Austin: Keeping Itself Weird
Jan 1, 2007
Happy New Year, ya'll!
Seven years ago, Handsome and I celebrated the new year (and the new millennium) in Paris at the Eiffel Tower. There were personal fireworks in addition to the spectacular, professional variety, voices speaking a dozen languages, champagne and beer shared freely between strangers on the street, kisses shared freely between strangers on the street. It was glorious, unforgettable.
Tonight, we celebrated the new year by dining at a French establishment in downtown Austin and attending the fireworks display on Town Lake. What the pyrotechnics lacked in choreography, they made up for in duration. But perhaps the most interesting weird events of the evening were the psychadelic drum-circle countdown and the video projection of an enormous eyeball upon a water tower adjacent to the lake. Or maybe it was the 10-foot tall bicycle-powered praying mantis. No celebration is complete without a giant carnivorous insect.
