Smoke and haze in downtown San Francisco, looking up Ellis Street from a building on Market. You can see what this view looks like under better skies here.
After a couple of relatively good days, the air quality once again took a turn for the worse. As bad as it is, it’s nothing compared to what our friends to the north have gone through with the terrible fires, and our thoughts are with them as they recover.
From this auction, via matrixsynth.
“Hello! Synth works well, and I am a registered builder on the MFOS site as Allen Cox. Case is made out of hardwood that has been stained, painted, and finished. Comes with 12v power supply, wal wart, and two pamona banana patch cables.”
Presumably, cat and lava lamp not included 😸
From HyperbubbleTV on YouTube. Submitted to by Jeff DeCuir (part of the team that made the video).
starring Hyperbubble, with Justin Parr, and introducing Smokey the cat
Directed by Mark and Angela Walley
featuring the title track from “Candy Apple Daydreams”, performed by Hyperbubble. Available on CD and mp3 from Bubblegum Records http://bubblegumrecords.org.uk/, http://itunes.com and http://amazon.comofficial Hyperbubble website: http://www.hyperbubble.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hyperbubble
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hyperbubble
We think Smokey did an excellent job in this video 😸
Today we look back at last weekend’s opening of Art for the Naked Eye at Far Out Gallery in San Francisco. The show covers twenty years of work by local artist Kasper Rodenborn.
You can see and hear a bit about Rodenborn’s art in his own words in our most recent CatSynth TV episode.
Rodenborn’s work falls into several periods and categories. First, there are the more traditional paintings, with surrealist quality that particularly reminds us of Yves Tanguy.
[Installation view]
Many of the works feature wildstyle, an homage to Rodenborn’s early days as an underground graffiti artist. But he combines this with other elements, including some that project out of the canvas in the sculptural realm, as in the Rauchenberg-esque elements in Aside from Concrete Existence displayed below.
[Kasper Rodenborn, Aside from Concrete Existence. This piece will be hanging in CatSynth HQ after the show!]
Over time, we observe his work to move in the direction of collage and ultimately assemblages, as in these intricate pieces.
The most recent works are a return to flat surfaces. But these flat pieces have depth and motion, as they respond to changing light colors. They were displayed illuminated by rotating-color LED bulbs.
It was a strong exhibition, we are glad to have attended. And Far Out Gallery was an excellent discovery in the Sunset District of San Francisco – we expect to be back for future shows.
By Japhy Riddle. Submitted by Bill Wolter via Facebook.
An improvement (in my opinion) on someone else’s concept. I can only take partial credit for this. All paper cut-outs.
This fits so well visually on CatSynth!
Our friend Maximus is in the studio ready to produce some new tracks. Submitted by Jason D Rodriguez via our Facebook page.
Maximus also likes the bass. (So do we.)
We at CatSynth are staying safely ensconced at HQ as the rather poor smoke-filled air reaches our doorstep. Fortunately, we are safe and have everything, which no longer true for so many to our north in Sonoma and Napa. This is still an on-going situation which we are following on social media and through local sources like SFGate. It is just devasting to see scenes and places I recognize going up in flames.
As things are still in the emergency and evacuation phase, the focus is on shelter, and of course fighting the fire.
Bring Crucial Supplies & Volunteer at Shelters
To accommodate the estimated 20,000 evacuees, a number of local landmarks have opened their doors to the growing influx of escapees. Below is a list of shelters, organizations, schools, and businesses we’ve found that are currently operating as safe spaces; they need able-and-willing volunteers and donations of essential supplies.
Veterans Memorial Building and Hall, 1351 Maple Ave. (Santa Rosa), sonomacountry.ca.gov
Petaluma Community Center, 320 N. McDowell Blvd. (Petaluma), cityofpetaluma.net
Sonoma County Fairgrounds (open for large- and medium-sized livestock and farm animals), access via Gate 7 on Aston Ave. (Sonoma), sonomacountyfiar.com
Ramekins Culinary School and Inn, 450 W. Spain St. (Sonoma), remekins.com
Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds (open to accommodate small livestock and other farm animals, access via Gate 4 on 175 Fairgrounds Dr (Petaluma), sonoma-maringfair.org
Crosswalk Church (currently at-capacity and in need of aid), 2590 1st St. (Napa), crosswalknapa.org
Napa Valley College Gym, 2277 Napa Vallejo Hwy. (Napa), napavalley.edu
Here are some resources for those needing to evacuate with pets. Please share with your friends in the area:
Multiple shelters are open to assist pet owners. They are:
Napa County Animal Shelter at 942 Hartle Ct, Napa
Santa Rosa Fairgrounds at 1350 Bennett Valley Road. Access the Fairgrounds via Gate 7 on Aston Ave
Cloverdale Citrus Fair at 1 Citrus Fair Drive, Cloverdale
Californians: If anyone has a horse trailer, Chalk Hill Ranch near Healdsburg needs emergency help. They have 54 horses in dire need of transportation off the ranch. 13426 Chalk Hill Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448 707-433-1804
To help animals and their humans, Donate to the Humane Societies and SPCA
Natural disasters of this magnitude affect more than human lives. Donate your time—and extra bags of dog and cat food—to the North Bay branches of the Humane Society and SPCA as they go about the tough work of accommodating new shelter animals.
Humane Society of Sonoma County, 5345 CA-12. (Santa Rosa), sonomahumane.org
Humane Society of Napa County, 3265 California Blvd. (Napa), napahumane.org
Yuba-Sutter SPCA, 745 Sutter St. (Yuba), yubasutterspca.org
Animal shelters in the region are evacuating some of their residents to places south here in SF and in Oakland. In some cases, it may the shelter is in danger. In others, they are making space for animals lost or otherwise affected by the fires. Our friends at the SF SPCA and Cat Town Oakland are helping out.
Many wineries and other institutions are affected. We haven’t heard updates from some our favorite places around St Helena and Calistoga. We did hear that the di Rosa Art Center galleries and staff are all safe. Friends have reported in safe as well. We will continue to follow things – it is so hard to watch but also so hard to look.
Thousands of miles to the east and south, our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico are trying to recover. We have fire; they have water. The recovery phase sometimes falls off the outside radar as new disasters happen – though in a dark twist the toxic politics will ensure that it does stay in our consciousness longer. It was pretty outrageous to see the lack of response, then the embarrassingly poor response, and cheap shots and criticisms of the people suffering through this disaster and trying to help them. But we persevere…
In general, organizations helping humans, pets, and preserving culture need cash more than stuff (and it’s also best to allow it to go to general funds). For disaster relief, friends have recommended Oxfam America. As in our local conflagration, and after the hurricanes in Texas and Florida, organizations are helping rescue and evacuate pets and other animals. From a recent story in The Atlantic:
The Humane Society of the United States, anticipating a deluge of lost and abandoned pets after the recent natural disaster, began coordinating flights of animals already in Texas shelters to other parts of the country. Eventually, they relocated hundreds of adoptable cats and dogs in the days before and after the storm. The same happened with Irma in Florida and the Virgin Islands. The same is happening after Maria in Puerto Rico.
HSUS is collecting and distributing donations for animal and human relief work. Many local organizations are helping as well. You can find out more from The Humane Society of Puerto Rico’s Facebook Page on current status and needs.
You can see feline evacuees from Puerto Rico to Safe Haven for Cats in North Carolina in this video, via this article.
Our fluffy white friend is back and relaxing in the studio. From Eevo Lute Music and Technology via Facebook.
Here is Sam Sam being silly with her favorite toy.
We see her in this pose a lot, with or without the sock.
She parades around CatSynth HQ like she owns the place.
(She may not be the owner according to the City and County of San Francisco, but she is the queen of the house.)
“Ready for my close-up!”
And now, for a nap…
It’s good to be the cat. 😺
