Tea-drinkers running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) should head to the Android Market and download the free version of Cuppa for Android, aCuppa. It’s a straight port from the iOS version, so looks and acts exactly like iCuppa on iPhone/iPod Touch. I intend to create a native Android app at some point but I figured this ported app was better than nothing.
A little girl stands in the rain at the Fremont Solstice Parade.
Girl: Happy winter solstice!
Her mother: No, honey, it’s the summer solstice, but I can see how you’d make that mistake.
Library patron: Excuse me. Can you tell me where the e-books are shelved?
Top 10 Things That Sucked About 2010:
From the App Store description:
Cuppa for iPhone is finally here! iCuppa is a small application for iPhone and iPod touch to time your cup of tea as it steeps. Tired of leaving your tea too long, to become bitter and cold, or drinking it too soon and not appreciating its full potential? Then this utility is for you!
Just tap the name of the beverage you are brewing. Cuppa will begin timing the brew, and you’ll see a teabag appear in the cup and gradually darken as the tea steeps. A countdown timer shows the steep time remaining. When the tea is done iCuppa will let you know by making a sound.
Tap the “Edit” button on the selection screen to customize your personal iCuppa beverage list and steeping times.
IKEA Customer: I don’t really see myself using a mirror, except in the bathroom.
Sometimes my nerdiness takes over and I end up doing the darnedest things. Today I finished a project, the results of which are pictured above. Yes, I painstakingly (and rather expensively) constructed this pixel art tribute to my favorite retro arcade game, Snow Bros, out of 285 LEGO bricks in nine colors. It stands 10″ tall. Why did I do this? Nerdiness.
Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
I adore this album. Its soaring lightness combines with simple earthbound beats, and the result is certainly their happiest and most perfect work yet. Seeing Sigur Rós live for the first time — finally — at Benaroya Hall earlier this year cemented my opinion that they are one of the best bands ever.
• One great track: “Við spilum endalaust”
Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak
I guess I didn’t realize that the hype swirling around West for a couple of years now was actually deserved. I started listening to Graduation shortly before 808s came out and was hooked immediately. 808s is completely different and completely genius.
• One great track: “RoboCop”
The Knees – Sexual Radio
This is some of the catchiest music I’ve heard in a long time. Imagine Liz Phair fronting Weezer and somehow in the process creating some very, very infectious songs that you’ll be singing in the shower for days.
• One great track: “Sick of Being Stoned “
The Teenagers – Reality Check
A surprisingly good, if sophomoric, pop album. Unfortunately I’m 100% certain that we’ll never hear anything from The Teenagers again (or at least not anything worth listening to).
• One great track: “Love No”
M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Oh, my. It’s so beautiful.
• One great track: “Graveyard Girl”
Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
Where else are you going to hear Kelly Clarkson, Nine Inch Nails, MC Hammer, Elvis Costello, Shawty Lo, Rick Springfield, Chris Brown, and Nelly Furtado — all on the same track? This is a man who can do a proper mash-up.
• One great track: “Here’s the Thing”
The Grand Archives – The Grand Archives
I am just so pleased that Carissa’s Wierd continues in these various new forms (see also: Band of Horses).
• One great track: “Sleepdriving”
The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me
The Notwist have definitely not produced an album to rival or even match 2002′s Neon Golden, but this is still a really strong offering. I’ll take it.
• One great track: “The Devil, You + Me”
Black Kids – Partie Traumatic
Merits? A consistently good album with one obvious standout track, but also, they get props for an sincerely fun a-cappella performance at Easy Street Records.
• One great track: “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You”
The Cure – 4:13 Dream
Yay! It doesn’t suck!
• One great track: “Underneath the Stars”
Today the Seattle Public Library released its first online special collection, The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Digital Collection, containing an impressive amount of material relating to the event that took place in Seattle almost 100 years ago in summer 1909. You can check out the Official Guide to the Exposition, or a map of the Exposition grounds sponsored by the city of Tacoma (motto: “You’ll Like Tacoma!”… hmm). There’s even a scan of a program for a Welsh history association event, which, surprisingly, must have been very popular because the pamphlet is chock full of advertisements!
Another thing that’s pretty cool is this map of Greater Seattle that includes the names of each and every neighborhood and housing addition in the city — and there are a lot of them. Unfortunately, it seems that the names of many of these areas have been lost in time or at least have fallen into disuse. For example, my neighborhood is generally known as the University District, yet in 1909 this larger area was made up of several smaller additions including University Hills, Harrison Heights, and Lake View — none of which I’ve ever heard of. According to this map I live in the University Heights Addition, an area bounded by Brooklyn and 15th Avenues to the West and East, and 45th & 55th Streets to the South and North. Interestingly, there is a remaining vestige of this name in the old University Heights School (now University Heights Community Center) where I buy apples at the U-District farmers market on Saturdays.
