I am sure that many of you have heard the trademark city of Austin slogan “Keep Austin Weird.” Due to a few code violations, it looks like my city may be getting less weird in the very near future. The Cathedral Of Junk (yes, this is real) is in jeopardy, as city code officials have found violations and are giving creator Vince Hanneman until March 31 to fix it.

Our friends over at Austinist reported this yesterday, saying: “The city has given him until March 31st (an extension from the original deadline of March 25th) to bring the structure up to Austin city standards or risk them “turning off the electricity and bulldoz(ing).”

So what is the Cathedral Of Junk? Here is the best description I could find: “It is an Austin cultural icon and a truly spectacular living art work.  In 1989 Vince Hannemann began the Cathedral in the back yard of his South Austin home with a few hubcaps along his fence.  What followed was a small tower grown out of a washing machine drum which soon arched over to become a room that then blossomed into an awesome multi-level palace. Through it’s many variations over the past 20 years, the Cathedral of Junk has remained a masterpiece in flux.  Always free and accessible to the public, the Cathedral is a “must see” wonder to behold.” - Fernandojunk.org

There are efforts underway to help Hanneman get the Cathedral Of Junk up to code. To read more about this uniquely Austin roadside attraction and the efforts to keep it standing, head over to this recently launched website: http://www.fernandojunk.org

And so it begins. South By Southwest 2010 is underway, as our airport becomes the travel hub for just about the entire music industry. Your dangerous duo at the Dbird Austin HQ ventured downtown this afternoon to knock out a few early credential pickups, snagging wristbands for the few private parties that we’ll be hitting throughout the week. If you’re either in Austin or heading this way for SXSW, check out our Facebook page - facebook.com/dangerbirdrecords - to see the list of all our bands performing throughout the week.

Don’t forget that you can still register for the Pablove Ride For Life. There will be both a 30 & 60 mile ride, for all levels of cyclists, this Saturday starting at 10am @ Mellow Johnny’s. Then that evening starting at 8pm, we’re throwing a Dangerbird powered concert to benefit the Pablove Foundation, which will also be taking place at Mellow Johnny’s. The ride is $25 and the evening concert is totally free & open to the public. Hope to see you there! Registration is at dangerbirdrecords.com/sxsw

OK, my second food-related blog post of the day. This week is not only the South By Southwest Music Fest, but on Wednesday it is also St. Patrick’s Day. In honor of the boozy holiday, I stumbled upon this ridiculously amazing recipe for Guinness Chocolate Pudding. I’ve had mindbogglingly tasty Guinness Cupcakes before, and as somebody who loves a good pint o’ Guinness, this could be another delicious stout-powered treat. Check it out over at sprinklebakes.com.

One of the things that keeps the Dangerbird crew fully charged and ready to rock is lots and lots of coffee. Our LA HQ has a rad espresso machine, and our Austin HQ always has a fresh pot of coffee brewing. As I was cruising through my normal morning routine of eyeballing my RSS reader, a particular blog headline instantly caught my attention: Coffee Inhaler. Hmmm.

So a company called Le Whif, which had apparently already created breathable chocolate, has now done the same thing for coffee. According to the NY Post (via Boing Boing):

The coffee hits consist of powder inside lipstick-like containers that are pulled open, inserted in the mouth and inhaled.

The sticks are sold individually for $3 or in boxes of three for $8 — and each stick delivers 100 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of a cup of espresso.

A whiffer can get up to nine hits from an individual stick, depending on how hard they inhale.

I think I’ll stick to ingesting my espresso the good ol’ fashioned way.