Sand kitten sets new standards for cuteness

A rare sand cat kitten was born in an Israeli Zoo three weeks ago, and this week made its public debut. Sand cats live in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East and are endangered in many areas. This picture goes off the cuteness scale...

Chris Foss signing Hardware at Forbidden Planet

I was very pleased to be able to attend a signing session by Chris Foss for his book Hardware at Forbidden Planet in London. I've always been a fan of Foss' work, and have all his other books. My interest first came from his covers for EE Doc Smith's Lensman books and Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and these and all his other major sci-fi works are included in the excellent compilation Hardware. I got a copy signed and annotated and had a bit of a chat. Pity there doesn't seem to be an exhibition planned - not outside Guernsey, anyway.

New synths - Korg 05R/W, Quasimidi TechnoX, Roland A220

More eBay purchases; a Korg 05R/W synth module, for a bargain £26, which offers a great selection of samploid sounds; a Quasimidi TechnoX, which has some interesting sounds and a useful arpeggiator function; and a Roland A220, which is actually a MIDI keyboard splitter, not something I'll probably use much, but it goes with my Roland A110. Hopefully that's it for now.

New synth - Korg MS2000R

The spending frenzy has not ended - I got a Korg MS2000R just to see if I like it - if not, I can always sell it again. I also got a spare Yamaha TX7, an RX21 drum machine and a MCS2 MIDI Controller. Oh, and a Simmons TMI, which I don't have any real use for, but it is Simmons.

More new synths - Korg Prophecy, Korg Poly 800 reverse keys, Yamaha TF1

I've been going mad buying things on eBay again. First I got a Yamaha TX rack with a single TF1 module for £45; not bad going, and it helps towards completing my TX816 rack. Then I got (another) Korg Poly 800 with reverse keys, for £70; so I can use it to refurbish my slightly wonky one, and sell what's left over. Then I got a Korg Prophecy, for £180; not cheap, but they're rarely seen much cheaper. This I'm really pleased with, as it seems like a good substitute for the MiniMoog I sold, as well as being a source of interesting acoustic modelled sounds (so much better than the Yamaha VL-70M, which I could never get anything useful out of). Now let's hope that's the end of my spending frenzy.

New synths - Kawai PHM Pop module, eKeys 37, TQ49

Another eBay goodie, a Kawai PHM Pop module. I was a bit disconcerted to find that it doesn't have a headphone output, but once I got a sound out of it, it turns out to have a nice mixture of K1-style pad sounds, FM-like tones and cheesy drum machine patterns. Not bad for £25-odd. I also got an eKeys 37, a useful sized USB keyboard - and for £5 from a charity shop, an old TQ49 USB MIDI keyboard, which I assumed would be useful, but it turns out it's so ancient that I can't find USB drivers for it. It powers up though, so I've been able to use it as a purely MIDI device, despite its lack of anything fancy like controllers or channel settings.

Powertran 1024 Composer

Yet another purchase from eBay - a Powertran 1024 Composer. I desperately wanted one of these kit-built CV/gate sequencers when I was young, as it was about the only available multi-sequence digital sequencer other than the unaffordable Roland Microcomposers. It was used by Joy Division/New Order, with the Powertran Transcendent 2000 synthesizer, which I used to have. I don't know what I'll use it with now, as it requires a synth with CV/Gate in and out - probably the Sequential Pro 1, though that of course has a built-in mini-sequencer. Anyway, I'm glad to have got this, and relatively cheaply too - and it's only the second time I remember seeing one on eBay.