The other night, I saw the Hold Steady at the Moon. This was the third time I’d seen them, and I was again amazed by their energy and sheer joy for playing. The mostly played songs from their latest album Stay Positive, but interjected with older material. Craig was bounding around the stage and acted as a great frontman, while the band supported him with steady rockin’. The most remarkable thing about the show were the fans, and their undying love and support for the band. One girl I was talking to has seen the Hold Steady 41 times, and will see them even more. Other people were singing all the lyrics, word for word. This band is going to be huge, and I’m so fortunate to have seen them in an intimate setting.

1) Music history is HARD. It has been determined by Gerry Nielsen and myself that there were only 8 Renaissance composers who wrote everything. This is not a lie.

2) Physical anthropology is a boring, awful lecture class with occasional cute photos of monkeys. Japanese macaques are my personal faves.

3) Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung has its concert coming up on NOV 5TH IN OPPERMAN MUSIC HALL. Everyone I know should be in attendance, as it will quite possibly be the most thrilling concert in the College of Music this semester.

4) My boyfriend just competed in the Southeast ACM USA Collegiate Programming Contest and his team ranked 9th overall. Congratulations, FSU 1!

5) Anyone know of any ethnomusicology-related internships that are not in the Washington D.C. area?

6) Dang, FSU’s football team is doing really well this season; maybe this is the time to start caring about football.

7) I need a break from school and wish to create a petition for a fall break. A three-day (is four pushing it?) weekend would do.

For the uninitiated, I think it’s important to note that I’m obsessed with IKEA. I used to only be able to visit it every year or so, but since the opening of the big blue box in Orlando (my hometown), I’ve been going as often as I can. And now, since I’ve moved into my first [unfurnished] apartment, I’ve actually been buying FURNITURE, instead of small kitchen knick knacks and stuffed animals. My last visit to IKEA was on Labor day weekend, to partake in their “Seize the Day” sale. I made out with a great (and on sale) Poang chair, kitchen shelf, and a coffee table. After assembling my chair yesterday, though, I had a thought – I love this chair, but will it hold up? It seems so flimsy, these pre-fab wooden pieces (particle board? plasti-wood?) held together by tiny nails.  Regardless, I love it. It rocks back and forth and has a neutral cover. I need more stuff.

Here are some interesting facts about IKEA, which were compiled by WESH in Orlando, Fl.

   
• The cheapest item is a dog dish for 29 cents
• The “Billy” design is over 20 years old. Every six seconds a Billy bookcase is manufactured
• The “Nordon” brand is environmentally responsible, using the materials from tree tops to make tables, those materials are usually thrown to waste
• The restaurant opens 30 minutes before the store and serves 99 cent breakfasts
• The Smaland bathroom features Orlando’s tiniest toilet
• Each year IKEA serves 150 million meatballs worldwide
• IKEA made more than $2.9 billion in sales in the U.S. and $27.9 billion globally in 2007
• There are 11,000 IKEA workers in America, and 120,000 around the world
• About 10-20 IKEA stores are opened worldwide every year
• IKEA was founded in 1943 in Sweden by Ingvar Kampard
• There are 48 room settings and three model homes in the IKEA showroom
• 522 million people around the world went to an IKEA store [in 2006]
• In 2006, IKEA stores and distribution centers handled 281,734 tons of waste. About 81 percent of that was used for recycling
• IKEA’s designing process starts with determining the price
• The IKEA Catalog is the world’s most distributed annual free publication — 191 million copies are printed in 56 editions and 27 languages (side note: that’s more than the Bible)