Flocculation

Well I’ve switched us to some new blog software. It’s much easier to post using this system, so hopefully that will mean that both Katrina and I will post regularly. Check back often to see what’s new.

Be advised that for the most part the whole post is shown, so the “Read More” links rarely have a purpose. Also, you can post comments by clicking the comments link in the header of a post. Comments are moderated, so they will not show up immediately.

As always, new posts are on the top and they get older as you scroll down.

Note to readers: please use the following context for delivery style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZEKiuo_C2s

Kittens! You! Introducing! Plastic Bendy Drinking Straw! Yes, it’s Plastic Bendy Drinking Straw! This is the funnest, wackiest, wildest toy in the entire history of feline-simian relations! It’s Plastic Bendy Drinking Straw! It’s light! It’s bouncy! It’s colorful! It’s fun! It’s Plastic Bendy Drinking Straw! Kill it! Toss it! Jump on it! Bite it! Even steal it from a cup and slink away with it! Yes, you can have hours and hours of fun every day with Plastic Bendy Drinking Straw! Unlimited time only: sometimes with Milk Flavor! So get your ape to rush right out right now and get you… Plastic Bendy Drinking Straw!!!!!!

My friend Helmut (known as Unholm in the Zappateers forums) died yesterday. I didn’t know him terribly well, but we’d had many good long conversations at various Zappanales over the last several years.

Unholm was a really funny guy. The first time I met him he sat down next to me in the big tent and I thought “Oh hell, am I going to have to get into a conversation now with this drunk German dude? Maybe I’ll go sit somewhere else”. But after just a couple of minutes I realized that Helmut was intelligent, interesting, and quite witty. I’m very glad that I didn’t go sit somewhere else.

I was looking forward to seeing him again in a few days at Zappanale – too bad he couldn’t hang in there just a little bit longer. I’m sure he would have died with a smile on his face if he’d been able to make it there just one more time.

We’ll have a toast (or three) to you in the big tent Unholm.

!zappacheers

Walter found a feather in the woods, and knows how to use it!

Walter enjoys using the camera Opa David sent him, and he enjoys little Vincent. Win-win!

Vincent had his first trip to the vet today and got a clean bill of health – there’s nothing wrong with him at all. He’s still too young for his shots, but he got thoroughly checked out, a worm pill, and some anti-flea medicine (poor little guy was just covered in them when we got him).

Going to the vet was quite a big event for such a little kitty and he spent much of the rest of the day napping – much to Walter’s disappointment. “When will he wake up and play?” was heard frequently today.

Today we added a new member to our family. Meet Vincent:

We all went to Amsterdam to see if there was a suitable kitten available from the Poezenboot, an asylum for cats on a houseboat in the Amsterdam canals, but they didn’t have one that was right for us.

Returning home more than a little disappointed, we started looking through online classifieds to see if there were any kittens in this area. We found an ad for a litter not far from here and went right over to meet the kitties. Of course we fell in love with them right away and we picked out this little guy.

He’s only six weeks old, which is really too young, but taking him home was a better option than leaving him in the squalid conditions in which he was being kept. He’s adjusting very well already – he has a great personality!

Saskia loves cats of course, and she is being very good about not getting too wild around him. He has taken to her right away, and constantly squints at her and bonks her with his head.

Researchers led by Seth Lloyd at MIT have a new theory of time travel that evades the “grandfather paradox,” in which a traveler jumps back in time and kills his grandfather, which prevents his own existence.

This version is called a post-selected model, in which paradoxical situations are censored. However, this version causes possible but unlikely events to happen more frequently.

Check out the article here:Taming Time Travel.

Here are a couple shots from a picnic we had in Elswout a couple of weeks ago where Walter got to feed some deer.

Today Walter and I went to De Zandwaaier for a picnic lunch, a bit of bouncing on the trampoline, and a look around the museum.

The small museum there has exhibits showing the flora and fauna found in the local dunes area – which is a national park.

Walter just adores trampolines, and I can sit there watching him while having a beer, so it’s a nice way to spend the afternoon.