The themes of this month here at CatSynth are health and creativity, and we reflect on those themes for Weekend Cat Blogging.
We have started a recent phase in our beginning yoga practice centered on opening up creativity, prosperity and opportunity. It is of course also good exercise and helpful for health and well being. Luna enjoys joining in, too:
Photography continues to be a central form of creative expression, even as I need to balance it with music, especially with several more shows coming up this month. Luna obliged me earlier this week by posing in front of one of the patio sculptures on a warm afternoon:
I got several great photos from this session, one of them appeared earlier this week during Wordless Wednesday. Here is a small version, but readers are encouraged to check out the larger version in the WW post.
Weekend Cat Blogging #265 will be hosted by Jules and Vincent. Because of the Independence Day holiday here in the U.S., the roundup will be up on July 5.
The Carnival of the Cats, will be up tomorrow, July 4, at Mind of Mog.
Nikita Cat will be hosting the monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos on July 4 as well.
Last weekend was exceptionally warm here, and we opened the whole doorway between the patio and the main room. Luna enjoyed some time outside in the morning before the stones got too hot:
She does like to play hunt with insects she comes across:
Having both patio doors open gave me different views on familiar objects inside. For example, we have seen Luna pose next to the glass table many times, but from this new angle one could see the reflections from the colored lamp. Little spots of color against the black, silver and glass.
We will be looking forward to enjoying a quiet Father’s Day tomorrow…
Of course, there was yummy food. In this case, Sardines, inspired in part by a (human) recipe I had heard on the radio few days earlier and still want to try out. Luna devoured her feline fish treats with aplomb:
There were some cards from friends. And of course, new toys. I was particularly fond of this toy, which seemed apropos of this year:
Luna was not quite as interested (though I did see her kick it around briefly):
On the other hand, she took right away to this black mouse toy and spent quite a bit of time kicking it around, even getting it stuck on a shelf and pawing diligently to get it out.
And after a spell of vigorous play, it was time to relax:
Not only is this Luna’s fifth adoption anniversary, but it is also the 5th Anniversary of Weekend Cat Blogging. It was started by group of primarily food bloggers who set aside a post on the weekend for their cats. We found it back in 2006 as I was first starting this site. This special edition is being hosted by LB and breadchick at The Sour Dough.
From rarebeasts on flickr, the latest incarnation of the Wicks Looper:
“This is the new Wicks Looper. It’s name Luna Mod, comes from my cat, Luna who is always hanging around when I make these things.”
I of course cannot resist reposting a synthesizer with a “Luna Mod” :). We have actually seen this other cat named Luna (along with the Wicks Looper) in this previous post.
Check out this video of the Luna Mod with a red mini Kaos Pad.
Today marks five years since I first brought Luna home from the Santa Cruz County animal shelter. Time certainly does pass quickly. We celebrate this anniversary (otherwise known as Luna’s “Gotcha Day”) with a look back at photographs from our five years together.
Here she is back in 2005.
and then in 2006
and finally in 2007.
That series of photos ends after we moved to San Francisco in 2008, but there is no shortage of images of Luna basking in sunlight. Here she is in 2008 (outdoors):
and 2009:
and finally this year:
(There are so many photos it can be hard to choose just one representative.)
Our friends at the Cat Blogosphere made an announcement today along with this nice banner:
Please join us in wishing Luna a “Happy 5th Gotcha Day!”
We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #261. It’s a delightful weekend here, one to step outside and enjoy. And we hope we have a lot of cats come join us.
In order to participate, please leave a comment below, or contact us, and we’ll be happy to add you over the course of the weekend.
And without further ado, let us get started with the round-up:
Next we have Parker caught in mid-yawn, or is that a roar? In any case, it sounds like Parker is looking forward to a nice weekend with some outside time on the deck (similar to Luna’s excursions on the patio).
Seeing double? No, this is “whiz-kitts” Daniel and Mikey, a pair a litter-mates in and old photo (as one can tell from the CRT monitor, anyone remember those?). They are part of the family at Kittens ‘n Things.
Samantha and Clementine are getting along better, but still have their differences, as can be seen in this Smilebox slide show they have put together to share this weekend, complete with captions of their antics and background music.
We are delighted to have Jules from Judi’s Mind Over Matter join us this weekend. “Jules and Luna have something special in common,” as can be seen in these pictures. Black cats and white blinds are also a good visual combination, as we have shown in some previous photos.
More of our fellow black cats are joining us this weekend, including Maruschka from Rosa’s Yummy Yums. Her eyes almost look orange in this photo, as does the rug on which she lies. They leave us with an apropos quote from the band Danzig: “Big black witch cat. Yes, you cast a real strong spell…”
Finally, Spot (aka “Harry Spotter”) and Fiona are happy to be reunited with their family after their mom and dad’s trip to China. And it looks like they have a new human member of the family!
That concludes the round-up for this weekend. Thanks to everyone who participated! (And if we did miss your entry, please let us know and we would be happy to add it retroactively.)
We at CatSynth are happy to host another (slightly tardy) edition of Carnival of the Cats
¿Por qué en español? Well, this weekend happened to also be the big Carnaval festival in San Francisco.
I spent most of yesterday at Carnaval with friends, enjoying the music, the rather vibrant and colorful costumes, and the overall energy. Considering that this actually has very little to do with cats, however, let is move on to our regularly scheduled “carnival”:
It’s been a sunny and warm weekend for us. And for others, too. K.T. Cat shows his jungle heritage while enjoying some sunshine outdoors in this great “nature photo” at K T’s Sratching Post.
Our friend Nikita Cat is also enjoying the outdoors in a unique way, as he goes for a stroll outdoors with his dad. Literally, a stroll in a stroller. In addition to being a great way to enjoy some fresh air, it’s helping his dad’s continued recovery and rejuvenation. And he certainly gets some attention from passers by. And this is a lead in to Nikita’s second contribution concerning how much non-felines obsess over cats.
Elisson visits his elder daughter’s new digs and meets some of the animal residents, including Miss Kitty, who has adjusted well to domestic life after being adopted from the streets (I wonder if she should meet Mister Kitty). There is also Minnie, appropriately described as “one tiny ass dawg.”
At Elms in the Yard, Hadi is adjusting well and learning to trust humans after her past experiences (including the vet). As one can see from this image, she is learning not to trust but to quite appreciate belly rubs. Rahel also encountered a visitor in her home while preparing for bed. Fortunately, the stranger turned out to be a neighbors’ cat, and was soon back home safely.
At Dophin’s Dock, Dolphin says “goodbye” to Sigyn. But this story has a happy ending, as Sigyn is going to a new home where she should be able to enjoy a lot of love and attention.
That concludes our Carnival for this week. Thanks to everyone who participated.
(Note, if you had planned to participate but I missed your entry, please leave a comment or contact and I will be happy to add you.)
For Weekend Cat Blogging, we present some new close-up portraits of Luna. These are inspired by the weekly Friday Close-ups” from our friends Mickey, Georgia, and Tillie.
Close-up portraits are a practice I am still working on. These were done by just picking up the camera with its zoom lens and shooting – I would have opted for the fixed-width portrait, but with a cat you have to be ready to use whatever you have on hand.
Here is another from the same series, in monochrome:
For those who haven’t seen it yet, please check out my review of the Quickening Moon Concert which features a video of Luna. And we will be hosting the Carnival of the Cats tomorrow here at CatSynth.
Weekend Cat Blogging #260 is being hosted this weekend by Nikita Cat.
The Carnival of the Cats will be up here tomorrow at CatSynth!
Sometimes things linger undone for a quite a while. And that is the case with reviewing the Quickening Moon Concert, which I am finally getting around to doing as the next Full Moon concert is about to happen. Basically, the process goes like this. I wait a few weeks to look at the video of my own performance with a fresh perspective. I review the videos. Then post them online. Then a few more weeks pass as life intervenes. So here were are, finally getting to it many “moons” later. Memories of course fade over time, but even going by my own recollections, there is much to recall fondly. Bottom line is that it was a really good performance, in fact I would consider it one of my best solo electronic sets to date. This was in no small part to the advance preparation, but also to the audience, which filled to the Luggage Store Gallery to standing-room only capacity!
This was also one of the larger setups, featuring the Octave CAT vintage analog synthesizer, E-MU Proteus 2000, DSI Evolver, Korg Kaoss Pad, a Mac laptop running Open Sound World and Max/MSP, and the Monome controller, along with an array of my folk instruments from China and India. Even the iPhone made an appearance as an instrument.
[Click images to enlarge.]
Of course, the highlight of the set was the premier of 月伸1, featuring improvised electronic music set against a video of Luna. Musically, I focused on the Octave CAT (seemed appropriate) with the other electronic instruments in a supporting role. You can see a full video of the performance of this piece below:
The music was improvised live, with some prepared guidelines. In this way, it was reminiscent of the live music performances from old silent films. I kept the music relatively sparse and maintained the focus on the visual elements, which moved back and forth between clips of Luna and abstract visual elements (you can read more about the video production here). The audience clearly responded to the video of Luna and the music, and their laughter at very points reminded just how funny a piece this was. It was easy to lose sight of that in the hours of very detailed and very technical preparation, and one of the delights of playing in front of a live audience. I also heard from people that could tell they were able to sense the affection for Luna that came through in the video, though the long shots and the breaks in the otherwise silent video where her voice came through.
The balance of the set leading up to 月伸1 featured various combinations of electronic and acoustic instruments. The monome was my main controller in several of the other pieces, including the opener that focused and live sample loops and patterns from the folk instruments.
I played the instruments live, and then replayed the samples in various patterns on the monome to create complex timbral and rhythmic patterns. I also used the monome in a later piece to control some very simple but musically interesting sound synthesis, as can be seen in this video.
The lights on the monome are visually compelling, but also provide a link for the audience between the actions (which are really just button pressing) and the music.
Several of the pieces including strong rhythmic elements, which helped propel the set forward – I even saw at least one person “grooving out” to one piece.
I replayed several of the pieces (but not the video) in another performance a few days later at the Meridian Gallery. I certainly hope I will have an opportunity to the video again as well.
My performance was followed by the premier of Polly Moller’s Genesis. Genesis is “a musical experiment in which the M-theory of the 11-dimensional universe combines with the inward and outward spiral of the Western magical tradition.” The 11 member ensemble represent the 11 dimensions (which include Universal Time, the three spatial dimensions, and seven others) who combine to bring the “New Universe” into being, as portrayed by Matt Davignon on drum machines.
[Photo by Tom Djll.]
Polly Moller conducted the piece, not from the traditional podium in front of the ensemble, but rather by walking in an inward and outward spiral among the performers. As she walks by, wind chimes in hand, different performers enter or exit. As the New Universe comes into being, Matt Davignon’s electronic performance emerges, culminating in an extended solo as the 11 performers representing the “parent dimensions” fade out.
Quite fortuitously, someone turned my video camera to face the ensemble, so I was able to capture some video of the performance. In the clips below, one can see the conducting by walking in a spiral, as well as parts of the New Universe solo.
At Elms in the Yard, 
