes)and asked them to rate them. The overall results of the project found that even though girls know that media images are manipulated, they didn't grasp the realities of it fully until they saw it done to their own pictures. Several of the girls actually said they felt sorry for models who have their picture made and then manipulated. Most of the girls had an improved self image at the end of the experiment. It was really cool. Plus, she won the fair. :)

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    Replies
    1. Lynn, please consider making that study into a web site.

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