CATSYNTH

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Author: catsynth

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #86: Even when things get tough…

    Well, it's been a rather difficult weekend here, one of the worst in a long time, actually – regular readers know I prefer not to discuss details of my personal life, but things are bad enough that not even the whacky exploits of Burbed and other refuges in snarky humor have been able to help.

    But we at CatSynth are troopers, and shall go ahead with Weekend Cat Blogging regardless. Here is a picture from about a year ago of Luna enjoying her perch on the barstool. She is of course elegant as always.

    In all seriousness, Luna is a great comfort when things are difficult, she is a master of “kitty love” with purrs, head-butts, nose kisses and snugglies. Here is a candid shot of us enjoying a moment together on the couch, taken with the little built-in webcam on my new MacBook:

    For something a little more festive, please visit this weekend's hosts Kate and Bustopher (and let's not forget Harmon who seems eager to take a nap). There's a great cat-and-human photo leading off the party.





  • Why the pet market?!

    Even with the daily violence we hear about from Iraq, this one hits home:

    Birdcage bomb kills 15 pet lovers in Baghdad

    A bomb disguised as a birdcage killed 15 animal lovers in a Baghdad pet market today, in the latest attack apparently designed to disrupt a city-wide security crackdown.

    From the BBC:

    The blast ripped through the Ghazil market in the city centre, a popular destination which sells dogs, cats, birds and other animals.

    It's heartbreaking to hear about peaceful persuits, especially my own in music, art and animals, being specifically targeted. Why go after the pet market and animal lovers? Certainly, markets in general are common targets of violence, where large numbers of people gather. But maybe some markets or gatherings are more vulnerable than others:

    The open soukh is a popular attraction for Sunnis and Shias alike, farmers and pet store owners are drawn by the reptiles, tropical fish and other exotic animals in a city where open air attractions are rare.

    However, some extremist Islamist groups in Iraq have issued edicts denouncing the ownership of pets as 'haraam' – prohibited under Islamic law. This is not the first attack on the market – it was also hit eight weeks ago.

    So do pets come under the same heading as music for these extreme Islamists? Or even just having a little bit of enjoyment seeing and interacting with the animals when there are so few options for brightening one's day? And what did the animals do to deserve any of this?

    Death, destruction and suppression of joy – why would anyone want to follow these people?





  • CatSynth video: Apu the "Acid Cat"

    Gustavo (aka “audioel” on YouTube) submitted this rather appropriate (and very cute) video:

    Apu really likes the TB-303 acid sounds of the Future-Retro Revolution demos

    Of course, he is a cat and tries to use “kitty science” uncover the source of the sound, but to no avail.

    Looks like the laptop is a black macbook, similar (or the same) as the one I got last December. I'm wondering whether the tb303 track is just a recording, or a softsynth running on the macbook.






  • Parts Supplier for DIY Synth Projects?

    If you need switches or other molded electronic parts for your next circuit-bending or DIY synth project, you might consider this company out of Hong Kong and southern China:

    http://www.fhhk.com/eng/info.html

    You just can't make this stuff up 😉






  • SOTU in situ

    Listening to W's latest state of the union makes me wistful for the days when I could respect the residents of the White House:

    No gems this year like last year's call to oppose human-animal hybrids.

    He did get nu-cu-lar in there a couple of times, though. I could have had some fun with State of the Union Bingo from Drinking Liberally, but I'm not drinking tonight.

    Not a single word about that little situation down on the Gulf Coast. You think the man who two years ago thought steroid-use in sports was a national crises could spend a few minutes on the recovery effort. Did he forget? Or maybe if he doesn't mention it, it doesn't exist…

    People have given Bush some credit for actually mentioning climate change, and even proposing an increase in fuel efficiency standards. But take a closer look at what is being proposed:

    Environmentalists noted that the proposal could lead to an average fuel economy of 34 miles per gallon in vehicles by 2017, but it would not require the industry to increase the fuel economy of their new cars.

    Huh? My car, a non-hybrid from 2001, gets better mileage than that! So it's really not much of a plan at all. I guess I shouldn't have expected much. There was also no mention of the increasingly popular idea of CO2 costs within products and processes. For cars, that could be adding the cost of fuel inefficiency into the sale price (as opposed to adding the cost to the fuel itself). In fairness, having such a proposal in the speech would have meant he would have to explain it…






  • Worthless Kitty Interlude: Cheering up with "Burbed"

    It's the rare website that truly earns the title “I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!” Burbed is definitely one of them. A colleage at work introduced me to it on Friday, and although this past weekend has seen a lot of ups and downs for me, I know I can count on Burbed for a good laugh at the expense of some of the Bay Area's worst real-estate deals. They just finished up Daly City week (for the geographically challenged: Daily City is a town just south of San Francisco), including priceless but overpriced gems like this SFMOMA permanent collection special.

    If you live or own real estate in the Bay Area (as I suppose I do), you can probably appreciate the humor. If not, here's an opportunity to peer into the housing bubble and laugh at us.

    If you don't think this site is funny, you are strange and weird.

    It's also a reminder that my little foray into California real estate has worked out quite well on balance…




  • CatSynth pic: Moogy

    From our friends at matrixsynth, here is Moogy the moggy!

    Moogy is actually the feline companion of Corky Burger. You can hear a “collaboration” of theirs entitled Moogy Boogie. Apparently Moogy enjoys hiding in the gaps between analog synth modules. I hesitate to think what would happen if Hercules attempted to fit in there.

    Matrix had been campaigning for Moogy to win a contest featuring cute animals with electronic gadgets. She definitely got my vote. Unfortunately, the contest is now over and it appears that Moogy lost out to a chinchilla. We will have to launch a better coordinated campaign next time…





  • Fun with highways: I-110/I-105 interchange in Los Angeles

    This is the famed five-level intechange of 105 and 110 in Los Angeles, a rather impressive engineering feat.

    Interstate 105, the Century Freeway, is one of the last of the major LA freeways to be built, and one I had neither seen nor driven until a wonderful Hollywood/LA/Orange County adventure that took place almost a year ago (it was in early February of 2006). I will spare you the details, dear reader, but I will say that it was cooincident with the 2006 Grammy Awards and was an amazingly memorable “night that never ended” until I returned home on “the 101” a day later…






  • Weekend Cat Blogging #85: Hiding under the bed

    We all need a safe place to hide from the world now and then. For Luna, one such place is under the bed, especially when the vaccuum or some houseguests make an unexpected appearance. We at CatSynth recently followed Luna under the bed and caught her on camera:

    “What do you think you are doing down here?”

    “Hmmm, what the heck is that?”

    If you want to leave any advice, or join us hiding under the bed, leave us a comment. In the meantime, check out our friends at the Cat Blogosphere, who are hosting this weekend's roundup.






  • The 2007 RPM Challenge

    This week I signed up for the 2007 RPM Challenge to record an album in 28 days during the month of February. Here is a quote from my mission statement as a participating artist:

    It took 2 1/2 years to complete my first album, Aquatic. It was well worth the time and in the end I had a beautiful product of which I am proud. But I would like to see what I can do with just 28 days. I will record some new experimental electronic tracks, maybe with some beats thrown in for good measure. Of course, I have to use at least one cat sound or two.

    I will posting articles on my artist page at the RPM challenge documenting my progress (or lack thereof), and various other thoughts related to process of recording this new album. Of course, all articles will be cross posted here at CatSynth.