weekend cat blogging

Weekend Cat Blogging: SF SPCA Macy’s Holiday Windows

Every year, the San Francisco SPCA teams up with Macy’s to produce Holiday Windows featuring adoptable pets at the flagship store in downtown San Francisco. It’s a great holiday tradition here, and an opportunity to find new homes for pets over the holidays.

Over the past seven years, the Holiday Windows have helped the SF SPCA raise nearly $400,000 and find homes for over 2,300 animals. Thank you to our friends at Macy’s for their commitment to helping us find loving homes for San Francisco’s cats and dogs.

There were mostly kittens and adolescent cats on display when I visited the windows earlier today. I was particularly taken with this pair of black-furred brothers.

There is always a theme to the windows, and this year it appeared to be gift boxes, as if these kittens were to both be a gift and to receive a gift.

But the windows also often feature a city vibe as well.

To find out more about SF SPCA Macy’s Holiday Windows, follow this link. And if you happen to be in the San Francisco area this holiday season, I recommend stopping by Union Square to see the pets.

Weekend Cat Blogging #394 is hosted by pam and sidewalk shoes.

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 #392

We at CatSynth are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #392. To participate, please add you link to the list below, or leave us a comment, and we will add you to the big round-up.

Long-time participants of Weekend Cat Blogging have undoubtedly noticed that participation has dropped off. So WCB will cease to be a hosted event as of the end of the year. It’s a bit sad, having participated since the early days of this blog. But we will continue to have posts titled “Weekend Cat Blogging” here as a showcase for Luna’s adventures and other non-musical stories about cats.

But for today, let’s continue with the round-up.

Our friends at Animal Shelter Volunteer present two of the cats at PAWS waiting to be adopted into their forever homes. First up is Roamer, who is the December “Cat of the Month” at PAWS. Follow his link to find out what that honor entails. And then we have Oscar taking it easy.

At Mind of Mog, we learn that Ritzi is a fractious cat, though she certainly doesn’t look that way in her photo. In the blogging-geekery department, they have also updated to WordPress 3.5, something we at CatSynth haven’t yet attempted to do.

It is sometimes hard to express thoughts in words in the wake of a tragedy like the one in Newtown, Connecticut, this past Friday. Sometimes, sharing our thoughts and sympathies and hopes through pictures is all we can do. That it was Beau Beau and Angie have done with this beautiful picture of love and light and bokeh.

The sunrise, too, can be beautiful, as we can see in the picture of Georgia in the morning sun. Visit our friends at Mickey’s Musings for more great sunrise and feline photography.



Weekend Cat Blogging: Contentment

Things are settling down into a more quiet rhythm here at CatSynth after New York and the recent shows back here in San Francisco. Here Luna basks in the sun near a pile of books.

And here is Luna licking her chops.

And she has plenty of reason to do so, especially after a yummy dinner of fish-cakes that we shared last weekend.

We will be hosting the Carnival of the Cats tomorrow. We are looking forward to a good turnout from those who blog about cats occasionally or all the time. You can send your links to carnivalofthecats(at)gmail.com or submit using the sometimes handy carnival submission form.

Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted this week by the late Meowza.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging: Luna’s Birthday and Quiet Weekend

It’s a quiet rainy weekend here at CatSynth HQ. Indeed, we are expecting more nasty storms today and tomorrow. That makes it a perfect time to stay inside and catch up on things, and of course to extend celebrating Luna’s Birthday. If you haven’t already done so, go check out her birthday photos.

A friend of ours send a birthday card. Here we see Luna examining it.

With the quiet time ahead of us, it might also be a good opportunity to try a recipe from Meow Chow, particularly if it something that both felines and humans can enjoy.

I always notice how much the cat on the front of the book looks like Luna 🙂

Weekend Cat Blogging #390 is hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome. They are also announcing that the Weekend Cat Blogging round-up will be coming to an end this month. It is a bit sad, but it does seem that it’s popularity has been dwindling. We will certainly be here to mark the final one later this month.

Meanwhile, the Carnival of the Cats continues, and will be up this Sunday at .

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator. They even had Luna’s birthday up before I could post it – thanks!

Weekend Cat Blogging: Bronx Cat

After the Issue Project Room show in Brooklyn last Saturday, I headed north to the Bronx. Out on the street in Riverdale in the Bronx, I came across this cat:

The cat was a bit shy, keeping a bit of distance, but not running away either. It eventually went up one driveway.

It seemed to be a pet cat, not a stray, and after several entreaties came up to me, even head-butting my hand. It is always a treat to encounter cats when out and about.

Weekend Cat Blogging Thanksgiving Edition is hosted by Jules and Vincent over at Judi’s Mind Over Matter.

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 hosted by the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Luna (Noise Research)

We at CatSynth are always curious about musical contraptions whose names include “Luna”. The latest we have encountered is luna_NT from Luna Noise Research (aka luna_lab).

Of course, I had to coax Luna to pose with it. She was mildly curious (as she is with anything that arrives at CatSynth HQ).

But what does this contraption sound like? I managed to rustle up a 9-volt battery and fire it up. Here is a brief video of what we encountered:

You will have to pardon the bad iPhone videography. But it does give an idea of what the basic functions do. What I can do with it musically remains to be seen.

Weekend Cat Blogging #387 is hosted by Samantha, Clementine and Maverick.

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

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging: Public Service Announcements

It is interesting times for human and feline alike, particularly here in the United States. Our quadrennial civic ritual comes down to its final weekend.

Thanks to Ann from Zoolatry for this graphic. It’s a cat-friendly reminder to humans in the US to VOTE this coming Tuesday (if they have not done so already). Whatever your choices may be, it’s important to participate.

We are also thinking of all our friends – and family, too – that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy. As electricity and communications come back online, I have heard from family and from friends in both the experimental-music and cat-blogging communities, and happy that everyone seems to be OK (albeit still without power in some cases).

You can find a great list of resources for people with pets (courtesy of George the Duck). Now that the immediate emergency is subsiding, the attention shifts to the aftermath. A New Jersey has also set up a hotline for pet rescue. The Humane Society has set up rescue and shelter operations in NY and NJ as have numerous other organizations, both local and national. Our friends at PAWS in Norwalk, CT are also helping out, as they weathered the storm relatively well.

And of course, please support the help for humans and animal companions alike through donations to your favorite groups and local rescue efforts in the region.

This has also given us thought about disaster preparedness here in San Francisco, where we have our own worries. The site 72hours.org has great info specific to the Bay Area, including a section on preparedness for pets. We have been a bit lax about our preparedness kits despite having most of the pieces – it’s something we’re going to do soon!

Weekend Cat Blogging #386 is up at Mind of Mog.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Nikita and Elvira from their new home in Houston, at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #385: Halloween Black Cat Edition

We at CatSynth are excited to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging Halloween Black Cat Edition. It has been a tradition for us since we started this blog back in 2006!

Black cats like Luna are sleekly beautiful and elegant, but still face challenges from old superstitions, especially at this time of year. Black cats often have the most difficulty getting adopted in shelters, and some of the posts from groups like Black Cats in Need of Rescue/Adoption on Facebook can be heartbreaking. Yet because of the superstitions and potential abuse around Halloween time, some shelters suspend black-cat adoption in October.

But this weekend, we want to celebrate black cats, and indeed all cats. So if you would like to participate, please leave a comment below, leave a comment for us on our Facebook page, or tweet us @catsynth.

Our friends in Texas Samantha Black,Clementine and Maverick are doing their best to be “spooky” this weekend as part of their Photo Hunt Challenge.

Over on our Facebook page, fan Hans Blieb contributed a few black cat pictures, including the cute one above. He also reminds us that nothing is spookier than a wet cat.

Also in the scary department, we were offline for several hours yesterday due to problems with our webhosting service. But as you can see, we’re back online now and ready to continue with the round-up. We will be accepting entries through Monday because of the delay.

It wouldn’t be Weekend Cat Blogging without a visit from our friend and black cat extraordinaire Jules. He joins us from Birmingham, Alabama and never misses a weekend that Luna hosts.

Meanwhile Tillie and Julie, our friends from Nova Scotia, remind us that black cats rule! They list many of the wonderful traits possessed by black felines, and encourage everyone to consider giving a black cat a home. We also think both Tillie and Julie look a lot like Luna.

Another from a fan on our Facebook page. Mickle Boulevard submits this cute feline photo with the caption: “What’s a router? If not for sits then why iz it warmz?” That’s indeed a good question.

The Cats at Wildcat Woods have some adventures for Halloween, including a pumpkin carving contest, and this photo of Minnie posing with a pumpkin.

At Animal Shelter Volunteer, Oracle is enjoying a relaxing Sunday and he is ready for adoption! Very cute. The cats and people at Animal Shelter Volunteer are in Connecticut and in the path of the oncoming hurricane. Stay safe, everyone!

And we close our black-cat and orange edition of Weekend Cat Blogging with a nod our own black-and-orange World Champion SF Giants!

Weekend Cat Blogging: The Return of the Fog

After a week or extraordinarily blue skies and warm days and nights in San Francisco, our regular scheduled fog has returned this morning, bathing everything in bright grey-white glow:

Luna is enjoying looking out the window onto the patio, contemplating something.

We actually quite like the fog here, as long as it doesn’t get to cold. But this morning does have a melancholy quality to it is well. Like the fog, it might dissipate during the day, or it might not.

Weekend Cat Blogging #384 is hosted by Jules at Judi’s Mind Over Matter.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat from their new home in Texas.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Angry Birds

Luna is spending a few minutes playing with her newest toy, a gift to her from recent visitors to CatSynth HQ:

For those who are not familiar with this particular critter, it is the original Angry Bird from the mobile and web game Angry Birds. It’s a rather silly but fun game, more in the style of arcade games than those really annoying “casual games” that were all the rage in the tech startup world and now thankfully on the decline. We don’t play a lot of computer games these days, though Luna did have fun with her toy.

I think Luna prefers the real angry birds that she sees through the window, especially the big fat city pigeons.

Weekend Cat Blogging #382 is hosted by the late great Meowza at iMeowza.

Meanwhile, Ritzi will be hosting Carnival of the Cats tomorrow at iInfidel.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator