Luna

Weekend Cat Blogging: Chat Noir et Fromage

Our friends at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats are hosting a special food edition of Weekend Cat Blogging, in honor of Sher.

Luna inspects the new poster for our kitchen area:

What could be more appropriate for the kitchen of CatSynth HQ than a chat noir and fromage. Luna certainly bares quite a resemblance to the cat in the poster, including the green eyes. And we have some fromage for today’s post:

The hard cheese on the left from Wensleydale Dairy in the town of Hawes in Yorkshire, UK. The round is a California Crottin, an artisan goat cheese, from Redwood Hill Farm in Sonoma County, just an hour or so up the coast from us.

I did offer Luna a small piece of the Crottin, as she occasionally likes cheese, but more to sniff than to eat. She was far more interested in the wrapping paper from the poster than the fine selection of cheeses:

Check out the other cats and food at Weekend Cat Blogging. Lots of fish for the enjoyment of humans and cats alike.

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is being hosted at The Tuxedo Gang Hideout.

The Carnival of Cats will be hosted this evening by Miz. Mog and Kitties.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.


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.


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!


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 cheese

Roast 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.


Weekend Cat Blogging #163

It’s time for the Weekend Cat Blogging #163 round-up:

Luna will supervise the festivities from one her high perches.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to wish us a happy second anniversary of CatSynth. And with that, let us begin…

Breadchick threw out her back lifting some heavy amplifiers (another reason why we at CatSynth prefer software for our audio work). But fortunately, LB is there to look after his mom. Breadchick is in the pro-audio business, so maybe she will come visit us at CatSynth while recovering for music, audio and feline fun. Oh, and that New England breakfast is looking pretty good this morning…

We move from pro audio to Music and Cats, where Sergei is puzzled by the behavior of his siblings Sasha and Lyra. They have been fighting a bit, and Sergei doesn’t understand why he can’t curl up with them for naps. “Sergei’s a lover, not a fighter, so he gets out of Sasha’s way, and looks to his people for affection.” We at CatSynth wish more humans were like that.

Things are more peaceful at Rosa’s Yummy Yums, where Fridolin has been an angel and doesn’t even mess with Maruschka. “He can be such a loveable cuddly kitty when he is not behaving like an evil little ‘monkey’!“

More feline friendliness can be found at Sammawow, with some great “then and now” photos of China Cat and Willow napping. It is great to have some constants in life, like the setting for these naps, that one can return to for years.

Napping appears to be activity of choice this weekend (and perhaps most weekends). And there is a serious snoozefest at CorgiFeathers featuring Titania and Oberon. A Midsummer’s Night Dream, anyone?

A little more activity can be found with Chica and Pumuckl, who are pretty intent on something on their ceiling. You will have to follow the link to find out what it is…

Our friends at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats share some pictures of the friends (or rather, pikshurs of furrends). There was a little bit of difficulty with a disposable camera, and apparently much cursing (by their mom) as a result. But they still have some great pictures to share.

Our friends Samantha and Tigger are hosting the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos this weekend. The theme is “Christmas in July.” Now if it only it was Channukah in July…

Time for some WCB Apocrypha!

Arthur and the other cats at Gattina’s are mouse hunting. Fun all the whole feline family.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Sunday without Lectionary Readings from LOL Cat Bible.

We were happy to receive wishes from our house-panther friends, including Mickey the Black Cat.

And Mr. Hendrix.

And that concludes the round-up for now. As always, we will continue to post entries as we receive them through Monday morning, so all are still welcome to participate.


CatSynth 2nd Anniversary (and Weekend Cat Blogging)!

July 19 is the Second Anniversary of CatSynth!

And by coincidence, we are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging (really, it is a coincidence). So we invite all our friends to participate and celebrate with us. As always, please leave a comment with your link, and we’ll post it during the roundup later this weekend.

Of course, we must post the photo of Luna that started it all on July 19, 2006:


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and some fun stats for the occasion. Over two years at CatSynth, we have:

657 articles.
2,476 comments.
106,000 visitors.
298 “catsynth pics.”

The latter is using some custom analysis tools I created for the occasion, which also provide the top 33 tags/categories here at CatSynth:

cats 738
synthesizers 444
luna 280
music 169
news 136
wordless wednesday 101
weekend cat blogging 97
wcb 94
art 90
highways 85
personal 79
modernism 54
san francisco 50
stats 39
electronic music 35
experimental 34
carnival of the cats 32
mathematics 29
podcast 29
mp3 28
kitty 27
keyboard 26
friday ark 25
analog 23
photography 22
reviews 22
video 22
cotc 21
black cat 20
cats on tuesday 20
festival 19
california 18
chaos 18

Some tags, such as “photography”, should really be much higher.

Many readers may recall that last year, on our first anniversary, the site went down due to a rather annoying problem with our service provider, and we were sent into exile at the CatSynth FEMA Trailer. So we are leaving an anniversary post at the trailer as well.

A year ago, we at CatSynth had no idea what was going to be in store for us over the next year. A new job, a new home, a new life.

We traded the sun and greenery of our old home:

for our new home:

and life in the big city:

But some things remain the same. Luna, of course, is always here. And our friends and family. And CatSynth!

And we’ll still be here, continuing to do what we always do…

Some other significant milestones this weekend:

The 200th Friday Ark boards this weekend at the modulator.

Our friend Dragonheart is two years old today.

This is week also includes several birthdays for friends, whom we won’t embarrass by announcing their ages on our rather public forum…

It’s only one weekend after the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos first anniversary, so let us include it as well. This weekend’s edition will be at Life from a Cat’s Perspective with Samantha and Tigger.


Weekend Cat Blogging: Another busy weekend

Between rehearsals, work, and social activities, this Sunday morning is our first break at CatSynth for Weekend Cat Blogging. And so we make the most of our time, with photos from the studio:

and downstairs:

Luna had just done something very cute, lifting up the red-and-green mouse-on-the-spring toy with her paw. It’s one of those countless things that just happens – they are not photographed, but just enjoyed in real time, and then recorded in words.

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted by Kate and Puddy from “Puddy’s corner,” which features a scratching post and tunnel, a nice leopard-print house, a chrome light stand, and other sundry items. It looks like a nice spot for a cold Australian winter day.

The next Weekend Cat Blogging will be hosted here at CatSynth!

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos has a new home, which will be hosting the first anniversary edition this weekend. We’re supposed to contribute a “bad thing” that Luna has done. That’s a bit of a challenge, actually.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted today by Kashim and Othello.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator. It’s edition #199!


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.