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CatSynth pic: Moogy

From our friends at matrixsynth, here is Moogy the moggy!

Moogy is actually the feline companion of Corky Burger. You can hear a “collaboration” of theirs entitled Moogy Boogie. Apparently Moogy enjoys hiding in the gaps between analog synth modules. I hesitate to think what would happen if Hercules attempted to fit in there.

Matrix had been campaigning for Moogy to win a contest featuring cute animals with electronic gadgets. She definitely got my vote. Unfortunately, the contest is now over and it appears that Moogy lost out to a chinchilla. We will have to launch a better coordinated campaign next time…





Fat Cat in the News


All I can say is, “man, that it one fat cat!”
He has actually made quite a name for himself since getting stuck in a dog door while scavenging for food. The owners of the garage (and the food) were hoping to catch the culprit but did not necessarily expect the 20 lb “Goliath,” as he became known at the Oregon Humane Society, where he was taken after being freed from his little predicament.

You can watch a video of “Goliath”, whose actual name is Hercules, below.

Happily, Hercules was reunited with his family – you can see a nice picture of him and his human by following the link. One sad note to the story, however, is that Hercules was diagnosed as having FIV (feline immunodeficiency, similar to HIV for humans). But that should not stop him from returning home to lead a happy and contented (very contented, it seems) life.

Cute as such a fat cat might be, pet obesity is increasing in the U.S., similar to the obesity epidemic among humans, and can carry many of the equivalent health risks. Fortunately, Luna and I have both managed to avoid this trend so far – we are both naturally quite thin. Here are some resources for those who are interested or concerned with issues of obesity in their feline friends:

OBESITY IN CATS at the pet center
catnutrition.org




Weekend Cat Blogging 84: brrrrrrrrr!

It's been a rather cold few days here in California. We woke up to near freezing temperaturs here on the central coast:

Luna and I share not only black fur and slim physique, but also an intense dislike of the cold, so we've been doing our best to keep warm. The heat has been running full blast, and Luna once again spends much time resting on the glass table above the heat:

Of course, readers of the forum have seen Luna pose in the same spot before on cold days. I love the way she dangles her paw over the edge in the photo, though.

Meanwhile, it's party time with Upsie and Sher, who are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #84. Another thing both Luna and I share is a fondness for fish, and that ahi tuna suhi is looking mighty tasty…






Weekend Cat Blogging #83: Luna New Year

New year, new kitty photos:

Luna poses elegently on her “purr pad” on New Year's Day.

This weekend's round is being hosted by…well, actually, it's not quite clear who if anyone is scheduled to host this weekend.

So…we at CatSynth will take the initiative and present the Provisional Weekend Cat Blogging Roundup!

First off, we have the lovely white Skeeter, a recent and welcome arrival to kitikata-san's neighborhood. Pretty kitty, it's like someone used the “invert” command on Luna.

Bowser loves cuddles up at a cat in the kitchen. Who doesn't love to cuddle up? Also, Bowser is an uncle because…

…over at annesfood, Glinda just gave birth to four beautiful kittens! Check out the newborn pics, and congrats to Glinda and Anne.

More snuggliness at kitchenmage. We agree that there's nothing better when it's cold and rainy outside.

If it's action you're looking for instead of hibernation, check out the climbing antics of the Spice Cats over at Just Sharlene.

Meanwhile, Tigakat Cleo wakes up from her nap and is ready to socialize.

That looks like it for WCB83, the first of 2007.

We do have some volunteers and a new 2007 schedule (not counting this weekend) at the Cat Blogosphere. Thanks to our friends at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats.






Weekend Cat Blogging #81: A CatSynth Channukah

Here at CatSynth we get into the holiday spirit with the traditional lighting of the channukah candles in our not-so-traditional music-inspired menorah:

The astute observer might see Luna in the background of the photo above. She keeps a good distance from the candles, as is appropriate. However, we'd like to remind everyone not to take any chances with candles this holiday season, especially with animal friends. Please make sure all candles are lit on safe, non-flammable surfaces (such as granite) and observed at all times.

For safer holiday kitty fun, Luna got some new toys in the appropriate blue and silver colors:

Not exactly a dreidel, but still fun!

Our family has a tradition in which we try to guess which candle is going to last the longest. In the photo below, the likely candidate is number six (third from the right, the center candle doesn't get numbered).

Sure enough, in the end the sixth candle was the last one alight. Watching the candles go out is fascinating. The flame dims to just a point, then sometimes flares up again in a last push before flickering and going out in a beautiful puff of smoke.

Hmm, this is starting to sound a little depressing, isn't it? Better hop over Tiggy the Tiny Tiger for some more feline holiday cheer!

Catsynth pic: actual cat with Octave CAT… and Kitten in Emulator X

Well, here's another cat sitting next to an Octave CAT – wonder why that comes up so much.

Actually I am quite interested in the Octave CAT and Kitten synths, I'm trying (yet again) to bid on one on eBay.

In the meantime, I have been trying several methods to emulate them, including building an Emulator X patch. The Kitten is definitely more feasible because it only has one oscillator and thus no FM – FM is nearly impossible to do on the Emulator platform. However, I did one out of MIDI controllers. So the end result is a “Kitten lite” that contains all the oscillator waveforms (Saw, Triangle and Square/PWM), the two independent sub-octave waveforms, square and sine LFOs, filter with realtime cutoff and Q and envelope mod, and of course ADSR envelope.

While not a real Octave Kitten, it's a nice little playable instrument.





Weekend Cat Blogging #74: Preparing for New Orleans radio performance

Lali at Lali et Cie is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging soixante-dix quatre (I never could get the hang of French numbers). And how appropriate to be blogging this weekend from one of America's great cities with French heritage, New Orleans. I am here attending the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), and will be performing a piece live on local public radio WTUL FM. For anyone interested in listening in, it will be streaming live online, next Friday at 1PM CST US (check out my main site for more info.

Needless to say, I've been scrambling a bit to get ready for the trip in general, and the performance in particular. I'll post more about the music and technology later this weekend, but for now it's enough to appreciate that Luna has been keeping me company in the studio as I work out some nasty bugs in the software for the piece:

She seems to enjoy sitting on my lap while I work. And it's great to have her sharing in some small part of the creative process.

I think this closeup qualifies as a “catsynth pic.” Luna poses with laptop, E-MU Xboard, E-MU Vintage Pro and circuit-bent VTech toy phone.

In my absence, Luna is being well cared for courtesy of Ronni West's Happy At Home Cat Sitting.

Halloween Weekend Cat Blogging: Black Cat Appreciation

This special Halloween edition of Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted by Linda and Aggie over at kayaksoup. It is a lovely warm sunny October afternoon here on the left coast, and Luna has some lovely harvest-themed pictures to share:

Here Luna obliges us with the traditional Halloween pose:

Sadly, Halloween can be a difficult time for cats in the United States, especially black kitties. The image of the black cat as “bad luck” or witches' familiars permeate folklore as well as the pop culture and commerce surrounding Halloween. Ritual sacrifice and harm to black cats is largely documented to be an urban legend, but the fiction can influence kids. Indeed, animal killing and abuse does rise around halloween mostly because of “poorly-behaved kids” influenced by the folk and popular images:

Far too often, the animals are tortured and sacrificed during pseudo satanic-based rituals.

“But not by the real religious satanic groups,” [Lillian Dubois-Tercero, president and executive director of Arizona Pet Line] stressed. “They don't sacrifice cats and dogs. It's the idiot juveniles (who are) responsible who don't know what they're doing.”

This is one reason why many shelters control (or ban) adoptions of black cats in the weeks leading up to and immediately after Halloween. However, shelters are trying to minimize another problem faced by black cats around Halloween – people “adopting” them as living decorations, trying to go one better than the ubiquitous paper cutouts. Even if not specifically “hurt,” many of these cats are apparently returned to the shelters after Halloween. Such “shelter whiplash” can be traumatic, and if I were a cat I would lose some of my trust in humans.

About.com has an excellent article on The Perils of Halloween for Black Cats. We join the author in dubbing October as Black Cat Appreciation Month. Of course, here at CatSynth every day is Black Cat Appreciation Day.

So be kind to kitties you meet these week, and keep your own feline companions indoors. Might want to keep an eye on some of those kids, too…

UPDATE (Oct 29): AP has an article today entitled “Black cat adoptions banned on Halloween”, which discusses both the practice as well as potential downsides for already stigmatized black cats:

Janet, a black cat up for adoption, pauses on a wall ledge at the Kootenai Humane Society, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006, in Hayden, Idaho. The Kootenai Humane Society is prohibiting all black cat adoptions from mid-October to Nov. 2, fearing the ebony animals could be mistreated as a Halloween prank, or worse, be used in a satanic sacrifice. (AP Photo/ Kirk Mastin)

Doesn't Janet look a lot like Luna? Such a sweet face…








Weekend Cat Blogging #72: The furry encounter

Jelly and Kamikazee over at I got Two Shoes host this weekend's roundup. Uncle Kamikazee is up to his old antics again.

We had our own little drama here earlier. Luna was looking out one of her favorite windows here in the studio when one of our neighbors showed up:

This tuxedo kitty has been in the neighborhood a lot longer than I have, and, well, he thinks he owns the place. That being said, Luna has her own claims to the view out the window, and attempts to let him know who's the queen of this domain. She has a unique sound she uses for encounters with other felines, as can be heard in this Catster video:



This is as good a time as any to let folks know that Luna has her own profile and blog at Catster, where you can read about this episode from her perspective and watch Furry Encounter Part 2.