Did I mention it snowed here yesterday?

People are not used to the snow here in Austin, Texas. The city gets half an inch and practically shuts down. That's partly because it has only 15 "snow trucks" (actually just dump trucks with sanders and plows slapped on). That's one per 47,000 residents. Here's some of the local TV news coverage of the "storm":

On Thursday night, everyone was waiting in anticipation.

Then the snow fell and people forgot ice was slippery.

A lot of people took the day off and went sledding on the "snow". (I enjoy this reporter's good ol' Texas gumption.)

And then it froze up last night and people were warned to stay inside.

Birds! Birds! Birds!

Austin was built in the migratory path of millions of these birds. I have no idea what kind of bird this is, but there's a ton of them here during the winter! They usually show up around dusk. Check out the slideshow. It's insanity!

Other amateurs have also documented this phenomenon. Here are just a couple videos I found on YouTube:

Triangles make you dance!

I'm probably the last person to notice this, but lately it seems many electronic dance music artists making great use of triangles and/or pyramids in their graphic design. I want to believe that it's in no small part due to the cultural ripples from Daft Punk's pyramid stage.

But I think it probably has more to do with 80's retroism. Here's a great example in this cool video from Phonat.



There are countless other examples:

Miami Horror

Visitor

VEGA

Even music blogs are getting in on the action.

And on and on and on....

Speaking of Daft Punk's pyramid stage, if you haven't seen it yet, you must check out this "behind the scenes" look at the French duo's gear that Mixmag published a while ago. Warning: you are pulling back the curtain on the mystery! (Click for the full sized image.)

Happy Easter 2009!

A friendly reminder of what Easter is all about: singing animals!

Texas wildflowers bloom

Wildflowers bloom for only a few weeks every year in Texas, which makes everyone appreciate the pleasant, fleeting colors. City folk commonly encounter wildflowers along the untamed stretches of grass that flank highways, like this area a short distance from our home along Interstate 35. There are many different types of Texas wildflowers, but I believe the yellow ones pictured above are Black-eyed Susans. Click on the image for a closer look.

The official state flower of Texas is the Bluebonnet (below), a beautiful blossom that also makes for a fine tattoo.