feminist blogs

1. Tall Birds - Internalize
2. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Lost Brigade
3. Tom Waits - Anywhere I Lay My Head
4. Jets to Brazil - Sea Anemone
5. Cat Stevens - Oh Very Young
6. Des Ark - Send Jolly to Raleigh
7. Rolling Stones - Factory Girl
8. Rufus Wainwright - Across the Universe
9. Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk to Fuck
10. Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On

As a Friday treat, I’d like to take this moment to direct everyone to this comment by pro-life reader Shawn. It’s so rich that I’m convinced it has to be high-level performance art, because he insists that population statistics are evil; says that women who miscarry have been touched by Satan and need exorcism to rid them of their demons; argues that the pro-life position ends when immoral acts come into play, which is why children conceived via IVF are evil and should be destroyed, but says that conception via rape is a-ok; and then this:

The embryo’s life is MORE important than that of the vessel in which it is carried…. The woman has had a (relatively fuller) life than that of the embryo she carries. Women have died in childbirth before; while it is regretable, the future (the embryo) must take the place of the past (the woman). If it is possible to reimplant said embryo in another woman of childbearing age, we should do so ASAP. So too for ectopic pregnancies. The vessel in which the embryo is in is NOT AS IMPORTANT as the embryo her/himself, which should be preserved as much as humanly possible. For the nine months of pregnancy, the pregnant woman’s body is NO LONGER HER OWN; IT IS THE SUPPORT FOR HER BABY. So women should enter into pregnancy prepared to sacrifice all, inclduding HER OWN LIFE, for the sake of the baby’s. If she is not willing to do so, she has the option (in most cases) of NOT BECOMING PREGNANT. Let her abstain from sex if she doesn’t want a baby; let her partner do so as well– if they are not prepared to give their all for nine months for their baby. After that, they can do as they wish. Is nine months too much to ask?

I don’t think he could possibly be serious, but if he is, kudos for consistency and honesty.

Now, Friday Videos:

Obama, in case you missed him last night:

Music below the fold.
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1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tupelo
2. Erykah Badu ft. Common - Love of My Life
3. Rufus Wainwright - Tower of Learning
4. Tom Waits - Russian Dance
5. The Notwist - Formiga
6. Kaki King - Doing the Wrong Thing
7. Death Cab for Cutie - 405
8. Portishead - Roads
9. Feist - Inside and Out
10. Charlie Parker - Lullaby of Birdland

As this is the last FRT of 2007, I will give you my top 3 favorite YouTube videos of the year. Warning: One involves someone injuring themselves. For those of you who think that, say, cats attacking babies is less than hilarious, don’t watch.

Number Three - the piece of art most deserving of a Fatwa since Rushdie’s novels:*

Number Two - Two words: Vagina Power. This is the classic, but I’m also very attached to “Dick’ll make you SLAP somebody!”

Number One - There’s no good way to lead up to this. Let’s just say that the Grape Lady is the funniest human being ever.

Happy holidays. Any YouTube classics I’m missing? (And yes, I am aware of the Times Square Baby Kick, but I have a feeling I’d really get yelled at for posting that, so search it at your own risk). What are your favorite 2007 videos?

*Random sidenote: I finished Shame on the plane to Seattle, just a few days before the Bhutto assassination. If anyone wants a good, short “fictional” read about Pakistan, I’d highly recommend it.

You knew it was coming. Or you subconsciously feared it.

The Donna Darko Psychedelic Apocalypse Random Ten:

1. Indigo Girls - Watershed
2. Sting - Fields of Gold
3. Massenet - Meditation from Thais
4. Regina Spektor - Samson
5. Bach - Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin
6. Schubert - Sonata in A Minor (”The Arpeggione”) for cello
7. Mozart - Divertimento No.15 in B flat major
8. Handel - Messiah, “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd”
9. Yaz - Don’t Go
10. Goldfrapp - Ooh La La

**Cross-posted at my place.**

It’s Friday where I am, so the FRT is justified. By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on my long, long journey back to New York. I’ve been MIA lately because I spent the last few days in Paris with my best friend/NY roomie; I spent today frantically packing and then saying goodbye to the last few people from my program left in Hamburg. I’m excited to go back, sad about leaving, anxious to have to return to “real” life, and generally just feeling kind of mixed up and at a loss. I had my final beer, and now it’s time for a few hours of sleep before I haul my ass to the airport and back to the USA. Which means that I’m too tired and too lazy to find a good YouTube video. So post your own in the comments.

1. Chick Correa- So In Love
2. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
3. The Notwist - Formiga
4. The Mountain Goats - Minnesota
5. Portishead - All Mine
6. Miles Davis - Two Base Hit
7. Maxwell - This Woman’s Work
8. Tom Waits - Gospel Train / Orchestra
9. Radiohead - Nude
10. Spoon - Take the Fifth

See you on the 22nd.

Finals are done, but the insanity is not. Tomorrow I leave for Paris. Then I come back to Hamburg for a day. Then I go to New York for three days. Then I go to Seattle. Tonight, I party.

I have no idea when I’m going to pack or clean. And I’m surprisingly sad to be leaving.

1. Feist - When I Was a Young Girl
2. Guided by Voices - The Official Rally Song
3. The Pogues - London Girl
4. The Cramps - Garbageman
5. The Kinks - All of My Friends Were There
6. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Sons of Cain
7. The Mountain Goats - The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
8. Voxtrot - Real Live Version
9. The Avett Brothers - Signs
10. Tom Waits - Clang Boom Steam

1. Refused - Liberation Frequency
2. Can-U - I’d Never Met You
3. Guided by Voices - Everywhere With Helicopter
4. The Mountain Goats - The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
5. Voxtrot - Easy
6. Tom Waits - Don’t Go Into The Bar
7. Jennifer Gentle - Take My Hands
8. Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
9. Guided by Voices - Hot Freaks
10. Les Savy Fav - Blackouts on Thursday

Friday video: One of my favorite Tom Waits tunes.

And in the spirit of Tom Waits love, a great scene from Coffee and Cigarettes:

Finally, the second-best thing to come out of Indiana (this lady being the first, obvs):
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It’s officially Friday on this continent, which means my Thanksgiving-longing is over and it’s FRT time.

I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a wee obsession with Knut, the kleiner Eisbar of the Berlin Zoo. I don’t think I’ll be getting around to seeing him this weekend, but I’m excited just to be sharing some air with the adorable little guy. So this FRT is for him:

1. Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tiempo
2. The Clash - Janie Jones
3. Girl Talk - Too Deep
4. The Notwist - Off the Rails
5. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombone
6. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Lucy
7. Minutemen - West Germany
8. The Kinks - Big Sky
9. Pissed Jean - Don’t Need To Smoke To Make Myself Disappear
10. Des Ark - It’s a Hard World Sometimes for the Little Things

And while I’m not a huge Streets fan, this song has been all over ze German MTV and now it’s stuck in my head.

the “The one weekend I stay in Hamburg it rains all day and I don’t feel like changing out of my pajamas” edition.

1. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Big Guns
2. Etta Jones & Strings - Hurry Home
3. The Capstan Shafts - The Complete History of Greenland
4. Lauryn Hill - The Sweetest Thing
5. Les Savy Fav - Fading Vibes
6. Amr Diab - Allah La Yehremny Minnak
7. MC Solaar - Gangster Moderne
8. Tom Waits - Hold On
9. Miles Davis - Freddie Freeloader
10. Bound Stems - Excellent News, Colonel

And videos that I keep seeing on German MTV:

Peter, Bjorn & John with Victoria Bergsman

The fabulous Ms. Alicia:

And the overwhelming German karaoke favorite:

Even though Andrew Sullivan thinks I’m no fun, I did celebrate Halloween, Hamburg-style. And, because ain’t nothing better than a Strawfeminist, three friends and I dressed up as the ladies from Sex & the City. I was Charlotte, the virginal boring one (Hey, it’s Halloween). Except, dead. Which on me ended up looking more like I put on Whiteface.

The post-Halloween FRT:

1. The Capstan Shafts - Snakeskin Belt Through Loose Hoops
2. Timbaland and Magoo - Up Jumps Da Boogie
3. Etta Jones and Strings - And This Is My Beloved
4. MC Solaar - Baby Love
5. The Notwist - Pick Up The Phone
6. Tom Waits - Woe
7. Dubliners & Pogues - The Irish Rover
8. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Supernaturally
9. Guided by Voices - My Valuable Hunting Knife
10. The Books - Tokyo

A little Feist for Friday:

And to warm Lauren’s heart, one of my favorite Rufus tunes:

I’m totally cheating on the FRT this week, since I actually wrote this post on Wednesday and just set the publish time for Friday. But you already knew that feminists are liars and cheaters, right?

The Ten:

1. Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane - Monk’s Mood
2. Tom Waits - Straight to the Top
3. Voxtrot - New Love
4. Franz Ferdinand - Cheating on You
5. Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
6. Desk Ark - Jesus Loves You (But Yr Still Coming Home With Me Tonight)
7. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Where the Wild Roses Grow
8. Les Savy Fav - Knowing How the World Works
9. Sigur Ros - Mea Bloanasir
10. The Notwist - Pilot

Friday Video: Cat Power. Because she’s rad, and I have a mad girl crush. I also really need that white dress.

And another because, like I said, mad girl crush: