Fun with Highways: Philadelphia

Philadelphia has played an important role for us at CatSynth this year, musically, personally, and now politically. All eyes have been on this city the last few days, and this morning they delivered the crucial votes to call the presidential election.

Downtown Philadelphia lies between two rivers, the larger Delaware and the smaller Schuykill. It is further boxed in by three major freeways, I-95, I-76, and I-676 / US 30. Just south if I-676 (which enters the city from the east on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge from New Jersey) are the famous historic sites including Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution where written.

Independence Hall Clocktower in Philadelphia.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Independence_Hall_Clocktower_in_Philadelphia.jpg

But modern city is much more than these historic sites, revered as they are. It is one of the largest cities in the country and has its own unique culture. Great seafood, Italian food, and of course cheesesteaks. Also some important centers for modern art and architecture. There is the neo-classical Philadelphia Museum of Art (made famous by Rocky) but also the modernist Institute of Contemporary Art and the University of Pennsylvania.

Institute of Contemporary Art — Visit Philadelphia
https://www.visitphilly.com/things-to-do/attractions/institute-of-contemporary-art/

In addition to the facade of the museum, I like the modernist buildings nearby which are presumably part of the university. (Hey, didn’t someone supposedly graduate from Penn/ Wharton?).

And nestled among the tall buildings of downtown Philly is the Love sculpture by Robert Indiana. Originally part of the 1976 bicentennial celebrations in “the city of brotherly love”, it is now a permanent fixture in the city.

File:Philadelphia, The City of the Brotherly Love - USA - panoramio.jpg -  Wikimedia Commons
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Philadelphia is one of the larger and denser cities in the country, more akin to New York than to Los Angeles.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philadelphia_from_South_Street_Bridge_July_2016_panorama_3b.jpg

One of the more famous skyscrapers is the PSFS building. Now a hotel, it was once a the headquarters of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society. It is an official landmark.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PSFSBuilding1985.jpg

Of course, we would be remiss if we did not talk about the city’s music. In particular, I have a soft spot for Philly soul of the 1970s, as exemplified by the band MSFB.

They were the house band of Philadelphia Sigma Sound Studios, the seminal house for the city’s particular sound, heavy on strings and detailed production. In addition to MSFB, they spawned many important acts like the O’Jays, the Spinners, the Delfonics and Stylistics, many of whom worked with the great producer Philadelphia producer Thom Bell. The sound and musicians of the city also attracted so called “blue-eyed soul”, such as David Bowie’s Young Americans album, and Elton John’s hit Philadelphia Freedom which was recorded with MFSB. The latter truly seems like song for this moment of celebration.

Many great jazz and funk musicians also came out of Philadelphia and call the city their home. Among them is the drummer G Calvin Weston who worked with Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time, James Blood Ulmer, the Lounge Lizards and more. And he is working with me on my latest musical project as well. You can hear about his history and many other musicians from Philadelphia in our extended interview with him from this summer.

He has been adding the “icing on the cake” to several tracks on my new album scheduled to release in early January, hopefully in time for change of power in our country. But for the moment, I would just like to say how proud I am of the city of Philadelphia and to call them my friends.

Sam Sam’s First Gotcha Day!

It was one year ago today that Sam Sam came to live at CatSynth HQ, and we are wishing her a very happy first Gotcha Day (adoption anniversary)!

A year ago I was still in the early part of my grieving process for Luna, who had passed away just a little over a month earlier.  Getting another cat was always the plan, but not quite so soon.  But our friends Michael de la Cuesta (of Vacuum Tree Head) and Karen de la Cuesta told me about this sweet cat they needed to rehome – her longtime human had passed away a year earlier, and she needed to leave her current home in southern California.  I, of course, said yes.  So on December 7, 2016, she made the journey north to San Francisco and stepped in HQ for the first time.  Not surprisingly, “Sam Sam” was a bit shy and skittish at first, spending most of her time under the bed, sneaking out periodically for food, water, and the litter box.  But bit by bit she came out her shell and blossomed into a wonderful companion.  She is quite talkative and outgoing now – even a bit sassy at times 😸

She delights many with her unique markings and quirky antics.

Happy Gotcha Day, Sam Sam!  We are so glad you came to live with us, and we hope to spend many years together 💕

An update on Luna.

Luna on the beanbag chair

It’s a sad tale of two cats these days. Luna continues to herself, beautiful, elegant and enjoying the small sites and pleasures in the world, as in this photo taken Saturday of her sitting on her beanbag chair in the studio. Something out the window caught her attention.

At other times, however, it is impossible not to see her continuing decline. This was especially the case yesterday. She was tired, with very little energy, and getting a bit frightened and skittish – I can’t begin to imagine how frightening and disconcerting this experience is for her. But she still continues to enjoy a few of her low-energy favorite things, like sitting on her throne and getting pets and scritches.

Luna with throne and scritches.

We have moved the “throne” pillow to the floor as she prefers not to jump anymore. I have also spent more time sitting with her on the floor, even spending a portion of some nights sleeping not he floor with her. We are getting towards the end, painful as it is to admit it. But she is still holding onto life and our connection, and I want to make her remaining time as comfortable as possible. I love her very much, and want her to know that she is still loved.

It’s been difficult emotionally to deal with her illness and decline. I see the cat that I’ve known for years, and think of all the memories, and that it will come to an end in the near future. And that each meal, each small activity, takes on an added gravity. There is also a lot of anger. Some at myself for not noticing this early enough to head it off, probably in late 2014 or early 2015. Some of the anger is at the world, where horrible people are thriving while the sweetest creature I have ever known is facing an early and difficult death. It’s taking its toll. I will be pulling back a bit from live shows – and I will continue to work through the backlog of reviews and reports, so it will seem like I’m as busy as ever. But much of the time will in fact be with Luna over the coming weeks.

Thank you for your continued purrs, thoughts, and vibes. 💕

And Update on Luna – Purrs Needed

Luna

Luna had her monthly check-up yesterday, and the news wasn’t good. The cancer is continuing to spread. Slowly, but nonetheless spreading, including internally. As a result, I made the decision to stop the chemo. It clearly isn’t having the effect that we wanted, and it is making her miserable. It’s tough to decide to suspend treatment, but it seems like the best decision for her.

Indeed, in the short term she will probably feel much better. And that has been born out by her more lively behavior in the past 24 hours. I even caught her running around and exploring like a kitten this morning; and she has gone back to her delightfully diva behavior of demanding her favorite foods and attention from me. She does, however, lose stamina more quickly and needs to rest a lot.

Luna behind the equipment rack.

Regular readers know I love Luna very much, and have tried to do the best for her I can. And now it seems the best is to keep her happy and comfortable and enjoy our time together. And of course spoil her rotten. She will get lots of love, attention, comfort, and the tastiest foods.

I neither believe in nor seek miracles, so our request for purrs and thoughts is to join us enjoying the time we will have together.

An Update on Luna

Luna on the sofa

We wanted to give you all an update on Luna and her health. But first, she wants to say hi to everyone.

She is definitely lower energy, though still very affectionate and every so often has a burst of energy and runs like a kitten. She continues to walk with a bit of a limp. Her appetite is good, though she now prefers wet food almost exclusively. It’s hard to tell changes in the cancer area – it doesn’t seem any worse, but it wasn’t good to begin with. Overall, she is better than she seemed over Labor Day weekend, when things seemed measured in days. Days have now turned to weeks. As long as she continues to seem happy and content, I am content to make sure she stays that way.

And she still gives of herself. In the midst of this perennially busy season and the current stresses, I broke down early on Saturday amidst depression and fatigue. Luna recognized this and came over to set with me and purr loudly, groom me and give head butts. She is the sweetest creature I have ever known, and I hope we can enjoy a bit more time together.

Happy 11th Gotcha Day Luna!

Today marks Luna’s 11th Gotcha Day (adoption anniversary) since I first brought her home from the Santa Cruz County animal shelter on June 10, 2005. She has come to be the queen of her home in the years since.

This Gotcha Day is a particularly sweet one, considering all that has happened over the past year. It was about one month after her previous anniversary that we saw the first signs of her cancer and got the formal diagnosis soon after. She was given only months at best with aggressive treatment. But with love, attention and the best medical care available, she is still with us a year later and thriving!

And she is still the star of CatSynth.

We are looking forward to a weekend of celebration and treats.

Please join me in wishing Luna a very happy Gotcha Day!

Weekend Cat Blogging: Father’s Day

Luna’s Gotcha Day usually comes within a week of Father’s Day, so that, too, becomes a day to mark and celebrate here at CatSynth.

Fatherhood involves so many responsibilities.

Adoption:

Providing a wonderful loving home:

Providing food and drink:


And lots of toys to play with:

Exposure to culture and growth:

And lots of pets:

Happy Father’s Day:


Just in time for the occasion, we received our copy of Tom Cox’s Under the Paw: Confessions of a Cat Man. You can read more about “Cat Man” Tom at The Little Cat Diaries.

We look forward to reading it.


The M-Cats Club is hosting a special Father’s Day Edition of the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos. We will be heading over there shortly.

Weekend Cat Blogging #158 is being hosted by our friends Kashim and Othello and Astrid. They are remembering friends who have passed away this weekend.

The Carnival of Cats will be going up today at Mind of Mog.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator, with special thoughts to those whose lives have been affected by the ongoing floods in Iowa. We send our thoughts as well.



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WCB 101: Video tribute for TeaCup, and Kitty Love

Megan and family have put together this wonderful video entitled Good Night Sweet TeaCup

Very sweet and touching, and also quite amusing at times. I particularly love the pictures of him sitting inside the red fish bowl.

This tribute to TeaCup seems a fitting segue into Weekend Cat Blogging #101. He was in our thoughts a week ago during WCB100, and now a week later we remember him and keep his family in our thoughts. We have seen so many in this online community come together around this one little soul. He was indeed more than “just a cat.” As all our little animal companions are. They are family, we enjoy and honor them in life, and grieve for them when they pass. How could it be any other way? It's sad that some people refuse to accept or celebrate that. The recent pet-food contaminations have added to the sense that our animal companions are precious, and also served to remind others in society of their value. I hope that Luna and I will have many years together before we need to think about such matters ourselves, and in the meantime I am proud to “love my kitty” here in this public forum. She certainly deserves no less.

The recent pic on the left was taken with the built-in webcam on my MacBook, I was probably posting something to CatSynth at the time.

And of course, check out the other cats who are very much loved at Weekend Cat Blogging 101. This weekend's roundup is being hosted by Sher, Upsie and Sundance, who remind us all to be good to our mothers this Mothers Day weekend. We at CatSynth will be making the call back to New York on Sunday. Mmmm, Sher and friends have some delicious looking cheese, too.

And don't forget that all CD sales in May will benefit the family of TeaCup and Bad Kitty Cats. Please help support them and support new music at the same time. I will post this info to the right-side column so it won't get lost in the depths of blogging.