CatSynth

From @muffwiggler who manned the Tiptop Audio booth this year. tiptopaudio.com

Via matrixsynth.

[Click to enlarge]

Submitted by Serina Toxicat via Facebook.

OK, this may in fact be a train control console, but it’s interesting how much it looks like a synth or MIDI controller. It would be interesting to retrofit one of these to be a musical instrument.

To mark this occasion, we thought we would share some superb owls.

[By Peter Trimming from Croydon, England ('Tutoke'Uploaded by snowmanradio) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]

[By GalliasM (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[]

And we even found an “Owl Synth Pic”

[From Mike Peakcock2005 from flickr.]

And finally, check out this review of a performance by Tiny Owl.

Earlier this week, we had rehearsals at CatSynth HQ for my Thursday-night performance as the poetry-and-music duo “Pitta of the Mind.” And Luna was on hand to supervise and support.

Her annoyed expression has more to do with the camera flash than anything else. She was very curious and hung out with us during the rehearsal, which was great to see as she is usually quite shy. And of course, she is quite used to the strange sounds from the iPad and modular synth.

The show itself was great, and will be the topic of a separate post in the near future.

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

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Today, we visit the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge to mark the passing today of former New York Mayor Ed Koch. The bridge, which carries New York State Route 25 from Queens to its terminus in Manhattan at 2nd Avenue, is known locally at the “59th Street Bridge.” It’s actually over 100 years old, having opened in 1909.

[By Lasse Fuss (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons]

The Queens side connects to a tangled nexus of ramps that are mixed up with elevated subway structures. And as these structures are all aging, they become interesting photographic subjects. The bridge was named in honor of the former mayor in 2010.

Here is cute video that has been circulating today, in which Mayor Koch welcomes passersby (including the current mayor) to “my bridge”. (You need only watch the segment until about 2:00)

It’s very typical of his style, being a larger-than-life character but also a bit self-deprecating. It is quintessentially “New York”. From the New York Times obituary:

…out among the people or facing a news media circus in the Blue Room at City Hall, he was a feisty, slippery egoist who could not be pinned down by questioners and who could outtalk anybody in the authentic voice of New York: as opinionated as a Flatbush cabby, as loud as the scrums on 42nd Street, as pugnacious as a West Side reform Democrat mother.

I did have the opportunity to meet him twice on visits back from Yale to New York City, as part of the Yale Political Union. Although my colleagues seemed to treat him rather coldly, I was quite happy for the experience.

Submitted by Aais Plex via our Facebook page.

“Mimine ‘the drummer’ taking a short nap on her favourite spot: the Axiom 25 keyboard. Favourite instrument: the TR-909 drumkit”

Submitted by Alejandra Olsen via our Facebook page.

“I want more cowbell more cowbell I said”

Submitted by Christy Purrrlington via Twitter.

“how can I play properly when mom leaves her rubbish all over the keys?”

Submitted by Piotr Majewski via our Facebook page. If you can identify the red device next to the handsome black cat, please leave a comment below. Of course, if you can’t identify it, feel free to leave a comment as well