Luna

Weekend Cat Blogging #274 and Photo Hunt: Heatwave

Summer has finally arrived with a heatwave that brought even San Francisco into the mid 90s F (30s C).  And our apartment tends to get even warmer:

Luna was a bit uncomfortable in the heat, but it was a good excuse to nap (as if cats need an excuse for that).  And a napping cat is a good excuse for experimenting with the camera (such as fun with low f-stop settings):

It’s been another busy week – yes, that is a familiar phrase here at CatSynth – and I haven’t been home very much.  So I left fans running for Luna, and even a small ice pad out for her on the hottest day. I think we’re both a little tired out, physically and mentally.  But it’s a long three-day weekend, and the fog has once again returned with its calming and creative influence.  I think we will enjoy it.

Weekend Cat Blogging #274 is hosted by the handsome pair Jules and Vincent at Judi’s Mind over Matter. Jules, the black cat, often appears when we host WCB, so we’re returning the favor this week.

Photo Hunt 229 is hosted by tnchick, with the apropos theme of Hot.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

The monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be hosted by Nikita and Elvira at Meowings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #273: Another technological encounter

Luna has a moment of self discovery.

Notice any resemblance?

Luna is just not as interested in technology as some other individuals are, but she deigns to pose with the Smule Magic Piano.

I might use the Magic Piano in today’s performance, depending on how it unfolds.  I will definitely be using at least one other app, Curtis, with some vocal recordings I made last night.  Luna was a little perplexed by my practicing the text for today, and interrupted me several times with her own recitations.

Weekend Cat Blogging #273 is hosted by Elvira at Meowings of an Opinionated Pussycat.  She anxiously awaits for submissions to come in.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Samantha and Clementine at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #272: Sadness

It was a sad week for many of our cat friends and their families. This past Wednesday saw no fewer that four announcements on the Cat Blogosphere of regular contributors who had passed away. Anyone who has studied probability and statistics knows that such clustering is normal behavior for random events, but one still notices it and can be affected by it.

And then late in the day we received some sad news from our friend Vivi Pedgraglio that DJ Kikovas had passed away.

This was very sad news, and our thoughts are with Vivi this weekend. We often featured DJ Kikovas on CatSynth. And the symmetry of our exchanges was fun, the white boy cat playing electronic music in the studio in Argentina and the black girl cat in the U.S. who is surrounded by electronic music. He will be missed.

Among the cats whose passing was announced on Wednesday was Luxor, an elegant white cat whose site we followed. Our thoughts are with his family as well.

It is a dreary overcast morning, after a week that in addition to the sad news has been quite tiring. So we rest.

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I looked at those photo of Luna resting on the bed linens – this has been her favored resting place again over the last few weeks – and thought about how often I have seen her curled up there over the years. Here is a photo of her in the same position in 2007, at our former home in Santa Cruz.

So many things stay the same, but the same time life is always moving forward. That is both a happy and sad thing.

Weekend Cat Blogging #272 is hosted by Samantha and Clementine at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Nikita and Elvira (who is hosting for the first time this week) at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.  They also have a tribute to the cats who past away this week.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Reconnaissance Fly at Luna’s Cafe, Sacramento

This is the “official CatSynth report” from our Reconnaissance Fly show at Luna’s Cafe in Sacramento last Monday.

Luna’s Cafe is in downtown Sacramento, within a couple of blocks of the large park that surrounds our State Capitol.

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I had stopped in during then In the Flow Festival back in may, so everything was quite familiar.

Inside, the stage was…well…a bit cozy.

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We managed to fit ourselves on in an odd arrangement of angles and overlapping. Polly was in this small triangle of space bounded by the stage front, the keyboard and the drum set.

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The painting behind the stage is David and the Giant Under the Blue Moon, by Bill Carr. All of Carr’s paintings on the wall had a moon theme, which was rather apropos of the venue (although “Luna’s” actually refers to the name of the proprietor of the cafe and not directly to the moon or to any cats we may know).

I felt like we did not play as well as we did at the Outsound Music Summit, but it was still a fun experience, and we got a warm reception from the audience (including the other musicians)

We were followed by the Garage Jazz Architects, with Lob Instagon on bass, Chad E Williams on guitar and Mark Halverson on drums.

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They played a mix of covers and originals. After an original piece called “Butter”, they moved into a series of including an interesting version of the Simpson’s theme with alternate harmonies, and several other classic TV shows. One of the originals was a surf-style piece entitled Surf Orangevale. From what I am told, Orangevale is a completely landlocked area east of of Sacramento. Lob also recited a poem that he composed on August 9, 1995 after hearing of the death of Jerry Garcia – a poem he only reads on August 9 – with musical accompaniment by the rest of the band.

Lob also leads the group Instagon, which has a different lineup every time it performs. After the show he invited me to join in the next Instagon performance, which just happened to be at the regular Outsound Thursday night series at the Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco. That took place last Thursday, so look for an upcoming report soon.

Thanks to Ross Hammond for inviting us to play, and Art Luna for hosting us at the cafe

Weekend Cat Blogging #271: iPhone and Orange

For Weekend Cat Blogging #271, we put aside the “big camera” and present some images of Luna all taken with our new iPhone 4.

This was taken with the Hipstamatic app. It emulates the classic Hipstamtic camera, including various lens and film options. This was taken with a Kaimal Mark II lens (not sure how it got an Indian name). It tends to give the image an overall orange tinge, and thus we squeeze into this week’s Photo Hunt theme of Orange.

Here are two more photos of Luna taken with two other Hipstamatic lenses:

And another in the clear (i.e., just the camera without additional apps or filters):

She does lounge quite elegantly sometimes. I also tried out the video capabilities, here is a short clip:

Yes, Luna is very much a cat. I quite like the look in her eyes at the end.

Weekend Cat Blogging #271 is hosted by LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough, where they are enjoying lots of relaxation, and a bit of golf and baking.

Photo Hunt #226 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is Orange.

Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at When Cats Attack!.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #270

We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #270. This edition is coincident with World Cat Day 2010 on August 8, so we are making that the theme of this edition!  If you would like to participate in WCB or WCD, please leave a link on this post, contact us or leave us a tweet @catsynth with tag #WCB and we will add you to the round-up.

First up, at Sidewalk Shoes Patchouli is coping with the heat (98F or about 36C) that is affecting much of the U.S…except of course here in San Francisco with it’s about 50F, which is about typical for mid-summer.  Anyhow, Patchouli and Pam have a lot in common and agree there is only one way to spend time when it is 98 degrees outside.

A note from Tristan Tabbycat Longtail about Van Meowlin’s British Invasion Tour: “Yes, I had in fact heard that London Bridge is falling down and yes, I know that the concert last night got a little out of hand, but I can ASSURE you, neither I, nor any of my entourage had ANYTHING to do with ANY property damage ANYWHERE in city. Now, you must excuse me, I have to catch a flight….”

“Nom, nom, nom!” Looks like Diamond Emerald-Eyes has some tasty new treats.  Visit her blog to find out more about them.

Usually it’s all-black Jules who comes to visit from Judi’s Mind Over Matter when Luna hosts WCB.  But this week it’s all about Vincent, who is looking through a window and stalking a tiny moth.  We’re happy to see Vincent this week, and he is at least “mostly black.”

More black cats this weekend.  We meet Boom Boom, a big and lovable cat and hear about his homecoming story.  I think this may be the first WCB entry from the new blog I Think My Cat Is An Alien, so please join me in welcoming them!

There is a plethora of cat-blogging events out there in addition to Weekend Cat Blogging.  Nikita Cat and Elvira break it down for us in their post 7 Days, and 37 Ways.  Their four great pictures help promote their list, which will also be incorporated into their permanent sidebar.  We have not a chance yet to “formally” welcome Elvira, who recently joined the family.  And their dad Kiril has some Good News and Bad News about his health, which is actually all good news.  We continue to wish him well.

Sparkle has advice for humans on World Cat Day.  It can be summed up as follows: gifts.  Lots of them, with wrapping paper.  But most importantly, spend time with your cats today. A longer play session, or a longer nap together, or whatever brings you and your cat(s) closer.

The folks at Zoolatry are celebrating World Cat Day with a series of posts and images in tribute to all their friends from around the Cat Blogosphere.  Do to take the time to scroll down from the main post and see them all.  They are also responsible for the “World Cat Day” graphic that we are using.  PS: nice hat :).

There was a little bit of gender liberation as Faith Boomerang steps in for “Mancat Monday”.   We at CatSynth find such fluidity in gender roles quite refreshing, actually.  Also, thanks to KC for helping to get the word out about our weekend event.

Sniffie and the Florida Furkids are celebrating with a remembrance of Cats who Came Before.  It is a celebration of some of the cats their mom has known over the years, with photographs.  We also sending thoughts for Sniffie.

The chair that speaks at The Chair Speaks has been a favorite resting place for cats for years, and hopes to be around for years to come.  “To all the cats in the world, big and small, Happy World Cat Day!  And wish that all cats have the right to a loving home, food and care.”

The Cats of Wildcat Woods are celebrating World Cat Day with a series of trivia on feline colors and markings. Fun and educational!  They also conclude with this thought that we would like to repost here:

“Cats give us so much – they captivate us with their beauty, make us laugh with their antics, give us companionship when we are lonely, snuggle with us while we watch TV, keep our houses free of mice – our lives are enriched by their presence in our homes. Do something special for your cat, your neighbor’s cats or the cats at the local shelter. Give them back a little of what they give us. Have a Happy World Cat Day!”

World Cat Day is really just a normal day for Samantha and Clementine.  Here we see Clementine relaxing, and perhaps plotting something fiendish, while Samantha is blissfully snoozing off in another photo.

It looks like a normal day for Salome as well.  She joins us from Vienna while snoozing away the weekend on her gizzy quilt.

Congratulations to Rosa and the cats at Rosa’s Yummy Yums, who are celebrating their 5th Blog Anniversary today!  Rosa’s blog mixes baking, cooking, photography, and of course, cats, and she has been a long-time participant in WCB.

The cats and humans at PDX Pride are celebrating World Cat Day with a newly adopted kitten.  Angel Skylar found his mom Erin adopt a new kitten named Scamper, who appears to be fitting in quite well.  It’s always great to hear about cats finding new homes.

Thanks to all who participated this week.  We had a nice large turnout.  We’ll continue to post entires as the come in through Monday morning, but for now, we will rest.

Reconnaissance Fly At Luna’s Cafe, Sacramento. Monday, August 9

Our next Reconnaissance Fly show will this Monday at Luna’s Cafe in Sacramento, CA.

We will be sharing the bill with the Garage Jazz Architects. The show is part of the weekly Nebraska Monday’s jazz series hosted by Ross Hammond. Our spong cycle Flower Futures should be an interesting contrast.

Sacramento may be a bit of a distance for a Monday night show, but there is no way I could turn up playing at a place called “Luna’s Cafe”!

Weekend Cat Blogging #269: Entropy

Another weekend has arrived, and with it Weekend Cat Blogging.

Here we see Luna in the studio in an embarrassing state of disarray. July was a rather busy month – actually most of them are, but this one was a bit different. Between the Outsound Music Summit and all of the associated rehearsals, the various photo shoots and my new job that started last week, there hasn’t been a lot of time for much else. In particular, the studio has a victim of entropy with a lot of equipment being moved out of place for use in shows (like the keyboard and cables) or to make way for new items (the E-MU modules in the back of the picture are being moved because the space is being taken up by the new Pro Tools HD system, but I need them still to be easily accessible). And then there is the never ending torrent of paper. Some of it useful, like the scores from Reconnaissance Fly, the Cardew Choir and Conduct Your Own Orchestra night that can be seen behind Luna. Others, like just about any piece of paper sent by any financial institution, are mostly useless. But they accumulate as one sorts them out.

The new job has also meant less time at home, and less time with Luna. I suspect she spends a fair amount of our time apart napping. It is a moment to reflect on the month that has past, and how it was a chance to focus on things that were of particular importance – my cat, music, art, city life, friends. Hopefully, after the initial change and chaos, things will be begin to come back into balance.

We have also been tardy is visiting our fellow WCB participants over the past couple weeks, and will do our best to make up for that this month.

As for today, we have to start cleaning up a bit.

Weekend Cat Blogging #269 is hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes, with a nice photo of Smudge in the yard.

Carnival of the Cats #333 will be up this Sunday at One Cats Nip.

The monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be at Mind of Mog.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #268

I had no idea what to post for Weekend Cat Blogging (I have been so focused on the performances, rehearsals and other goings on).  But while sitting on the patio this morning, I saw Luna looking up at something, and managed to get a few good pictures.  Here is one.  It is definitely worth doing the “click to enlarge” thing:

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I have no idea what she was looking at.

Yesterday on a whim I tried out the HD video feature on my camera – this camera is for still photography, so the video feature was mostly coincidental – and caught a bit of Luna scampering about.  You can hear her give one little squeak early in the video.

Behold the power of HD video to use up hundreds of megabytes of slightly shaky and blurry motion!  Also, as this an impromptu recording, the house is in the middle of normal daily use, with cat toys and the incongruous bright blue yoga mat spread out in our usually clean living room.  (Actually, the cat toys are usually scattered about.)

While on one of my long urban walks yesterday, I saw one of the mobile adoption stations set up by the San Francisco SPCA.  This one was along the Embarcadero, near the Gap company headquarters.  Lots of kittens, mostly curled up for an afternoon nap.  We certainly hope they find good homes.  The mobile adoption stations are out regularly in the summer, so if you’re in San Francisco downtown, check out their schedule and stop by.

Weekend Cat Blogging #268 is hosted by Nikita and Elvira (the new edition to their household) at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted tomorrow by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.