Saturday 01/10/2015 by Lemuria

THE BOYS ARE BACK: THAT VENN, AGAIN

Referring to the members of Phish as "the boys" was fun, then "so last week", then ironic. Now, it's just sad. But there's always one way to revisit any issue: statistically.

A little over eight months ago, I posted a Venn diagram purporting to show the numbers of common shows with each combination of Phish songs that mention boys:

Five-petal Venn diagram of songs mentioning boys
Five-petal Venn diagram of songs mentioning boys
Lifeboy, Lawn Boy, Dog-Faced Boy, and You Enjoy Myself. The numbers were solid, but some of you questioned the song selection. (No one objected that the first two mention boys only in their titles, not lyrics, but various users suggested adding other songs.)

So, here's a revision, which includes Fluffhead (thanks @larvalcraze) - though not Harpua (which doesn't always mention Jimmy as a boy; sorry, @The_Crested_Hogchoker) or Little Drummer Boy (a cover; sorry, @markah).

This post also does more than update an old farce: This five-petal Venn diagram begins a series of more than two dozen graphs, each drawing on different aspects of Phish.net data, and each utilizing a different kind of graph. Each will post Saturday morning, to give you something to chew on (and perhaps share) over the weekend. Because whose weekend isn't more complete with fresh visualizations of data about the b-... well, you know.

And, by popular demand, yes, you can get it on a shirt - and lots of other stuff, too. Each chart design will be available on several dozen products, with royalties going to the Mockingbird Foundation. And while, sure, this "Five Boys Venn" works on a coffee mug (small or large), it works even better on a boy's toddler t-shirt or mom-to-be's maternity shirt. That's right: Be the first in your 'hood to announce your blue-hued news with a Phish-related visual riddle!

A note on methods: These aren't true Venn diagrams, since each number is total instances rather than unique instances. For example, there have been 191 total Lawn Boys, including the 2 shows that also had Dog-Faced Boy and the 35 that also had Fluffhead; and all three of those numbers include the 1 show that had all three songs.

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.


Comments

, comment by paulj
paulj Mockingbird products? I've bought 'em before and I'll do so again! This is a GREAT idea! Now if we could only get ZZYZX to with a multivariate probability density function that describes the relationships in the Venn.
, comment by Zhaph
Zhaph I think it's awesome and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the graphs, but I gotta say that it's a little disappointing to see all those zeroes in the center for some reason. Also, I like that the design is available on so much stuff; I'm sure I'll get something featuring a future graph.
, comment by kidrob
kidrob I like the idea of this a lot.
, comment by Lemuria
Lemuria @Zhaph said:
...I gotta say that it's a little disappointing to see all those zeroes in the center for some reason.
Arguably, the other numbers should be lower. (There are 568 total YEMs, not 568 without the other songs.) But the zeroes, are accurate - and there for very good reason: Zero shows featured those combinations of songs.

If you understand the diagram, perhaps you mean that you're disappointed that the band hasn't played more shows with multiple songs mentioning "boys"?
, comment by Northern_Dilemma
Northern_Dilemma This is why I love the Phish community...Phnerds
, comment by L1verK1ck
L1verK1ck Stickers would be cool.
, comment by CorPhish
CorPhish This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that.
What ever happened to that fun thing?
, comment by toddwcorey
toddwcorey Pure juicy geekdom!
, comment by CorPhish
CorPhish Don't be so sensitive old timer. They can't all be winners.
, comment by Lemuria
Lemuria @CorPhish said:
This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that.
Seriously? One's a simple univariate poll about fans' qualitative impressions of sales outside the venue in recent years; the other's an iterative set of functions of a quantitative measure of what the band has done on stage over decades. The only connection is that they're statistical. That's it.

If those seem similar to you, you may be unaware of the *scores* of other data visualizations that I've posted over the years, including in this blog, in previous editions of the Phish Companion, and elsewhere. For the next several months (and possibly through year end), there'll be a new one posted here every Saturday morning (9:15 PST).
, comment by CorPhish
CorPhish @Lemuria said:
@CorPhish said:
This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that.
Seriously? One's a simple univariate poll about fans' qualitative impressions of sales outside the venue in recent years; the other's an iterative set of functions of a quantitative measure of what the band has done on stage over decades. The only connection is that they're statistical. That's it.

If those seem similar to you, you may be unaware of the *scores* of other data visualizations that I've posted over the years, including in this blog, in previous editions of the Phish Companion, and elsewhere. For the next several months (and possibly through year end), there'll be a new one posted here every Saturday morning (9:15 PST).
Boy if you would put all this on a shirt, I would buy it in an instant!

In addition to your immense legacy you've shared here, you also have a very healthy sense of self-regard going for you.

I see now I was silly to think you would be rattled by a gentle ribbing.

Carry on Esquire!
, comment by tvlxql9x
tvlxql9x Calling them the boys is sad? I like calling them the boys though...
, comment by mistermooner
mistermooner Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?
, comment by TheEmu
TheEmu @mistermooner said:
Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?
Level-headed boy, ya better bend
, comment by TheEmu
TheEmu @CorPhish said:
@Lemuria said:
@CorPhish said:
This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that.
Seriously? One's a simple univariate poll about fans' qualitative impressions of sales outside the venue in recent years; the other's an iterative set of functions of a quantitative measure of what the band has done on stage over decades. The only connection is that they're statistical. That's it.

If those seem similar to you, you may be unaware of the *scores* of other data visualizations that I've posted over the years, including in this blog, in previous editions of the Phish Companion, and elsewhere. For the next several months (and possibly through year end), there'll be a new one posted here every Saturday morning (9:15 PST).
Boy if you would put all this on a shirt, I would buy it in an instant!

In addition to your immense legacy you've shared here, you also have a very healthy sense of self-regard going for you.

I see now I was silly to think you would be rattled by a gentle ribbing.

Carry on Esquire!
Really no need to be a douche.
, comment by Just_Ivy
Just_Ivy Image
, comment by benevolution
benevolution @TheEmu said:
@mistermooner said:
Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?
Level-headed boy, ya better bend
that is one hell of a stretch. and if you want to be technical, it's in the lyrics to "Fluff's Travels", not "Fluffhead"
, comment by TheEmu
TheEmu @benevolution said:
@TheEmu said:
@mistermooner said:
Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?
Level-headed boy, ya better bend
that is one hell of a stretch. and if you want to be technical, it's in the lyrics to "Fluff's Travels", not "Fluffhead"
To get even more technical, it's Clod. But since both we and LivePhish label the entire thing as Fluffhead now, it's pretty much the same thing.
, comment by ObviousFool
ObviousFool @Lemuria said:

Arguably, the other numbers should be lower. (There are 568 total YEMs, not 568 without the other songs.)
You shouldn't put the grand total inside the diagram then. The sum of all the YEMS should be 568, so the outer number should reflect how many shows where YEM was the only "boy" song played.
, comment by ObviousFool
ObviousFool @TheEmu said:
@benevolution said:
@TheEmu said:
@mistermooner said:
Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?
Level-headed boy, ya better bend
that is one hell of a stretch. and if you want to be technical, it's in the lyrics to "Fluff's Travels", not "Fluffhead"
To get even more technical, it's Clod. But since both we and LivePhish label the entire thing as Fluffhead now, it's pretty much the same thing.
Ummm....pretty sure it's boy, not clod. It's Fat bulk expanse mass lump block clod, but it's definitely "level-headed boy".
, comment by Lemuria
Lemuria @ObviousFool said:
@Lemuria said:

Arguably, the other numbers should be lower. (There are 568 total YEMs, not 568 without the other songs.)
You shouldn't put the grand total inside the diagram then. The sum of all the YEMS should be 568, so the outer number should reflect how many shows where YEM was the only "boy" song played.
See the Methods Note. (There'll be at least one with each graph.) I didn't show those numbers for several reasons, methodological and practical. But possibly I should have diagrammed it as subsets instead of Venn overlaps. Hmm....
, comment by CorPhish
CorPhish @TheEmu said:
@CorPhish said:
@Lemuria said:
@CorPhish said:
This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that.
Seriously? One's a simple univariate poll about fans' qualitative impressions of sales outside the venue in recent years; the other's an iterative set of functions of a quantitative measure of what the band has done on stage over decades. The only connection is that they're statistical. That's it.

If those seem similar to you, you may be unaware of the *scores* of other data visualizations that I've posted over the years, including in this blog, in previous editions of the Phish Companion, and elsewhere. For the next several months (and possibly through year end), there'll be a new one posted here every Saturday morning (9:15 PST).
Boy if you would put all this on a shirt, I would buy it in an instant!

In addition to your immense legacy you've shared here, you also have a very healthy sense of self-regard going for you.

I see now I was silly to think you would be rattled by a gentle ribbing.

Carry on Esquire!
Really no need to be a douche.
Tim! Name calling is not very admin-like and you know it.

Strive to be better than that.
, comment by TheEmu
TheEmu @CorPhish said: "@TheEmu said: "@CorPhish said: "@Lemuria said: "@CorPhish said: "This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that."

Seriously? One's a simple univariate poll about fans' qualitative impressions of sales outside the venue in recent years; the other's an iterative set of functions of a quantitative measure of what the band has done on stage over decades. The only connection is that they're statistical. That's it.

If those seem similar to you, you may be unaware of the *scores* of other data visualizations that I've posted over the years, including in this blog, in previous editions of the Phish Companion, and elsewhere. For the next several months (and possibly through year end), there'll be a new one posted here every Saturday morning (9:15 PST).
"

Boy if you would put all this on a shirt, I would buy it in an instant!

In addition to your immense legacy you've shared here, you also have a very healthy sense of self-regard going for you.

I see now I was silly to think you would be rattled by a gentle ribbing.

Carry on Esquire!
"

Really no need to be a douche.
"

Tim! Name calling is not very admin-like and you know it.

Strive to be better than that.
"

Strive not to be a douche.
, comment by CorPhish
CorPhish @TheEmu said: "@CorPhish said: "@TheEmu said: "@CorPhish said: "@Lemuria said: "@CorPhish said: "This reminds me of a re-tread of that thing .net had where we voted on "best food vending" and the winning choice ended up being poop nuggets or something like that."

Seriously? One's a simple univariate poll about fans' qualitative impressions of sales outside the venue in recent years; the other's an iterative set of functions of a quantitative measure of what the band has done on stage over decades. The only connection is that they're statistical. That's it.

If those seem similar to you, you may be unaware of the *scores* of other data visualizations that I've posted over the years, including in this blog, in previous editions of the Phish Companion, and elsewhere. For the next several months (and possibly through year end), there'll be a new one posted here every Saturday morning (9:15 PST).
"

Boy if you would put all this on a shirt, I would buy it in an instant!

In addition to your immense legacy you've shared here, you also have a very healthy sense of self-regard going for you.

I see now I was silly to think you would be rattled by a gentle ribbing.

Carry on Esquire!
"

Really no need to be a douche.
"

Tim! Name calling is not very admin-like and you know it.

Strive to be better than that.
"

Strive not to be a douche.
"

Tim! You did it again.

Don't you need less of these interactions around here and not more?
, comment by ObviousFool
ObviousFool @ObviousFool said: "@TheEmu said: "@benevolution said: "@TheEmu said: "@mistermooner said: "Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?"

Level-headed boy, ya better bend
"that is one hell of a stretch. and if you want to be technical, it's in the lyrics to "Fluff's Travels", not "Fluffhead"
"

To get even more technical, it's Clod. But since both we and LivePhish label the entire thing as Fluffhead now, it's pretty much the same thing.
"

Ummm....pretty sure it's boy, not clod. It's Fat bulk expanse mass lump block clod, but it's definitely "level-headed boy".
"

Can someone explain to me why this post got 3 flags? I'm pretty sure I was right about the lyrics ("level-headed boy ya better bend" as well as "fat bulk expanse mass lump block clod" ;)
, comment by TheEmu
TheEmu @listen4myHorn

If you're going to act like a dick, expect to get treated like a dick. Simple as that.
, comment by CorPhish
CorPhish @TheEmu said:
@listen4myHorn

If you're going to act like a dick, expect to get treated like a dick. Simple as that.
Well, see now you are just escalating things. My question is why you are the one who is jumping in and personally attacking. I thought @lemuria made his point.

Explain how you are responsible to jump in and insult me?

Try not to get bogged down in little things Tim. Just let it go.
, comment by TheEmu
TheEmu Insulting people then acting shocked when you get insulted in return is a grade school bully tactic. I have ceded the forum to trolls like you, but that doesn't mean I have to stay quiet when you decide to be a cock in other places.

@Lemuria does more for this community than you can possibly imagine. If you disrespect him, don't expect me to stay quiet.
, comment by Zhaph
Zhaph @ObviousFool said: "@ObviousFool said: "@TheEmu said: "@benevolution said: "@TheEmu said: "@mistermooner said: "Why is fluffhead on the chart?? Don't get it. No boys in flifhead... What am I missing?"

Level-headed boy, ya better bend
"that is one hell of a stretch. and if you want to be technical, it's in the lyrics to "Fluff's Travels", not "Fluffhead"
"

To get even more technical, it's Clod. But since both we and LivePhish label the entire thing as Fluffhead now, it's pretty much the same thing.
"

Ummm....pretty sure it's boy, not clod. It's Fat bulk expanse mass lump block clod, but it's definitely "level-headed boy".
"

Can someone explain to me why this post got 3 flags? I'm pretty sure I was right about the lyrics ("level-headed boy ya better bend" as well as "fat bulk expanse mass lump block clod" ;)
"
I don't think you should have been flagged, but that whole section of the song is referred to as "Clod," from back when Fluff's Travels had individually-named parts. You are correct on the lyrics.
, comment by Zhaph
Zhaph @Lemuria said:
@Zhaph said:
...I gotta say that it's a little disappointing to see all those zeroes in the center for some reason.
Arguably, the other numbers should be lower. (There are 568 total YEMs, not 568 without the other songs.) But the zeroes, are accurate - and there for very good reason: Zero shows featured those combinations of songs.

If you understand the diagram, perhaps you mean that you're disappointed that the band hasn't played more shows with multiple songs mentioning "boys"?

Well, I did say "for some reason," and I meant to imply that the zeroes SHOULDN'T be disappointing, but somehow they are. I guess it's because there is all this neat statistical analysis, but it didn't return a super-rare show where all or even most of the "boy" songs were played. It's a neat representation of the actual data, but I suppose my feeling is that the actual data isn't all that compelling since we didn't discover said show(s) mentioned above.
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