Video of the day: Austin City Limits recap

by Elizabeth Seward on

If you have never been to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, chances are you probably don’t totally understand what all of the fuss is about. In fact, let’s take that a step further. If you have never been to a music festival, chances are you probably don’t totally understand what all of the fuss is about. Not only are music festivals an honest-to-god travel destination for tens of thousands of people per festival, but there’s something electric in the air when so many talented artists are playing so near each other in such a short time frame… and the electricity doesn’t just come from the amps. There’s a sort of unity perfect strangers regularly find themselves in arms with when taking time off to enjoy a music festival.

Provided you still don’t know what I mean, or that you know exactly what I mean and want to indulge yourself for a few minutes, check out this ACL recap video that the festival recently let loose. Enjoy.

Austin’s wandering bison found, returned home

by Kraig Becker on

Austin, Texas is no longer where the buffalo roam. The escaped bison that we first told you about last week, was found on Friday and returned safely to the ranch where she had escaped more than a week earlier.

On August 3rd, the bison was purchased by a local rancher, who returned home to introduce her into his existing herd. While unloading her on his property however, something spooked the creature, and she escaped into the surrounding woods.

Several days later, the bison turned up at the 280-acre Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where she proceeded to evade all attempts to catch her, while simultaneously capturing the imagination of the Austin community. She earned the name “Liberty” from the local media, and while we all knew the inevitable outcome, there was still hope that she might continue to wander free.

On Friday Liberty was sighted for the first time in several days and animal control officers moved in quickly to tranquilize her. After the drugs took effect, she was then loaded onto a trailer and returned to her owner, who was able to integrate her into his herd at last. She’ll now receive a steady supply of food and water, which was an ongoing concern due to the oppressive Texas summer heat and one of the worst droughts in recent memory.

[Photo credit: MyFox Austin]

A bison is on the loose in Austin, Texas

by Kraig Becker on

Austin, Texas is a city that is use to large bovine creatures roaming around. After all, it is home to the University of Texas Longhorns and their mascot Bevo. But the city got an unexpected visitor earlier this week in the form of a North American Bison, who escaped from its owner on Saturday, and has been roaming free ever since.

Apparently, a rancher living not far from town purchased the bison last week, and upon returning home, the creature promptly escaped. On Saturday, it was spotted by gardeners at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, a local nature preserve, and has been wandering, and grazing, on the 280-acre site for the past few days.

After sighting the creature, officials at the Wildflower Center took the precautionary step of shutting down their trails in order to keep visitors, and the bison, safe. They say that the animal hasn’t caused any problems, or done any damage so far, and that they are rather pleased that she chose the preserve as her hideout.

Of course, a large animal, such as a bison, roaming around a highly populated urban area isn’t exactly an ideal situation. Austin animal control officers have been working hard to find the creature so that it can be tranquilized and safely transported back to its owner. So far, the creature has remained elusive however, and all attempts to find it have failed.

For now, Austin is where the buffalo roam.

[Photo courtesy of Joseph A. Marcus]

Photo of the day: Whippet in Texas

by Elizabeth Seward on

I smile just about as big as the Whippet in this photo each time I see this photo. Stephanie Williams is the co-owner of Bennu–a coffee shop here in Austin wherein I spend many of my days typing away at the good ol’ laptop, continually seduced by the iced teas and mate lattes. When my own travel site hosted a summer photo contest recently, Williams’ photo of Elliot won our readers’ approval by a landslide. And it’s not difficult to see why… look at this pup.

Now that I’m a (proud, so proud) dog owner myself (and she’s part Whippet herself!), I have a deeper respect for shots like these. Getting an energetic dog to sit still is a challenge in itself at times, so capturing a photo like this impressive. Moreover, a happy dog basking in the Texas sunshine is what’s depicted here, and sunshine is certainly synonymous with Texas this time of year.

Have photos of your own dog experiencing the landscape or season of a certain place? Share them with us at the Gadling Flickr Pool.

Photo of the day: open road in Texas

by Elizabeth Seward on


There are plenty of motorcyclists in Texas and there’s also plenty of open road. Texas: where summer never really fully ends. I haven’t ever driven a motorcycle myself, but I have spent hours upon hours hitching rides as a motorcycle passenger–it’s fun. But not only is it fun, it’s also so… summer.

Whether you’re navigating roads this summer on a bike, by car, or on foot, there is something distinctly comforting about the view shown in this shot. The open road is one of the first images that comes to my mind when I think of travel and photographer Dani Way caught this open road image with beautiful accuracy.

Wish we’d feature your photo in Photo of The Day? Just upload your shots to the Gadling Flickr Pool then!