Matplotlib live plot animation without blitting

Plottest.py

import pylab as plt
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import random
import time


start = time.time()
frames = pd.DataFrame([0], [0.0], ['data'])
plt.ion()

graph = plt.plot(frames.index, frames.data)[0]
diffs = []

while True:
    newframe = pd.DataFrame([random.random()], [time.time()-start], ['data'])
    frames = frames.append(newframe)
    print len(frames)
    graph.set_ydata(frames.data)
    graph.set_xdata(frames.index)
    plt.xlim(0, frames.index[-1])
    plt.ylim(min(frames.data), max(frames.data))
    plt.draw()
    if len(frames) > 0 and len(frames) % 250 == 0:
        thing = np.array(frames.index)
        thing = 1.0/np.diff(thing)
        diffs.append(thing)
    if len(frames) > 2000:
        break

plt.figure()
plt.ioff()
plt.hold(True)
for thing in diffs:
    plt.hist(thing, bins=40, alpha=0.6)
legend = []
idx = 0
for thing in diffs:
    legend.append("rate"+str(idx))
    idx += 1
plt.legend(legend)
plt.show()