Wordle is a Java Applet for creating word clouds, such as the tag cloud here on mindtangle.net. However, the words can be set to orient themselves every which way, nest, etc. I’ve seen this on a couple blogs, so I decided to make my own. Here’s my delicious word cloud, artfully arranged:

The fun project I helped out with at Saturday’s Alchemy: Origami lanterns made with “LED Throwies” stuffed inside. Here’s a photo I found:

Photo by broxtronix

Update: Stephanie took some more photos, too:

Here’s the simple design I did for Ninna. She had it tattooed to her side, last Sunday.

She asked for something that remind her of grace, especially since her work is so stressful and so full of confrontations with strangers. I came up with this design because, for me, the opening and closing of the eyes is a way to bring my consciousness away from abstraction and into the reality of the body. It’s an ever-accessible liminal space that — in the crossing — allows me to shed what was before.

I have some great photos of her having the tatt done, but I’ll have to get her permission before I put those up anywhere…

Some more notes:

Sarah Deborah Scranton: Scenes from “The War Tapes”

Filmer of the war tapes, a personal look into the lives of soldiers in Iraq. The presentation achieves this intimacy not only through clips of the documentary, but also through the personal stories of Scranton herself. Wouldn’t it be cool if every polarized political debate be given this context, first?

Robert Wright: How cooperation (eventually) trumps conflict

Moral development, History has a direction. “Non-zero-sum-ness” as the driver for these trends, but also as the thing that links us in negative outcomes as well.

Deborah Gordon: How do ants know what to do?

Contrary to popular belief, ant colonies don’t have any central intelligence. The queen doesn’t control the behavior of the colony through chemical signals. In a series of experiments over the last 20 years, Gordon has demonstrated that colony behavior is fully emergent. Each ant, operating on a small set of rules (e.g. rate of contact with other ants), contributes a tiny part to colony-wide phenomena that ensure the survival of the whole. The experiments she describes are very cool, as are her descriptions of colony life. Ants seem to blur the line around what we designate an individual organism of a species.

Ben Dunlap: The story of a passionate life

In a talk that is more stage performance than lecture, Dunlap weaves a tightly knit story of his mentors. The experiences of all these men (coincidentally, all Hungarian) draw a picture of life well lived, an emergence from suffering with an unshakeable faith in people and a insatiable desire to learn and create.

Pangea Day looks amazing. Trailers for it have been playing after every TED talk for months, now, and I finally clicked over to check it out.

Starting at 18:00 GMT [Note: 11AM on the US west coast] on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.

Here’s a provocative example:

There will be public and private viewings all over the world, including about twenty in San Francisco:

What is it about hypodermic needles? Whenever I have blood drawn, it makes me sick to my stomach. I’d almost rather someone just cut me than suck out my blood through a parasitic little needle.

Needless to say, I felt queasy throughout this video:

[via Core77]

Aw, hell yeah:

Part of a series of whimsical posters by Packard Jennings Packard Jennings and Steve Lambert, all depicting architect’s ideas of what public transit could look like without economic, political, or physical constraints.

Healing Arts is a crafts production studio near the hospital where women who are awaiting fistula repair surgery can learn valuable skills before returning home. From the HEALAfrica blog:

This new program was begun in September 2006 to support women recovering from fistula repair in improving their income-generation skills. They are making and selling skirts, tops, bracelets, placemats, baskets and baby layettes.

Before Healing Arts, most of the 120 women waiting for or recovering from fistula surgery were hopeless and wandering. If a woman returned home with nothing to show from her time away, she would continue to be looked upon as a worthless.

With the skills and income they gain from the program, the women who come here to heal (physically, emotionally, after horrific experiences) have a chance to start over when they return home. Here’s Dada, working on a purse using one of those awesome, foot-powered, built-like-a-tank singer sewing machines:

And here is Francine, showing Desiree a wrap skirt:

I got a shirt, today; the most Congolese one I could find. My guess is that I’ll have few occasions to wear it, back home. But at $10, I couldn’t resist. Francine took a photo for me:

In fact, I took a lot of photos and wrote down the prices of various things that the women had put on display in the showroom. They make really nice clothing and woven purses, baskets, and mats. Here’s my limited-time offer; put in an order in the comments (or send me an email.) I’ll spot you the cash and bring you back whatever you want. Think of it as free credit and delivery. It’s for a good cause, and the prices can’t be beat. You have less than a week, or until my suitcase fills up. I already have an order for 40 bracelets

See the impromptu “catalog,” after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

A handful of us ventured out into town for lunch, yesterday, and found a swanky Rwandan joint called Soleil (Rwandan cosmopolitanism vs. Congolese hickdom is a frequent topic of debate; I won’t get into it, here.) On the veranda, a band was practicing, with a bunch of their dancers going at it out front. I was fascinated, so I took some video. This was pieced together from screenshots:

The movement is difficult to describe or to see from the montage, above. The closest thing to it that I’ve seen is krumping. The music itself was tame, in comparison, a variant of N’Dombolo:

Another notable feature in Congo culture is its sui generis music. The DROC has blended its ethnic musical sources with Cuban rumba, and meringue to give birth to soukous. Influential figures of soukous and its offshoots (n’dombolo, rumba rock…) are Franco Luambo, Tabu Ley, Lutumba Simaro, Papa Wemba, Koffi Olomide, Kanda Bongo, Ray Lema, Mpongo Love, Abeti Masikini, Reddy Amisi, Pepe Kalle and Nyoka Longo.

I’ll try to post something on YouTube, when I get home.

I would love to go see some live bands while I’m in Goma, but I would have to find safe (boring) places like this one. I’ve been warned several times by expats not to go to Congolese-only clubs at night. They say that I’d be looted upon entry. True or not, I’ll take their word for it until someone tells me otherwise.

UPDATE: Uploaded!

This homemade music video is beautiful. I keep listening and watching over and over. It’s by a guy named Fredo Viola who filmed the entire thing with his Nikon CoolPix digital camera.