CATSYNTH

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Tag: cat

  • CatSynth pic: Didier (black cat), Roland and Accordion

    Submitted by pete nelson of No Percussion No Explosion:

    Pic is of didier ignoring juno 60 in favour of childrens accordion

    Didier reminds me a bit of Luna. What do you think?






  • Weekend Cat Blogging #107: Peek-a-boo and Stray Cats

    WCB 107 is being hosted this weekend at ScamperDude.com, where Scampy is playing both Rock Star and Super Hero.

    Luna has some antics of her own, ratcheting things up in our regular hide-and-seek games:

    I noticed that that Luna's eyes appear yellow instead of green in this an many other photos taken in the more earth-tone bedroom. Regular fans of Luna know that she has unusually green eyes for a black short-hair cat.

    Her antics and affections have been quite welcome of late, it seems like a bit of a melancholy week despite the beginning of summer, and the brightness and warmth in abundance.

    On a recent series of morning walks I saw several cats, most of whom were probably strays, like this rather thin character with a striking coat and photogenic appearance:

    He/she was one of several cats taking up residence in the large vacant trying separating a large residential neighborhood (my neighborhood, actually), from a Safeway parking lot and strip mall. I hope they get enough to eat.

    A few weeks ago, I stopped at the semi-annual rummage sale for one of the main local groups that helps stray cats in our community, Project Purr.

    Picked up a few books while I was there, some summer reading. I was mildly tempted by a full set of “Left Behind” paperbacks, but thought better of it.

    Also check out Friday Ark #144 (Saturday is the new Friday), and of course Carnival of the Cats.

  • CatSynth pic: lissajous (chaos link)

    Via matrixsynth:

    Originally from gerald:

    My cat loves the Lissajous this thing generates

    So what is a “Lissajous”? it is actually short for Lissajous curves or Lissajous figures, a class of 2D (and 3D) curves describing complex harmonic functions, or more simply multi-dimensional sine curves. The following equations describe a general Lissajous curve on an x-y coordinate plane:

    x = A sin(at + φ)
    y = B sin(bt)

    Most of the time, one leaves out the A and B, which case all the curves fall on a convenient unit square.

    The most commonly described Lissajous curves set the phase term φ to π/2, i.e., a standard cosine function, and have a and b at integer ratios, like 1:2, 6:5, etc. You can think of these as natural harmonics, like in musical sounds. You can see a few of the graphs below, first for a=1 and b=2:

    Here are 3:2 (a:b), and 9:8, respectively:

    As you can see, the higher the ratio, the more complex and dense the figure. If you add all the figures up together, you should be able to fill the entire unit square.

    There are all sorts of interesting special cases. For example, if you set a and b equal, you will get a circle. If you additionally set the φ to zero, you will get a straight line. Finally, you can mess with different values of φ, like 0.3 in the first drawing below, or set a and b to non-integer values, to get all sorts of interesting variations:

    It is interesting to think about these sorts of functions by relating them both visually and aurally (i.e., synthesizing the corresponding waveforms), but we will leave that as an exercise for interested readers, perhaps returning to the topic in a future article.






    Trying a little experiment. Trackposted to Gone Hollywood, Conservative Cat, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, and The Pet Haven Blog, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe. The links here and in the trackbacks do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this site or its contributors.

  • Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program

    Speaking of Mingus and cats, I might as well post this surprising article from the legendary Jazz bassist himself. Here is the Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program. It ends with the following:

    It took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, Nightlife. Most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. Do it very slowly and don't confuse him. And, remember, once the box is on the toilet, leave it a week or even two. The main thing to remember is not to rush or confuse him.

    Good luck. Charles Mingus

    Yes, I wasn't sure this was for real, either, but it does appear on an official site that includes information about the Mingus Bands as well as the life and activities of his wife Sue Mingus following his death in 1979.

    As one other bookmark on del.icio.us states, “I respect Mingus even more now.”

  • CatSynth Pic: Hey Diddle Diddle Goes Techno

    From Stephan71 at flickr:

    One day I caught Mingus stomping on various keys of the keyboard I had left on the floor. Funny thing, Mingus was named after Charles Mingus, the jazz bass player. I didn't bother to look what patch he had punched in on the synthesizer, whether it was set to “bass” or “fiddle”. He does also have a Beethovenesque look on this pose, doesn't he? Who knows…

    Doesn't Mingus look a bit like Luna?

  • Jezebel is home!

    Good news! Jezebel has returned home. We at CatSynth are delighted at this news.

    We know that so many lost-cat stories don't end so well. There are currently at least two or three sets of lost-cat posters in my neighborhood. We hope they all come home.

  • CatSynth pics: more Daphne

    Remember Daphne, who “loves bleepy sounds”? Well, she's back with some more photos from sushiluv.

    First, via matrixsynth, here she is w/ a Moog:

    And doing some “Fat Cat Beats” with an Akai box:

  • Jezebel is missing.

    As if our friends Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats didn't have enough to go through already, Jezebel has gone missing.

    Jezebel is tortie cat that Megan rescued several years ago after being thrown out the window of a moving car onto a highway. This isn't the first time we've encountered this phenomenon, remember Bruno, the “LBK”? It's hard to comprehend why someone would do that – it is just pure cruelty. Fortunately, Jezebel was recused and found a loving home with Megan and family. We hope she comes home soon.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #105, Part 2 – Gotcha Day (June 10)

    Today we celebrate the second anniversary of “Gotcha Day”, the day that Luna was adopted. Please see Part 1, with photos from Luna's first day in her new home two years ago.

    Well, she's all grown up now, and sitting at the bar ready to celebrate:

    Besides getting to eat at the bar, which is generally verboten, we have a special culinary treat for the occasion. Who needs cheezburger when you can has ahi tuna sashimi?

    Luna was definitely interested in checking out the fishy goodness, but after a few sniffs, licks and nibbles she lost interest. One thing about Luna is that she is a very picky eater. So its a lot like taking a kid to a fancy restaurant for something special, only to have him/her insist on their favorite comfort foods like macaroni and cheese. Fortunately, I love tuna sashimi and helped myself to all but three of her pieces, which I let her keep for later.

    Luna could probably learn a thing or two about the pleasures of fresh raw tuna from Upsie, who is again hosting hosting WCB again along with sher. Update: you can see the big WCB roundup here.

    Of course, we all still love Luna even if she is a picky eater…




    hey, Luna Tuna, that rhymes!

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #105, Part 1 – Gotcha Day (June 10)

    “Gotcha Day” is the day a feline companion is adopted, a fact that we at CatSynth did not know before last week, when we helped celebrate multiple Gotcha Days for fellow cat bloggers during WCB 104.

    Well this weekend is Luna's Gotcha Day, also known around here as the “Lunaversary.” I adopted Luna from the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter on June 10, 2005. She was 7 months old at the time. Here are a couple of many photos I took that day:

    Luna was quick to come out an explore her new surroundings, which was for the first evening limited to the bathroom. She quickly gravitated towards the softest object in the room and started kneading and purring, a habit she retains to this day.

    Of course, the kitty bed has been largely ignored since she discovered my bed, where she often kneads a little nest and beds down for a nap.

    It's interesting to look back and see how she's grown in the last two years.

    The festivities for “Gotcha Day”, such as they are, will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm sure our friends Sher and Upsie will indulge us in a two-part Weekend Cat Blogging for the occasion. In the meantime, visit them for WCB 105, complete with squirrels. Update: you can see the big WCB roundup here.