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Weekend Cat Blogging #88 Round-up!

Luna strikes an elegant pose a la Bast for the big Weekend Cat Blogging 88 Roundup.

We're up bright and early – well, I guess it's about 10:30 and with the rain it isn't all the bright – to get started. Lying on the couch with both Luna and the laptop, we're an all black trio – and there's nothing like a purring cat to put the gloom of this past week into perspective. And between WCB and the RPM challenge, we've got a lot to keep us busy…

…so we better get started. If you want to join in, you can either leave a comment here, on the WCB call, or drop us a note.

First up, we have a blast from the past with Toonces the Driving Cat. This was one of those recurring skits that was funny because it was so obvious, with the same disaster happening over and over again. It's a “laugh at,” more than a “laugh with”.

Turns out Taboo at Jelly Pizza is a distant relative of Toonces. Let's just hope she stays on her royal thrown and doesn't get behind the wheel…

Kitikata-san is looking quite…um…furry this week. No, you're not fat. Cats look so soft on sweet spreading on the ground, though the camera can play tricks…

Our friends Upsie, Sundance and Sher send their regards from whatdidyoueat. Like us, they are experiencing some serious rain this weekend, but Upsie manages to stay dry while Sundance investigates a stuffed dog.

Kazon is the fearsome panther this week over at xenogere. Kazon and Luna have some similarities, don't they…

While we at CatSynth are whining about the cold California rain, our friends in the middle of the country have a real deep freeze. Over at Champaign Taste, Louis resorts to veggies and carbs in a desparate attempt to stay warm. That fettucine is looking really good, though. Maybe Louis and Lisa can save some for us…

Bustopher, Harmon, and Kate are also dealing with the extreme cold this weekend. I think Harmon has about as good a strategy as I can suggest…

Over at kross-eyed kitty, Mr. Mao and Ramona are enjoying a blissful sleep, last week's nightmare forgotten…

Kashim and Othello send warm wishes (and big hugs) our way from Austria, and also share with us their secret to extra soft fur.

Extreeeeeme closeup of a photogenic Fridolin can found at Rosa's Yummy Yums.

China Cat and Willow are two lucky cats who are keeping warm indoors from the midwest deep freeze. They also share with us a rather tempting recipe for Lucky Cat martinis. I might have to give that one a try one of these days…

Masak-masak presents a lovely marble stray cat who often comes by to visit. He is a neighbor and rival of the often-featured ginger stray cat, and the two have an uneasy truce. Hey, can't we all just get along?

To many of us, our cats are our babies. However, that does imply that they can grow up to be our disgruntled teenagers, as Puddy demonstrates in this exchange with his human Kate over a tablecloth. I have to admit, I'm with Puddy on this one, it's February, time to lose the Christmas decor!

Dragonheart just returned from Switzerland and has a great slideshow of his trip.

Coca and Mysri meet the new neighbor baby cat at Café Créole (from French Guyana). That new baby has lovely multi-color fur, reminds me a lot of the kittens we say last week playing with the Waldorf Pulse.

Ellen has five adorable foster kittens, all girls, at scamperdude. Those are some amazing cat photos. We hope all the girls find the permanent homes they deserve…

Ooo, another gatita named Luna!. Glad to have her joining us here.

Remember, it's never too late to join in Weekend Cat Blogging…well, at least until Monday. We'll keep posting more WCB fun throughout the weekend, and making improvements, perfectionists that we are. It doesn't look like we're going anywhere for a while…






Weekend Cat Blogging #88

Well, as the weather turned dark and stormy this week, so has life turned a bit darker, and a bit lonelier. It's been another rough week. But Luna is always here to bring some brightness and love into the dark places. Coming home to see her waiting and happy is one of the simple joys in life, one of the few things I can count on.

And on that note, Luna and I are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #88. Please send us a note or leave a comment on your happy, funny or otherwise amusing feline experiences, and we'll post them in the big round up this weekend while trying to stay dry and warm.

(PS – we love your trackbacks here at CatSynth, and we've made some changes to get those working better, so WCBers are encouraged to give it a try).





CatSynth pic: synth studio, with cat

Another from our friend Knox Bronson at SunPopBlue:

This is a rather abstract representation of his “almost all-analogue synth studio.” Mars kitty can be seen in the bubble at the lower right (and in the enlarged clip to the right). The overall composition suggests a blend of the CatSynth banner with my Music of the (Blue) Spheres graphic artwork.

The original photo is from 2002, and Mars has since passed away. You can also see a close-up video at the original SunPopBlue posting.






Hercules Revisited

This morning we revisit our favorite fat cat in the news.

Local TV in Porland, Oregon, paid a visit to Hercules at home, and found both the generously proportioned cat and his human friend Geoff Ernest doing well. Lots of pictures, like the one to the right. Not surprisingly, they have been approached for promotions, such as Purina's diet cat food…

In addition to happy and heartwarming photo-ops, the follow-up news coverage included this opinion in The Oregonion about the importance of spaying/neutering pets:

Let's consider the other side of this heartwarming story: that of a nice cat, who because he was not neutered and was let outdoors, acted with predictable behaviors of fighting, mating and becoming a stray.

The heartache of Hercules' ailing person thinking “he was dead” would have been prevented had Hercules been taken care of as a beloved pet by being neutered and preferably kept indoors. How many unwanted kittens were produced because of this one stray tomcat's life on the streets?

Although Hercules' story had a happy ending, it easily could have ended much worse. I can't imagine what it be like to come home and find Luna potentially “lost forever.” That's why she enjoys her warm spring afternoons safely indoors…




CatSynth pic: Freddie chilling on the Serge

Submitted by Knox Bronson at SunPopBlue:

Bronson has collaborated with Gustvo Lanzas (who provided the recent video of Apu the “Acid Cat”) on an interesting improvisation featuring the Serge (and an E-MU SP-1200!) called Where The Bees Are. Check out the free mp3.

And there is still more fun with Freddie at SunPopBlue. Check out his video Sleep (An Homage to Andy Warhol):

Ah, wasn't it only a day or so ago that we were again reminiscing about New York in the 1970s?






Weekend Cat Blogging #87: Let's crack open a window!

The warm weekend here in California continues, and that's enough to give anyone a happy tail!

Actually, Luna often has a happy tail. But it's still extra fun when she gets to take in the sights, sounds and smells of a warm “spring” day through an open window. In fact, we at CatSynth are having a serious case of spring fever and opening all the windows today. Trying to rid our abode of the stale and bitter airs of this exceptional winter. Begone with ye, cruel season of pain and dispair!

Scamper over to Rosa's Yummy Yums for more Weekend Cat Blogging with fellow black kitty Maruschka as well as Fridolin and Rosa.

We're up for hosting next week here at CatSynth, so we'll leave all the windows open for our feline friends…






Crack open a window!

CatSynth pic: Teodor Revolution

This photo comes to us from altermark at flickr. To quote: “Definitely a cat on synth picture for once!”

Teodor is a lovely siberian cat, and the synth upon which he stands is a Future Retro Revolution. The Revolution is a very visually attractive instrument – I have seen it at NAMM several times. I don't really have a sense for it as a musical instrument, however. How does a Revolution compare to my Evolver, for example? The Evolver has four oscillators (plus a “fifth” via feedback that I often use), multiple filter options, and other timbral features, while the sequencer is somewhat awkward to use. It seems at first glance, the Revolution flips the balance between synthesizer and sequencer in favor of sequencing, which does have its place.

Perhaps you can judge for yourself by listening to the audio examples. Certainly, we recently saw that Apu enjoys the “acid sounds” from the Revolution.






Standing with Cat

Per suggestion of regular reader “Kitty” in response to a recent post, I will present some more of my own graphic and video work on this forum. The above picture is entitled “Standing with Cat.” It was originally done over a year and a half ago using the 3D modeling software Poser (on which I have commented a few times in the past). Previous digital art offerings include Green Kitties and Music of the (Blue) Spheres.

Although this is an “early” work of mine in the medium, it still remains a personal favorite. It has elements of both abstraction and realism simultaneously, even within the female and cat figures (does that make it post-modern?). The pose of the female figure was inspired by a photo print in my collection by photographer and friend Luxe Zeigler.

Another element of note is the tabby texture for the cat, which was created by graphic artist Lyne of Lyne's Creations, based on her real cat Travis. Astute observers might recognize Travis in the CatSynth banner as well. Sadly, Travis passed away late last year. I passed along my sympathies to Lyne at the time, being a “fan” of Travis as well as his late brother Clancy, whose fur and eye coloring are quite similar to Luna's. Look for Clancy in some dark, surreal or abstract works in the near future.






Weekend Cat Blogging #86: Even when things get tough…

Well, it's been a rather difficult weekend here, one of the worst in a long time, actually – regular readers know I prefer not to discuss details of my personal life, but things are bad enough that not even the whacky exploits of Burbed and other refuges in snarky humor have been able to help.

But we at CatSynth are troopers, and shall go ahead with Weekend Cat Blogging regardless. Here is a picture from about a year ago of Luna enjoying her perch on the barstool. She is of course elegant as always.

In all seriousness, Luna is a great comfort when things are difficult, she is a master of “kitty love” with purrs, head-butts, nose kisses and snugglies. Here is a candid shot of us enjoying a moment together on the couch, taken with the little built-in webcam on my new MacBook:

For something a little more festive, please visit this weekend's hosts Kate and Bustopher (and let's not forget Harmon who seems eager to take a nap). There's a great cat-and-human photo leading off the party.





CatSynth video: Apu the "Acid Cat"

Gustavo (aka “audioel” on YouTube) submitted this rather appropriate (and very cute) video:

Apu really likes the TB-303 acid sounds of the Future-Retro Revolution demos

Of course, he is a cat and tries to use “kitty science” uncover the source of the sound, but to no avail.

Looks like the laptop is a black macbook, similar (or the same) as the one I got last December. I'm wondering whether the tb303 track is just a recording, or a softsynth running on the macbook.