Wanderings

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.

Click here to view iCuppa in the App Store.

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.

1. 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”

2. 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”

3. 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 “

4. 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”

5. M83 – Saturdays = Youth
   Oh, my. It’s so beautiful.
   • One great track: “Graveyard Girl”

6. 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”

7. 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”

8. 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”

9. 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”

10. 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.

These soldiers in formation were just a few hundred of the countless LEGO minifigs crowding the exhibition hall at last weekend’s BrickCon.

But that was just the beginning of an extensive Scandinavian odyssey stretching across two full days.

It all started at Seattle Center on Saturday morning, where a long line consisting of a mixture of 50% kids, 25% parents, and 25% massively geeky IT workers made its way slowly into the hall. Approximately 700 billion LEGOs awaited those of us willing to brave it. I stood in the shadow of a LEGO-scale Space Needle, which for the record is still pretty tall, then made my way through the other sections of the exhibit. There was the World of Warcraft village, complete with an ice castle; next up was a modern urban Anytown USA featuring a baseball game in progress and a second Space Needle; then we had the Blade Runner-esque futuristic corner, with its two dueling monorails. I kind of felt like a loser, but BrickCon was so worth it.

Later Saturday found me wandering the endless Nordic wasteland that is Ikea. I was, as always, highly impressed by their clever store layout, which forces you to hike three miles in search of that one perfect TV stand… But just when you’re about to collapse into a whimpering heap, the Ikea restaurant appears like an oasis — and it’s filled with yummy meatballs. After a quick recharge you’re up and at ‘em and ready to part with even more of your hard-earned Euros.

Sunday’s escapades were a bit less in-your-face Scandinavian, but I would argue that spending time in Ballard counts for something even if it’s only a trip to Fred Meyer for towels and provisions. Additionally, I was lucky enough to have tickets to see Iceland’s second most famous musicians, Sigur Rós, in concert at Benaroya Hall. The experience left me speechless and grinning, clutching a souvenir piece of confetti paper in my fist, and went straight into my list of the top five best shows ever. After all, a couple thousand mesmerized fans can’t be wrong. (I may in fact still be mesmerized.) If you ever, ever have the opportunity to see Sigur Rós you simply must go.

And that was my Nordic weekend.

An SUV with a very loud stereo drives by outside the store.

Radio Shack employee: Oh, SHIT!
Customer: My eyeballs are rattling.
Radio Shack employee: That must’ve been at least 100 amps.
Customer: If you sell anything that does that, I’ll buy it right now.

1. Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
   Six more tracks of epic instrumental post-rock from these highly consistent Texans.
   • One great track: “Welcome, Ghosts”

2. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
   Their sophomore effort wasn’t nearly as disappointing as I feared it would be.
   • One great track: “Keep the Car Running”

3. Blue Scholars – Bayani
   The best hip-hop duo in the Northwest (and possibly the best anywhere).
   • One great track: “Back Home”

4. Maps – We Can Create
   Hard to describe but easy to appreciate.
   • One great track: “So Low So High”

5. Coconut Records – Nighttiming
   If these songs weren’t so dang catchy, I’d happily hate Jason Schwartzman’s self-indulgent new project.
   • One great track: “West Coast”

6. Rock Plaza Central – Are We Not Horses
   IT’S A CONCEPT ALBUM ABOUT ROBOT HORSES!
   • One great track: “I Am an Excellent Steel Horse”

7. Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War
   I think the best of their creative juice has been depleted, but Stars can still write a dulcet tune.
   • One great track: “The Night Starts Here”

8. Maserati – Inventions for the New Season
   Yummy, psychedelic experimental rock.
   • One great track: “Synchronicity IV”

9. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
   More of the same, but that’s okay.
   • One great track: “Ode to LRC”

10. Radiohead – In Rainbows
    How much did you pay for it?
    • One great track: “House of Cards”

Man in front of post office: Do you know if there’s a post office around here?