bernie sanders

Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam: Studio in the Studio…

I have been spending a lot of time at the main software-development and video workstation of late.  As we have seen before, Sam Sam loves to drop by and say hi.

Sam Sam saying hi in the studio

She seems to really like the open shelves as much as I do.

As one can see, cat decor abounds in the studio.  But we also have some other items on display in these shelves.

Sam Sam enjoys peeking through the shelves

On the left (of course) is a Bernie Sanders action figure, made by Brooklyn-based FCTRY, as well as a signed card from the 1990s when we still just Vermont’s representative.   And to the right of Bernie is our Lego recording studio.

Bernie and Lego Studio

The studio is from a series of Lego kits specifically aimed at young women, and I loved the idea of having a “studio in the studio.”  It’s great the engineer is a woman, but we thought it needed one more addition.

Black cat in Lego studio

Yes, that’s a little Lego black cat!  A tribute to Luna, whom we still miss dearly. 💜

Apparently, even Lego cats shed.  But our life-size studio tends to be entropy-prone as well, especially before and after live shows.   It definitely needs another clean-up…but first we have a lot of creative projects ahead this weekend.  We hope you all have a happy and productive weekend as well.

Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam: Exploring the Modular and Roland JP-08

Sam Sam checking out the next studio setup

Sometimes Sam Sam ends up in CatSynth pics of her own, as when she recently got up to explore the redesigned studio space.  She is fascinated by the new decorative shelves as well as the narrow band between the video/office corner and the modular synth.

Perhaps she is picking up some scents on the modular case from our recent live performances.

I have been having a lot of fun in the studio lately, especially making videos and exploring our synthesizer collection in greater depth.  I really should be working on some more formal compositions, but it seems I am in more of experimenting and exploratory mood at the moment.  I have also, unfortunately, been battling insomnia.  It ebbs and flows, and on the worst night (about a week ago), I decided to sit up for a while and play with the Roland JP-08 boutique synth.

Sam Sam and the Roland JP-08

The size is actually ideal for playing in bed late at night.  I spent some time exploring the architecture (it’s basically a Jupiter 8 with a few extensions) and came up with some new and unusual patches.  We hope to share them with you in an upcoming CatSynth TV.

 

Vermont congressman leads run for Senate

From an AP article today:

BURLINGTON, Vt. – For three decades, Rep. Bernie Sanders has been a party of one, an avowed socialist who rails against corporate America, Republicans, Democrats and all those he believes fail the poor and working families. Now 65, the Brooklyn-born independent and his crusade could end up in the Senate.

It's great to see Bernie Sanders succeeding in his Senate bid. I had the opportunity to meet him while I was at Yale, during a private dinner before his appearance at the Yale Political Union. I got to attend because I was the organization's secretary at the time, basically a glorified stenographer. But I did often lace minutes with my dry humor, a practice that annoyed more uptight members. I did send a copy of the minutes from the meeting Sanders attended to his congressional office, and got both a letter and phone response saying he got a kick of the transcripts. The humor and style was really a New York thing that people like Sanders can appreciate and others, well, appreciate a bit less. From the same AP article, consider this comment from one of Sanders' critics about his style:

Part of it is just his mannerisms and his Brooklyn accent and his kind of loud reaction to things,” said Sara Gear Boyd of Burlington, Vermont's longtime Republican national committeewoman. “He's always kind of in-your-face with his reactions. Then, philosophically, he's worlds apart from the way most Republicans think. His solutions are truly much more socialistic, and that just kind of grates.”

Let's see, loud, Brooklyn, “socialistic”(sp)…hey, what's not to like?