Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

Today's image is a mess!  It obviously shows a nest of minibrots, but of what order is hard to say.  My best guess is that the minibrots are of order 1.99, since this is the exponent of Z.  When I look closer however, I see things that look more like order 2.5 minibrots, which makes no sense at all.

I named the image "Midgets Without End" because the more I searched for minibrots in the image, the more I found.  Most of the smaller ones are nothing at all like those in today's image, and appear to be distortions of the classic quadratic Mandelbrot set.

The parent fractal is a shrunken thing, so shrunken in fact that it is almost out of sight at the default magnitude of 0.67.  But an inzoom will reveal that this parent fractal is quite an interesting thing, caught on the verge of flipping left to right.  Today's scene is located in a large mass of debris floating in the eastern part of the main bay.

The most striking thing in the image may be the character of the scenery surrounding the nest of minibrots.  The assorted blobs bring a hint of a third dimension to the image, while the colors give hints of things happening just beneath the surface, especially near the nest of minibrots.

The rating of a 6 is a comedown from recent images.  The calculation time of a fireball 31 seconds will take most of the sting from the disappointment however.

Muggy conditions in the morning, with lots of clouds and a few showers, gave way to crystal blue skies, puffy white clouds and brilliant sunshine in the afternoon here at Fractal Central on Sunday.  The temperature reached a high of 86F 30C early in the afternoon, then dropped to 70F 21C by sunset.  A warning of tornadoes on the morning news report proved to be a false alarm when nothing more than a mild rain squall arrived.

The fractal cats had a relaxing day, but the relaxation ended in the evening when a stray tomcat leaped onto the outside window sill and started a shouting match with Nicholas, who fought back from inside with vicious growls, hisses, and a thrashing tail that stirred up more wind than the threatened tornadoes.  Cassie gave moral support from her resting place on the foot stool, and rewarded Nicholas with an ear washing when he eventually chased the other cat away.

My day was average, though I think FL is still bothered that I am not more of an environmentalist.  The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours.  Until then, take care, and do what you think is right.

Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com
jimmuth@aol.com


START PARAMETER FILE=======================================

MidgetsWithoutEnd  { ; time=0:00:31.66-SF5 on P4-2000
  reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm
  formulaname=FinDivBrot-2 function=recip float=y
  center-mag=+0.0042215/-0.00042237/4504 params=1.99\
  /-0.95/1000/0 maxiter=2000 inside=0 logmap=9
  colors=000qdUnbRk`OhZMeXKbVI_THXRHVPITMJQLLOLMQLKR\
  LIUMGWOE_QCbSAeT8hU6kU4nU2oU5qU8rUBrUEsUHtUKuUNuUQ\
  qUSmAUiBWeBYcC_cDacEccEecFgcGicHkcHmcTfcc`lnVxyPvx\
  OuwNswNrvMpuLouLpsKqqJrpJsnItlItkHuiGvgGwfFxdFybEy\
  aEpiZohZnhZnhZmhZmhZlgZkgZkgZjgZjgZedW`aUXZScWQcUc\
  cRccOccLccJcfDuhGqiJnjMkkPhmRenUboXZp_WraTsdQtgPuj\
  UvlZogchchacmVcrOcvHczBczCczCczCczCczCczCczDczDczD\
  czDczDczDcz5uz7sz8qz9ozAmzCkzDizEgzFezGdzHezHfzHgz\
  HhzHizHjzHkzHlzImzInzIozIpzIqzIrzIszItzGqzFnzEmzDm\
  zBmzAmz9mz8mz7mz5mz4mz3mz2mz1mz9mzHmzPhzWqzVrzVrzV\
  rzVrzVrzVrzVrzVszVszVszVszVszVszVszSqzQozOmzMmzKmz\
  ImzFmzDmzBzz9zz7zz5zz3zzHzzVzzhzzvzlwzkwzjwziwzhwz\
  gwzgwzfwzewzdwzcwzcwzbwzawz`wz_wzzkzz`zzbzzczzezzf\
  zzhzzizzjzzlzzmzzozzpzzqzzkzzfzz`zzWzzQzzLzzGzzIzz\
  KzzMzzOzzQzzRzz3zz4zz8zzBzzEzzHzzKzzNzzRzzUzzXzz_z\
  zbzzezzczzazz`zzZzzXzzYzz }

frm:FinDivBrot-2   { ; Jim Muth
z=(0,0), c=pixel, a=-(real(p1)-2),
esc=(real(p2)+16), b=imag(p1):
z=(b)*(z*z*fn1(z^(a)+b))+c
|z| < esc }

END PARAMETER FILE=========================================