Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Polar bears certainly look wonderful as long as it is from a distance.
As one of the fiercest predators on the planet, I would be cleaning out my underwear if I ever came face to face with one! 

The Bears who live in this den know where the kitchen is!    :whistle:

It's not a big stretch of the imagination that a real bear would want to find himself some tasty vittles too! 

ratbanjos,

We know that Bears aren't always "sweetness and light."  Bears can have sad feelings and get angry too.  We actually LIKE that about Misery Bear.  He's a Bear with a realist view of the world.

Yes, we know Misery Bear is an Actor-Bear.  As such, he's isn't the same Bear portrayed in the video.
We don't expect human actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger to walk about saying things like, "I'll be Back!" and "Hasta la vista, baby!" all day long.  Just the same, we don't expect Misery Bear to be lonely and frustrated all day long, either.
We are glad to see that a Bear is being portrayed in the media in a more realistic way.

We were somewhat dismayed when Misery Bear got hit by the bus!
We know that it was all done with special effects but we were scared for a minute!
Does Misery Bear do his own stunts?  Or does he have a "Stunt Bear"?
We don't mind a little bit of "peril" in our stories.  That's okay. 
But please take care of Misery Bear and don't let him get hurt.
We would be very sad if Misery Bears got hurt at the hands of a human just to make a video on the internet!

Overall, we give your movie a "9".  :)
Good creativity.  We like the realistic attitude of the Bear.  We enjoyed the "Bear's eye view" photography.

We're looking forward to seeing more Misery Bear movies.

Wabbits!?  Never!

Oh, oh!  Watch out!  You've hit a nerve!

I was pretty sure it was  "drive-by".
i.e. - Somebody who's got a website (or something) he's trying to promote so he registers on forums and leaves messages.

But since it is a YouTube link and it is Bear-related I didn't think much about it.  If it was a link to another website, especially a pay site, I would have complained. 

The chances of getting a virus or malware from YouTube are low.  People don't make a lot of money by posting things on YouTube unless they are posting ads.  (Except product placement and stuff like that.)

I figure the guy's just trying to generate hits.
If people think he's an idiot they'll hit his page once, maybe twice then they will get wise.

***  This is the human talking.  ***
The previous post, above, was from the Bears.

There are humans and Bears here.  When we are sleeping or out of the house, Bears have the run of the place.
We let them watch TV and use the computer to play on the internet whenever they want but they must promise to keep out of trouble.

It does get kind of hectic when there are only two humans but there are 1,000 Bears!

Misery Bear can come visit us any time he wants.  He can stay as long as he wants.
He'll have 1,000 Bear friends to play with all day long.  He'll have two humans to hug and snuggle with as much as he likes.  The humans will make him treats.
And, when the humans aren't home he'll have the run of the house.  They even let us use the computer and play on the internet as long as we don't get into trouble.

If the original artist gave her permission we can understand that.  But she'd better talk to the Bears first and ask them how they feel.

If the Bears were old and needed to go to the Bear doctor, we're okay with that.

And, just for discussion's sake, there's no reason a Bear should ever have to live at the bottom of a toy box!
Bears realize that children grow up and they don't need their Bears to keep them company anymore.  But a Bear will patiently sit on a shelf or on the back of a dresser for any given period of time.  They look at it as a kind of retirement.  They spent all that time looking after their humans.  They deserve a rest.
What would REALLY make a Bear happy is if that child would pass him down to a younger brother or sister...  Better yet, pass him down to one of their children.  Multi-generational Bears are the superstars of the Bear world!

So, if somebody is "reborning" Bears so that they may have chance to take care of another human, that is an admirable thing to do.

Regardless of what is done to them or why, the person "reborning" the Bears really needs to understand what the meaning an symbolism of a Teddy Bear is.  If she's faithful to that we can give her a pass.

A vaccine is basically just an inactivated form of the virus that causes your immune system to go into high gear to fight off the "invaders."  In the case of the annual flu vaccine, it is a cocktail of viruses.  Health officials from around the world get together and try to determine the best combination of potential viruses that people might get sick from each year.

If you were to get just ONE of those inactivated viruses, you might not have a reaction at all.  But, if you get two, three or more inactivated viruses in one dose, your immune system sends out the entire cavalry.

In many cases, it's not JUST the virus that makes you sick.  It is also your immune system fighting off the virus that gives you fever and a lot of those other symptoms we associate with getting sick.  So, when your immune system calls "All Hands on Deck!" to fight off the antigens in the vaccine, you're bound to have some symptoms.

Those symptoms are not always the same for everybody.  No two people will have the exact same effect from the same flu shot.

Don't worry.  This whole thing about having effects from a flu shot is basically a "fire drill" for your immune system.
The first time you run into these viruses (or inactive viruses) your body "remembers" them.  Next time you run into them, your body knows how to fight them off before they get the upper hand.

Yeah, it's a pain in the butt to feel icky for a day or so.  But it's better than feeling REALLY icky for an entire week because you got the flu.  Right?

You are so right!  We are becoming a society of pill-poppers!
At every little sign of trouble, we have to take some kind of medication to make us "better."  That scares me more than the swine flu!

People really need to THINK about the pills and preparations they put into their bodies.

Before you go to grab that bottle of cold pills or aspirin, think about the situation.
If you have a cold, maybe it would be better to drink a glass of fresh juice, eat a bowl of chicken soup or just plain go to bed early.  Would lying down and taking a nap be a better idea to help your headache than popping a pill?

I think you are right about the hand washing too.
Many doctors say that washing with anti-bacterial soaps deprives our immune systems the chance to fight off disease naturally, thus our defenses become weaker.
There are many who believe that the reason so many children are coming down with asthma and allergies is because they aren't exposed to enough antigens early enough for their systems to develop immunity.

Whatever happened to letting your kids go outside and getting dirty?

Do any of you remember "Chicken Pox Parties?"
When I was a kid (back in the 70's) if one of us caught chicken pox, all the other moms would have their kids all play together for a few days so we would ALL catch chicken pox.  The idea being that, once a kid catches chicken pox, they are immune for life.  So, why not get all the kids together and get it overwith?

Nowadays, we spend so much time trying to keep our kids from getting even the tiniest sniffle.  It's doing a big disservice to our immune systems and our health, in general.

So, yes...  If you are at risk, get the flu shot.
If you are a teacher, doctor, public servant, a health care worker, get the shot.
If you are elderly, very young, sick or otherwise immune compromised, get the shot.
If there are many people around you who seem to be getting sick, get the shot.
If you are in a position where others around you would be in danger if they got sick, get the shot.

But, honestly, I don't think the majority of people need to get the flu shot.
As others above have said, getting the flu shot does not guarantee that you won't catch the flu.  It only decreases your chances.

I really wish more people would turn away from all these medications and preparations unless they really need them and turn toward using a little more common sense.

I don't think you or anybody else have a thing to feel bad about.

Everybody here expressed their opinion rationally.  There was no name calling.  Although some were animated in their replies, the whole conversation remained civil.

The person or persons who are the subject of this discussion have the right to write a rebuttal.  In fact, others here have come to their defense.

Other people, not directly associated with the person(s) being discussed have given their opinions to the contrary as well.

I think this is a very GOOD conversation that brings an important subject to light.   

What is the worth of a web forum where people can't talk about their opinions?

Others have said it:  If you are allergic to eggs or one of the "other" ingredients of the vaccine you might have a reaction.  You might also have a reaction if your body reacts to the vaccine.

But, except for the allergic-type reactions, consider it a GOOD thing if your body reacts to the vaccine.  That's your immune system ramping itself up to protect you from disease.  Everybody will have a slightly different experience with this but, 90% of the time it's nothing to worry about.

Personally, I don't take medications I don't need.  I don't even take Aspirin unless I think it's necessary.
If I get a headache, I'll go get a drink of water and lay down for 20 minutes.  If it doesn't go away after that, THEN I'll get some aspirin.

The same thing goes for flu shots.
The "regular" flu isn't that dangerous.  If I catch it, I'll suffer the consequences.
If I think there are a lot of people around me who might have the flu, I'll consider getting a shot.
If I think there is a danger from some other strain of flu like H1-N1 "Swine Flu-2009" I'll definitely get the shot.
But, unless and until there is a reasonable danger from the flu, I'm not going to take medication I don't need.

I think that people taking too many medications that they don't really need is becoming a problem for our society.

The Bears and I don't condemn people.  Only their actions.
We're sure the "reborning" lady is nice but we still don't like the idea of changing a Teddy Bear unless the Bear was made for the purpose.

I think we were very clear about the grounds for our belief.
First, you are tinkering with the original artist's expression of emotion via the symbolism of Teddy Bears.
Second, the Bears themselves don't like being forced to have operations they don't want!

If you want to make new clothes for a Bear, that's acceptable as long as you preserve the original clothes.
Some Bears like to have new clothes every once in a while!  ;)

If you are repairing a Bear that's okay, provided you try your best to preserve the original intent of the artist or designer.

As I said before, a Teddy Bear is a tangible expression of another person's emotions.
That expression flows from the creator/designer, through the hands of the person who originally makes the Bear, to the person who adopts the Bear then on to the person who receives the Bear as a gift.

Bears are a very important expression of love, affection and many other emotions.
When somebody "reborns" a Bear they destroy that chain of emotional expression that flows from the maker to the recipient.

We hope the "reborning" lady understands what we're talking about, here.  We're not getting down on her, personally.  We are explaining what we don't like.

Yes, when you get right down to it, Teddy Bears are just fabric and fluff.  The Bears know that and they accept their lot.  What they expect from humans is to understand the emotion and symbolism that they stand for.

Teddy Bears stand for kindness.  "Reborning" a Bear without permission isn't a very kind thing to do.  Is it?

I'm not 100% sure on that because the original intent of the doctrine was to protect printed work.  But later, it was expanded to cover music and electronic distribution of music.  Basically it talks about the "tangible form" that a copyright work takes.  I don't know about you but Teddy Bears seem pretty tangible to me!  ;)

If it is important to you (I think it is) you might be able to consult a lawyer and get a more definitive opinion.
A 30 minute consultation shouldn't be too expensive.  Some lawyers will even give a short consult for no charge, much the same way a mechanic will give a free estimate for his work.

I don't know, but I think this might be a good "hook" to use in case somebody else does rework one of your Bears.

FORCED cosmetic surgery without the Bear's consent!   

There is a legal term called "Doctrine of First Sale", meaning that once a copyright work in tangible form is sold by the creator/copyright holder, people who subsequently resell that work are protected from prosecution... PROVIDED THE WORK IS NOT ALTERED.

Therefore, a person who alters a Bear then resells is might be subject to legal consequences.

Check this quote from Wikipedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine

This article only serves to point out something I think is relevant.  If you think this is an avenue you would like to follow up on, get professional advice before proceeding.
(Remember what we said about Wikipedia not being a primary resource?  )

The Bears in this den don't speak very often but in a case like this, they will break silence.
Their little outburst, above, is a rarity.  But I let it pass because I think it's important to show the Bears' point of view.

Okay...  Now a word from the human.  ;)

There is a very important thing that people who remake Bears don't understand:
Teddy Bears aren't simply inanimate objects to be trifled with.

This isn't about anthropomorphizing your Bears like a lot of people do.  It's about the SYMBOLISM of the Teddy Bear.

A Teddy Bear is s symbol of kindness.  That's how the Teddy Bear got it's name, when "Teddy" Roosevelt showed kindness to a helpless bear cub.  Since then, people have added meaning to the symbolism.  Bears are now much more multifaceted symbols.

They stand for kindness, compassion and love.  They stand for unconditional friendship.  They stand for courage in the face of danger.  They are personal confidantes and advisers.  Teddy Bears mean a lot of thins to different people.

When somebody remakes a Teddy Bear they DESTROY the symbolism!
Regardless of whether it is a commercially made Bear or an artist's Bear.  To remake a Bear is to tamper with it's original essence of intent.

When you adopt a Bear...  It doesn't matter if you buy an artist Bear or a commercial Bear, there was a designer who created the Bear's shape and personality.  It is that shape and personality that conveys the designer's feelings and emotions.  It is those emotions that convey the symbolism of that particular Bear.

A Bear can be happy.  A Bear can be sad looking.  A Bear can be pensive, courageous or one of a million different things.  To remake a Bear destroys the original look of the Bear, thus destroying the symbolism that a Bear stands for.  That is he ultimate insult to the designer or artist.

It's like saying, "Your feelings don't count!"
That's just about the worst insult you can give ANYBODY!   

There ARE craft Bears that people can buy from just about any craft store.  They were MADE for people to use in their craft projects and things like that.  You can dress them up and change them in just about any way you like.
Those Bears know that this is their job...  To be the beginnings of other people's expressions of their own symbolism.

If people want to remake Bears, they should use CRAFT BEARS instead of trifling with other peoples' symbolism!

That's Bear abuse!

Sending a Bear to the Bear Hospital to get his paws patched, his nose resewn or some other kind of repair is okay.

If the Bear wants new clothes, it would be okay to make him a new outfit.  But you have to ask the Bear first!
He would, of course, want to keep his old clothes some place safe so he could wear them again if he changed his mind. 
(Bears often change their minds, dont'cha know!  )

However, sending a Bear in for unwanted, unnecessary surgery without his consent is ABUSE!  Plain and simple!
Any human who would dare do something like this to a Teddy Bear is NOT a friend to Bears!  We don't even want to know who they are!  (Except so that we may walk a wide circle around them!)

Bears may be small but, humans be warned!  Do you remember what happened to Gulliver?  You had better watch your step or else you might get a taste of what he got!

"Reborn" Bears?  Whoever heard of such a thing?  It's an OUTRAGE, we say!

Harumph!

I agree with you, in principle.  That's why I said that you should not consider Wikipedia to be authoritative in medical matters.

On the other hand, Wikipedia makes a great resource to get some quick information and to get you started on your search for some more authoritative sources.

Unfortunately, too many people don't know how to do proper research and will use Wikipedia as a primary resource.  Wikipedia is not, nor was it ever meant to be a primary resource.  People who use it as such are not using Wikipedia properly.

As I mentioned before, it is those doctors who have the "I am the authority" attitude who disdain publicly available sources of information like Wikipedia.  It's weird because they, above all, should know how to do research.  They should know that some sources are considered primary, trustworthy sources and others are considered secondary, auxiliary sources.

For a doctor to dismiss secondary resources, out of hand, is doing his patients a disservice.

Just for information, there are people at Wikipedia who monitor ALL of the information that's been added or changed on the site.  While they do not completely verify every piece of information that's altered, they DO stand guard to prevent people from defacing or putting in obviously false information.

Tammy;

I'm glad you have a good outlook on things.  It will help you cope with this problem.
I think you're going to do fine!   

If you haven't already done so, start reading at Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheuermann%27s_disease

Wikipedia is a good "go-to" resource.  I wouldn't consider it authoritative in medical cases but it is a good place to start.

Down near the bottom of that article, it states that surgery is the last resort.  It describes the surgery, should that ever become necessary.  It also describes some other treatments.

You're right to be concerned.  After all, isn't that a mother's job?     
However, it might be wise to temper your concern by doing as much information gathering as is practical.
Since you seem to be doing that already I'd say you are off to a good start!  :)

To be honest, I like your doctor's attitude about encouraging you to look it up on Google, etc.
Very few doctors, these days, will actually encourage patients to do that.  They always seem to want to be "godlike" and keep knowledge to themselves.  It's refreshing to see a doctor who takes the cooperative approach and encourages patients to learn.

On the practical side, if the specialist has a six month waiting list and he hasn't seen fit to take your son's case sooner than that, it might be because he doesn't think the problem is severe enough to warrant it.
If you called them up and they said, "Oh!  Come right in!", that's when I would be worried!  That must mean your son has a problem that can't wait.

You seem to be on a good path.  All I can say is to keep your chin up and don't lose faith.  You'll get through it.
By the time you get done with this, I'll bet you'll be saying, "Aw, I've had worse!"   

The appeal of BABW Bears is mostly about the experience in the store. 

You'll see a lot of bright colors and happy music.  There are animated toy sculptures to greet you at the door and there are happy sales people to talk to you inside the store.  Some of the first companies to grab hold of this concept were FAO Schwarz and the Disney Store in the early to mid 1990's.  When they have lots of happy customers, business owners are happy too because they make lots of money.

Just look around next time you go to a BABW store.  There are animated Bears at the front entrance.  There are lots of Bears and plush animals all around to look at (and stimulate the buyer).  There are lots of great colors.  There's fun Teddy Bear themed music at all times.  The sales people are fun and playful.  Then there's the process of making the Bear, itself.

You start by the door and you line up and pick your Bear's fur.  You take it to the Bear Wrangler who helps you stuff him with this fantastic-looking Bear-making machine!  You go to the fluffing area where you brush up your new Bear's fur then you dress him up the way you like.  Next, it's off to the computers where you type in your Bear's name then print out the "Bearth Certificate."  Even when you go to cash out at the register, the sales person calls your Bear's name, gives you the certificate with an appropriate amount of ceremony then puts the Bear and everything into his own, personal "Cub Condo" with windows and air holes and everything.

It's really not about the Bear.  It's all about the experience.  It's a fantasy, almost like going to Wonderland.

Yeah, it's expensive.  But you're not just buying the Bear.  It's kind of like you're joining a club.
If you look at it on the financial side, you've got to remember, the store, the designs, the architecture, the fixtures and the employees are all very expensive.  Somebody's got to pay for all that.

Other Bear makers might be able to take a trick or two from BABW's playbook if they were inclined to.
The internet is a place where you can create a "fantastical" introduction to your business.  It's a good place to start.  You can add in a little play acting as you interact with people.  Kind of pretend a little and give Bears a personality all their own.  Play it up.  YaKnow?

The Bears themselves aren't really expensive when you compare to other things.  An artist Bear is going to cost $100 and up.  A Steiff or other name brand Bearmaker is going to start at $100 or more.  Even if you go to the toy store in the shopping mall, you're going to end up with a $30-$50 Bear.  BABW Bears aren't that much out of line if you compare them that way.

$20-$30 is about average for an 18 inch Bear from a retail store.

You're right.  I was getting a little more upset than I should have.

There's something else at play that I haven't explained.
Give me a little time to collect my thoughts and I'll explain.

Thanks.

I don't do web development.  Only video and graphics plus, through force of habit in my job, general system/network management.  Sorry if I gave that impression.

Which episode was it?  Antiques Roadshow airs at different times in different countries.

The next episode to air in this area is "Spokane, Washington:  Hour 3 of 3"

I happen to be sitting in a room with five comptuers:  One is Windows.  One is Mac OS X.  Two of them dual-boot in either Yellow Dog Linux and Mac OS X.  One boots in Ubuntu Linux.  My mother's computer (in another location) runs Ubuntu Linux, too.

I'm not so concerned about my own computers but at work, I have to manage about a dozen other computers of varying operating systems and vintages. On top of that, many people come to me for advice about computers.  My concern about viruses is more broad-based than just my own machine(s).

Another thing about Flash.  Search engines like Google and Yahoo don't crawl flash sites very well, if at all.  They can't.  Regardless of what Google, et. al. promise about developing their ability to parse Flash, they STILL don't do it very well.

If you want your site to get rated on Google or Yahoo or any other search engine you must put it in a format they can read or you won't get any traffic from on-line searches.

Furthermore, webmasters who want to meter site traffic won't be able to tell how deep into a website the users get or how long they stay on the site if the entire thing is in Flash.  The system's weblogs will only show that "user 123.45.67.89" downloaded "flashfile.swf" on  "04/Oct/2009:03:10:05-GMT."  You can not tell what parts of the site are most popular with users.  You can not tell which parts of the site entice users to stay longest.

Smart webmasters don't use Flash.

I might send a message to  TBR but it usually does no good.  Corporate types usually don't know squat about computers and they are easily hornswaggled by any sweet talking web developer who can wave pretty pictures in their faces.  The webmasters won't listen because they are getting paid big bucks by the corporate suits they just swindled to make the website.  They aren't going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

And, yes.  90% of the people will happily click from page to page.  But let me ask this:  If you were making $1,000,000 by operating a website and somebody offered you another 10%, wouldn't your ears perk up?

But, strangely enough, companies would rather use unsuitable technology and deny themselves that extra $100,000.
Then they wonder why the economy is in trouble.

The whole site is written in Flash.

Flash uses more bandwidth (slower to load), the image quality isn't any better than other delivery methods and it is often LOWER quality for the same bandwidth.
Flash allows something called "cross-site scripting" which means it is possible to go to one website but, unknown to the user, content from ANOTHER location is loaded without telling you.  If Javascript was used, it would be possible to block that.  Therefore, it is easier to get a virus from a website that uses Flash over Javascript.

There is nothing Flash can do that a good programmer who knows Javascript and Cascading Style Sheets can't do.  They would be far better off if they just hired people who know how to make a website the correct way.

Sorry, it might be a nice LOOKING site but I'll never know that.  The second I saw that it was in Flash, I clicked away from it.  I will likely never return.
A good 10% - 15% percent of the people on the web do that.  They just click away when they get to flash.  (For various reasons.)

Webmasters:  Ask yourself a question.  Can you afford to literally throw away 10% of your business because your website is in a format that people can't or won't access?

Bad business decision!