Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: 

To create today's parent fractal I combined 1.75 negative parts of Z^(-4.5) with 3 negative parts of Z^(-1.75) and added (1/C) on each iteration.  Calculating with the reciprocal of C usually turns the fractal inside-out, so that the negative exponents of Z create a lake rather than an island.  In today's case however the parent does not follow the rules, and appears as a butterfly-shaped island with large black spots on its wing tips.  These black spots are actually bays, and today's image lies deep in the northern valley of the northern bay.

My extra coloring effort raised the original humdrum rating of a 5 to a respectable 7.  The math rating of a 7 is based on the unusual doubly inside-out parent butterfly fractal.

The name "Christmas is Coming" is a statement of fact that can be verified by a glance at the calendar.  I chose the name because I felt a strong seasonal mood in the color scheme.

The calculation time of 2-1/3 minutes is not too bad, but it is not all that great either.  Fear not.  The web sites are always close at hand.

The day began clear and calm, with a chilly temperature of 23F -5C, and progressed through a sunny morning and partly-cloudy afternoon, with a high temperature of 43F +6C.  The older fractal cat, Nicholas, spent most of the time sleeping in my favorite chair, while the young kitten, Jasmine, who has almost recovered from her sprained arm, spent the time alternating between sleeping and playing with her catnip mouse.  The humans passed the day doing what humans usually do, though I'm not sure average humans spend as much time on fractals as I do.

The next FOTD will most likely be posted in 24 hours.  If not, it will appear in 48 hours.  Until next time, take care, and I will once again place my full faith in science when it can give a reasonably satisfactory reply to the question of why we exist.  The usual scientific reply is to claim that the question is meaningless or to refer the questioner to the answers given by religion, even while hypocritically implying that religious belief is only a comforting superstition with no reality behind it. . . .

("We do not invent the things we say," the erudite scientists loudly proclaim, "we only pass on what we find to be true.")

Jim Muth
jimmuth@earthlink.net


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

ChristmasIsComing  { ; time=0:02:20.00 SF5 at 2000MHZ
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  formulaname=MandAutoCritInZ function=recip float=y
  center-mag=-1.725757937691/+1.963888438529/1.04341\
  5e+007/1/20/0 params=-1.75/-4.5/-3/-1.75/0/0/0/0
  maxiter=3000 inside=0 logmap=331 periodicity=6
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  5ze4zf4zg3zh2zi2zj1zk1zm0 }

frm:MandAutoCritInZ {; Jim Muth
a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2),
g=1/f, h=1/d, j=1/(f-b), z=(((-a*b*g*h)^j)+(p4)),
k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel):
z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c,
|z| < l }

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