photo hunt

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Drink

For today’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt theme of Drink, we both dig into the CatSynth archives and present some more iPhone Hipstamatic experiments.

First, from the archives (all the way back to 2007), we see Luna enjoying a drink of water:

And some experimental photos of cat figurines and a modernist shot glass.

I tried two different settings. I like the black-and-white film simulation, but I also wanted a color version to bring out the blue color of the glass.

And one more of Luna today wandering by my morning cup of coffee:

Weekend Cat Blogging will be hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome at PaulChen FoodBlog?!”

Photo Hunt: Drink (#279) is hosted by tnchick.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted tomorrow by When Cats Attack!

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: One

Today’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt features the theme of ONE.

Of course, there is only one Luna. No one can dispute that.  And this particular pose features one paw sticking out.

We also veer away from cats and into the realm of highways with California Highway 1. This view from Pescadero (between San Francisco and Santa Cruz) is a quintessential image of our coastal highway.

This one is further north, crossing over a harbor in Fort Bragg, in Mendocino County.

Although thought am sure I have lots of images of Highway 1, they have become rather hard to keep track of in the ever increasing library.   (It’s hard to keep track of all the Luna photos as well, for that matter.)  Tagging and naming files does help, but I would like to use image similarity search as well. Does anyone have any suggestions for this?

Weekend Cat Blogging #323 is hosted by Samantha and Clementine at Life from a Cat’s Perspective

The Photo Hunt #278 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is one.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Nikita and Elvira at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Korg MS-20 Patch

The theme for this week’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt is Patch. We at CatSynth have an alternative take on the theme, as Luna poses with a Korg MS-20 patch on the iPad:

As a bonus, the app’s simulated interface features patch cords. They’re a little challenging to manipulate on the screen, but the make for nice visuals.

Appropriately for an iPad-centric post, Weekend Cat Blogging #320 is hosted by Meowza at his blog iMeowza.

Photo Hunt 275 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is Patch.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Nikita and Elvira at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Busy

There is rarely a moment that we at CatSynth aren’t busy, thus it is an appropriate theme for this week’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. Even going into the extended holiday weekend.

Luna poses once again with the iPad, but the app on display isn’t as exciting as the synthesizers and music controllers we usually show. It’s Toodledo, the cloud-based todo-list service that I use on iPhone/iPad and the web in a valiant attempt to keep ahead of the extreme busy-ness of the past two years. Not very exciting, but we do our best to make it at least look pretty in photos.

For those who obsessively try to do such things, the task being shown on these photos (strategically distorted via the Hipstamatic) is a daily reminder to brush Luna. There is also a weekly task for Weekend Cat Blogging. Many of the tasks on the list are about getting in touch with friends and professional contacts. I do need to catch up on those! On that note, we have been a bit remiss in visiting our WCB friends. We will try to do so this time.

Weekend Cat Blogging #317 is hosted by our friends Kashim, Othello and Salome. Even though they live in Vienna they honor us with a Fourth of July theme.

Carnival of the Cats will be up this Monday (rather than the usual Sunday) in honor of the Fourth of July as well, hosted by Nikita and Elvira at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

Photo Hunt #272 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is BUSY.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Cards

This weekend we are once again combining Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. The theme is cards, and we start with an unexpected take on the theme:

I recently came across these older “Smart Media” data cards while cleaning. They’re bigger (and a bit more interesting to photograph) than the current SD cards my current cameras and other devices use, but they are essentially useless. I do have a reader that can read/write them, but no particular reason to do so. Anyone have any ideas?

Here is Luna with some of her past birthday cards:

I believe they are from 2010 and 2007. It’s not Luna’s birthday, but the cards are out because of the recent cleaning (similar to the memory cards).

Weekend Cat Blogging #316 is hosted by pam at Pam’s Sidewalk Shoes.

Photo Hunt #271 is hosted by tnchick. The theme this week is cards.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up tomorrow at When Cats Attack!

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Looking Down and Cluttered

Today’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt features two themes. This week is Looking Down, but last week’s theme of Cluttered was delayed and happens to be perfect for this week. We are in the midst of a major clean-up here at CatSynth HQ, which brings the usually hidden clutter out into the open:

It’s amazing how much stuff accumulates. Many things were in storage at previous home then ended up being stored again here. The PurrPad that Luna is sitting on is one of them. It was taking up space and serving no purpose in a closet, but now she clearly enjoys it. Indeed she has been resting here more often that her other usual spots.

For “Looking Down”, we peer down the staircase at Luna. The perspective is interesting, particularly with all the lines from the metal railings.

Once again, we are thinking about our friends in the middle of United States affected by terrible and storms, and especially the tornado in Missouri. We heard about a particularly tragic and poignant story last week.

Those who wish to help pets affected, visit the Jopin Humane Society. And there is the American Red Cross.

Other donation efforts and fundraising efforts can be found here and via the Cat Blogosphere.

Weekend Cat Blogging #312 is hosted at Mom’s Sunday Cafe.

The Photo Hunt is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is Looking Down. We are also using last week’s theme of Cluttered.

The Carnival of the Cats is back at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat this Sunday.

And the Friday Ark is taking a break this weekend.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Missed

The theme if this week’s Photo Hunt is missed.  So for our combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt post, we present Morty:

As one can see, Morty was a rather smart cat, and like some other individuals we may know enjoyed his coffee and newspaper every morning, and kept his cell phone nearby.  Though it does appear that Morty enjoyed the department-store ads more than the news.

The cell phone definitely dates this picture, which I’m pretty sure was taken in early 2002. Seen in comparison to the current iPhone, it is definitely not missed. I still have that coffee mug, which I had originally gotten from a used store when I first moved to California several years earlier.

Morty was actually the first cat I lived with.  He was a rather impish character, always getting into mischief but also seemingly aware that his cuteness would prevent him from getting in trouble.  Even though he often drove me crazy, I still miss him once in a while. (As far as I know, he is still alive and well and still making mischief.)

Appropriately for a post featuring a tabby cat, Weekend Cat Blogging #310 is hosted by the “three tabby cats in Vienna”, Kashim, Othello and Salome.

Photo Hunt 265 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is missed.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday be Samantha, Clementine and Maverick.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Digital

The theme of this week’s Photo Hunt is digital. Rather than simply use a digital photo – which could be any photo ever taken of Luna – I chose a couple of images that demonstrate the unique opportunities of the medium. A digital photo is really just a stream of numbers, not unlike digital audio, and can be processed in countless ways using digital signal processing or applying other mathematical functions.

For a piece I originally did in 2007, I took one of Luna’s adoption photos from Santa Cruz County Animal Services and applied an algorithm that overlaid these colored bands, as shown above.  The color bands were generated using a set of hastily chosen trigonometric and hyperbolic functions applied to the timeline of the animation sequence.  These photos are stills from the full animation.

I did these using image and video extensions to Open Sound World – one nice feature of that work was that I could use the same functions for both audio and video, and “see” what a particular audio-processing algorithm looked like when applied to an image.   And I would probably use the Processing environment for future visual work, perhaps in conjunction with OSW.

Weekend Cat Blogging #309 and Carnival of the Cats are both being hosted by Billy SweetFeets this weekend. Perhaps Luna’s animation could be part of one of the dance videos they often feature.

Photo Hunt #264 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is digital.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

A special note this week. Our friend Judi at Judi’s Mind over Matter (home of Jules and Vincent) has information on how to help animals affected the storms and tornadoes in the southeast US. They live in Alabama, not far from the place that was hit hardest by the tornadoes. We’re glad they’re safe, and able to provide this information for those who would like to help.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Square…and Rememberance

This weekend, we have another combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. The theme this week is square. Geometric shapes, including squares, abound at CatSynth HQ. But with the exceptionally gorgeous weather, we turn our attention once again to the patio:

The patio is covered in square slate tiles on which Luna enjoys rolling around. We are still doing some work to fix things up for spring now the construction is in the past. New design ideas to emphasize the industrial and geometric aesthetic.

This weekend we are also joining our friends the Three Tabby Cats in Vienna ~ Kashim, Othello and Salome ~ in a Weekend of Remembrance. We participated when they hosted a similar weekend back in 2007, lighting a candle like this one.

As we have made more friends online, so we have also lost many friends. We said goodbye to Mickey only a few weeks ago. Last year, we lost DJ Kikovas, the feline companion of our friend and fellow electronic musician Vivi Pedraglio. We also said goodbye to Tali and Sniffie. It is interesting to look back and see the diverse collection of people, mixture of musicians, engineers and cat lovers, who cross paths in these stories. We have also lost many heroes in music, art and mathematics in this same period of time; and some personal friends. We remember them as well.

Our thoughts for all our friends who lost love ones (human and non-human) over the past year, and for those who are struggling in the current storms in southeastern U.S., recovering from the disaster in Japan, and living through the seemingly greater number conflicts around the world.

Weekend Cat Blogging #308 is hosted by Samantha and Clementine at Life From a Cat’s Perspective. They are dedicating their post in remembrance of Praline.

Photo Hunt #263 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is SQUARE.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up tomorrow at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Silhouette

This week’s Photo Hunt theme is silhouette, which is something that often happens with photos of Luna by chance if not by intention.

It is often a product of Luna’s black fur that the lighting extremes at CatSynth HQ.  But it can lead to interesting results.  I like the contrast of Luna’s black silhouette to the bright chrome and glass reflections in this next photo:

This was taken back on New Years Day.

Weekend Cat Blogging #298 will be hosted by Samantha and Clementine at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

PhotoHunt 253 is hosted as always by tnchick. This week’s theme is Silhouette.

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

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.