Friday, December 20, 2013

these entries from Nat Geo's 2012 Photo Contest are absolutely gorgeous

Last Friday was the deadline for National Geographic's annual photography competition. Winners will be announced on December 15, but in the meantime, The Atlantic's Alan Taylor has hand selected another 50 images from this year's extensive collection of entires. Jaw-dropping doesn't begin to describe them.

We've included a few of our favorites below (do yourself a favor and click to see them in high res), but you'll want to check out Taylor's entire, specially curated assortment over at The Atlantic.

All captions by the photographers

The Matterhorn: Night Clouds #2 — The Matterhorn, 4478 m, at full moon. (© Nenad Saljic/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Swimming with a Turtle: After observing this turtle, I swam with him for a few minutes. (© John Peterson/National Geographic Photo Contest)

The Godfather: He is big — 4 meters tall and over 4 tons in weight. He is the "Godfather". I have visualized this scene many times. I have checked and rechecked my equipment and decided upon the camera and lens combination. I now relax and control my breathing as they come in to view. The next ten minutes are a bliss of forgetfulness as I zone in to the task at hand; only one moment stands out. He stands still before me in all his magnificence, raising his trunk filled with the red Kalahari dust. In one fluid movement he sprays his forehead and for one brief moment he is covered in the magic of dust and light. (© Peter Delaney/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Charging Black Drongo: The Black Drongo selects a good perch near a water body, and takes off when an insect is sighted on the surface, skimming across the water and back to its perch. I spent almost 10 days (1 hr daily morning — sitting quietly and motionless) and on October 25, 2012, this was clicked. I was lucky to get this just before any skimming action started. I like the concentration level in its eyes, wing position and wide open mouth ready to catch the insect by surprise, and the same action in reflection. (© Vinayak Parmar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Red Land: Sunset Cloud Village is one of the most picturesque places in Red Land, China. As its name indicates, it's best to see before sunset. The reddish brown soil turns redder after rainfall and after farmers plow the land. (© Peng Jiang/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Locusts: I've always wondered if a "plague of locusts" could block out the sun. They come close. (© Anthony Mercer/National Geographic Photo Contest)

80 Year Old Sea Gypsy Spear Fisherman: When he was young he remembers the Japanese passing through during WWII. He was a spear fisherman then, and still today at around 80 years old, he remains a spear fisherman. He earns little from his catch, maybe 2-3 dollars a day for spending hours in the water. This time in the water is keeping him young though, he is able to hold his breath for 2 minutes while chasing fish with no fins. I could barely keep up with him and I had fins on. (© Caine Delacy/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Two Fishermen: The shoal is one of the most fascinating places in Xiapu, China. Fishermen farm fish, shrimp, and oysters and plant seaweed along this coast area. (© Peng Jiang/National Geographic Photo Contest)

whoa finger tapping painter

awesome waterfall is awesome

menjadi seorang penulis...

13 Vital Reminders For Writers

Writing is tough work. If I may be so bold as to attempt a simile, I’d say that it’s like walking through a dark forest, but with your legs tied together. So in actuality you’re not really walking at all. But sort of hopping. Oh yes, and there’s a little devil perched upon your shoulder whispering sweet doubts in your ear. And the worst thing of all is that he’s composing his insults more poetically than you ever could.

To battle this devil, here are 13 punchy quotes that will help you remain focused as you hop through that dark forest.

u biutipul

you deserve flowers on your doorstep
and coffee in the morning
you deserve notes left on your dashboard
and ice cream sundaes at 3am
you deserve honesty every day
and to be kissed every hour
you deserve to be reminded
how beautiful you are

buku baik punya untuk dibaca.

15 timeless observations from history’s greatest dystopian novels

The dystopian novel has a long, dark and intriguing history. Kicking off in 1726 with Jonathan Swift’s rip-roaring satireGulliver’s Travels, it’s gone through numerous transformations in the last three centuries. One thing all these books share, though, is that they make us think long and hard about the societies we live in.

Evolving not simply as a response to fictional utopian concerns, but also as a response to the prevalent or ominous ideals and politics of the writer’s time, the dystopian novel tends to use its make-believe guise as a front to critique the ideologies under which they’ve been forged. However, they also include enduring wisdom, which can be just as relevant to contemporary readers. To show just how relevant, we’ve unearthed 15 timeless insights from 15 of history’s greatest dystopias.

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”

1984 — George Orwell

“Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.”

Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”

The Dispossessed — Ursula K. Le Guin

“It’s only because of their stupidity that they’re able to be so sure of themselves.”

The Trial — Franz Kafka,

“Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.”

The Time Machine — H.G. Wells

“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”

Brave New World — Aldous Huxley

“To minimize suffering and to maximize security were natural and proper ends of society and Caesar. But then they became the only ends, somehow, and the only basis of law—a perversion. Inevitably, then, in seeking only them, we found only their opposites: maximum suffering and minimum security.”

A Canticle for Leibowitz — Walter M. Miller Jr.

“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”

The Handmaid’s Tale — Margaret Atwood

“The future is already here. It’s just unevenly distributed.”

Neuromancer— William Gibson

“You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe.”

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — Philip K. Dick

“A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don’t know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn’t be worth reading.”

We — Yevgeny Zamyatin

“There is no God and we are his prophets.”

The Road — Cormac McCarthy

“The essential quality of life is living’ the essential quality of living is change; change is evolution; and we are part of it.”

The Chrysalids — John Wyndham

“Americans… are forever searching for love in forms it never takes, in places it can never be. It must have something to do with the vanished frontier.”

Cat’s Cradle — Kurt Vonnegut

“When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.”

A Clockwork Orange— Anthony Burgess