catsynth hq

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Three

For Weekend Cat Blogging and today’s Photo Hunt theme of Three, we present a trio of images taken with our new camera:

The glass coffee table at CatSynth HQ has been a mainstay for themed photos, and it presents several representations of the number three:

There are the triangular elements with three sides, and there are the three glass surfaces. I wish there were only three objects on the table instead of four, but you take what you get. This picture was taken from above with a telephoto lens, and I really like the detail on the glass, particularly the refraction of the square patterns.

Next, we try out a portrait lens on our resident model:

Notice the overall detail and the color of Luna’s green eyes. For a rather weak connection to the theme of three, there are three chairs present in this picture.

So now we go out into the world. It does seem that spring has arrived, and we are ready for new adventures:

Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Billy Sweet-Feets with Nicholas

Photo Hunt 205 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is “Three”.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at When Cats Attack.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Works of Art

I managed to get this photo of Luna sitting in front of a ledge overlooking the downstairs. I think she matches the works of art on the wall quite well.

Astute readers may recognize the large black painting from one of our reviews last October. See if you can pick out the artist.

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this weekend by The Meezers.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up on Sunday at iMeowza.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #231: at home in the studio

A day when I was feeling mildly ill turned into an incredibly creative and productive day, including lots of time in the office/studio.

Here we see Luna sitting on the ledge that borders the studio area. In the background one of our main workstations, with Pro Tools running on the computer, and the trusty E-MU Proteus 2000 module off to the side (it’s back in its rack after the recent Reconnaissance Fly performance). One of several photographs by our friend Luxe hangs in the back.

The studio ledge is the highest point in CatSynth HQ, which makes it attractive to cats. There is also another workspace against the ledge where I often sit, so she likes to be nearby.

Note that the duck is actually musical instrument that I have used in several live shows :).

I do sometimes feel a little nervous when Luna gets up the ledge, given how high it is above the floor below. But I am putting my faith in her feline balance and dexterity. Eventually she comes done into the space itself to curl up for a nap, often on her favorite beanbag chair:

Weekend Cat Blogging #231 is being hosted by Diamond and Tristan over at digicats. Do check out their cool graphic featuring another black cat with green eyes and a human “cat woman” companion.

The Carnival of the Cats will be going to Nikita’s Place this Sunday.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Artificial

For Weekend Cat Blogging, we selected a photo of Luna standing atop a table, i.e., someplace she is technically not supposed to be, but there is no stopping a cat from claiming every accessible surface.

The theme for this week’s Photo Hunt is artificial, which is an interesting and subjective term. One could say everything is the above photo except for Luna is “artifical” in that is was constructed by humans. But if one uses artificial to mean simulated or “fake”, then the banana is the most appropriate object. It is actually a musical instrument, a shaker.

In a sense, most of our Weekend Cat Blogging posts explore the contrast between Luna’s natural beauty and her artificial surroundings:

Then again, most humans and domestic cats live in artificial dwellings (unless they live in caves or trees), whether they think about it that way or not.

In the last photo, Luna once again poses on top of her scratching post, which is by now quite worn and will soon need to be replaced.

Weekend Cat Blogging #219 is being hosted by LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough. They make the somewhat disturbing observation that August is already half over (it has been going by fast).

The Carnival of the Cats will be at Artsy Catsy this Sunday.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator. It’s edition 256, which is a good number.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Photo Hunt – Triangles

This weekend we are combining Weekend Cat Blogging with the weekly Photo Hunt theme of triangles. It’s been quite a “triangular” week here, including our last wordless wednesday architectural photo. Simple geometry like triangles are often featured in my photos, as well as the interior design at CatSynth HQ, so it’s not hard to find Luna and a triangle together. Indeed, the contrast of Luna’s organic curved form to the angular geometry of of her surroundings has been a regular theme.

This particular glass table, one of our favorites, features multiple triangles (anyone care to count them)?

We at CatSynth also wish everyone a happy Pesach (Passover) and Easter.

Our friends LB and Breadchick host the Easter edition of Weekend Cat Blogging. No rabbits or resurrections, but plenty of feeling antics by LB and the other participants.

Samantha and Tigger host this week’s Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at Artsy Catsy. We are joining them today is sending thoughts for the pets and other animals last week’s earthquake in Italy.

The friday ark is at the modulator. And also check out this week’s photo hunt.

Weekend Cat Blogging: The construction is over!

The construction at CatSynth HQ is finally done.

To their credit, the construction crew did an impressive job cleaning up. As one can see in the above photograph, it is beginning to feel like home again, albeit with a few boxes scattered about.

Luna tentatively explores as things move back into place. There is still a lot of work to do, however. And no where more so than in the upstairs studio area. I was never particularly happy with the layout, and this is an opportunity to do it right. But it will take some significant effort to plan and organize. And I do want space as soon as possible to resume more serious creativity, musical and otherwise. So it is going to be a balance between “doing it right” and “doing it quickly (and cheaply).”

Weekend Cat Blogging #192 is being hosted by Mr Tigger and the M-Cats Club.

Kashim, Othello and Salome will host this weekend’s Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at Pet’s Garden Blog

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Really almost back to normal

Luna is back home again after the China trip and final round of construction at CatSynth HQ. Things are almost back to normal.

We now get plenty of sunlight again.

But we still have much of the paper and plastic material covering the floors, and we are anxiously awaiting the cleaning crew. Cleaning day is supposed to be today actually, but so far no sign of the crew. Not having the cleaning done today would be annoying for a variety of reasons, some of which are not appropriate topics for WCB. For now, we are simply eager to start putting everything back in its place, including our artwork:

But meanwhile Luna continues to demonstrate that she, too, is a work of art, very graceful and elegant.

Sir Tristan Tabbycat Longtail hosts a very manly Weekend Cat Blogging in honor of tomorrow’s big game.

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos returns to its roots with Megan and Bad Kitty Cats.

The Carnival of the Cats will be going up this Sunday at Mind of Mog

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Stories for the last night of Channukah

I should have written this earlier, rather than waiting for the last night of Channukah.

As most readers know, this is the Jewish holiday that lasts for eight days and commemorates one of the world’s greatest stories of energy conservation. No ritual oil has ever had a lower carbon footprint.

I wanted to share this series of new Channukah fiction that was read on NPR. Each of the stories is beautiful and modern. But I was perhaps most drawn to Holiday by Steve Stern, a retelling of the Channukah story in a somewhat dystopian United States in 2015 with chronic energy shortages, economic ruin, and cranky old Jewish stereotypes.

As CatSynth HQ is only beginning to recover from our brief little dystopia, our celebrations were rather quiet this year. But we did connect with family and friends even in the middle of everything. And I suppose that is what really counts.