Musical mash-ups with cats

I love musical mash-ups with cats! Here are some of my recent favourites.

Meredith Bull

The first person I saw making these types of mash-ups was Meredith Bull on TikTok back in 2020. These are my two favourites from her.

Sick of this empty cup

I don’t want to embed the original TikTok video in my blog, so here’s the YouTube version. She’s since released a full-length version of this that’s available from all music streamers.

I don’t wanna be touched

Here’s her initial mash-up (again, not the original TikTok).

This one she first developed into a full song and then just released a music video for!

The Kiffness

The other person who’s been doing fun mash-ups for a while is The Kiffness on YouTube.

Alugalug Cat (International Symphonic Mashup)

His original version of ‘Alugalug Cat’ is nice, but then he collaborated with a bunch of musicians from around the world to create this international symphonic version — which I adore.

Alugalug Cat 2.0 (Please Go Away)

This week he’s back with a follow-up.

Sherzod Ergashev

Finally there’s Sherzod Ergashev, who has done two mash-ups I love.

Barchaga a’lo kayfiyat (good mood for everyone)

This song certainly puts me in a good mood every time :)

Funny Cat cover

I love both The Kiffness and Sherzod’s mash-ups with this cat :)

Let me know if you have any favourite musical cat mash-ups. I’d love to hear them!

Log in alerts FTW

Log in alerts are such a useful feature. It’s eye-opening to see just how frequently people try to break into your accounts!

Alerts like these also drive home the importance of using two-factor authentication. I have that turned on everywhere. Seriously, you should too.

Screenshot of an email from Instagram that reads “Sorry to hear you’re having trouble logging into Instagram. We can help you get straight back into your account.” and then a button that says “Log in as ameelkhan”. Below that is text that reads “You can also reset your Instagram password”.

Instagram also offers an incredibly useful additional security feature: a list of emails they’ve sent you in the last 14 days.

Malicious actors can send fake log in alerts that are actually phishing emails. You can check this sent-email list in your account settings to verify if the email you’ve just received is real or not.

Screenshot from the Instagram website. The page’s title is ‘Emails from Instagram’. The text below this reads: “Security and login emails from Instagram in the last 14 days will appear here. You can use it to verify which emails are real and which are fake.” Below that is a list of emails, all with the subject “ameelkhan, we’ve made it easy to get back on Instagram”. Each item on this email list also has a timestamp so you can tell when it was sent.

Maggie's attention

Maggie doesn’t care about the Olympics that we’ve been watching on TV these last two weeks (the only sport she likes is Freestyle Possum Chasing)…

Photo of a red dog lying on her side on a sofa. The dog’s head is resting on a cushion and it appears to be out cold.

But when Nadia goes to the kitchen, she’s all ears :)

Photo of a red dog lying on her side on a sofa. The dog’s head is raised up and her ears are pricked as she looks at someone off-camera.

Possum on a tree

Why, yes. that is a possum perched on the topmost branch of our neighbour’s tree. It’s keeping a close eye on Maggie, who is scent-marking her territory in the back garden before we get to bed at night.

Dark, desaturated photo of a leafless tree that’s next to a two storey house. Perched on top-most branches of this tree, silhouetted by the dimly lit, cloudy sky is a little possum.

New favourite spot

Until we moved into a house with this type of gas heater we had no idea just how much Maggie loves heaters! (The stone in front of the heater is cool, by the way, so it’s not like she's burning her chin and paw pads.)

Photo of a red dog lying on the ground in front of an indoor gas heater. The dog is facing the heater and is resting her paws and face on the stone tiles installed in front of this heater.

My hands are numb

Walking Maggie on a rainy nine degree morning that feels like 5 degrees. Fun times.

Selfie of a man walking his dog on a residential street. The man is wearing glasses, a face mask, and a light grey rain jacket with visible wet patches on it. The dog is sniffing around in the dirt by the side of the road.

At least this was followed by much deserved post-walk heater time.

Photo of a dog asleep on its side in front of a heater in a carpeted lounge room.

All spoons, no food

Maggie isn’t particularly interested in our local Spoonsville.

Photo of a tree on the intersection of several residential streets. The tree has solar powered string lights wrapped around it. It also has a large, hand painted circular sign on it that reads: “Welcome to our Kidsville. Please feel free to add to our community.” On the grass in front of the sign are several brightly coloured spoons with faces drawn on them that have been stuck into a sand and gravel pit surrounded by a mini wooden fence. This patch also has other bits of child-drawn art and crafts in it, like flowers and other objects on sticks.

Living the life

Maggie knows how to make the most of sunny days in winter. She is alternating between warming up on a sunny patch of concrete and then cooling down on a sunny patch of dirt.

Photo of a relaxed red dog sitting on a patch of dirt next to a wooden deck. It’s a sunny day. The dog has her eyes closed and her face to the sun.

All set for Windows 11

Something to look forward to in (probably) October!

Screenshot from a Windows computer showing a pop-up window with the title “This PC can run Windows 11” and text that reads “Great news - this PC meets all the system requirements for Windows 11, and it’s free. We’ll let you know when it’s ready to install.”

More about Windows 11 here:

Please be awesome

Sure, why not? Who am I to deny requests from a random sign in an alley in Kensington?

Photo of a sign pasted on the wall of an alley off a main road. The sign has black, all-caps text on a plain white background. That text reads: PLEASE BE AWESOME.

Speaking of that part of the city, the Flemington post office is in such a gorgeous building!

Collage of two photos of the same historic building from the 1880s.

Life, the universe, and everything

Emerging as the meaning of life, the universe, and everything on her 42nd birthday, I present to you Dr Nadia Niaz!

(Maggie is suitably impressed.)

Photo of a woman with long black hair. The woman is wearing a maroon and black sweater, black jeans, and black boots. With a big grin on her face, she is striking a post in front of the the door to a house. Standing at her feet and looking up to her is a red dog.

The final turn

There comes a time during every walk in which I make The Final Turn. That turn marks the farthest point from home I’ll be during my walk. Every step or turn after this is a step or turn going home.

Getting the first COVID-19 vaccine this morning felt like that Final Turn.

Close-up selfie of a bald man wearing glasses and a blue surgical mask. One the man’s black puffer jacket is a sticker that reads #JabDone. The man is holding up a small card next to this sticker that reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub record’.

When I get the second dose in three weeks I’ll probably feel like I do when I turn onto our street.

Two weeks after that – when I’m finally fully vaccinated – that’s when I’ll feel like I do when I close the gate behind me, turn off my stopwatch, and can officially say I’m home.

It’ll have been a long walk.

Photo of a residential street with tall trees, nature strips, and parked cars. Behind the building in the background of the photo is the rich golden glow of the setting sun.

Post-jab selfie

Are you *actually* vaccinated if you don’t take a post-jab selfie? :)

#JabDone

Close-up selfie of a bald man with glasses who is wearing a light blue surgical mask on his face. The man is sitting in what appears to be a large hall. On his black puffer jacket is a round sticker that reads #JabDone.

(To be fair there’s not much else to do while you sit around in the waiting area for 15-20 minutes post-jab in case you have an immediate adverse reaction to the vaccine.)

In case it’s not clear yet, Nadia and I got got our first doses of the Comirnaty vaccine (the one made by Pfizer) at the Melbourne Showgrounds vaccination hub early this morning.

An 8am vaccination booking has its pros and cons. Yes it’s cold and dark – particularly on a rainy day like today – but the queues are super short and the whole process is pretty quick. We parked our car at 7:49am, got processed by 8:18am, and made our way into the post-jab waiting area by 8:31am.

Photo of a large hall with several rows of chairs set out in a cordoned-off area. A pull-up banner in the foreground reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub’.

So to those of you over 40 in Melbourne who haven’t been vaccinated yet: come on down to the Showgrounds and get jabbed! (I’m sure the rest of you will get your turn very soon.)

Photo of the outside of a large hall. A large sign on the wall reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub’ and ‘Walk-ins are welcome’.

Lemon tree

Lemon tree; very pretty.

Photo of a fruit laden lemon tree in a residential garden.

(For those of you who don’t get that song reference.)

Speaking of trees, it’s a windy week in Melbourne and our neighbour’s tree – the one most responsible for me buying an electric leaf blower - is threatening to dump another load into our back garden. *sigh*

Photo of a tall tree (taller than the double storey house it stands next to) that’s about two-thirds full of leaves, most of which have turned yellow, orange, and read and are threatening to fall.