We Feel Fine - Madness Display

We Feel Fine was conceived and created by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar.  I will hijack their Mission Statement and let them describe their project in their own words. Whatever you read you have to visit the site. It is a great experience.

From the We Feel Fine Mission Statement:

We Feel Fine is an exploration of human emotion on a global scale.

Since August 2005, We Feel Fine has been harvesting human feelings from a large number of weblogs. Every few minutes, the system searches the world’s newly posted blog entries for occurrences of the phrases “I feel” and “I am feeling”. When it finds such a phrase, it records the full sentence, up to the period, and identifies the “feeling” expressed in that sentence (e.g. sad, happy, depressed, etc.). Because blogs are structured in largely standard ways, the age, gender, and geographical location of the author can often be extracted and saved along with the sentence, as can the local weather conditions at the time the sentence was written. All of this information is saved.

The result is a database of several million human feelings, increasing by 15,000 – 20,000 new feelings per day. Using a series of playful interfaces, the feelings can be searched and sorted across a number of demographic slices, offering responses to specific questions like: do Europeans feel sad more often than Americans? Do women feel fat more often than men? Does rainy weather affect how we feel? What are the most representative feelings of female New Yorkers in their 20s? What do people feel right now in Baghdad? What were people feeling on Valentine’s Day? Which are the happiest cities in the world? The saddest? And so on.

The interface to this data is a self-organizing particle system, where each particle represents a single feeling posted by a single individual. The particles’ properties – color, size, shape, opacity – indicate the nature of the feeling inside, and any particle can be clicked to reveal the full sentence or photograph it contains. The particles careen wildly around the screen until asked to self-organize along any number of axes, expressing various pictures of human emotion. We Feel Fine paints these pictures in six formal movements titled: Madness, Murmurs, Montage, Mobs, Metrics, and Mounds.

At its core, We Feel Fine is an artwork authored by everyone. It will grow and change as we grow and change, reflecting what’s on our blogs, what’s in our hearts, what’s in our minds. We hope it makes the world seem a little smaller, and we hope it helps people see beauty in the everyday ups and downs of life.

- Jonathan Harris & Sep Kamvar

May 2006
So, what next? Go and visit this awesome site! And tell your friends, they’ll thank you for it.

Last year there were no eggs hatched and the parents went off and appeared to have abandoned the area. I did see a couple falcons downtown and I am pretty sure that they were the ones that nest at another church. Through the winter my wife and I wondered if the falcons would return. Our question was answered today when we heard the familiar sound of the falcons. I did not have my new telephoto lens with me but I did get a couple good pictures. The one below gives you an idea of where they nest.

Peregrine Falcon - Lewiston, Maine

With my new lens I am hoping to get some great photos of the parents and, I hope, the babies. I am also going to set up on the footbridge between Lewiston and Auburn and try to get some shots of the Bald Eagles.

I Love Spring!!!!

When you have chronic pain your life is at the mercy of the vagaries of whatever controls the pain. Good days are the ones where I simply hurt a lot. Bad days I am insane with the pain. Good days are usually mad foggy by the effects of pain and meds (both for pain and depression). Bad days I am insane with the pain. Oddly enough my mind is sharper on the bad days. My mind races and analyzes every aspect. On good days  mind races and analyzes every aspect – just not the same as the bad days.

The last couple months have been worse than the months that preceded it. And, thankfully, chronic pain is cyclical and the current bad cycle seems to be ebbing.

At 51 I find myself asking if the good outweighs the bad? And I search for ways to make the good times better and the bad times shorter or of less effect. Some find escape in alcohol and illegal drugs. I cannot see how alcohol, in the long run, can make things better. As for drugs, a case can be made for cannabis, but other drugs, like alcohol, take a toll that outweighs their value.

I have spoken to a number of people who seem to be benefiting greatly from cannabis. I am happy for them. I have not met a single person who is doing better with alcohol or other drugs. They have simply added a new misery to their pain.

For me cannabis is not an option. I smoked my last joint when I was 18 or 19. Like the pain and the prescribed meds I currently cannabis fogged my mind and was not pleasant. I decided that my life would be better without it and that assessment still holds. I am happy for the people who are helped by cannabis.

So here is some poor guy who just got off of work. Lets say he worked eight hours on a loading dock. So now, along with trying to raise a family, concerns about the economy, and all of the other challenges that face the average person, he has to worry about possibly “offending” someone’s sensitive nose and risk a $500 fine or even jail. Jail! For not smelling properly!!

Make note of the idiots who proposed this: Councilman Rod Tam and Councilman Nestor Garcia.

Now I know that someone is going to say that this is simply aimed at those homeless people who don’t bathe for days, you know, “those people.” Well, even if I did accept that it was just aimed at, you know, “those people”, I wonder how long it would take for Mr. I. M. Superior to decide that our loading dock worker is “offensive”. My guess, not long at all.

But let’s get back to the homeless guy. I have been on buses and trains with that homeless guy. Yes, he does reek. But should that keep him from being able to ride on a bus? He probably has more than a few strikes against him. For whatever reason he is homeless, and yes, he smells. So we add to his problems by banning him from public transportation.

And here we come to another problem. For many years I rode the “T” in Boston, to and from work. Without fail there was usually more than a couple people on my bus or train who, like me (and unlike the homeless guy), woke up that morning and took a shower. Unlike me however they then splashed on way too much cologne, after shave, perfume, and in some cases, all of the above. And, though freshly showered and sporting some nice clothes, they reeked. Not like the homeless guy but just as offensive.

So what of these people? Do we make categories of smells? Sweaty work guy smell: 6 months in jail. Smell that comes from a bottle: Have a nice day!

Like many things in life there are no easy answers. Sadly, there are some people (like Councilors Tam and Garcia) who insist that there are and when they have the power to force their easy answers on others they rarely fail to act. Usually they act stupidly. For them, homelessness is not seen as a complex problem. They view it in simplistic terms. The outcome of their simplistic views is to ban people from what is otherwise “public” transportation. I do not expect the Honolulu City Council to solve the problem of homelessness. Nor the “problem” of workers who smell either from a long day of physical labor or from splashing on too much Old Spice. What I do expect, sitting here in Maine 5112 miles from Honolulu, is some clear thinking, some compassion, and some common sense.

Want to read the original story? Check it out here at the website of KITV: http://www.kitv.com/mostpopular/20679481/detail.html

Roger Stephens, Jerk, Bully Child Abuser

The picture on the left is the mug shot of a jerk named Roger Stephens. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution this hero could not take the crying of a two year old so he slapped her. Five times!

They were in a Walmart* and this moron could not take the crying of the child. So, instead of just moving away he confronted the mother and threatened that “if you don’t shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you.” Their paths crossed again moments later in another aisle and this bully “grabbed the 2-year-old and slapped her across the face four or five times.”

A grown man slapped a 2-year-old child 5 times! Even his mug shot tells you that this guy has a problem. He has lived on this earth for 61 years and has not learned that if a crying child annoys you then you simply just walk away. Walmart* is a pretty big place.

The thing that bothers me is that there are so many of these people who walk the streets in a constant rage. Every stray look or accidental bump in passing is viewed as a tremendous affront. Being “dissed” is a reason to go to war and the quick resort to violence all too frequently leads to someone getting shot. And Roger Stephens is a prime example.

In my home state of Massachusetts Ted Kennedy was loved. He touched the lives of many people and was as good a representative in Washington as anyone could wish for. He knew how things worked in Washington and he used that knowledge to forward his agenda. And that is not entirely a bad thing. We vote for politicians who agree with our views and we expect them to go to Washington and work for those views. In Massachusetts those views are decidedly liberal and so was Senator Kennedy.

I am sure that countless news reports and blogs will provide a full account of the failings of Senator Kennedy. And I am sure they will also tell of his success as the consumate Washington insider. I will simply wish the best for his family. The death of a loved one is never easy. My prayer for them is that they will find comfort, joy, and peace in their memories.

How Can Magic Help Rip-Off-People?

Magic, Magic, Magic. Are you so poor that you need to endorse a product that preys on poor people? On top of the questionable tactics of Jackson Hewitt now you have partnered with Rent-A-Center. Shame on you!

I have lived in poor neighborhoods for most of my life. When you announced that you had HIV I remember people in a storefront church praying for you. In my neighborhood people looked up to you and wished you well. Though we were in Boston you had more than your share of fans. And these fans transcended basketball. When an article was published about some business venture of yours people were proud. Years later the yellowed newspaper clipping was still posted in the local grocery store.

Rent-A-Center Truck (On Monday)

I am not sure of when I first realized that there were companies like Rent-A-Center. I remember going into one of the stores and, in short order, turning around and leaving. Nothing spelled scam to me like paying many times the retail cost for a sofa. Sadly some of my neighbors and friends were not so wise. They fell for the spiel and the allure of having something they desired even if they truly could not afford it. Oh, they could afford the payments. That is until a child got sick, the car broke down or they lost one of the jobs that contributed to their household income.

How many times did I ask friends to “do the math” only to hear some rationalization for the purchase? These rationalizations were helpfully provided by the sales people and TV hucksters. So eloquent and yet so wrong. And so it continued and today I am in a different neighborhood in a different state, and the story is the same. Usually on Friday a Rent-A-Center truck pulls up and unloads the bright, shiny, goodies. But when I see the truck on a Monday it usually means that someone is going to lose a fridge, some furniture, or most sadly, a computer that the children have gotten used to using for school. A computer that they have already paid $400 for. And, if they had saved, or if they had real credit, $400 probably would have bought them all the computer they would need.

But hey, that’s not Magic’s fault, is it? No, of course not.

In one of the commercials Magic talks about his Dad working double shifts to give his family a better life. The same is true for most people today. Sadly there are pressures and temptations that even Mr. Johnson did not face. One is a company telling him, as society joins in the chorus, that they can provide “the good stuff your family deserves”. How can you deny your family something they “deserve.” And who is pushing this? Someone they prayed for, cried for, and cheered for. Someone they respect. In one of the commercials Magic is even talking about respect as we see trophies and photos of his career roll by. Respect. Magic earned it and now he is using it to shill for the loan sharks.

If you do a Google search you will find many sites that detail the crimes and deceit of Rent-A-Center. I will quote one of those sites just to show you some of the theft perpetrated by Rent-A-Center.

“Last month, Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna sued Rent-A-Center. The lawsuit charges the company with “unfair and deceptive business and collection practices.”

McKenna says customers cannot figure out how long it will take them to own an item, because the company “consistently fails to provide the true purchase price for each item that’s being rented. We’ve seen people pay $3,600 for a fridge, $4,000 for a laptop, $6,600 for a used TV set,” he says.” – From MSNBS ConsumerMan

Magic, have you no shame? $3,600 for a fridge, $4,000 for a laptop, $6,600 for a used TV set!!! Where is the respect in directing vulnerable and manipulated people to a company that rips them off? These people prayed for you when you were at one of the lowest points of your life. They cheered for you both on the court and as you began to have business success off the court. And this is the thanks you give them? So sad.

Shame on you Magic Johnson.

Brooke Shields Before And After

reach of everyone. Everyone, that is, who wants to risk the possibility of changing their eye color (a slight but real side-effect), and pay about $130 a month. The effect of lengthening your lashes is not permanent, the eye color change (it could add brown pigment) is permanent.

Sadly people imagine that all kinds of physical things detract from their personhood. Lack of hair, color of hair, wrinkles, and now eyelash length to name a few. And, luckily for drug companies, they keep finding that the unintended consequences of some drugs (i. e. Side effects), help “solve” these perceived faults. Latisse is actually a low dose of Lumigan which is used to treat relieve increased eye pressure in glaucoma patients.

On the one hand these discoveries are good for the drug companies. They get to make money from an unexpected revenue source. And, I hope, some of the profit goes back into research. As for profit, it appears that they are charging about $50 more for a smaller dose. So the people who feel that they have inadequate eyelashes are making the manufacturer, Allergan, very happy.

As for Brooke Shields and her inadequate lashes, is there a difference, yes. Does it matter? I guess it does to her and others like her. And, unlike things like Botox, it doesn’t make you look like a lifeless fool.