Author: catsynth

Wordless Wednesday clever response

Andrée from meeyauw had a clever response to our Wordless Wednesday post. Unfortunately, this site does not allow HTML in comments. But we at CatSynth can post such forbidden text in articles, so here it is:

✳❏❏■❅❒ ❏❒ ●❁▼❅❒✌ ✩ ◗❉●● ❄❅❃❏❄❅ ◗❈❁▼ ❙❏◆ ▲❁❉❄✁ ★✡ ★✡ ★✡ ★✡ ★✡ ★✡ ★✡

2007 farewell

Today we bid farewell to one of our most difficult, anxious and unhappy years, certainly the worst since 2001/2002.

2007 started quietly and optimistically, but we watched things fall apart quickly, and not just for us, but for friends and family as well. Certainly, there were high points, too. And CatSynth has been one of them. But for many of us, I think, this year could not have ended soon enough.

And while turning a page on a calendar does not change things, we hope for at least some sense of a new beginning…

Weekend Cat Blogging: A day of the year

For our last Weekend Cat Blogging of the year, we weave several of our favorite photos from past into a narrative about the present.

Of course, we at CatSynth wouldn't deign to open such a narrative with “it was a dark and stormy night”. But it was a very gray morning, a bit like the Dark Gradient we posted a couple of weeks back. Yet another perfect day for lying by the heater:

Dark or otherwise, I have been an early riser of late. Even on a Saturday, up by 9AM, and fresh coffee brewing soon after. Certainly the thing to get one alert and wide-eyed:

Actually, morning coffee is an opportunity to relax and enjoy a moment before the real work of the day begins. Read a bit, listen to the radio, do a crossword, and start on some Weekend Cat Blogging. But none of it was happening. Too weary, too numb. Back to bed.

To her credit, Luna soon left her comfy perch above the heater to join me. She's always ready to provide much needed “kitty love.” Of course, she has to first knead her spot on the bed:

Cuddling up for a morning nap, and letting go of the outside world and its worries. Yes, that's what we needed. And now we will be ready to continue with our day…

Things can change very fast. A phone call around noon sets in motion events that may determine the fate of “soon-to-be-former CatSynth HQ.” I can spare you the details, except to say we suddenly need to clean up a bit more than we have been. There's all the boxes and debris such from our expected move:

along with our general sloppiness over the past few months:

But in addition to the task at hand, there is the melancholy of what we will be leaving behind. Some favorite spots, for one:

But we have our photos and our memories, and of course, we should have new favorites in our future home.

So it's back to work for us…

The main focus of today's effort is the downstairs studio/office room, scene of many creative and musical moments:

as well as some moments of comfort:

The goal for today, and indeed for much of work around the house, is simply to get things clean and organized. From complete chaos and bewilderment to something manageable, that we can envision packing up and moving. We have been fortunate to count on our friends to help us in the effort, today as well as last week. And their help has been invaluable. Indeed, the last month has reminded about friends and family and what's important in life:

It looks like we're not the only ones going through the challenges of moving. Kashim and Othello and Astrid were going to host Weekend Cat Blogging #134, but they have just moved and are temporarily without internet access. Fortunately, Samantha and Tigger have stepped in to host the New Years Edition of WCB.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos will be hosted by Zed Monster and The Bad Kitty Cats. The optional theme is “birds or feathers.” Hmmm, that sounds rather familiar…

Carnival of the Cats returns this Sunday to its original home with Laurence Simon. And of course Friday Ark #171 is at the modulator.

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Nin, Mount Washington Observatory cat, Retires

Well, meeyauw is quite the place for interesting reads this week. In addition to the Mobius transformation video, we have this story of Mount Washington's official cat:

Nin, the black-and-white house cat who for a dozen years patrolled the Northeast's highest peak as the Mount Washington Observatory's mascot, was officially retiring Wednesday and moved off the mountain to a valley home…
…Nin, a former stray, has been popular among visitors to the summit. His photo and a short profile are included on the staff section of the observatory's Web site.

You can read the full story here.

Apparently there is quite a long tradition of cats at the observatory on Mount Washington, the tallest peak in the northeastern US. I did visit the peak as a kid over twenty years ago, but don't recall encountering any cats. Indeed, the main pre-occupation was the nasty weather and high winds, I remember being nearly blown over by one gust. Cats are generally more nimble than humans, but it must take a certain amount of skill and judgment to Mount Washington's official cat.

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Mobius Transformations video (A YouTube hit)

From our friend Andrée at meeyauw:

An informative and beautifully produced YouTube mathematics hit. There is a YouTube link, where you will find a link to the original source of the video. You can download the video to your own drive. You really should watch this, even if you don't like math (gasp).

Well, we at CatSynth of course love mathematics, and appreciated this video. It is about Möbius transformations, an important concept involving complex numbers and geometry. You can watch the video below:



RIP Oscar Peterson (1925-2007)

Well, we have one more influential musician to remember before the year ends. The great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson passed away on December 23:

Called the “Maharajah of the keyboard” by Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson is considered to have been one of the greatest piano players in the history of jazz. He played to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.

While Stockhausen (whom we remembered on his death two weeks ago) was an inspiration for his composition, electronic innovations, and ideas about music, Peterson was all about performance and technique, and joy of playing jazz at a high level. As a young jazz pianist, I used Oscar Peterson's piano solos as practice. In particular, I remember playing the minor bluesy Roundalay, which was my successful audition piece for All State Jazz in New York. Certainly, I could never even attempt to match the actual solos at full speed.

You can get a sense of the real thing from this video:

We close with these comments from the CBC:

Renowned for his speed and virtuosity as a pianist, Peterson ? who was born in Montreal and later made Toronto his home ? made hundreds of recordings in his career, even after a stroke in 1993 disabled his left hand…

…”The world has lost the world's greatest jazz player,” Hazel McCallion, mayor of Mississauga and Peterson's friend, told CBC News on Monday afternoon.

UPDATE: You can read his obituary from Mississauga.