Nora, the piano-playing cat
I recently came across this video of Nora, the piano-playing cat at: http://www.facebook.com/norathepianocat  , and on youtube.

As I have been featuring animals (dog and cats) lately I wondered if readers are aware of this wonder pet?
Imagine having such an amazing virtuoso in your family?

Wikipedia has this to say about Nora: 

 Nora (born 2006) is a grey tabby cat, rescued from a shelter in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, who has become famous for "tapping" the piano. The Times of London, in its online edition, characterized her music as being "something halfway between Philip Glass and free jazz."[3]

Nora was named after the artist Leonora Carrington. Nora was adopted, and when a year old, Nora climbed up onto the bench in front of a Yamaha Disklavier piano in the middle of the night and began to play.

Since that time, Nora has continued to play the piano on a daily basis (this sometimes annoys her owner), sometimes playing duets with her owner and her owner's students.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_(cat)

Further information can be found here:http://norathepianocat.com/

American student deaths near Turangi, New Zealand
I and all new Zealanders send our condolences to family and friends of the three US students killed this weekend in a road accident near Turangi in the North Island of New Zealand.

Those who died were  Daniela Rosanna Lekhno, Roch Jauberty, and Austin Brashears, all from the Boston University.


It is sad that such an event should happen at all, but worse when it happens so far away from home. We in New Zealand share the sadness of their friends and families. We also wish the survivors well who were injured in the same accident and wish them a speedy recovery. - Dave

Computer art

From time to time we computer users try new things and experiment with our computer software. Last night I played around with the Irfanview photo software and  was able to develop these colourful photos from the one I took at the top of this article, of a three-colour coleus plant we have. The collage was created using Picassa. It's not a very complex collage..

Unsinkable Sam

Otherwise known as Oscar, this ships cat acquired the nickname after he survived the tragedy of being on three war ships which sank during  World War 2.

These were:

*The Bismarck – a German battleship that was sunk in 1941 with only116 survivors from a crew of 2200.

*The HMS Cossack – a British destroyer which rescued Oscar who was floating in the sea on a board. Soon after this the Cossack was torpedoed and sank.

*The HMS Ark Royal, which was an aircraft carrier, saved Oscar from the ocean before being torpedoed a few days later.

Again Oscar was rescued. This time it was decided that although Oscar was certainly a lucky cat he was unlucky for ships. So Unsinkable Sam was taken ashore and given to the Governor General of Gibraltar as a rat-catcher. Eventually a brave ship’s crew transported him to Ireland were he lived the remainder of his life in a home for sailors.

This was the way the story went, but some doubt the legitimacy of Oscar’s tale. Was it the truth or just an urban legend?

Geese at the Hamilton Lake

I took these photos last week while getting autumn pictures. This seemed like a family of geese from the last brooding. A large white goose seemed like the patriarch or matriarch and the others just seemed to submissively follow. 

The blue fellow in the last photo is our native NZ Pukeko which is a wading bird that lives happily around the lake in the mud and water, as you can see by its muddy legs. Though these birds can fly and I have seen them sitting in trees in another part of NZ, I have never seen the ones that live here fly. But they can run very fast if chased. Here people tend to treat the Pukeko with contempt but I like them and they are friendly enough.

Autumn in Hamilton, NZ - 2012

Today is 4 May, the last month of autumn. June is supposed to be the start of winter, but as the previous year has been really topsy turvy here our weather has been quite interesting. 

For example, we barely had anything that you could call a summer between November and January when our summer usually occurs, but our autumn, which normally happens from February to May has maintained the extraordinariness that seems to be the norm this year, as we have had exceedingly beautiful hot sunny days for weeks with little rain here in Hamilton, but cold wintery nights. So far we have had three minor frosts which is not seasonal at this time. I begin to wonder when winter-proper will start and how cold or unpleasant it will be. Or will it be like some northern hemisphere countries and also be strangely different? Some have barely had a winter this year. 

I wonder what is happening to our world?

Anyway, I hope readers will enjoy the photos above which show one of my favourite and most colourful seasons - autumn, or fall if you live in America.

The Bikie and his Cat

NZ born Max Corkill was a panel beater and car and bike restorer and was the owner of a 1952 Sunbeam motorbike.

He and Rastus the black cat became companions when, as a kitten, he was deserted at a Bikie swap meet in Canada. Corkill lived in Canada at that time but returned to New Zealand later bringing Rastus with him.

Rastus enjoyed riding on the front of Corkill’s motorbike, so Corkill gave him a red scarf and a specially made crash helmet and goggles and the pair rode together everywhere they went with Rastus standing over the handlebars.

They used to often ride to raise money for the SPCA animal havens. They became real personalities becoming well known throughout New Zealand. Rastus even had his own fan club. The pair had their own company selling T-shirts and had a joint cheque account with Rastus using his paw to sign. Profits went to the SPCA. It was said that the cat was just like a person and would even enjoy a cup of tea, milk but no sugar.

Corkill used to wear a little badge which said “Cat Chauffeur”.

Later Corkill became close friends with Gaynor Martin. One day while the three were riding on one bike they were hit by a car and were killed outright. They were sadly missed.

For more information see http://www.angelfire.com/md/mikesbikes/page34.html

Caution Sign
No, not a New Zealand one this time. Someone sent it to me as a joke e-mail. Be sure to read the small print at the bottom.