Luna

Bloggers Choice Award Nominations

Well, it looks like we've been nominated for Blogger's Choice Awards in three categories:

My site was nominated for Best Geek Blog!

My site was nominated for Best Animal Blogger!

My site was nominated for Best Blog About Stuff!

Of course, half of all the sites I visit these days are nominated for Blogger's Choice Awards. But nonetheless, we at CatSynth ask for your support, if nothing else it's a bit of fun. I think our best chance is in the Geek Blog category. In the Animal Blogger category, there's very little chance of competing with sites like Cute Overload, dailykitten or the lolcats.

From the nominating statement:

“cats, synthesizers, music, art, opinion” Yes, it's a blog about cats and synths, a strange combination that seems to work. Lots of cute photos of cats posing with, and occasionally playing, music gear. Also features frequent appearances by the lovely black kitty Luna, pretty much the *star* of the site. This site is quite informative, in terms of various global issues, such as pet food recalls, interesting stats of highways, information about people and places (ie New Orleans). This website has many visitors, especially kitty lovers and those people who like music and synthesizers as well. It's got class, it's got variety, best of all, it's got kitties!

I'm glad someone out there appreciates my “highways” posts.

Weekend Cat Blogging #98: Endangered Wild Cats on "erf day"

On this Earth Day (or as Luna might say, “erfday”), we turn our attention to the big world outside the window.

Climate change is of course the big issue this Earth Day, and we encourage everyone to read the stats about climate change published earlier today. For Weeked Cat Blogging, we present some of the world's most endangered wild cats. The Cat Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union maintains information on the status of the 36 species of wild cat. We only have room for a few of them here.

Among the most endangered is the Iberian Lynx. According to IUCN CSG:

The decline of the lynx population since the 1960s has been primarily caused by habitat loss and a decline of their main prey species, the European rabbit…Nevertheless, there are some areas where habitat quality and rabbit density appear sufficient, yet no lynx are found. Particularly in these areas, it seems that humans are directly responsible for an appreciable level of lynx mortality (Delibes 1989).

Certainly, the policy of Fascist-era Spain of paying a bounty for killing lynxes didn't help. As if there weren't already enough resons to despise fascists.

In the Andes of South America, we find the gato andino or Andean mountain cat. This odd little cat (look at that tail!) is quite rare, living only the high-altitude rocky and semi-arid sections of the Andes. There is not a lot of information known about it, but the low population and specialized habitat would suggest that it is quite vulnerable to climate change.

The U.S. is not without its endangered cats. Perhaps the most endangered is the Florida Panther. Yes, it's not just the name of a hockey team, but a subspecies of cougar that were almost wiped out by development and bounty hunters, and now the few remaining panthers live in southwest Florida, one of the areas of the U.S. most threatened by global warming, tropical storms and rising sea levels.

Although Ocelots as a whole are not considered endangered, the subspecies found in Texas is in serious danger, according to the Environmental Defense Fund:

The tiny fraction of ocelot habitat that remains is largely fragmented, leaving most ocelots stranded on the 45,000-acre Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and on a handful of private lands, with very little new habitat for the cats to raise future generations. Because the south Texas ocelots are found in such small and isolated groups, they tend to inbreed, making them increasingly vulnerable to extinction.

There are numerous groups working to protect wild cats from the many threats they face, climate change, habit loss, hunting, etc. The links throughout this article take you various agencies and private groups. Another is the International Society for Endangered Cats. And throughout the U.S., there are wild cat sanctuaries for displaced and/or abused animals.

We are happy to report that felis silvestris domesticus is doing quite well, and you can see many happy examples of this species at Weekend Cat Blogging #98, hosted this week by the three lovely striped kitties at Pet's Garden Blog.












Weekend "CatSynth" Blogging #97: Luna and TX802

Weekend Cat Blogging crosses the CatSynth juggernaut:

Here we see Luna posing next to a Yamaha TX802.

The shine on her fur on this photo looks a lot like the cute black cat Puddy, who is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #97 along Kate at A Byootaful Life.









Weekend Cat Blogging #96: White stripes and more

I quite liked this closeup of Luna with the white stripes. It's actually a color photo, but the subjects and lighting make it appear grayscale.

Zooming out, we can see that Luna is actually tracking a bird outside on the patio.

While Luna continues to enjoy her hunting games through the window, Sundance takes his first trip outside, complete with harness. He is also hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #96 along with Upsie and Sher. Check out their photos and all the other WCB fun when they post the roundup.

Actually, there is one more photo in this series. What is that big bubble-wrap thing behind Luna? It's actually quite appropriate for this forum:

Synthesizer fans might recognize the faint logo of an Octave CAT. It just arrived yesterday, but will remain wrapped until I bring it into the office for a little repair work. I'm sure we'll be seeing a bit more of “Octave The CAT” on these pages in the near future…






Weekend Cat Blogging #94 Roundup

Oy, we're having a hard time getting the roundup out this morning – technical problems. But here we are. Welcome to the big Weekend Cat Blogging #94 roundup!. It's a sleepy foggy morning here on the California coast, but we've got coffee and catnip and some classic 1960s/1970s tunes, and we're ready to go!

First up, we have Taboo trying to get some rest at Jelly Pizza. That seems like a good plan to us. Also, “a shout out to Vinnie and Sam and Mex and Kayla, lonely tonight as pack member Lola awaits possible surgery in the morning at the vet.” Get better soon, Lola!

Only 668 days left…

Over at whatdidyoueat, we got squirrels, courtesy of sher. Ths squirrels are quite cute, but Upsie reminds us they won't be cute forever. Don't worry, Upsie, we still love you!

Kashim and Othello deal with workmen around the house and stressed nerves, but that doesn't mean Othello doesn't have time for a little Olive Ciabatta. Yum!

Over at xenogere, Kazon is doing well today after an upset stomach earlier in the week. “He?s definitely acting like himself again,” and we think he's looking quite handsome, too.

Next we drop in the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats. Mini helps out mom with jewelry, while Boni gets into the nip stash and now looks pretty strung out on the carpet. Reminds me of some of those wild parties we used to have around here…if it was a little later in the day, who knows we might have to join in the fun w/ Boni and Mini…

Meanwhile, China Cat and Willow enjoy springtime in the porch. And who doesn't love springtime on the porch?

At masak-masak, it's all about the action as Fluffy gets ready to sharpen her claws on the palm tree. Yes, she gets her own palm tree. Things aren't quite as happy for the “boy cat [who] had to take his medicine.” We hope he gets better soon.

It's fun and games with Kate in the Kitchen and Busopher and Harmon. Can you see the cats in this picture? They look way too innocent in that photo, something must be going down…

A wonderfull photograph of Tess in the afternoon sun awaits at The Hidden Paw. Very well done!

A special exclusive this week as Cato meets the Great White Hope of Fatah al Felidae. I think this is one of those moments when we need to say “the opinions expressed here do not reflect the opinions of CatSynth.com, its staff or sponsors.” I have enough trouble at the airports as it is ;-).

We make a new friend this weekend: Nitro from meowers from missouri. Read as he defends himself on 13 points. From what, we can only imagine…

It's Toes Woes weekend at Artsy Catsy, where a very contrite-looking Rocky begs forgiveness for dislocating a toe of his human-artist Suzanne.

Of course, the pet-food poison scare continues to concern many of us. Chuysuli has written an open letter to the makers of some popular pet-food brands.

Tatts is looking really comfy over at the BeesHIVE. I love to see cats rolling around on the sidewalk like that when I'm out on one of my walks…

Over at Rosa's Yummy Yums, the photogenic Fridolin is emperor of his domain, at least of his cat tree…

At music and cats, there's no question of who was the alpha kitten. Now that the kitties are all grown up, though, it seems like Sergei is still the “alpha kitten.” Some things never change.

Bienvenue to a new friend from France! Moon plays chat et souris. Hey, we have both a Moon and a Luna this weekend.

It's a lazy Sunday over at Pet's Garden. Whoa, am I seeing triple? Or is just some of Boni's catnip for H(M)BC?

Laziness seems to be in abundance this Sunday, for humans and felines alike at kross-eyed kitty. We, too, know the joy of a shared nap together.

Baci gets to celebrate his very first spring over at fourfurrycats. And what better way to celebrate the arrive of spring than with some fine BBQ? That steak is looking pretty tasty… White wine doesn't quite pair with steak, but this label is still apropos.

The title says it all at Restaurant Widow: You can't look at this picture without being filled with joy. Go take a look, and you won't be able to deny it. Those are some amazing little blue eyes…

It's the battle of the fuzziest as wetseringhills. It's pretty much a toss-up, but I think Luna and I could give Barrett and Colin a good challenge in the fur department.

We'll keep posting to the roundup throughout the weekend (as long as we can get ourselves up off our comfy surfaces), so keep those posts coming!





Weekend Cat Blogging #93: Emerald Eyes at Rest

We at CatSynth started this weekend a day early. Luna can be seen in restful repose Friday afternoon:

Would that every Friday was like this one…

For those who observe St. Patrick's Day today, what better than a lovely pair of emerald eyes?

Over at I Got Two Shoes, host Kamikazee is decked out in his green finery. Check out the WCB cats enjoying either St. Patrick's Day or just another fine weekend.

And don't forget, WCB 94 will be hosted right here at CatSynth!







Weekend Cat Blogging #92

For WCB 92 this weekend, we dig back into the archive. Here we see a seemingly erudite Luna catching up on some reading during a cold, rainy weekend back in February.

Metamagical Themas is quite a heavy tome for most humans, let alone cats. I suppose Luna is reminding me that I was going to post several more articles related to Hofstadter's writings. She also has a copy of the Yale alumni magazine and some modern furniture catalogs to keep her busy.

While we at CatSynth wax a little bookish, feats of athletics abound at whatdidyoueat, where Sundance and a rather fluffy Upsie do battle, all in good fun, of course. They also happen to be hosting this weekend. Go check out the other kitties in various states of activity, or lack thereof…





Weekend Cat Blogging #91: Enjoying the outdoors from indoors

Just a nice quiet day for us here at CatSynth to relax and do, well, not much of anything, except of course taking photos and videos and posting them on Weekend Cat Blogging.

Here, Luna gets comfy near the glass doors downstairs:

This week, we also have some Catster videos to share. Hear Luna's cute “hunting noises” and watch her tail go and she enjoys her favorite view out the bedroom window:

Videos, Movies, Pet Profiles, Catster

Another video from today over at Catster has Luna responding loudly to getting pet while surveying her domain…

Hehehe…let's crack open a window!

Click on the image above to enlarge, you can see another kitty outside (you can be sure that Luna sees him, too).

The big WCB roundup is being hosted over at champaign taste, where Louis' enjoyment of the outdoors turned into a scary “Lost Cat” story for a day. Thankfully, he returned in the evening and everything is fine. We're glad the Louis made it home safely. Go read his story and check out the other kitties this weekend.