CATSYNTH

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Author: catsynth

  • Suzhou Grand Canal at Night

    So far most of my touring has been at night. That will change over the weekend, but meanwhile here are some nighttime images from the Grand Canal in Suzhou. The city is crisscrossed by a network of canals, one of many things for which it is famous.

    The architecture of the bridges and buildings along the canal range from very traditional, as in the above photograph, to more modern. In all cases, however, things are always brightly lit with colored lights here. Even the trees are bathed in a green glow.

    The Grand Canal forms a loop that circles the old city, and one can observe segments of the old city wall and the towers just beyond it.

    Here is a more modern building along the bank of the canal. It blends the geometric modern features that regular readers of CatSynth know I am fond of with more traditional elements.

    Daytime will provide different view of the city entirely. The large buildings and their lights which are so prominent at night fade into the background, while the more modest homes that come down to the edge of the water become visible, as do the city’s famous gardens.

  • Blog about dinner

    Well, we at CatSynth took Jacksin’s comment not to blog about lunch as a bit of a dare, so here is a brief post about last night’s dinner 🙂

    Pictured above are (from clockwise left), a local root vegetable, jellyfish, and smoked fish. Dinner every night has included a wide variety of dishes, and this was only the first round. We also had a wonderful local small fish cooked in a stew – it had a very rich and buttery texture, and a mild, sweet flavor, one of the best fish I have had in a while. Additionally, there was another fried fish and an interesting pork soup. This particular meal featured local food from the Suzhou and Shanghai area. Previous nights focused on other regions, including famously spicy Szuchuan Cuisine.

  • Sunrise over Suzhou

    Sunrise overlooking a lake and causeway in Suzhou, China.

    The moment of the photo reflects the sights and sounds of any large city in the morning, and that is comforting. Of course, everything is written in Chinese.

  • CatSynth in China

    This weekend, I embark on a weeklong trip to China. I expect to be quite busy and active, but I will try and post “live from China” on CatSynth as time permits.

    Meanwhile, Luna will be well cared for, but her presence will be missed.

  • Wordless Wednesday: Staircase

  • CatSynth pic: Pallina and Solton Project 100

    From Davide, via matrixsynth:

    The synth under the cat is a pretty rare 12DCO Italian polysynth from the eighties [Solton Project 100]…. The cat is Pallina (little ball).

    The blue details on the synth and in the background fit perfectly with the site theme of CatSynth, do they not?

    From the same post, I also noticed this model from MFB:

    The Kraftzwerg from MFB, a pre-patched but completely re-patchable mono analog beast (3 osc, a beautiful double LFO and a very nice sounding 24db VCF). The Kraftzwerg is REALLY the assembly of the modules from MFB so you are not going to loose any of the modulation possibilities.

  • Midnight Monday: Cat in the Window

    No, this is not Luna. This black cat, featured in a holiday window display at Macy’s in San Francisco, did bear a strong resemblance.

    Macy’s and the San Francisco SPCA have a longstanding program that features adoptable animals (cats and dogs) in the store’s holiday window displays. You can find more info at the San Francisco SPCA site.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #187

    Our first Weekend Cat Blogging of 2009 begins with Luna playing on the balcony, with some of the remaining construction in the background.

    It really should be done sometime this month, after which all those extra columns and plastic will be gone. It will be great to have our full home back again. It feels like so much is waiting for that moment, including a few of our New Years resolutions.

    This next photo was a lucky accident, a detailed close-up portrait of Luna giving and receiving love:

    Weekend Cat Blogging #187 is hosted by Samantha and Tigger at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

    The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be hosted this week by Miz Mog and the Kitties at Mind of Mog

    The Carnival of the Cats goes to The Whole Kitten Kaboodle this Sunday.

    And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

    Some things never change.

  • New Years Resolutions

    This past year has had some great moments, such as moving to the city and the recent elections. But it was also a difficult year, not in the same way as 2007 with its many tragedies and personal challenges, but nonetheless full of things we at CatSynth would like to put behind us.

    In the spirit of looking forward, here are some resolutions for the new year:

    1. Write down everything. To-do lists, shopping lists, story ideas, art concepts, blog posts, reactions to things I see, books and music I want to look into, opinion pieces, random thoughts, and more.
    2. Write more consistently on CatSynth. Keep up with posts, especially timely things like music and art reviews, or reactions to news events. Of course, there will always be a focus on cats and music.
    3. Maintain the current schedule of at least one significant musical performance per month.
    4. Have at least one visual-art (i.e., photography and graphics) show before the end of the year.
    5. Join at least one additional volunteer or service program.
    6. Make five new close friends within the city limits.
    7. Re-make my studio into a space I want to spend my creative time in. That includes removing the clutter, and connecting everything up in a way that works.
    8. Remove things I don’t want, with the goal of reducing the contents of CatSynth HQ by 10%.
    9. Respond to all personal correspondence in under a week.
    10. Release a second album.
    11. Keep my financial decisions slightly less stupid that than those of the world at large.

    This list may seem like a lot, but at the same time it is far from comprehensive if one looks back at the past year and things that could have been done better. But it’s a start. And a year from now, it will be interesting to look and see how many of these were successful, or at least still valid.

  • Wordless Wednesday: Sunsets of 2008