Luna

Weekend Cat Blogging #290

December 25 (Christmas) is a completely free day us.

After a season (and indeed, a year) that has been exceptionally hectic even by my own standards, such emptiness can be a bit jarring. One could catch up on the myriad creative projects and practical items that have been languishing, or just relax. Luna on the other hand has no problem with this whatsoever.

This is yet another lesson we should learn from our animal friends.

I would go for a walk downtown or along the highway structures, but with the blustery wind and stormy skies outside, it seems best to stay inside this morning with a warm cup of of coffee and a cat.  It also seems like a good morning for some 1950s/1960s minor-key jazz (actually, a lot of mornings are good for that).  Just imagine The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Take Five or John Coltrane’s Equinox in the background with the pictures of Luna and you can glimpse Christmas morning at CatSynth HQ.

Weekend Cat Blogging #290, Holiday Edition is hosted by Jules and Vincent at Judi’s Mind Over Matter.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted tomorrow by Nikita Cat.

The Friday Ark is on hiatus for the holidays.

Weekend Cat Blogging #288: Saturation

We at CatSynth are feeling pretty saturated this weekend, particularly with music and social events.  But that doesn’t stop us from posting some recent unsaturated images of Luna:

Probably not the best pictures from a technical point of view (they were taken with odd lighting and at high ISO, the “setting of last resort”). But they still seem precious in their way.

Weekend Cat Blogging #288 is to be hosted by Salome at PaulChens FoodBlog?!

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

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging: Homecoming (temporary)

With delays in the construction at CatSynth HQ, I decided to bring Luna home for the weekend. It is nice to have her home, even though it is only temporary.

As one can see in the above image, things are a bit out of place in anticipation of the work, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying our time here. Here we see Luna checking out a new toy (a birthday present from a friend of ours):

Note the picture frames neatly resting on the stairs behind her. Much of the artwork (paintings, prints, etc.) had to be moved as well.

Weekend Cat Blogging #287 is at Mind of Mog.

Kashim, Othello and Salome are pulling double duty this weekend, hosting both the weekly Carnival of the Cats and the monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos. We suspect they are going to be busy.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Happy Birthday Luna!

Today marks Luna’s official birthday.  She turns six years old either today or sometime near today.

I arrived back in San Francisco last night, just in time to celebrate with her, although not at home.  There is (once again) construction at CatSynth HQ, so Luna is staying at her boarding facility until it’s over.  I know she will not only be safe there, but she will be doted on and receive lots of love and attention.  When I went to visit her today, she came over to greet me, but then immediately settled down to nap.  But I was able to get some “relaxed” birthday photos.

Please join me in wishing Luna a happy birthday!  And thanks to everyone who has already left her comments.

Preparing for Omega Sound Fix

The Omega Sound Fix gets underway tonight at the Alfa Art Gallery in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  I am planning to be present tonight as well as tomorrow and as with other larger music and events I will be probably be live tweeting @catsynth.

I have been busily preparing for the performance (along with everything else one does for a long-distance trip).  The basic setup features the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, monome, DSI Evolver and Korg Kaoss Pad.

[Click to enlarge.]

The iPhone will primarily be running Smule Ocarina, while the iPad will be used for the new Smule Magic Fiddle, the Korg iMS-20 (pictured) above, the Bebot, and sundry other instruments.

One thing I have noticed is that although the main musical items have shrunk in size, the entire rig remains large, primarily because of the ancillary elements such as cables, stands, etc., so it ends up still being quite cumbersome and heavy, especially when loading it into airline-friendly suitcases.  I ran into similar challenges with previous performances in New York as well as the one in Shanghai last year.

Musically, I will be doing three pieces.  I will reprise the music-plus-video piece featuring Luna that I did at the Quickening Moon concert in February, but using the iPad with Magic Fiddle and the iMS-20 to replace the Octave CAT (which I will not take on the road).  I will also perform a couple of the other current standard solo pieces, such as the prayer bowl with Evolver plus Smule Ocarina, and the live-sampling piece featuring the monome and a variety of Indian and Chinese folk instruments.  I have two new Indian instruments to use tomorrow:

The first is a dotara.  Although the name implies two strings, this instrument actually has five.  I have not played it before, so we will see what happens.  The second is a new gophichand.  My other gopichands are fine, but it’s nice to have a few (if only as spares, as they are quite delicate).  I will be freely mixing them with Chinese percussion instruments as well as my iPad-based model of a Chinese guzheng that I first used at the Luggage Store Gallery in September.  I like the idea of mixing elements from different traditions together into something new.

For those interested in attending for following, here is the full info on the Omega Sound Fix festval:

Sonic Architecture Unveiled by Electronic Composers and Human-Robot Band at Underground Music Venue
Electronic Music Festival resonates in New Brunswick art gallery

Over twenty innovative international and local musicians will perform at the bleeding edge of sound on Nov. 20 & 21 at Omega Sound Fix. Headlining performers have performed with the likes of John Cage, David Tudor, Steve Reich, Lydia Lunch, Faust, and Throbbing Gristle and are exploring new territory this fall.

Richard Lainhart is an award-winning composer, author, and filmmaker renowned for his individual work and collaborations with John Cage, David Tudor, and Steve Reich. His compositions have been performed worldwide with his earliest sonic forays predating Brian Eno’s ventures into ambience.

Philippe Petit of Marseilles, France is an innovative composer, who considers himself a “musical travel agent,” and assembles “sound-images” with turn tables and digital wizardry. He has performed across Europe and the Americas with Lydia Lunch, Faust, and Throbbing Gristle.

Octant, a one-man and multi-robot band, will plumb the depths of cybernetic accompaniment on Sunday, Nov. 21. Mathew Steinke serves as the band’s Gepetto and sole human member. “I would go out of my way to see an Octant show…” writes CMJ magazine.

Tickets are $6 for one day, $10 for a two-day pass. Doors open at 6 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday.

About Omega Sound Fix:
Local musicians, Mike Durek and Mark Weinberg, spawned the idea of an innovative and eclectic music festival during a mini-golf match last summer. Durek and Weinberg expressed frustration with the lack of a new music scene in New Brunswick and sought to fill the void with innovative sounds and talented performers. Click here for more info.

UPDATED List of Performers:

Day 1: Saturday 11.20.10 @ 6:30pm
Brendan Byrne
Zilmrah
Richard Lainhart
Philippe Petit
PAS
Pots and Powercells

Day 2: Sunday 11.21.10 @ 4:30 pm
Blithe (doll)
Borne
Octant
Ezekiel Honig
Trinitron
Amar Chaudhary (Catsynth)

Weekend Cat Blogging #283: Heatwave (in November)

It was a rather intense week here, with the San Francisco Giants victory, the elections, and the backdrop of exceptionally warm weather in November!  It was hot and humid, and even stayed warm enough at night to spend time outdoors.  For Luna, the heat means stretching out, relaxing, and waiting for things to cool down.

I quite enjoy the heat – especially the rare treat of a warm night – but Luna clearly does not.  I left the ceiling fans running for her, and a cold towel. The weather has cooled down quite a bit this weekend.  And the energy of the city will hopefully start to return to normal as well.

Weekend Cat Blogging #283 is hosted by Patchouli and Pam at sidewalk shoes.

Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Meowza at iMeowza

The monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is hosted by Nikita at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Hallowe’en Black Cat Edition

We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #282: Hallowe’en Black Edition. It has become a bit of a tradition for us to host every year and celebrate black cats.

There is no shortage of symbolism linking black cats and Hallowe’en, in cards and signs, trinkets and decorations.

There is also no shortage of discussion about the treatment of black cats around this time of year, and many animal shelters continue to suspend adoptions of black cats around Hallowe’en, or during the entire month of October. The concern that seems to have the most credibility is that of people adopting black cats as “living decorations” for holiday, and then bringing them back to the shelter afterwards. From a recent article on Catster:

“There’s really no documentation that shows any cruelty,” said Stephen Wright, a spokesman for the Naples Humane Society. “We pretty much think it’s an urban legend.”…However, “we screen people really well, especially around Halloween when it comes to black cats, to see if they really want a cat or just a decoration,” Wright said.

Personally, I would worry much about “ritualistic cruelty”, which seems as much myth and stereotype of some people’s beliefs as those surrounding black cats themselves. But I would be concerned about pranks or impulsive acts. The image of an adolescent boy harming a cat around Hallowe’en to impress his peers seems all too real to me.

So let us keep our cats safely indoors this holiday season, and focus on celebration and love. Black is beautiful!

And without further ado, let us get on with the WCB round-up. If you would like to join us, please leave a comment below, or tweet us @catsynth with the hash tag #weekendcatblogging. We would of course love to have lots of fellow black cats join us, but all felines are welcome!

Another tradition of Hallowe’en is pumpkin displays, and Nikita Cat presents street scenes featuring cats and pumpkins, in southern California.

He also explains that the penchant for scary stories cuts across species.

Over at House Panthers, Tillie would like to wish a Happy Hallowe’en to all the black cats (and everyone else). Those are some very impressive teeth!

Meanwhile, Tillie’s brother Mickey is also celebrating Hallowe’en, and his anniversary with Misses Peach. He is will be going out this year as “Count Mickula”. (Of course, we mean “going out” in a staying-safe-indoors sort of way.) He and the rest of his family have this nice card for the holiday, and we of course appreciate the musical theme.

More costume fun with Samantha, Clementine and Maverick. They all seem quite patient in posing for their official photos, we hope they got lots of treats.

Earnie of the Island Cats wishes everyone a Happy Hallowe’en via his special laser-eye messaging technique:

Jules, Vincent and Judi also wish everyone a Happy Hallowe’en, and have offered this beautiful and stylized portrait:

Meanwhile, EJ had a harrowing Hallowe’en at The Chair Speaks as one of the rescue cats had a scary complication from an old operation.

Noll offers up a Hallowe’en-themed Smilebox for everyone to enjoy.  Among the featured photos is one of Noll’s cousin Gizmo “getting his spooky on”.

We always enjoy hearing from other cats named Luna, and here we see Luna T. Katt modeling a pumpkin costume (and not looking particularly pleased about it):

And finally, the cats at PAWS want to wish everyone happy and safe Hallowe’en!

Thanks to everyone who submitted this weekend! We will continue to post updates throughout the day and into early Monday, so there is still time to join us.

And while this may nothing to do with cats or holiday per se, it is still the first time that the orange and black of the San Francisco Giants has been represented on Hallowe’en! Here’s to hoping that our neighbors (literally) win tonight and ultimately win the series in November!

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: naranja

The theme for this week’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt is ORANGE.  So here is a series of photos in which Luna encounters our large stuffed fish, appropriately named “Big Fishy”.

For the last couple of years, Big Fishy has mostly been in the closet (no pun intended).  But we took the opportunity to bring him out for this week’s theme.   It may not be the most seasonal interpretation of orange, but we do have a black cat.

It also occurs to me that yesterday’s photo also fits today’s orange theme.

Weekend Cat Blogging #281 is hosted by Nikita and Elivra at Meowsing of an Opinionated Pussycat. Check out their latest “street scenes” of cats from their neighborhood in southern California.

And the Weekend Cat Blogging Hallowe’en Edition will be hosted right here at CatSynth next weekend!

Photo Hunt #236 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is orange.

The Carnival of the Cats is hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: miniature

The theme for today’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt is miniature. And we happen to have a “miniature” version of Luna:

The little stuffed kitty Zip has appeared in numerous posts, including our coverage earlier this year of the NAMM show. Of course Luna is curious about her miniature alter ego and comes over to investigate:

Weekend Cat Blogging #280 is hosted by Sam, Clem, Mav & GDB. (Mav and GDB are canine and human, respectively, but that’s ok.)

Photo Hunt 235 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is miniature.

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

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.