CATSYNTH

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Tag: black cat

  • Black Cat Appreciation Day

    Today, August 17 is officially Black Cat Appreciation Day. Of course, that could apply to any day here at CatSynth.

    luna_sphynxing_c

    My black cat Luna, who was originally adopted from a shelter, certainly gets a lot of appreciation and love.

    luna_emerald_eyes_c

    Black cats are sleek and gorgeous. And I have often found them to be among the most sweet and affectionate of cats. Luna is no exception on either front.

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    Sadly, black cats are still among the last to be adopted from shelters in the United States. Whether it’s lingering superstition or plain bias is hard to say. I see way too many heartbreaking stories of abandoned black cats in kill shelters reaching the end of their time. Black Cat Appreciation Day is an effort to highlight the plight of black shelter cats but also to celebrate them as wondrous companions. This video, from the Meadow Lake Humane Society of Saskatchewan, Canada, always gets to me:

    There are numerous local groups on Facebook and elsewhere dedicated to helping black cats, and I encourage interested readers to check them out.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Napping near the Artwork

    Luna napping next to the art

    Cats always find interesting places to nap. For Luna, that sometimes means next to the standing artwork. We have quite a few free-standing 3D pieces in the collection at CatSynth HQ.

    Luna will probably be napping quite a bit this weekend, as I will be spending most of it in the studio with Reconnaissance Fly as complete the final mixes for our upcoming album. In the evenings, I will be back here to work on a completely different musical project, my electronic solo show in Portland next Saturday. But Luna gets to sit in and supervise that one.

    Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Samantha, Clementine and Maverick.

    And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

  • CatSynth video: Daft Punk – Cat Lucky

    Only vaguely synth-related, but it was too cute and too catchy to pass up:

    video by Enjoykin, via laughinquid:

    “Cat Lucky” is a meow-filled tribute music video to Daft Punk’s popular song “Get Lucky.”

  • Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna

    Luna sitting

    With the craziness of the Outsound Music Summit and an intense work week behind us, today is about catching up. And that means spending more quality time with Luna, who has been very patient.

    More Summit reviews will be posted in the next few days, and I need to plan for upcoming shows and projects in August. But Luna will see to it that I go at a reasonable pace, with time for togetherness and relaxation.

    I suppose we could use the common cat-blogging title “Easy Like Sunday” for todays post, but for some reason nothing ever feels “easy” even when it is wholly good and rewarding.

    The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted today by our friends Nikita, Elvira and Kiril at The Opinionated Pussycat.

    And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

  • Moog Sub Phatty Including Cat-O-Steel

    steel cat with moog sub phatty

    flickr by Luchs Later, via matrixsynth.

    You can read about my encounter with the Moog Sub Phatty at NAMM here.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Under the Glass

    Luna under the glass

    We’re in the midst of a heatwave in San Francisco, and CatSynth HQ gets exceptionally warm on these days. It’s on warm sunny days like this that Luna is especially of fond of napping underneath glass tables.

    It’s been nice featuring Luna three times in the past week on the blog, but hopefully I will have some time for other posts as well, including getting through the backlog of music and art reviews from the past month or so.

    Carnival of the Cats will be coming to Pet’s Garden Blog this Sunday.

  • Wordless Wednesday: Chrome Jungle Cat

    Wordless Wednesday: Chrome Jungle Cat

    Luna and Chrome

  • Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: The camera that you have

    Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: The camera that you have

    It’s always about the camera that one has on hand, especially with cat portraits that are in the moment. When Luna jumped on my lap for some affection the other day, the only camera I had was the iPad.

    Luna on lap - iPad Photo

    It is lower resolution and optics compared to the iPhone or my DSLR, but pointed correctly it still captures Luna’s features and essence.

    This morning, I happened to have the DSLR on hand, and Luna was quite well posed. So it was time for an impromptu photo shoot.

    Luna closeup portrait

    The photos were a good reminder of what the good camera and lenses can do and the “iThingies” cannot. Here, one can control the optics to get a particularly rich and detailed portrait. Of course, it helps that Luna cooperated by staying relatively still, only moving her head into different poses like a professional model.

    The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

    And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Gotcha Day Report

    As regular readers know, last Monday, June 10, was Luna’s Gotcha Day. Thanks to everyone who sent her warm wishes. She certainly enjoyed her day.

    luna_bluefish_roll_c

    We also made a special dinner that we could share together. These fish cakes, from the book Meow Chow are both quite delicious and safe for cats:

    fishcakes_c

    Luna was quite excited by the aroma of the fish cooking. And then it was time for her to enjoy her share:

    luna_fish_dinner_c

    The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Nikita and Elvira at The Opinionated Pussycat.

    And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

  • Happy Gotcha Day, Luna!

    Happy Gotcha Day, Luna!

    Today, June 10, is the eighth anniversary of Luna’s adoption, otherwise known as her “gotcha day.” We woke up to find this wonderful graphic waiting at The Cat Blogosphere:

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    After eight years, Luna continues to make every day a delight I certainly hope I do the same for her.

    AC and Luna

    We will celebrate this evening, but in the meantime, please join me in wishing Luna a Happy Gotcha Day!