CATSYNTH

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Tag: Cats

  • Seabright cats, a warm day, and remembering those in harms way

    This was an amazingly warm and clear day here on the California coast.

    The early part of the day was in the Seabright neighborhood of Santa Cruz, mostly reading and working, but also enjoying wandering the streets and the area by the beach. I got a glimpse of this cat in one of the apartment complexes near the beach.

    This photo is actually from a previous encounter with the “Seabright Kitty”, he/she wasn't in the mood to be photographed today…

    Someone else, on the other hand, was quite photogenic:

    This is Bella, who resides with my friend and colleague Synthia Payne, whom readers may remember from the UCSC DANM exhibition and Ninjam performances.

    Luna of course continues to enjoy her favorite indoor activites:

    I actually did take Luna outside briefly yesterday on her harness, and all she wanted to do was head back to the door and go inside. I'm not going to argue.

    Like I said, it was exceptionally warm today:

    Great for us here in Santa Cruz, but it part of the same warm, dry weather in which the fires in Southern California continue to burn out of control. This years fires in San Diego and the areas in and around Los Angeles might be even worse than the devastiing fires in 2003, with so many people and animals evacuating (over half a million so far) and so many more in harms way.

    We at CatSynth want to take a few minutes on this Tuesday to send out thoughts to all the humans, cats, and other animals threatened by this disaster, and hope they make it through safely.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #124 and more: Away

    Luna is looking out her favorite window…and waiting for someone to return from tour…

    Weekend Cat Blogging #124 is at the *New* Tuxedo Gang Hideout.

    The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be held at Pet's Garden Blog, while the Carnival of the Cats will be at our friends The Bad Kitty Cats – we hope things are going a bit better for them now. And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #123 and more: An Old New Favorite Spot

    After a major clean-up in the studio, the bean bag chair reemerged from hiding. And Luna immediately reclaimed it as one of her favorite spots:

    In addition the great black-on-black styling, it's a comfy place to “nest”, whether just relaxing and watching me work, or taking a nap:

    Indeed, Luna spent quite a bit of time on the beanbag yesterday, even well into the evening (while I was working on the headphone festival performance):

    Cats can remind a lot about simple joys, like a comfy spot to nest.

    Weekend Cat Bloggin #123 is being held by Upsie and Sher at What Did You Eat. Upsie is learning about the US healthcare system, and also featuring the “sight formerly known as ScamperDude” at their new home at CASPCA (Charlottesville, VA ASPCA).

    The hardworking “cat boys” Kashim and Othello are hosting this weekend's Kad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos (it's already edition #14, tempus fugit). The Carnival of the Cats will be happening this Sunday, hosted by Grace and the Kittens. And of course the Friday Ark #160 is at the Modulator.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging and more: Happy Tail

    This weekend's theme for the Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is “tails and toes”. And we know that Luna has quite a talent for posing her tail:

    …even while simply resting:

    The “crook in her tail” is actually pointing out towards the camera.

    Watch this video (originally posted at Luna's Catster page) as Luna swings her tail:

    Weekend Cat Blogging #122 is being hosted by Astrid and the “cat boys” Kashim and Othello. That “nip beer” concept sounds pretty good to me.

    The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is being held at This, That and The Other Thing, where we expect to see other “happy tails.” UPDATE: the round-up is posted, and features a slide-show video with background music – I believe the technical term is “finger snapping.” Check it out.

    Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by StrangeRanger. And of course Friday Ark #159 is at the modulator.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging and more: It's all about Luna!

    Well, I am still in New York this weekend, and meanwhile Luna is home at CatSynth HQ in California. I thought it would be appropriate to share some photos taken during some previous trips by our pet sitter Ronni West:

    It's great getting to see these photos from Ronni, knowing that Luna is happy and being herself. Here we see her kneading some laundry left on the bed, which remains one of her guilty pleasures:

    I make sure to leave some laundry out when I go away, I think it gives her a sense of familiarity and comfort.

    Even though I do enjoy travelling, it's always great to come home and be reunited.

    Weekend Cat Blogging #121 is being hosted this weekend at masak-masak.

    The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is going on the Mind of Mog. The theme this week is catnip, and while I know Luna is getting to enjoy fresh catnip during my absense, I don't have the photographic evidence on hand (yet).

    The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this week at Life from a Cat's perspective. And of course the Friday Ark #158 is at the modulator.

    Finally, thank you to everyone who sent their kind thoughts this week, through comments here at CatSynth as well as via email or other media. I will try my best to answer individually as well, but wanted to say something here for everyone.

  • CatSynth pics: Gonzo and Daphne return

    Some more from our friend sushiluv and his cats Daphne and Gonzo. I think this is the first time we have seen them together:

  • Weekend Cat Events: Cats of New Orleans Revisited

    We at CatSynth will continue to keep this candle lit along with Kashim and Othello and all our cat-blogging friends. Please visit them for the full list of remembrances.

    This week also marked the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. On Wednesday, we revisited my trip to New Orleans last November. I also wrote about the Cats of New Orleans, both real and imagined, and so we re-visit them this weekend.


    (Click to enlarge)

    We also visited with the Louisiana SPCA and got a tour of their cat facilities in their temporary home, several environmentally controlled units inside a large warehouse. You can see some photos from the temporary SPCA as well. The good news is that they have completed and opened their new permanent facility. So much of the rebuilding in New Orleans has been slow or non-existent, it's good to see this success…

    In addition to the Weekend of Rememberance by Kashim and Othello, the other weekend cat events are going on. Bad Kitty Cats Chaos Festival #8 as at The Mad Mirror. The Friday Ark #154 is at The Modulator. And Carnival of the Cats will be at This Blog is Full of Crap with Laurence et al.

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #117: Silence and Remembrance

    The “cat boys” Kashim and Othello are hosting a Weekend in Silence and Rememberance for Weekend Cat Blogging #117. As such, we at CatSynth are are joining them and our other cat-blogging friends by lighting this candle:

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #116: Luna in stained glass 2007

    For the past three summers, I have photographed Luna basking in the glow of the morning light through our stained-glass window. You can see her previous photos here, from 2005 and 2006. Her new stained-glass photos are below:


    These were actually taken on separate days, one in July and one in August, which demonstrates not only Luna's fondness for this spot of colored light, but her photogenic nature. I am very proud of her in these photos.

    Weekend Cat Blogging #116 is being hosted by our friends at Belly Timber. I really like the new graphics.

    The Bad Kitty Cat festival of Chaos will be held by Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet's Garden Blog.

    The venerable Carnival of the Cats will be hosted at The Scratching Post. I like this “busniess case for kindness” thing…

    And of course Friday Ark #153 will be where it always is, at The Modulator.






  • Five (or more) Blogs That Make Me Think (The Thinking Blogger Award)

    We were tagged a week or so ago with the “Thinking Blogger Award” by our friend (and fellow mathematics enthusiast) meeyauw. We appreciate meeyauw's endorsement and complete, and encourage readers to check out her other recommendations.

    Since the rules are for five recommendations, I decided to break it down using CatSynth's motto:

    Cats. We are tagging Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats, for their mix of thoughtful writing and love of cats, and helping to bring our own “Cat Blogging” at CatSynth to another level. Megan also tagged us with a meme recently and I will get on that one soon…

    Synthesizers. A slight deviation of the rules, we're spitting this one. Matrixsynth is our starting off point for all explorations synth-related, we've found several interesting instruments and other synth blogs by reading – plus it features Cats and Synths. While Matrixsynth remains focused on its core, Muff Wiggler provides a more eclectic mix of personal commentary often revolving around synthesizers and electronic music.

    Music. We recently found a few interesting new-music blogs, including New Music reBlog. The authors add their own writing around music and performances, and follow a lot of the same live improvisation that I do.

    Art. I have to give a shout out to Placebokatz for presenting modern art via a black cat. While a lot of the performance or human art is not usually my taste, I expect no more and no less from any real-life art exhibition. Also, pawful, the creator of the visual livecoding Fluxus has at least one page that counts as a blog – I have reported in his projects including Fluxus and Quagmire in the past.

    Opinion. Our friend jellypizza combined cat blogging with progressive/liberal political commentary and eclectic references from bygone pop culture and our home in Westchester, New York. We miss Taboo; but we're also grateful for setting this example for the rest of us.

    Should any of abovementioned sites choose to participate: please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:

    1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
    2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
    3. Optional: Proudly display the ?Thinking Blogger Award? with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative gold version if silver doesn?t fit your blog).