1. Erykah Badu (feat. Lenny Kravitz) — Back In The Day (Puff)
2. Love Is All — Busy Doing Nothing
3. De La Soul — Me, Myself and I
4. GOMM — Don’t Take A Chance
5. Andrew Bird — Oh So Insistent
6. The Strokes — Under Control
7. Eurythmics — Sweeth Dreams (Are Made of This)
8. Gogol Bordello — Baro Foro
9. Finest Dearest — Idaho
10. Casper Fandango & His Tiny Sick Tears — Little Lamb Is Terminator

The first time I repeated a row I shouldn’t have and was not too far along so I just ripped out and started again. Second time I screwed up the k2tog but leave on needle and knit another stitch thing and ended up with a huge hole and for the life of me I just could not get it corrected. I ripped back to my screw up and tried to go from there, but it wasn’t happening. I’ll be glad when I finish this square and can move on to a new stitch pattern because I’m getting a bit tired of ribbing. Part of the problem is that I’m a thrower not a picker, but attempting to learn the faster way (which also feels more comfortable for me) during a project isn’t a great idea.

Here’s a visual of what I’m talking about:

I really need to practice continental knitting.

On to the music!

This week’s FRT is via Pandora Radio. I put in Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and here’s what came up:

1. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy — I See A Darkness
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Black Betty
3. The Magic Numbers — Wheels On Fire
4. Devendra Banhart — Autumn’s Child
5. Refrigerator — Sara Carter
6. Ruckus — Same In Any Language
7. Dinosaur Jr. — Quick Sand
8. The Decemberists — The Crane Wife 3
9. Amy Millan — Baby I
10. Tall Firs — Don’t Complain

Bonus: Tengo una debilidad por música popular en español (I have a soft spot for Spanish pop music):

Kalimba — Tu Corazón Lo Sabe

Through the exacting and normalizing disciplines of diet, make-up, and dress–central organizing principles of time and space in the days of many women–we are rendered less socially oriented and more centripetally focused on self-modification. Through these disciplines, we continue to memorize on our bodies the feel and conviction of lack, insufficiency, of never being good enough. At the farthest extremes, the practices of femininity may lead us to utter demoralization, debilitation, and death. (p. 14)

I am looking forward to the rest of the text.

Here’s what I was listening to:

1. The Moldy Peaches — Nothing Came Out
2. Devendra Banhart — At The Hop
3. Journey — When The Lights Go Down In The City (ugh)
4. Peaces — Operate
5. Devo — Head Like A Hole
6. DJ Paul V — Yo Majesty vs Depeche Mode — Just Can’t Get Club Action [mashup]
7. Bratmobile — Polaroid Boy
8. Eric Bachmann — Lonesome Warrior
9. Cola Wars — V As In Victory
10. Princeton — Tokyo, Japan

Blast from the Past Bonus: It was 1993 and I was totally listening to these guys while painting my nails black and dying my hair pink:

I believe tonight The Partner and I will be heading over to Ms Lauren’s — I correct myself, Ms Lauren and Chef’s for some wine and an episode or two of The Sopranos because we’re all fiends and must have our fix of modern-day-gangster violence. Saturday we’ll be visiting The Partner’s parents and going to a water park in the early evening. There will be some in our party who will attempt to smuggle in liquor, but I’m not naming names, so it should prove very interesting. An intoxicated Anne with fireworks is one thing; an intoxicated Anne with huge water slides is another. Then we’ll be waking up early and driving back to town Sunday to meet up with friends for our Obligatory Sunday Breakfast, Library, and Recycling Center Jamboree. And Monday? Monday is The Partner’s birthday, but as of this writing I’m not sure if I’m going to allow him to celebrate it as he’s been pissing me off lately. And is that any way to act when your birthday is approaching and you want your partner to help you cut off all your hair? As I’ll be the one wielding the scissors, I think not.

Expect the lack of posting to continue until at least that time.

1. Thierry Blanchard — Versastyle
2. Divide & Kreate — Lily Allen vs. Everlast — What Smile? [mashup]
3. Arrested Development — Take Me To Another Place
4. Reik — Levemente
5. Favourite Sons — Hang On, Girl
6. Christians & Lions — Gimme Diction
7. The Shins — Fighting in a Sack
8. Dopplebanger — Clint Mansell vs. Usher — Requiem For Usher [mashup]
9. Andy Asylum — Shaggy vs. The Cure — It Wasn’t Close To Me [mashup]
10. The Harvey Girls — Burning For You

We still have finals week to get through, however, and I have three papers and one exam, stretching over Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I am hoping that by next Friday it will hit me that I am finished and I am hoping it will feel good.

Here’s what I’m listening to:

1. Bebe — Ella
2. J Star — Elanor Reggae Rigby
3. Clare Burson — Where You Are
4. Thierry Blanchard — Superstar
5. Flying White Dots — Somebody Helps The Wizard Zoom In On The Star
6. Muggs — Morta
7. Hello Saferide — Highschool Stalker
8. Love Is All — Busy Doing Nothing
9. Rainer Maria — Tinfoil
10. Bratmobile — Bitch Theme

And here’s something that is much better than the original:

[via Kelly]

Update: And here is a version that only Peaches could do:

[via Nichole]

1. Patrick Goddard — Ordinary Folk
2. Desmond Reed — Guinea Pigs
3. World Famous Audio Hacker — Sabbath Snoopelin (Remix)
4. Pheugoo — Rock Your Body Everyday People
5. Black Eyed Peas (feat. Justin Timberlake) — My Style
6. Strike Anywhere — Instinct
7. Pat Benatar — Heartbreaker
8. 7 Year Bitch — Icy Blue
9. Vodevil — Florecit
10. Millimeters Mercury — I!D!M!

Tom Gabel has some serious vocals:

Against Me! “Don’t Lose Touch”

I heard about Songbird — and all the snazzy things it could do and will come to do and got all crazy over it. Then I forgot about it, because I was swamped with school work. Last weekend, when I was avoiding my homework, I checked out their site further and downloaded the program, which is currently in a developer preview version (so it’s not quite perfect yet).

Songbird comes from a group of geeky developers and designers who call themselves the Pioneers of the Inevitable. They mention something about having worked on Winamp and how awesome they are because they hope to “champion a diverse, open Media Web”. I prefer to see stuff in action.

Watch the video and sit in awe. If you’re brave, download Songbird and give it a trial run. It’s still in developer mode, so even if you don’t do code you can still help out by reporting your bugs.

Here’s what I’m listening to in Songbird:

1. Norwegian Recycling — Turn Off Bubba (mashup: Nelly Furtado + Bubba Sparxxx)
2. Sister Vanilla — What Goes Around
3. Tori Amos — Big Wheel
4. The Monks — Monk Time
5. Solex — Shady Lane
6. Hello Saferide — The Quiz
7. Chris Garneau — Not Nice
8. I’m From Barcelona — We’re From Barcelona
9. Taxi, Taxi! — Old Big Trees
10. The Veils — Advice For Young Mothers To Be

Strange video: The Veils — Does his voice remind anybody else of Nick Cave?

The graduation announcements have been ordered, a cap and gown have been rented, so I have to do this.

The following, together with a stiff drink, are helping to calm my nerves:

1. NOFX — Reagan Sucks
2. Marc Colin — This Is Not A Love Song
3. Dufus — Lay Down Flat
4. The Beta Band — Squares
5. Polyphonic the Verbose — Moving On
6. XeMa — Perdure à l’usure
7. The Runaways — School Days
8. Ryan Adams — To Be Young
9. Regina Spektor — Poor Little Rich Boy
10. Christians and Lions — Gimme Diction

Both courses meet once a week for roughly three hours. For the first three weeks of the semester, one of them did not meet at all. (The first week the instructor was apparently ill, the second week was a holiday, and the third week the instructor’s mother died — no contest on this one.) Since that time, class has been cancelled an additional two times: we’re in week 10 out of 15 of the semester, but we’ve only met 5 times. 70% of our grade comes from 14 reading reactions consisting of two measly paragraphs each. This means, technically, I do not have to do anything else for this course, including the final five-page-minimum research paper, in order to pass the class with a C.

In the other course, we have had one take-home exam and one in-class exam, and one relatively small group project. For the remainder of this course we will have one more in-class exam and one book report (but when I asked the instructor about it, she made it seem like more of an answer-these-questions-about-the-book book report). My gripe lies with this instructor. Again, we’re in week 10 of the semester, and we have meet 7 times. Out of these 7 meetings, the instructor has been at least 15 minutes late for 5 of them, once being 1 hour late.

This week, my classmates and I went to class with nothing prepared, for the instructor has not yet given us a syllabus for the remainder of the semester. Fifteen minutes after the class’s designated start-time, she still hadn’t shown up. Folks are getting antsy and some are talking rebellion. Someone checks their email; no email. Another checks our class website; nothing. Two gals say, “This is fucking bullshit” and leave to go home. A dude leaves the room after them. A couple minutes later, he sticks his head in the door and says, “I went to the office; class is cancelled.”

Yesterday I sent three emails to the instructor — one through our university email, and two through our two different WebCT course sites (because apparently no one can figure out how to delete one of them, and the instructor jumps between the two). I asked what we needed to do for next week’s meeting and when we would be getting a syllabus. I haven’t yet received a reply. I know it’s only been one day, but, come on! It’s email; it’s stupid-easy to reply to email. I’m impatient because I’ve sent this instructor emails before and have never gotten a reply. I asked my classmates yesterday if any of them had ever emailed the instructor; those who had all said they’d never received replies.

The Partner says I should send an email to the instructor again, but this time also send a copy to her supervisor. I’m hesitant. Students going over instructor’s heads isn’t always taken nicely, and the last thing I want to do is piss this instructor off and then have to deal with it for the next five weeks. At the same time, it would be really nice to know what’s expected of me for the next five weeks so I’m not scrambling at the last second trying to juggle all of my requirements. I’m stuck.

Here’s what I’m listening to:

1. Tim Fite — Hay Man (free music!)
2. Diminished Men — Accidental Patient
3. Damien Rice — Me, My Yoke and I
4. Bratmobile — Cryin’ Tryin’ Lyin’
5. Le Tigre — Bang! Bang! (excellent music!)
6. Nouvelle Vague — In A Manner Of Speaking
7. The Hives — King Of Asskissing
8. Dopplebanger — mashup; Prince vs. Missy Elliott — Work It Off
9. Casper and the Cookies — Wave of Mutilation
10. The Moldy Peaches — Anyone Else But You (awesome music!)