Submitted by Eddy Butler:
Jesty poses with a Moog Little Phatty.
We at CatSynth would like to wish Jesty a happy half birthday!
You can more Cats on Tuesday.
Category: Cats
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Weekend Cat Blogging: Snuggle
We recently received our “snuggle” from DKM (“Diva Kitty Mom”). It is black-and-white, perfect colors for both Luna and CatSynth HQ.
In addition to being a comfy place to sit, it comes with a special “treat”. The astute observer may see the catnip scattered on the surface of the yarn.
Luna took to this right away.
and seemed to quite enjoy herself. Indeed, she is quite fond of catnip. You can watch this video of the usually dignified Luna “nipped out” on her snuggle:
Weekend Cat Blogging #165 is being hosted by Pet and the Bengal Brats.
The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is Sunday at Mind of Mog.
The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Samantha and Tigger (I believe Samantha just had a birthday).
And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.
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CatSynth pic: Funki Porcini
From sendling, via matrixsynth:
Click on the full size image to spot the cat, the synths and the “hidden messages” in this large collection.
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Get Well Hendrix
Sending good thoughts for our friend Mr Hendrix, who was feeling rather ill this week. But he is doing a lot better now.
Plus, that is one of the cooler “get well” graphics we’ve seen on the Cat Blogosphere, so we had to post it
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CatSynth pic: Tali and Serge
From Carbon111, via matrixsynth:
There is also a wallpaper-sized version on SYNTHWIRE.
For those who may not know, the Serge Modular Synthesizers are kits that can be assembled to build large custom analog synthesizers. There are classic editions, and new editions. You can visit matrixsynth for more images and info, or visit the unofficial fan site.
You also check out more Cats on Tuesday
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Carnival of the Cats #228
Welcome to the 228th Carnival of the Cats!
So follow Luna’s lead and find a comfy spot to enjoy the round-up of cat articles from around the blogopshere…
We begin with a moving tribute in photos and poetry to to Spike at Watermark. His “contributes” both funny and touching are explored in verse. He was to be helped to the rainbow bridge, but he rallied on Friday, with purrs and lap time. We all hope for the best.
It’s the Battle of the Cutest over at the House of Chaos, with images of “fractional cats” and the adventures of the house’s only female feline denizen, Frankette. “Oh sweet little kitty-cat…right ?”
We of course love black cats. But what is even better? Black on black! Blog d’Elisson presents this black neighbor blending into the kitchen table. Also, the Mistress of Sarcasm visits the barn and says hello to a cute feline resident.
Over at Conservative Cat, Lucky the fearless cat does battle with a remote-controlled helicopter. I don’t think it went all that well for the helicopter.
It doesn’t look like things are going too well for this cricket either. Kismet is the mighty bug hunter at TacJammer. There is know evidence that he ate the cricket, but one can only speculate from the circumstantial evidence…
Photographing cats can be quite a challenge. But once in a while a photo comes together perfectly, as in the case of this Abby from Manx Mnews.
Photos like this (and of course some of Luna’s many portraits here at CatSynth) remind us of animals’ natural beauty, which Debra contrasts to human vanity.
More expressive photos of a different sort at Lab Kat, where the feral kittens are displaying some serious ‘tude.
Dude, s’up?
Smokey does his impersonation of Monorail Cat at composite drawings. We’ll leave the interpretation of his other photo as an exercise to the reader…
Chance displays a little bit of tummy, but “a hole lotta Man-Cat cyuteness.” [sic]
Gree displays a little bit more at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats.
Aloysius enjoys some patio time while the painters take the weekend off at Catymology. Looks like fine way to enjoy the afternoon.
Meanwhile, we have the relaxing symmetricats at Elms in the Yard.
While the cats at Mind of Mog may not be as symmetric, they do know how to share. And we have another tummy shot from Meowza as well.
Snow, Leo and Fairy have a new home at Purrrrs.com. That’s with four R’s. If you miss one of the R’s, no fluffy white kitties for you! Yes, the internet can be a very unforgiving place sometimes.
Contrasts in activity are the topic at StrangeRanger, While Maddie “goes to town on her catnip squirrel”, a nap is about as much action as one gets out of Ivy.
Want more action? Check out the Cat Attack at The Scratching Post.
Willow and China Cat show off their expressive eyes for the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos. You can see black-and-white versions of each photo as well.
Samantha and Tigger are having a BBQ on the beach today. Looks like fun (and that BBQ is looking tasty).
More weekend fun. Tiny relaxes surrounded by English Ivy, while Babe inspects the detritus of a recent fence and stone-wall project. Visit them both at sisu.
The “Cat Boys” Kashim and Othello are tired out from helping Astrid host yesterday’s Weekend Cat Blogging. So they are taking it easy on the balcony today.
Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea. I’m going to go take my coffee out to the balcony and relax for a bit, as it seems we have reached the end of this week’s Carnival of the Cats. Thanks to all who participated!
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Weekend Cat Blogging: What Did You Eat?
Our friends Kashim, Othello and Astrid are dedicating Weekend Cat Blogging to our fellow cat blogger Sherry “Sher” Cermak of What Did You Eat?. She passed away suddenly last Sunday.
Sher was also an accomplished food blogger, and we have made some her recipes before. So in addition to Weekend Cat Blogging, we are also participating a tribute hosted by the “Bread Baking Babes” this weekend and preparing her last recipe.
So let us move to the kitchen and dining area of CatSynth HQ:
And with Luna ready to supervise, let us begin:
Angel Hair Pasta With Red Pepper Pesto
[Adapted from Food and Wine.]
3 medium red bell peppers or bottled roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 small garlic clove, smashed
1/4 cup basil leaves, plus 2 tablespoons chopped basil
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound angel hair pasta
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheeseRoast the red peppers over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Peel, core and chop the peppers. (We opted for the bottled peppers here at CatSynth.)
In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderate heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Let cool.
Transfer the peppers and pine nuts to a blender or food processor (If your food processor has been sitting in a box at the bottom of a kitchen cabinet since moving, make sure to clean it first.) Add the garlic and whole basil leaves and blend until coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil and cheese and puree to a chunky pesto. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and cool slightly under running water. Transfer the pasta to a bowl and toss with the pesto. Season the pasta with salt and pepper. Top with the chopped basil and pecorino and serve at room temperature.
Now let us raise a glass and toast…
More tributes can be found at Weekend Cat Blogging, hosted at Astrid’s food blog. I’m sure the boys won’t mind too much.
The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted here at CatSynth tomorrow. Click here to submit your entry.
The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be hosted this week at Pet’s Garden Blog.
And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.
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The Fourier Transform of a Cat
We at CatSynth never miss an opportunity to combine mathematics and cats. Recently, our friends at Walking Randomly posted this image:
It was created by Andrew J. Bennieston, and inspired by this comic from xkcd:
Unlike the number theory and other mathematics we like to post here at CatSynth, the Fourier Transform is part of our stock and trade. There are many variants, including the Discrete Time Fourier Transform which one of the basic tools of signal processing and sound synthesis:
Basically, what a Fourier Transform does is decompose a signal (or any time-varying mathematical function) into separate frequencies. If you have a spectrum representation of a sound, this is output of a Fourier Transform. Similarly, if you have a graphic equalizer on your stereo, it can be seen as operating on a very low-resolution Fourier transform, as it allows one to raise and lower different frequency ranges of sound.
For images, “frequency” corresponds to detail. Highly detailed areas of image that change from pixel to pixel are high-frequency, while areas of constant color or intensity are lower frequency. Another variant of the Fourier Transform, the Discrete Cosine Transform, or DCT, is more often used with images because it tends to put more information in lower frequencies.
Theoritcally, one should not lose any information when taking a Fourier Transform of a signal (or image) and taking the inverse to retrieve the original. However, in Bennieston’s image, which applies two DCTs to the original image, results in the “ghost” that loses a bit of the original detail. Certainly, some is due to the rounding error when doing any calculations on the computer, but it seems like more than that. Most, likely, the DCT is more sensitive the boundaries, i.e., what happens at the beginning or end of a signal.
DCTs are often used in “lossy” image and audio compression, such as JPEG for images. However, I have rarely seen them used in music applications, where one tends to see more general Fourier Transformations, which correspond more closely to an intuitive understanding of musical frequency.
As such, it would be interesting to work with DCTs in a musical context and see what transpires. If we ever get around to this project, we will certainly post it here on CatSynth.
This post is part of the Carnival of Mathematics which is being hosted this weekend by Logic Nest.
