WCB

Weekend Cat Blogging: Grass!

It seems like a fine weekend to enjoy some grass:

“Rosy’s” is our favorite brand, in part because of the little black cat on the tag. It has appeared previously on this site.

Luna had been obsessed lately with the grass growing the flower pots on our patio, so it seemed like she was really craving it. Perhaps this is a trait picked up from our friend Mickey.

(A bit of trivia: the photos in this article are scaled to 420 pixels.)

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted by Samantha and Tigger of Life from a Cat’s Perspective, now at their new home in Texas.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at House Panthers, of which Luna is a proud member.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Electric

This weekend we at CatSynth sing the body electric (with apologies to Walt Whitman) and present another combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt.

Electricity and electronics are a central part of our existence:

Luna poses with an electric guitar, cables and our Mr. Echo delay pedal. Below we see Luna posing with another of our electronic devices, a Korg Kaos Pad:

Electricity permeates not only our music but art as well. Here we see a piece entitled Reflective by artist Roy Forest. It contains a red neon light running the length of bamboo tube.

For WCB, note the Suzhou cat and maneki neko on the shelf about the sculpture.

It’s interesting how there is a black and red theme throughout the images in this post. I only noticed that after completing it. It has a suggestion of fire to it, and fire and electricity have a strong connection.

More electricity. This morning, we were awakened by a large electrical storm with loud thunder and flashes of lightening. It’s a remarkable coincidence, as thunderstorms are quite rare in San Francisco. They lasted most of the morning, and some neighborhoods lost electricity. Our area was not affected by the outages, and in the end things just got a little damp.

Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by our friends LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough. We know they will appreciate the audio and music gear featured in this article.

Photo Hunt #178 at tnchick features the theme of electric, with the prototype image being an electric guitar.

Kashim, Othello and Salome are hosting the Carnival of the Cats this Sunday.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Luna and mouse

This weekend we have a video of Luna playing with one of her mouse toys.

She can get quite intense in her play. It is a delight to watch.

Visit Mind of Mog for Weekend Cat Blogging.

The Carnival of Cats will be happening this Sunday at Artsy Catsy.

The now monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Enjoying the outdoors.

Our weather continues to be unusually warm and sunny (considering the reputation of San Francisco summers from Mark Twain’s apocryphal comment). And Luna continues to enjoy time out in our little urban garden.

Here we see her strolling:

And stopping to pose in front a metal screen sculpture:

Right now, we have two sculptures outdoors: the black metal screen, and the rusted metal work Pierced Screen by J. Michael Smiley.

This weekend is looking to be exceptionally warm again (well into the 90s in this neighborhood), so Luna has wisely retreated indoors.

Weekend Cat Blogging #221 is being hosted by Mr. Tigger at the M-Cats Club.

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

And of course the Friday Ark is the modulator. But it looks like they are moving to a new “Modulator Manor”. Recalling the chaos but subsequent rewards when we moved to the new CatSynth HQ, we wish them well!

Weekend Cat Blogging: A triangle of light

This weekend, we have Luna basking in a triangular patch of light.

It reminded me of some of the architectural photos I have been taking, both the triangular shape and the stone surface. And it has a feeling of emptiness, though things can never be too empty with a playful cat.

Weekend Cat Blogging #220, is being hosted by Salome, at Paulchen’s Foodblog?!. This is no small feat as Astrid is away, but she is getting help from some of her human and feline friends.

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

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Artificial

For Weekend Cat Blogging, we selected a photo of Luna standing atop a table, i.e., someplace she is technically not supposed to be, but there is no stopping a cat from claiming every accessible surface.

The theme for this week’s Photo Hunt is artificial, which is an interesting and subjective term. One could say everything is the above photo except for Luna is “artifical” in that is was constructed by humans. But if one uses artificial to mean simulated or “fake”, then the banana is the most appropriate object. It is actually a musical instrument, a shaker.

In a sense, most of our Weekend Cat Blogging posts explore the contrast between Luna’s natural beauty and her artificial surroundings:

Then again, most humans and domestic cats live in artificial dwellings (unless they live in caves or trees), whether they think about it that way or not.

In the last photo, Luna once again poses on top of her scratching post, which is by now quite worn and will soon need to be replaced.

Weekend Cat Blogging #219 is being hosted by LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough. They make the somewhat disturbing observation that August is already half over (it has been going by fast).

The Carnival of the Cats will be at Artsy Catsy this Sunday.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator. It’s edition 256, which is a good number.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Entertainment

We are once again combining Weekend Cat Blogging and the Photo Hunt, where this week’s theme is Entertainment.

Whether or not music is a way of life or entertainment is a question that has been debated since time immemorial. But if you accept that at least some music is entertainment, then we at CatSynth have no shortage of appropriate photos. We don’t even need to dig too deep in the CatSynth Archives to find intersections of Luna and music:


Click on any of the above images to see the full size photo in its original post.

Yes, we are doing a “clip show” this weekend. It actually works out well, though, as I need to rest a bit for medical reasons. Luna is great company when healing. It also gives me a chance to ponder future artistic directions, and that brings us full circle to whether art is a way of life, entertainment, or both.

Weekend Cat Blogging #217 is being hosted by Mog and Meowza.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: In the Studio

Luna enjoys sitting behind the blinds in the studio area. She is always a welcome presence.

We were finally getting everything set up again at the beginning of July, only to have to once again unplug everything to support some of the live shows. It’s been a while since we at CatSynth have had a stable studio where I can just sit down, flip on the switches and do creative work. That is one thing I miss from our former home, the evenings in the downstairs studio room just spontaneously trying things out on the computer or other equipment, and Luna coming over to investigate. Now it feels like I have to constantly plug and unplug things and do heavy lifting just to make music at home. But with no shows of my own scheduled for August, it might be time to set things right.

Weekend Cat Blogging #216 is being hosted by our friends Samantha Black & Mr Tigger at Life from a Cat’s Perspective. 216 is actually an interesting number, but I digress.

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

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Rocks, and remembrance

This weekend we are again combining Weekend Cat Blogging with the week’s Photo Hunt theme of rocks.

Here we see Luna in repose behind one of our sculptures here at CatSynth HQ:

This sculpture has appeared in a few of our pictures before. It is called Red Rock Maquette by Steven Reiman, an artist in the Joshua Tree area who primarily works in large-scale metal works. This piece combines metal elements with a rock base.

I would like to more formally introduce more of the artwork here at CatSynth HQ, which has been lurking in the background of many of our photos. But time has been quite limited of late. Two performances in the past week, the reports still pending; and of course the regular business of daily life.

But time is also precious, and the Othello and Astrid remind us in this Weekend Cat Blogging #215: in honor of Sher, a regular at WCB who passed away a year ago. Life will hopefully slow down a bit in the next week, and one way to enjoy a quiet evening would be to prepare another of Sher’s recipes and spend time with Luna.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Independence Day

July 4 is the big Independence Day holiday here in the U.S. So we at CatSynth are now scrambling to find a recent Luna photo with patriotic colors, and this is the best we can do:

Of course, we are taking full advantage of our extended holiday weekend:

Yes, we are taking some much deserved rest, and with it the opportunity to restore mind, body and our living space. We are also contemplating the newly empty lot next door:

A vacant debris-strewn lot may seem like an odd image for Independence Day, but it quite meaningful for us. And the gritty urban landscape represents our country as much as the images of family picnics and small town parades that are often used as symbols of the holiday.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Red, White and Boom edition is hosted by Sir Tristan Tabby Cat Longtail.

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

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.