Luna

Weekend Cat Blogging #118 and more: Luna in Late Summer, Strays and Project Purr

We begin our Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna, in a photo taken last weekend:

Late summer (August and September) has a particularly quality of light I have always enjoyed, both clear and melancholy. I am particularly fond of this photo of Luna, not only does the light work great on her, but also the texture/geometry of the shadows from the blinds adds a stark, modernist touch.

Plus, the way Luna's expression complements the fish? Priceless.

I continue to see cats quite often in this one triangular vacant lot, not too far CatSynth HQ. Here is a grey cat I saw the other day :

I often see them stalking and hunting in the grass in this lot, which is bounded by a shopping center, a residential street and train tracks. The tracks have a nice walking path alongside, which I often use.

We previously featured a stray cat spending time in this lot in June.

In that same article from June, we mentioned the semi-annual rummage sale held by Project Purr, a local “cat rescue organization dedicated to FERAL cats and kittens.” The end-of-summer edition of their sale is this weekend. This time, we at CatSynth were prepared and donated some useless junk “quality household goods” for the sale. And bought some books. While I am primarily looking to reduce the amount of stuff here at CatSynth HQ, there is always room for more books.

Don't forget to check out all the other cats, domestic and outdoor, at What Did you Eat, where our friends Sher and Upsie are hosting.

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is being hosted by the “catboys” Kashim and Othello. Seems like they have been busy of late.

Carnival of the Cats is at Mind of Mog, and of course Friday Ark #155 is hosted by the modulator.





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.






Weekend Cat Blogging #115: The Big One

Luna and I welcome everyone to the big Weekend Cat Blogging #115 Round-up. And this time we mean big, with at least 25 participants. This requires an industrial scale effort. Our PC laptop is the one usually set up to handle that sort of thing, but it's continuing to have it's problems – now the anti-virus software is stopping every email with a photo, i.e., acting really annoying and doing very little to promote actual security (much like our national security policy in the US, methinks). So we've got some serious work-flow issues. Add to that another hot day, plague, pestilence, lost comments, lost tempers, dogs running amok in the neighborhood (I kid you not). I think these are all signs of the apocalypse. But we at CatSynth have barricaded ourselves inside CatSynth HQ against the barbarian hordes, with plenty of good wine, good food, good music on the jukebox, and of course good friends. So with that, we are finally ready to get started with the round-up…

Once again, WCB coincides with the Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos, hosted by Pepi at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats. The theme this week is black and white. Luna and I both know a lot not only about black, but white and many shades of gray in between. Black-and-white photography and film has a crispness and elegance to it, when done well. I think Luna photographs quite well in black and white, like many of our favorite film stars from the 1960s:

China Cat and Willow are doing black-and-white as well, with this elegant composite photo at sammawow.

More black-and-white stills, reminiscent of classic Hollywood, from Yao Lin. Actually, this is a “nose twins” post. Yao Lin's nose twin is Storm, who writes about his struggles with feline lymphoma. We hope Storm recovers soon.

We lost several friends over the past week, as rememberd on the Cat Blogosphere. First, we posthumously welcome Nezbine to WCB. She left behind her blog and many great photos.

Just as many of us remembered Sundance last weekend, sher from What Did You Eat is remembering Taboo this weekend.

Nezbine has a bit in common with Taboo, whom we said good-bye to this week. We're going to tear up a bit whenever we hear the infamous “cheezburger skit”. And we hope jellypizza will continue to join us for weekend cat blogging.

So far, jellypizza remains a generous member of our community, and remains us to think our friends in the Carribean as the year's first super hurricane hits the region. It's sad, but true, that these are now seemingly annual events. Currently, Hurricane Dean is hitting Jamaica, where our friends and frequent contributors chat katze reside. We hope things are OK, and remain as safe and calm as they look this photo.

Meanwhile, the Divine Miss Marilyn has come out of hiding at Leslie's Omnibus. Welcome back, from wherever it was you were hiding. And like Yao-lin, we think you have a double here this weekend…

…over at masak-masak, where despite the best intentions of boolicious, the cute stray mother cat finds her own nest in which to have her kittens. We hope mother and kittens remain well, whether indoors or out. This stray also reminds me of the Westside Santa Cruz Stray from June.

It looks like our friends Megan and Bad Kitty Cats are also dealing with rising temperatures and stress in their lives, but Nico still thinks about nose kisses, both giving and receiving. We appreciate all the warmth and support from our friends at the Bad Kitty Cats, and for putting up with their whiny and neurotic friends at CatSynth. And yes, we agree that Kitty Cats are a Sign of Prosperity.

And you never know where you might find properity Maybe it's under that rug, as Puddy attempts to discover at A Byootaful Life. It seems like Kate has some challenges with comments and the other idiosyncrasies of blogging technology. And Puddy seems to look as much like Luna as ever, even in her play.

Another Luna look-alike, Mr. Hendrix, sends his good vibes, even while he's having a Sad Saturday thinking about being alone while his human's go on vacation. Don't worry, it will pass quickly. And those naps do help. Mr. Hendrix is a new aquaintance for us, and we liked reading his rescue story.

Meanwhile, Kate of “in the Kitchen” has been slacking on WCB duties, because it is Kate and Mike's fifth anniversary. Congratulations! But that's no excuse not to include pictures of your cats…

Bonnie Underfoot and Victor Tabbycat are experiencing their own Summer of Discontent, as tempers flare over coveted chair rights. And the got the goods on video, for your viewing pleasure. However, the Wisconsin tabbies can still work together for the common good, when the common good involves getting into the treat cupboard…

Is it real or is it lamiacucina? Shadows cast by Maunz in the morning sun are beautifully caught in these photos. Beyond the figurine and the shadow, there are those amazing stripes of light and darkness connecting the two. These photos are a delightful contribution to WCB, as always.

It's always an adventure with a dog in the house. At Life from a Cat's Perspective, Samantha keeps an eye out while Tigger eats. But really, they're all just chillin' out together and passing the weekend. Who can argue with that? Especially after what sounds like a busy Friday?

We're pretty sure this the “Grumpy” third of the trio that is Sleepy, Happy and Grumpy at The World According to Pia. Pay them a visit and judge for yourself. Here's our own word for that expression: priceless.

Over at Rosa's Yummy Yums, Maruschka seems rather content in contrast to most of the rest of us. She's been exceptionally quiet. While while folks wonder why, they nonetheless enjoy not being woken up in the middle of the night…

Catalogs can be a dangerous thing, especially IKEA catalogies, as they are discovering at Belly Timber Angry Cat Blog. The will also be hosting next weekend's edition of WCB.

Meanwhile, Glinda and Kelly pose for their close-ups at Anne's Food. Glinda is seen in the photo to the right. Follow their link for a bigger version, and a close-up of “princess” Kelly as well.

Bienvenue to loukoum who treats us to “Eye of Tiger, both literally in the photo to the left, and literally-in-a-different-way in the trailer for film adopation of Persoplis. I am actually curious to see this…

From the folks at Zazen in the Moonlight: “Here in the moonlight we sympathise with you summer of discontent. Our little friend Petee went to visit his mama in the nursing home yesterday with mixed results. Mama really wants to come home and Petee really wants her home too.”

Extreme cuteness alert! We introduce Bozo, who along with ItsyBitsy are featured on Watermark. Is there such a thing as “Too Much Kitten Cuteness?” We'll let you, the readers, decide.

Speaking of cuteness, where are the “cat boys” Kashim and Othello? Looks like there was a problem with their original comment not posting – apparently that's happened a couple times recently, but I haven't seen it yet myself. Fortunately, they can't hide from us for long. Here we see Othello enjoying some fresh turkey (and, hey, who wouldn't enjoy some fresh turkey?).

From British shorthairs to Bengal Brats. The handsome trio at Pet's Garden Blog pose for some Sunday portraits. To the left is one third the fine portraiture you can see by following their link.

The folks at Manx News challenge us to “Guess who”. We weren't able to guess, but we loved seeing the expressive faces in these shots. Plus, it's great seeing even more “midnight cats” here at WCB to represent!

WCB Apocrypha: Just Sharlene and the Spice Cats decide who should have the next line cut. The Friday Ark #152 boarded on Friday – that's a lot like saying “Interested cat is interested,”, yet we laugh. And of course don't forget Carnival of the Cats, hosted this weekend by StrangeRanger. And, hey, who wouldn't enjoy some fresh turkey?

Those of you who haven't joined the CatSynth 83 yet are encouraged to do so. Having five members is not nearly esoteric enough.

To our friend. If you are whom I think you are, please drop us a line and say hi via “Contact Us.” There's no rules on former colleagues staying in touch. Hey, even if you're not whom I think you are, please say hi…

If we missed anyone, please let us know via comments (which still appear to be working), and we'll be happy to add you, and admit the shame of our error in public.

Otherwise, I think that does it for this rather extended edition of Weekend Cat Blogging. Good night, and we love you all.

and, hey, who wouldn't enjoy some fresh turkey?

Weekend Cat Blogging #115: Now is the summer of our discontent

We at CatSynth welcome everyone to Weekend Cat Blogging #115 and the “Summer of Our Discontent.” Week three of unemployment. Trouble out there in the world. Temperatures rising at home, especially indoors where Luna is getting cold packs for her favorite towel. Computers overheating, too, our aging PC laptop gets ready to take off after about 30 minutes, not long enough for any real work. Persistent coughing, but sporadic health insurance that decides to take the week off. But according to the new trackback system I implemented and planned to roll out for WCB, there are literally hundreds of cheap prescription drug options out there. Lots of patronizing statements from folks masquerading as “helpful advice.” And breaking news that apparently all men have bad taste in interior design. And most of all it hurts to say good-bye to so many friends in just one week.

We are once again reminded of Albert Schweitzer's famous quote: “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” Music hasn't been a refuge of late, but it might become one again after all. But meanwhile, let's celebrate the refuge our feline friends bring to our lives, albeit sometimes all too fleeting.

Please leave your links as a comment, or contact us if you prefer. The intrepid among you can try the new trackback system, but it might get lost between some ads for performance-enhancing drugs or the exciting “performances” they make possible.

Also, don't forget the other weekend cat-blogging opporunties at Friday Ark, the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos (theme is black-and-white, quite interesting), and Carnival of Cats.

Midnight Monday Moral Dilemma

Late last night I caught Luna appreciating one of my art prints a little bit too intently. That almost always means she has founding some poor unsuspecting creature to hunt. And in this case, there was indeed a rather large spider that had crawled behind the print and then along the nearby wall. You can see Luna and her arachnid target in the photo to the left.

Luna loves to hunt large invertebrates, though she rarely catches them. And anything that high up on a wall is pretty hopeless. But in reality is just a game, a chance for Luna to play with her hunting instincts.

So should one try to coax spiders or insects closer so that she can better play at hunting with them. Or leave them be? My instincts always suggest the latter, letting the bugs get away, despite the desire to bring more small joys into my cat's life.

Of course, this question is not something that keeps me up at night – and I have no innate fear of spiders. But it's interesting, and a good excuse to participate in “Midnight Monday.”

Bad Kitty Chaos Festival #4: The Round up

&cWell, it's Sunday afternoon and time for the round-up of the Bad Kitty Chaos Festival #4. The theme is Music and Cats, and Luna starts us off with a “CatSynth pose” next to a soon-to-be-bent Casio SK-10:

Meanwhile, Willow from sammawow has her own keyboard shot, where she channels the Ramones. Gotta love those 70s haircuts. We will probably feature some more photos of Willow as part of our regular “CatSynth pic” series.

Luna doesn't really play much, she mostly just likes to hang in the studio, as we've seen many times in the past:

For Gree, music is about purrrs. Purrs can indeed be a wonderful musical sound, there are several electronic treatments of purrs in the album I am currently working on entitled 2 1/2.

Next we take a little detour from art towards science. Living the Scientific Life asks the question “Can Animals Predict Impending Death?”, and features the much discussed case of Oscar who seemed to predict when residents at a nursing home were near death.

Oscar is also the subject of this week's contribution by TherapyDoc.

More music (or “mewsic”) can be found at the home of Kashim and Othello, where the boys try their own version of a faux reggae classic.

Meanwhile Victor Tabbycat presents Fursday along with Bonnie Underfoot.

Those Bengals are back, with all the Bengal cuteness, over at Pet's Garden Blog.

Mouse takes on the competition in this slideshow at This, That and The Other Thing (who hosted Carnival of the Cats last weekend). Don't worry Mouse, the toys are no match for you.

“When you?ve gotten bored of attacking your toys, there?s always your own foot to play with…”, as we are reminded at Dophin's Dock. Sage advice.

Have you ever considered a cat's whistkers? Well, you should. And this contribution from the Magick Cat Cauldron will help introduce you this amazing piece of feline machinery.

Samantha says thank you to everyone who helped with her surprise party. Sounds like it was a smashing success.

At Self Help for Cats, Herman Panther likes to sleep cuddled with his humans, “like a lover.” Reminds me of a bit of “kitty live” with our own little panther here, who loves to snuggle up in bed on my left side and fall asleep purring.

Aloysius joins our cats-and-music theme with his epic poem. Sing, Great Cat, the tale of Aloysius, mighty hunter of the line of Pangur Ban!.

Gemini sets off a bit of an argument at Chey's Place. Maybe time for her own blog? After all, there is no such thing as too many cat blogs.

Over at the Cat Realm, Karl dares us all with a challenge. Visit them to find out more. Oh, by the way, nice shades!


Finally, Biscuit has not come home, and Megan and bad kitty cats are losing hope that she will return. This is really sad news for our friends who started this “festival” – we hope that she does defy the odds and return, but our sympathies are with them now.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos. Next weekend, we'll be hosting the old favorite Weekend Cat Blogging.

Bad Kitty Chaos Festival #4

Luna and I welcome everyone to participate in Bad Kitty Chaos Festival, fourth edition. As Megan suggests, we are having an optional theme of Cats and Music:

To participate, you can [strinke] use the handy submission form, or leave us a comment right here on this post. We'll have the big roundup this Sunday!

UPDATE: Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats have another crisis on their hands. Biscuit is missing. We hope she is safe and comes home soon. In the meantime, please leave a comment instead of the submission form.

And lest we forget, it is also Weekend Cat Blogging #113 over at masak-masak, where Ms G the “elusive ginger kitty” hosts. Samantha and Tigger host this weekend's Carnival of the Cats; and of course the The Friday Ark is boarding at The Modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #112 and Chaos #3: Unemployment Lifestyle

We at CatSynth are still getting used to this whole unemployment thing. For me, this is a very novel experience, not having work. However, there is a lot that cats can teach us about not working:

Our friends Kashim and Othello have a “mess” theme for the Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos, and we have a recent pic that sums up both messiness and idleness:

I leave laundry on the floor, and Luna takes a nap on it. A little guilty non-working pleasure for both of us.

On more serious note our friends at the Bad Kitty Cats are dealing with more difficulties, as Braum has fallen ill and Zed Monster had an accident that severely injured his tail. We hope they both make a full recovery.

Of course, there is more feline fun with a Simpsons theme, D'oh!, at The Weekend Cat Blogging #112 roundup with Kate and Puddy. (I'm always struck how similar Puddy and Luna look.) And also check out Friday Ark , where we are late as always, and Carnival of the Cats at This, That and the Other thing. I think that's it for now.

Preparing for tomorrow's today's performance, part 2

Things were looking pretty dire yesterday afternoon, with major audio problems on both the PC and Mac. Without going into details, I was getting intermittent pops, clicks and stutters on the PC, and the Mac was simply outputting something wrong. Eventually, I was able to get the mac working with clean audio, so that became the computer for today's performance, together with an E-MU 0202 | USB and an Xboard.

Basically, the mac is running Open Sound World, more specifically, the latest version that works with my new Python interface. Without the pesky graphical interface, the system is rock solid and a lot more efficient to program. It's more akin to SuperCollider or the practice of “live coding”, if you are familiar with either of those. So with this setup, I was able to get things up and running for today very quickly. And it is rock solid, though I don't want to jinx the actual performance too much by describing all the things that didn't happen.

The “instrument” for today allows two live recordings to be played back at various rates, controlled by the MIDI keyboard and knobs. I will be playing several of my Indian instruments to feed the recordings, in particular the ektar (single-string instrument) and the gopichand (also single string, with a bendable neck for pitch modulation).

Of course, the ketzela wants to get in the act again, too:

One last-minute change was dealing with my Xboard killing itself (something stupid on my part, really). Fortunately, I also have the Novation keyboard as a backup, and although the keyboard itself isn't as good, the controllers are a better fit.

The setup is also extremely compact. This is all I have to carry:

Well, actually, this and the folding table I usually bring. Still, it will be very light and relatively easy to set up (especially as the mac boots very quickly).

Weekend Cat Blogging #110: Preparing for tomorrow's performance, part 1

With my performance for the 7th Annual Skronkathon neary upon us, I am spending more time in the studio trying to prepare musically but mostly dealing with technical glitches.

Of course, Luna wants to participate:

But it's really about what she wants, which as always is a little love and attention:

So while we continue to get some actual prep-work done, you can go visit the WCB roundup, hosted by our friend Dragonheart, who celebrates his first birthday next week (just one day before we at CatSynth celebrate our first anniversary).

And for more feline-blogging fun, check out the Friday Ark (where we are always late), and Carnival of the Cats. And lest we forget, this weekend is the first Bad Kitty Chaos Festival (not that we would ever consider Luna or any of our feline friends to be “bad”).

And if you have a chance, Luna has been writing a few journal entries of her own over at Catster, including the much dreaded trip to the V-E-T this past week.