Luna and I will be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging again this weekend. So leave all your feline blog entries in the comments section, or contact us, and we'll include you in the big roundup starting tomorrow. And as always, new participants are always welcome!
Via our friend matrix, we have a trio of recent photos of cats and synths.
First we have Scooter and Bob (Moog, that is.), originally from Maggie Osterberg at flickr:
Next, we have a big fluffy cat with an Anywhere modular, originally from sequencer.de:
And finally, and quite appropriately, the “Matrix Cat” laying claim to an Oberheim Matrix-6r. Originally from synx508, whose cats have appeared here before:
Thanks to matrix for collecting and posting these photos, and for putting up with a lot of cranky comments in response to them. In particular, “Matrix Cat” seems to have generated a lot of harsh comments about how cats and synthesizers should not mix. Lighten up, folks!
We turn our focus once again to the New York metropolitan area. Countless motorists take I-278 over the Goethal's Bridge from “the armpit of NJ to the ampit of NY,” as at least one website so eloquently described it. The armpit of NJ is presumably Elizabeth, and the armpit of NY is of course Staten Island.
This isn't our first encounter with I-278 here at CatSynth. Its eastern terminus is the Bruckner Interchange, featured in a previous “fun with highways” article. Between the Goethal's crossing and the Bruckner Interchange, I-278 meanders it's way through all four “outer boroughs” of New York City. An interesting description of I-278 from Steve Alpert:
I-278 is a horrid excuse for an Interstate, patched onto a network of existing freeways including the Staten Island, Gowanus, BQE (Brooklyn-Queens), and Bruckner Expressways… and the Grand Central PARKWAY.
There is certain symmetry to I-278, connecting from I-95 in the Bronx to I-95 in New Jersey…except that it doesn't end there. It keeps going past the I-95/NJ Turnpike interchange into Elizabeth, eventually ending at an intersection with US 1 & 9. It seems like I-278 was destined to continue further into New Jersey, perhaps to meet with it's missing parent I-78, or even cross I-287 at some point. I-278/I-287 interchange, that would be trippy…
This is one of those scary stories animal lovers dread:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pet owners were worried Saturday that the pet food in their cupboards could be deadly after millions of containers of dog and cat food sold at major retailers across North America were recalled.
Menu Foods — a major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands — recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths.
An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, the company said in announcing the North American recall.
Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.
“At this juncture, we're not 100 percent sure what's happened,” said Paul Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer.
You can read a full article, including affected brands, here.
Luna's brand did appear on the list! But according to both Menu Foods and the brand, the recall only affects wet food in cans and pouches, not dry food (aka “crunchies”). So I think she's OK. But we're going to stay on top of this in case the affected types of food and lots increases (remember the E. Coli outbreak for human vegetables last fall).
We at CatSynth started this weekend a day early. Luna can be seen in restful repose Friday afternoon:
Would that every Friday was like this one…
For those who observe St. Patrick's Day today, what better than a lovely pair of emerald eyes?
Over at I Got Two Shoes, host Kamikazee is decked out in his green finery. Check out the WCB cats enjoying either St. Patrick's Day or just another fine weekend.
And don't forget, WCB 94 will be hosted right here at CatSynth!
From sendling we have this video of artist (co)sine. Great stuff, and it's at Luna's Cafe! How could I not repost.
Scrolling down one post earlier at sendling, we see a familiar face. Remember Mimì? Well, it seems that she's been making the rounds since her debut here at CatSynth, popping up at sendling and matrix. Go Mimì!
cat
synthesizers
cosine
electronic music
noise
luna
cafe
mimi
I was listening to the radio last night on the way home, and the program host was referring to an event 17 years ago, in 1990. Some thoughts:
1990 is 17 years ago, or half a lifetime ago.
2007 will be half a lifetime ago in 2041.
In 2041, I will be 68 years old.
many cats can live to 17 years or more
my grandfather (on my mother's side) died at age 68 in 1982.
From Eve Andersson's Pi land, we have these histograms of the frequency of (base 10) digits.
The first 100 digits of pi:
| 0 |  8 |
| 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 8 |
| 6 | 9 |
| 7 | 8 |
| 8 | 12 |
| 9 | 13 |
Things even out pretty nicely by about 1 million digits:
| 0 | 99959 |
| 1 | 99757 |
| 2 | 100026 |
| 3 | 100230 |
| 4 | 100230 |
| 5 | 100359 |
| 6 | 99548 |
| 7 | 99800 |
| 8 | 99985 |
| 9 | 100106 |
The digits are just white noise, there might be an interesting pattern now and then, but that is to be expected statistically. Besides, these are base 10 digits, which are an arbitrary representation based on the fact that we have two hands with five fingers apiece…
I could share some more interesting facts and formulae, but printing the greek character pi on a blog is, as they say, a pain in the butt. And I am not in the mood for that tonight.
Just a really sweet kitten video from myspace.
My Baby Binks
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There's probably a synth in the cell phone, actually…
