From our friend Eric Pochesci of Polynominal, some more pictures of Mimi, this time with a Sequential Drumtraks:
I also thought this was a great sepia-tone photo, and quite well posed with Mimi pushing one of the buttons. Look for more of Mimi in the next few days.
We would like to remind readers that they can always submit your own cat-and-synthesizer or cat-and-music pictures via facebook, twitter @catsynth, or using our handy submission form.
This is a vintage late-1970s Yamaha electric organ that I played at a jam session yesterday evening. I am not sure of the exact model, but I think is a B40 from 1977.
Organs can be a bit of a challenge to play if one is trained on piano and synthesizer. Basically, I just try to find a few settings that work and stick with them. Nonetheless, it was a good session, with talented drummers including one out-of-town visitor. The only harmonic instruments were organ and bass guitar, so essentially we were just a giant rhythm section. And we were able to get some interesting rhythms, including a 6/4 version of John Coltraine’s Equinox, and an extended minor blues that moved freely among different rhythmic styles and pulses while maintaining a beat.
It was a rather intense week here, with the San Francisco Giants victory, the elections, and the backdrop of exceptionally warm weather in November! It was hot and humid, and even stayed warm enough at night to spend time outdoors. For Luna, the heat means stretching out, relaxing, and waiting for things to cool down.
I quite enjoy the heat – especially the rare treat of a warm night – but Luna clearly does not. I left the ceiling fans running for her, and a cold towel. The weather has cooled down quite a bit this weekend. And the energy of the city will hopefully start to return to normal as well.
Weekend Cat Blogging #283 is hosted by Patchouli and Pam at sidewalk shoes.
Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Meowza at iMeowza
The monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is hosted by Nikita at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.
And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.
We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #282: Hallowe’en Black Edition. It has become a bit of a tradition for us to host every year and celebrate black cats.
There is no shortage of symbolism linking black cats and Hallowe’en, in cards and signs, trinkets and decorations.
There is also no shortage of discussion about the treatment of black cats around this time of year, and many animal shelters continue to suspend adoptions of black cats around Hallowe’en, or during the entire month of October. The concern that seems to have the most credibility is that of people adopting black cats as “living decorations” for holiday, and then bringing them back to the shelter afterwards. From a recent article on Catster:
“There’s really no documentation that shows any cruelty,” said Stephen Wright, a spokesman for the Naples Humane Society. “We pretty much think it’s an urban legend.”…However, “we screen people really well, especially around Halloween when it comes to black cats, to see if they really want a cat or just a decoration,” Wright said.
Personally, I would worry much about “ritualistic cruelty”, which seems as much myth and stereotype of some people’s beliefs as those surrounding black cats themselves. But I would be concerned about pranks or impulsive acts. The image of an adolescent boy harming a cat around Hallowe’en to impress his peers seems all too real to me.
So let us keep our cats safely indoors this holiday season, and focus on celebration and love. Black is beautiful!
And without further ado, let us get on with the WCB round-up. If you would like to join us, please leave a comment below, or tweet us @catsynth with the hash tag #weekendcatblogging. We would of course love to have lots of fellow black cats join us, but all felines are welcome!
Another tradition of Hallowe’en is pumpkin displays, and Nikita Cat presents street scenes featuring cats and pumpkins, in southern California.
He also explains that the penchant for scary stories cuts across species.
Over at House Panthers, Tillie would like to wish a Happy Hallowe’en to all the black cats (and everyone else). Those are some very impressive teeth!
Meanwhile, Tillie’s brother Mickey is also celebrating Hallowe’en, and his anniversary with Misses Peach. He is will be going out this year as “Count Mickula”. (Of course, we mean “going out” in a staying-safe-indoors sort of way.) He and the rest of his family have this nice card for the holiday, and we of course appreciate the musical theme.
More costume fun with Samantha, Clementine and Maverick. They all seem quite patient in posing for their official photos, we hope they got lots of treats.
Earnie of the Island Cats wishes everyone a Happy Hallowe’en via his special laser-eye messaging technique:
Jules, Vincent and Judi also wish everyone a Happy Hallowe’en, and have offered this beautiful and stylized portrait:
Meanwhile, EJ had a harrowing Hallowe’en at The Chair Speaks as one of the rescue cats had a scary complication from an old operation.
Noll offers up a Hallowe’en-themed Smilebox for everyone to enjoy. Among the featured photos is one of Noll’s cousin Gizmo “getting his spooky on”.
We always enjoy hearing from other cats named Luna, and here we see Luna T. Katt modeling a pumpkin costume (and not looking particularly pleased about it):
And finally, the cats at PAWS want to wish everyone happy and safe Hallowe’en!
Thanks to everyone who submitted this weekend! We will continue to post updates throughout the day and into early Monday, so there is still time to join us.
And while this may nothing to do with cats or holiday per se, it is still the first time that the orange and black of the San Francisco Giants has been represented on Hallowe’en! Here’s to hoping that our neighbors (literally) win tonight and ultimately win the series in November!
From tedjames on flickr, via matrixsynth:
Also, check out this detail of the MonoRocket case itself:
I will get a modular system one of these days…
The theme for this week’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt is ORANGE. So here is a series of photos in which Luna encounters our large stuffed fish, appropriately named “Big Fishy”.
For the last couple of years, Big Fishy has mostly been in the closet (no pun intended). But we took the opportunity to bring him out for this week’s theme. It may not be the most seasonal interpretation of orange, but we do have a black cat.
It also occurs to me that yesterday’s photo also fits today’s orange theme.
Weekend Cat Blogging #281 is hosted by Nikita and Elivra at Meowsing of an Opinionated Pussycat. Check out their latest “street scenes” of cats from their neighborhood in southern California.
And the Weekend Cat Blogging Hallowe’en Edition will be hosted right here at CatSynth next weekend!
Photo Hunt #236 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is orange.
The Carnival of the Cats is hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome.
And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.
From The B-Roll, via matrixsynth. The first link takes you to an article about Press Cafe, an application by Stretta for the monome.org; and a larger version of the picture.
This definitely reflects how I am feeling as this week draws to a close.
