Kat with a K

Last.fm

A few people suggested that I use last.fm to explore new music. I signed up last night, and I'm loving it! And it's not even blocked at work! (Knock on wood.) I've found a few people through their friend search, but I'm sure there are more of you on there. What's your username? Wanna be friends? (Mine is katelinnea.)

What are you listening to?

I realized while flipping stations in the car this morning that I've fallen into the trap of just listening to whatever's on the radio, rather than seeking out music I really like and find interesting. But I'm not sure where to proceed from here. So I guess my question for you has two parts...

1) What are you listening to recently?

2) More generally, how do you go about finding new music, beyond what's on the radio?

Political/musical discovery of the afternoon

So I'm sitting at my desk, blithely bopping along to the cast album of Annie, and suddenly FDR bellows "Harold Ickes, stand up and sing!" What?? Some quick Wikipedia-ing turned up the fact that, indeed, Harold L. Ickes, the father of Clintonite Harold M. Ickes, was FDR's Secretary of the Interior and has a big part in the Cabinet scene in Annie. Hee!

(Bonus discovery! While writing the above, I found that there's an actual mineral called Clintonite.)

Knitting podcasts?

What are your favorite knitting podcasts? I'd like to add a few to my listening routine.

In the office on a Sunday: Random Thought #1

Someday I will learn that Franz Ferdinand's song "Michael" has noises in it that sound like my phone. Because every single time I listen to it, I end up checking my phone, just to be sure.

Directory of NPR Streaming Music

I just noticed that the new NPR music site has this nice directory of streaming all-music stations. I'm always looking for good sources of classical and Celtic music, and thanks to this page I now know that WGBH, which is even fairly local to me, has a 24-hour classical stream and a weekly three-hour Celtic show. Yay!

Mexican Folk Music with Led Zeppelin and Bach

No, really. If you didn't already hear it on Morning Edition, I'd urge you to take a look/listen to NPR's story on Sones de Mexico, a Chicago Mexican folk band. They base their music on the Mexican son tradition, but their new album also includes versions of one of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, a Led Zeppelin song, and Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." The band was extremely interesting and likeable in the interview, and the music was catchy and unique at the same time. I'll definitely be buying this album; it would also make a great holiday gift for the music enthusiast on your list.

So don't you worry 'bout me...

Seriously, how did I survive for so long without the greatest hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on my iPod? I don't think I realized until recently how many of my favorite songs from childhood were by them. On Saturday, we were playing it on the overhead at the store, and I had to buy it. (An aside: it is so not supposed to work that way. I mean, yeah, we're trying to get customers to buy the CDs. But employees should be immune, darn it.) So so good.

Comfort Music

I've long used the concept of comfort foods, and comfort books and movies, and even comfort knitting, but I'd never really thought about comfort music before. I'm not sure why - it seems that in some ways it would be even more useful, since music can easily accompany other tasks. But anyway. As I turned on Aurelia iPod at the office this morning, I found myself scrolling her contents, unsure of the right music to help me stay calm and sane. And then I found myself starting Anything Goes, and I realized it wasn't just because Cole Porter is a god. (Although he is.) It was because this is the album that I remember always being in the cassette player in my mom's car when I was in elementary school. (I'm sure it wasn't always, but that's how I remember it.) I've known all the words to all the songs for far longer than I've known what they all actually meant. ("So kiss me, pretty wench, in English or in French..." ah, good old Cole.) It has all sorts of warm, fuzzy memories attached.

I started thinking about what other music might fall into this category. I realized last December that Pachelbel's Canon instantly calms me. (It was sort of our school orchestra anthem. I cannot even begin to fathom the number of times I've played it.) Probably Rodgers and Hammerstein, especially The Sound of Music (best movie ever) and maybe South Pacific (the show I played in high school). Maybe Beauty and the Beast. Perhaps some early Beatles. Pet Sounds. Bach. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."

Hmm. What's your comfort music?

(I apologize for the overuse of parentheses and italics in this post. Also, sorry for any link wonkiness - Amazon's being weird.)

Hallelujah. Maybe.

Lipstick.com, which is vaguely amusing/informative when I remember to check it often enough to not be totally overwhelmed, informs me that there's a Jeff Buckley biopic in the works. I'm skeptical, of course, but interested. His mother is working on it, and she says that she is "inspired by the success and integrity of recent music biopics such as Ray and Walk the Line." Which is... hmm. I mean, sure, if you're going to make a movie you want it to be successful, but that comment sounds awfully close to "I want to profit from my son's death." I'm sure that's not how she meant it, but it still sounds a bit odd.

Of course, my other main impression from the Yahoo page was "Wow, he was cute!" Although I don't know why I'm surprised, since Defulct was the one to get me into Buckley, and we all know how he chooses his musicians. For example.

To whom it may concern:

Dear knitting,
Thank you for being reasonably cooperative thus far. Might I suggest that we step up the pace a bit?
Sincerely,
the knitter

Dear stupid coworkers in the neighboring department,
I don't think the word "gay" means what you seem to think it means. You might want to look it up before you yell something like "You all must think we sound really gay" over the row of cubes again, because at least two of us over here are about ready to throw big cans of soup at you.
Just a thought,
Kate
P.S. Boss, that goes for you too. Also? Stop with the jokes about women. Thanks.

Dear Chris Botti,
"Hallelujah" (yeah, the Leonard Cohen one) is not a Christmas song. Just no. I don't care if it has the same name as the Handel chorus. No. Have you heard the words? I know you don't sing them in your version, but please tell me you at least know what the song is about. Your muzak version really has no reason to exist, especially not on a Christmas album.
No love,
Jeff Buckley fan

Dear customers,
I know you for some reason think the online reserve thing saves you time, but it really doesn't. And here's a little secret: it just makes us really, really annoyed with you, although I do understand that it's not your fault that the system's so screwed up. But please. Call and ask us to hold your book. It works just as well, if not better. I promise.
Love,
The girl with the pager

Dear out-of-it teacher lady,
30% of $30 is not $10. It is $9. I promise. I'm not sure how many different ways I can explain this to you. You're a teacher. Aren't you supposed to understand things like that?
Frustratedly,
Your cashier
P.S. I was nice. Next time find your darn educator's discount card. Preferably before you get up to the register and start holding up the line.

Dear reading public,
No, The Da Vinci Code is not out in paperback. Neither is virtually any book published in hardcover in the past year. That's just not the way it works, and I promise, it's not my fault. It is also not my fault that you didn't decide until December 19 that you need to order an obscure book for brother-in-law. I can't magically make it appear. I know that you are probably angry at yourself and just taking it out on me. The holidays are stressful. I know. Please try to remember that it's stressful for me too.
Let's all smile and try to get through the next few days.
Your friendly neighborhood bookseller

Dear salespeople,
I know this may come as a shock, but when you send a request to my department that includes direct insults to my department, that does not make me feel especially inclined to hurry up and get it done for you right away. Just in case that hadn't occurred to you.
No love,
The data corrections girl

Dear Mr. Ledger,
Well done. Couldn't you have played both roles?
Much love,
Kate
P.S. Casanova looks cute too, if a bit historically debatable.

Dear readers,
Thank you to anyone who waded through all that. Something coherent (like a review of Brokeback Mountain) will be coming one of these days, but, honestly, it might not be until after Christmas. I will try to at least get some Christmas knitting pictures up soon.
Much love,
Kat

Random Wednesday ('cause I can)

Yeah, I know, twice in one day. But I had stuff I felt like saying and liked the idea of posting Random Wednesday on Wednesday for once. (It is Wednesday, right? I think?)

1. First, because Lauren asked for it:

The five scarves-in-progress, albeit a bit blurry. The stray needle and brown yarn coming in from the left belong to another scarf-in-progress, but that one is my roommate's, not mine (thank goodness).

2. Tonight was my last class of the semester. We had pizza and wine and cookies and then left early. Really, all classes should be like that.

3. During class, my professor asked me: "Could you make your life any more difficult?" Hah. He doesn't know the half of it.

4. I also discovered that when I e-mailed my final paper to my professor yesterday, I didn't actually, you know, attach the paper. I am so smart.

5. While walking to the train after class I started calculating my Knitting Hours Per Day for the next ten days or so. Let's just say that it's looking rather appalling. Details, and hopefully a Plan, will be forthcoming. Tomorrow. When I'm bored at work.

6. I have decided that Green Day's "Holiday" is what I wanted Franz Ferdinand's second album to be. Not necessarily politically (because Franz Ferdinand is/are British [Scottish?], for one thing), but musically.

7. Today is the thirteenth anniversary of the fatal shooting incident that occurred at my alma mater. Although I was there long afterward and didn't know anyone involved, the reverberations are still felt throughout the tiny community, and I felt I should mention it and that everyone affected is in my thoughts today.

8. On a happier note, it is also my dad's birthday.

9. New Dunkin' Donuts favorite: Vanilla Spice coffee. Yum.

10. I'm dreaming, not of a white Christmas (well that too), but of all the things I will have time to knit after Christmas: the baby Aran, Birch (which was going along swimmingly until I finally had to admit that I should stop on it until after Christmas), Trekking XXL socks, and some sort of freaking head covering, already. I am in New Hampshire. It is cold. I do not seem to own a hat. What I really want is a hooded scarf, but I'm not letting myself think about it yet.

11. It sounds weird, but I have discovered that sleeping in hoodies (yes, with the hood on) is SO cozy. Another thing for which I can blame my roommate. Caffeine, Auden, alcohol, Michael Nava, Six Feet Under, cilantro, sleeping in hoods... what will be next?

12. Since I am home in time to go to bed on time, I should really do so, huh? 'night.

No ordinary princess...

I know this isn't exactly news or anything, but, well, it was news to me. Dar Williams is amazing. I somehow managed to be basically unaware of her until just a few weeks ago. Now I'm listening to the two albums of hers I have on my iPod just a wee bit obsessively.

The Honesty Room was her first, I believe, and it's my favorite so far. The songs that stuck out to me at first were "When I Was a Boy," "The Great Unknown," and "The Babysitter's Here," but my list of "favorites" is getting longer and longer - it at least has to include "You're Aging Well" and "When Sal's Burned Down" now, and "Flinty Kind of Woman," and, well, that's probably at least half the album, so I might as well just say I love it all!!! I want to quote lyrics at you but I'll try to restrain myself, well, except for one:

"Your behavior is so male it's like you can't explain yourself to me.
I think I'll ask Renoir to tea." ("Mark Rothko Song")

Hah. I laugh every time I hear it.

The other one I have on Aurelia iPod is The Beauty of the Rain. I didn't feel as immediate a connection with this one, but it's definitely growing on me, and I think "Your Fire, Your Soul" might have to be my theme song this holiday season. And "The One Who Knows" is gorgeous and haunting, as is the whole CD, really.

She has several other albums, it seems. I know what's going on my Christmas list...

Random Wednesday

(Yes, we had Random Kat Facts just last night, but that's a different kind of randomness. This is the "Here are twenty things I've been meaning to tell you but didn't have the time/energy/inspiration to write a whole post on" sort of randomness.)

1. If you would like a link to get a coupon for "Friends and Family Weekend" at Borders - 20% off now through Monday, I believe - let me know.

2. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about the election results. Yay New Jersey and Virginia and Maine. Boo Texas.

3. Whoever decided to play "Saturday in the Park" (you know, the "every day's the fourth of July" one) right when the majority of listeners would be headed to work on one of the coldest days yet this autumn really should not be a DJ. (Or computers shouldn't be picking out music. Whatever.) That said, it did make me smile and it's a good one to sing along with. Can you dig it? Yes I can! (Of course, listening to "My Immortal" next didn't exactly do wonders for my mood, but who can resist the line "Your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me"? Yeah, I'll be listening to that the rest of the day...)

4. I finally finished the school assignment that had been hanging over my head being impossible for two weeks. Turns out I was making it far harder than it actually should have been. (What, you, Kat? Making something hard for yourself? Really? Shut up.) I'm ridiculously excited about it being done.

5. I'm also ridiculously excited about the fact that I'm wearing my "skinny jeans" that haven't fit in about a year. Whee!

6. Novel? What novel? No, really, it's... coming. I'm a bit behind but not irreparably so. As I said to my roommate this morning, I have nothing planned this weekend other than working all day Saturday (yes, he laughed), so I'm hoping to get a few good sessions in and get ahead.

7. Meg Cabot blogs! I somehow just learned this last night. Happiness ensued. (I know what I'll be doing during my down time at work today...)

8. I took a vacation day yesterday and Erica and I headed out for a day of excitement involving Harrisville, the Woolery, and crazy fundamentalist pizza. I'll let her tell you her big news herself, but let's just say that she picked me up at nine and by noon we'd managed to spend about $500 between us. And that was before the Woolery.

9. At Harrisville, I found a copy of Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs by Carole Rasmussen Noble. A friend, with whom I had never before discussed porn of any sort (I don't think), recently told me that this was one of his "favorite books of knitting porn." It's out of print, and I didn't want to order an expensive used copy sight unseen, but there it was in the bookcase at Harrisville! And - yes. My friend was absolutely right. (And yes, I have started a glove.)

10. I may have also started the Irish Diamond Shawl from Folk Shawls: 25 Knitting Patterns and Tales from Around the World¹ in Harrisville Shetland in Evergreen². I bought the "weaving" version of the yarn, on the cone, because it was a fraction of the price (and it's what the pattern called for, technically). I'll let you know how it goes.

12. I finally went to an orchard and got local apples, unpasteurized cider, and cider doughnuts yesterday. Yum.

13. Okay, my computer here at work is freaking out, so I think it's time for some quality time with AdAware.

14. But I don't want to jinx my bad mood by leaving off on number 13, so let me just mention how annoyed I am that my online registration for next semester is at 5 pm on Saturday. Because that is clearly the best time for everyone to be at their computers. (I get out of work at five, so I'll be at least a half hour late and probably not get my first choice of classes. Bah.)

__
¹ Am I going crazy, or does my copy have a different cover than the one Amazon shows? Hmm. Check your copy. What's on the cover?
² They have three million about ten shades of green, so I'm not sure if the picture of Wendy's I linked above is in the same color, but it's close.

What is up with Cinderella?

So I've been listening a lot to the Into the Woods soundtrack recently. Such fun, addictive music. One of the stories followed in this musical is that of Cinderella. And after listening to it about three million times, I started realizing that her story seemed kind of . . . odd. (The following will be mostly based on the songs in Into the Woods, but as far as I can remember from the other versions I've seen, it's pretty similar.)

The main characters all have these big, huge life dreams - the Baker and his wife want a baby; Jack and his mother need to sell their cow to survive; Rapunzel wants to get out of the tower. And Cinderella? She . . . wants to go to the festival/ball. She doesn't want to break out of her life of drudgery. She doesn't even want to find her prince. (When she does find him, or rather he finds her, she's decidedly ambivalent.) She just wants to go to the festival. What?

Now, you might argue that with the limits that have been placed on Cinderella's life, she couldn't really dream any bigger. Maybe. But really - wouldn't it seem more reasonable for her to wish to, say, have the life of her stepsisters, rather than to go to a festival or ball? She'd at least seen her stepsisters' lives. It doesn't seem that she'd ever been at a festival before.

And besides, there's the beginning of the second act, where they all have new wishes. By now, Cinderella is married to the prince, living in the castle, etc. And her wish? To sponsor a festival. What is going on here?? I think I am missing something. I mean, if I were her, I wouldn't be thrilled with that prince either. But I could understand the dream of finding a prince. I don't understand having your one wish being to go to a party. But then, maybe that's just because I'm shy and antisocial.

P.S. Proof that I'm not always antisocial: I was photographed at a knitting group. (I'm on the right, in the purple dress, and darn, I actually look not half bad. I usually hate how I look in pictures.) It was my first time going to this group, and it was great. Can't wait for next month!

Music survey from Rachel

Rachel passed this to me. I feel honored. No, really. I'm not being sarcastic.

1. What are the total amount of music files on your computer?
I'm on my work computer right now, so none. At home... maybe 50?

2. The last CD you bought was?
Gosh. Umm. I got U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Sesame Street Songs from the Street for Christmas (quite a combination, I know). Oh, so I guess the last one I actually physically bought was the U2 one, for my boyfriend to give my brother. Who gave it to me. Not the same copy, though.

3. What is the song you last listened to before this message?
Whatever was on in the car this morning? The last CD I listened to was Coldplay, but that was on Wednesday. Oh, wait, we listened to Keane on Wednesday too. I've listened to various radio stuff since then but I don't remember what.

4. Write down five songs you often listen to, or that mean a lot to you.
Oh, tons of songs mean a lot to me. We'll say Carole King's "Where You Lead," U2's "The First Time," Monkees' "Daydream Believer," Pachelbel's "Canon," and "Danny Boy."

5. Who are you gonna pass this stick to (three persons and why)?
Hmm. Who even reads here? Let's say Aisling, Lauren, and Amy.