Run for Your Life

Lighting up your life. As the end of the year is coming closer, we’d like to say thank you for your trust in our blog. We look forward to many interesting posts in 2022. We wish you a happy end of the year.
To be honest, I didn’t liked this year. I didn’t liked previous year either. I can sum up various reasons but I’m not going to bother you. And I realise a lot of us are going through troubled times in multiple ways.

There’s plenty of good in the world, we just have to look for it. Putting up Christmas lights is probably a good way to bring more joy in your life. It’s a difficult task but it’s a lot easier with the help of a furry friend.

I bought some extra lights after decorating the studio. Jimi wanted a Christmas tree in his room. But I think he preferred a bigger tree…

Last week, a funny but scary thing happened to me while I was walking in the nature. I’m always staying on the trails because every hiker has a responsibility to preserve nature while hiking. And I’m keeping my distance when I’m encountering forest critters. But this time I had to run for my life after an encounter with some polar bears. We’re all beginning to suffer the consequences of climate change.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Lose Your Head

Lose (one’s) head. To lose one’s composure and act emotionally or irrationally.

Lose your head. COMMON If you lose your head, you panic and do not remain calm in a difficult situation.

Nah, I don’t think Jimi lost his head…

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

 

SETI

Sweet investigator. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic waves for signs of transmissions from civilisations on other planets. Many radio frequencies penetrate Earth’s atmosphere quite well, and this led to cats investigate the cosmos using large radio antennas. But often, the investigators fall asleep. This post is based on a Wikipedia article.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Tough Times Part 2

Weird times indeed. After staying 2 weeks at home, I had to go to the war zone today, a.k.a. the supermarket. Access to supermarkets is limited to one person per 10 square meters and a duration of 30 minutes per customer. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t a chaotic experience. There was no queue of impatient angry customers and everyone was friendly and calm. Before you could enter the supermarket, a security guy disinfected your shopping cart and hands. Yes, there were some empty shelfs; toilet paper (of course), Italian pastas, some frozen food… But if you asked a shop assistant for info they all checked the stock to see if they could help you with an alternative product. Respect for all the hard working people nowadays!

I should stop watching the news. It makes me really mad. There are still state leaders all over the world who doesn’t give the people a sober analysis of the situation and clear instructions. Haven’t they seen the dramatic footage of what’s happening in Italy and Spain? No, a border won’t stop the coronavirus. Idiots. 

Meanwhile, Jimi stays indoors and takes serious precautions while he’s taking a nap. Sometime, all you need in life is a cozy blanket to make everything feel just a little bit better. Can I join you, sir Jimi?

Stay safe and healthy!

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Theremin

Ghostly sound. I bought myself a theremin, a belated birthday present. A theremin is an electronically musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the player. The exact date of the theremin’s invention is unknown, historians place it somewhere between late 1919 and early 1920. It’s named after its inventor, Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. The instrument has been used in movie soundtracks (such as Bernard Herrmann’s The Day the Earth Stood Still and recently Justin Hurwitz’s First Man), concert music, popular music, television and video games, (info Wikipedia). Feel free to check out some clips on YouTube.

I used a friend’s theremin years ago for a few musical and sound design projects. I never became a professional player but I loved using the device. Now it will be mostly used as decoration. As you know from previous posts, my house got a complete makeover. I created an industrial style living room and the theremin will look very good on the dresser.

Mr. Bowie was also very interested in the device. Or maybe he was only waiting to get into the box? Rock on, Mr. Bowie! Right now I’m working on an experimental electronic piece, maybe I can throw in some theremin sounds?

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding. 

94

Hooray! Today, some local officials, dressed in traditional folkloric costumes, payed tribute to my Dad because he’s still one of the oldest inhabitants of the village. This is a regular annual tradition. My father turned 94 a few days ago. As always, we had a small celebration with chocolates (of course) and coffee. Many happy returns, Dad!

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

 

Magic Carpet

Fly away. Mr. Bowie’s magic carpet won’t get off the ground. Carpets fly because of lift, and the high-speed air flowing under the carpet generates this needed lift. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten something very important like magic?

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Not Welcome

© Ancienne Belgique

Trump Not Welcome. Brussels (a.k.a. Hellhole) today.

Enjoy this unpleasant day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

A Horse with No Name

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain

‘A Horse with No Name’ – America

 

Hibernation

Dangerous cold, snow, sleet and rain today. No Mr. Bowie, we can’t go outside. It’s even for a furry four-footer way too dangerous. How can I mentally survive winter? Do people really love winter that much? Can humans survive hibernation in good condition? Hmmm. I guess I’ll stick with espresso.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Cupertino, We Have a Problem

Sometimes. Sometimes things just don’t go as we’d like. Sometimes I lose my patience. Sometimes I feel so ashamed of myself. Sometimes I wish the world was a better place. Sometimes I have to go shopping.

Surrounded

Show yourself, Mr. Bowie! Come out with your paws in the air. It makes no difference who or what you are, Mr. Bowie. The area is completely surrounded by the National Bird Security.

BrusselsLockdown Part 2

Well played! After the raids, and the arrest of 16 people across the country, authorities thanked Belgian cats for their co-operation:

“To all the cats who helped us last night: help yourselves! #BrusselsLockdown”

© Pictures De Standaard

Freeloader

Don’t mess with Mr. Bowie! I suppose all celebrities, from Taylor Swift to Mr. Bowie, attract weirdos and people who take advantage of the generosity of the stars. I removed this tick from Mr. Bowie’s skin. Make no mistake, little freeloader, we will rock you.

Newsflash #8

We had something to celebrate today. Dad is one of the oldest inhabitants of the village. Some local officials, dressed in traditional folkloric costumes, payed tribute to him this Sunday afternoon. This is a regular annual tradition. Many happy returns!

Next Wednesday, my Dad turns 90. There will be a Birthday Party with Birthday cake, Belgian soft-centre pralines, and other delicious stuff!

Frederik, the oldest great-grandchild in my family, asked if he could try out the special headgear of the local Prince. I think Mr. Bowie would love the feather on top of it…

Aoshima

A Japanese ‘Cat Island’. Aoshima Island is one of the popular “cat islands” around Japan, small places where there are significantly more feline residents than people. Cats outnumber humans six to one on Aoshima. Recently, the island became very popular online. Mr. Bowie was just checking out the article in my newspaper.

Street Art

A true work of art. While Christmas shopping, I bumped into this street art, made by a psychiatric patient. In my home town, psychiatric patients attend regular art therapy classes to help treat mental disorders ranging from addiction to schizophrenia.

Bad Snap

Just around the corner. I almost touched the delete button to make this bad photograph history. And then I realised I was wrong. Let’s take a look at some rather chic Halloween impression of Mr. Bowie. Guess he doesn’t know we don’t celebrate Halloween in this part of the world. Cat treat, Mr. Bowie?

Contador

Sal del camino! Mi nombre es Contador, Alberto Contador. El Pistolero.

En tus sueños, mi amigo…

Mind Movement

Superpower. Telekinesis is an alleged psychic ability allowing a cat to manipulate and control objects with the mind, often in ways not visible to the naked eye. It may evolve to the point that a cat can control anything at a subatomic level. Telekinesis has been ambushed with skepticism and mockery for years. I’m old enough to know better.

Mr. Bowie just opened the door of the cat carrier with his mind. Right now he’s concentrating on the freezer door. I guess Mr. Bowie wants my vanilla ice cream…

Night Moves

Okay, this is not the most original shot. It’s fun to play with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings on your camera. I would love to do night photography but I’m afraid of the dark.

PS: You should clean your UV filter, my friend.

Fallen Angel

Mr. Bowie says “No!” Hey, I’m open-minded but for me religion is a very personal thing and I don’t like discussing it with other people. Yesterday I got a standard Belgian license plate for my new car. This may shock some of you: it’s not okay for me to drive Mr. Bowie around in a car with a license plate that contains ‘666’. I wanted to get a personalized licence plate but these plates cost an additional 1,000 Euros. A little too expensive for me. I’m going to exchange the plate today…

Love, peace and chocolate.

Bambi

Road information. City workers placed a new road sign a few hundred meters from my house. Most unusual, I never saw or heard anything about a deer in my hometown.

Young Bambi: What happened, Mother? Why did we all run?
Bambi’s Mother: Mr. Bowie was in the forest.

Prove

Whisker stress, part 2. It’s nothing but a great cat conspiracy. Is your cat in on this latest scam?

Up in the Air

Lift me up. I got this photo from Hilde, a member of the family. I would like to believe that the graffiti was made by the United Kingdom-based artist Banksy. But I don’t think he’s ever been to Namur, a city in southern Belgium and the capital of Wallonia.

Just wondering… How many regular-sized helium-filled balloons would it take to lift Mr. Bowie? Or let’s say baby Bowie?