Cats

Bon Voyage

It’s always hard to go away on a trip and leave the ketzela behind. But Luna will be in good hands while I am gone, with our new cat sitter.

And this trip is very necessary. There has been a lot of fun, excitement, love, playfulness and beauty in our new life, but there are a lot of things that have been difficult. Getting away for a few days seems like the right thing to do. Even that simple decision has been challenging, with plans gone awry and sore feelings among friends dominating the start of this journey. But as things move forward, there might actually be a little peace, inspiration, and even a little fun.

In the meantime, please visit other Cats on Tuesday. And we’ll be back soon.


Weekend Cat Blogging: Playfulness

A moment of play at CatSynth HQ:

This orange mouse is currently one of Luna’s favorite toys:

Often, it ends up knocked off the balcony to the floor below.

Indeed, we have a favorite game now where I throw toys, such as balls or mice, up onto the balcony and Luna knocks them off.

Weekend Cat Blogging #160 is being hosted at Stellaluna. Watch hamsters and cats playing together.

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is being hosted this weekend at Pet’s Garden Blog

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at [url=http://2tabbys.blogspot.com/]Victor Tabbycat’s.

And of course the Friday Ark #197 is at the modulator.


Math Cats

In search of my next mathematics topics, I stumbled upon the Math Cats, a site that uses cats to explore a variety of mathematical topics, from the very basic to the more esoteric. The emphasis is really on “exploration” rather than a series of lessons or tutorials, though there is a collection of resources for teachers and parents. Beyond the basics, the attic is full of facts and definitions, some of which are quite sophisticated (for example, do you remember exactly what a geodesic is, and who doesn’t want to forget avoirdupois weights). Sadly, I could not make the “Animal Math” link work. I was particularly fond of the virtual mobile, which also introduces viewers to the work of Alexander Calder. There is also a visit to a more recent geometric artist George Hart. Indeed his art studio looks a bit like the music studio here at CatSynth HQ, festooned with stuffed cats.

Among the shapes the Hart uses in his work are the regular polyhedra, but also Archimedean solids, such as the truncated icosohedron, or “buckyball.” You can see an example here, as well as some of the more esoteric shapes.

This of course ties into our discussion of the 13 Archimedean solids at the last Carnival of Mathematics, and we at CatSynth of course like to see our mathematical discussions interconnect.

And who can go wrong with the intersection of cats, mathematics and art?


Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos #50

Welcome to the 50th Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos! Summer is now officially here, and we have been celebrating the solstice. We are also (yet again) experiencing a bit of a heat wave.

Nothing says summer heat like the desert. And that is where Chey finds himself lost this week.

From Egypt, we move on to Israel, where the Lady in Red enjoys hunting a mousie toy, at Elms in the Yard.

Ping is doing better this weekend, but still needs some good healing vibes from friends. Doesn’t he look a little like the Lady in Red?

Speaking of look-a-likes, Puddy is joining us again this weekend, and enjoys some chin scritches at A Byootaful Life. And honestly, who wouldn’t enjoy some chin scritches?

Meanwhile, Zorro puts an ugly vase out of its misery at the House of Chaos. We at CatSynth can sympathize with the desire to not be surrounded by ugly things.

Summer in Vermont means June bugs, and lots of them. But for Mouse, they are just more toys to be batted and squished. Andrée of Meeyauw presents Mouse’s June Bugs.

Now we go from pouncing to biting. Rosie may look sweet and innocent, but it turns out Rosie bites. Ouch!

And from sharp teeth me move on to the sharp claws of Bazel at Mind of Mog. Meanwhile, iInfidel enjoys some yummy food. And finally, the handsome Meowza relaxes as he tries to stay cool. 113F makes our own heatwave seem cool in comparison.

Samantha and Tigger are beating the heat in Florida with water. While Tigger drinks from the faucent, Samantha enjoys playing in the rain. Yes, a cat who enjoys the rain. :)

Well, that’s it so far for this weekend’s Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos. We’ll continue to post submissions that come in today. Thanks to all who participated, and stay cool!


Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos coming to CatSynth

We will be hosting the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos this weekend. The optional theme will be summer as the season is officially upon us. We also want to celebrate diversity with cats of different colors, geography, ages, histories and lifestyles.

To participate, please use the handy submission form, or leave a comment.



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