Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival

The 2nd Annual Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival took place a little over a week ago. Large numbers of cat lovers and cat-video enthusiasts descended on a block of West Grand Avenue along The Great Wall in celebration of cats, and of course your author was there, complete with crazy-cat-lady dress and bag.

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The daytime part of the event had more of a street fair atmosphere, with numerous booths providing food and miscellaneous cat-themed products under a bright but cloudy sky. There were also numerous organizations involved in fostering and adoption of cats, including the East Bay SPCA (one of the main beneficiaries of the event) Cat Town, and Oakland-based group that finds foster and forever homes for local cats and is also opening what may be the first cat cafe in the United States!

Cat Town

Many of the organizations brought adoptable cats and kittens for viewing. We certainly hope some found homes that day.

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The celebrity rock star of the event was Li’l Bub, who was on hand for visitors to meet.

Li'l Bub

Our friend Serena Toxicat of Protea performed a feline-themed set of music for voice and electronics. Among her songs was a tribute to the manual (or Pallas Cat) with the warning not to get too close to one despite its awesomeness.

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Other daylight fun included a photo booth from the makers of 9lives cat food, inviting visitors to Instagram and tag themselves as #MorrisAndMe (and of course #catvidfest).

Finally, the sun set and the actual videos began. The videos were from a curated reel featured at the Minneapolis Cat Video Festival hosted at the Walker Art Center., and featured many familiar videos such as Henri the existential cat and Grumpy Cat, but also new discoveries.

Henri the existential cat

What makes this experience unique is not the videos themselves, which so many of us know from our time on the Internet, but the act of getting together and watching them with others, and laughing together at the cat antics.

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I am certainly looking forward to this event coming back again next year!

CatSynth video: Arnold+Sukroso – Role For Gold (official HD)

Via matrixsynth.

Spot these synths (every costume color plays a different track):
– Nord Modular G2
– Nord Rack 2
– Korg Kaoss Pad Mini
– AcPad Guitar Prototype (acoustic guitar with drum pads and MIDI controllers)
– an Electronic Drum Kit
– Bilbo The Cat 🙂

ROLE FOR GOLD is the first single of the upcoming SYNCHROTRON E.P. by the Berlin based one-man-band joint venture of drummer Sebastian Arnold and Robin Sukroso on guitar.

Slipping into the colourful roles of different electronic instruments, the two instrumentalists discover a golden place in the summer heat.

Concept: Arnold+Sukroso
DoP & Editor: Paul Alpha
Camera Assistant: Jonas Niemann
Set Manager, Costume Design & Make Up, Catering: Chrissi
Music written by Rainer Hirl
Music produced by Sebastian Arnold

Part of ‘Synchrotron E.P.’, Release 09.05.2014

Thanks: Location Reitwein, Boris, Tine Margot, Helene Cat Bilbo

No animals were hurt during production (except mosquitoes).

CatSynth video: do re minor

A great demo track from Ebotronix on YouTube. Via matrixsynth. It includes an impressive array of synth gear. And watch for the cat in the corner 🙂

4ms Peg, QCD / Expander, RCD, VCA Matrix
Analogue Systems RS100²,RS110²²,RS 170,RS360²,RS500e²
Arp Odyssey 2821 white noise
Bananalogue VCS
Cyndustries Zero Oscillator
Doepfer R2m, A118, A134²², A143-2,A148,
A 149-1, A151²²,A160/161, A175²²,A185-2, A 138c
Flame Chord Machine²,Talking Synth Module²
Grendel Formant Filter²
flight of harmony choices
Make Noise PP, Maths²,Moddemix²²,Optomix,QMMG,René, Woglebug²
Malekko Anti Oscillator²² Uncle³,Jag
Moog Freqbox²²,MP201
Oberheim Sem
Sherman Filterbank 2
Simmons Clap Trap
SSL Modulation Orgy
Tip Top Audio Z8000 manual voltage source
Toppobrillo Quantimator,Sportmodulator,TWF²
Logic masterclock to Kenton Pro 2000² , QCD,Peg, RCD
FX :Boss VF1,Lexicon MX 400,PCM 80, Line6 echopro,TC M one XL
mackie the mixer³
kick by RS110 Maths QMMG

CatSynth video: Cat Watching a MiniBrute Video

Original title en français: Miss Papée qui prend des cours avec Franco

From francolamuerte·159 on YouTube, via matrixsynth.

“Teaser ! Savoir comment accorder un oscillateur analogique sur toute l’étendue de sa plage d’octave, ça vous intéresse ? En tout cas, moi j’ai connais une que ça intéresse vivement : ma fidèle et unique Miss Papée !”

It looks like Miss Papée wants to touch the MiniBrute 🙂

CatSynth video: Grumpy Cat gets Keyboard Cat toy

First CatSynth post of the new year, this one features both Grumpy Cat and Keyboard Cat (in toy form).

Not surprisingly, I have one of those keyboard cat toys. I have used it in performance and it might make an appearance this Saturday at SOMArts’ 100 Performances For the Hole. Stop by between 7-8 to catch my 4-minute feline-themed set!