vienna teng is one of my favourite singer/songwriters.
if i’m not mistaken, this is her first official music video, and it was published on youtube yesterday.

her fourth album, titled inland territory will be released on february 6th in europe.

even better news for her european fans:
according to her tour calendar and agents, she will be performing in the netherlands, germany, austria (including innsbruck!) and italy this march.

the superb lyrebird (menura novaehollandiae) is one of two australian bird species with an incredible ability: they can mimic sounds so well that it’s hard to tell the difference from the original.
see for yourself:

the most fascinating part starts around 02:00.

• ahh, feels so good to be back online again! #
• “splinter cell: double agent” on nintendo wii. dangerously addicting! #
• winter is driving me insane. #
• just watched obama’s inauguration speech. impressive! #
• play with the spider: http://www.onemotion.com/fl… #
• incredible opportunity or overstraining? probably both. #
• very interesting: history of the internet http://tinyurl.com/c2lk2v via @cjwach #

woody perennials and buds, part 3 of 3 is concerned with conifers.
altogether, nearly all of the native woody perennials can be identified without greater difficulty, once you’re acquainted with the matter.

[view photos: woody perennials and buds - conifers]

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gehölze und knospen, der letzte teil enthält einige nadelhölzer.
alles in allem sind fast alle heimischen gehölze, wenn man erst einmal eingearbeitet ist, problemlos auch ohne blätter oder blüten bestimmbar.

[view photos: gehölze und ihre knospen - nadelgehölze]

part two of my twig- and bud-photos is here: woody plants with opposite foliage.
this album also features a juxtaposition of 5 fruits of different species of maple (acer sp.) that can be found where i live: sycamore maple (acer pseudoplatanus), norway maple (acer platanoides), box elder (acer negundo), field maple (acer campestre) and tatarian maple (acer tataricum).

[view photos: woody perennials and buds - opposite foliage]

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teil zwei meiner zweige- und knospenfotos ist hier: holzige pflanzen mit gegenständiger beblätterung.
dieses album beinhaltet ausserdem eine gegenüberstellung von früchten von 5 ahorn-arten (acer sp.) die hierzulande wachsen: berg-ahorn (acer pseudoplatanus), spitz-ahorn (acer platanoides), eschen-ahorn (acer negundo), feld-ahorn (acer campestre) und tatarischer steppen-ahorn (acer tataricum).

[view photos: gehölze und ihre knospen - gegenständige beblätterung]

this semester, i was in a botanical class that’s concerned with ligneous plants and recognizing them only through their habitus and buds.
i’ve assembled some of the photos from this course, most which were taken under pressure of time. they have only been hastily photoshopped, so please excuse the quality and varying backgrounds.

along with all the species listed, i’ve included some of the most striking characteristics.

part one (alternate foliage) is online now.

[view photos: woody perennials and buds - alternate foliage]

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dieses semester belegte ich unter anderem ein botanisches praktikum zum bestimmen von gehölzpflanzen anhand von habitus und knospen.
hier sind einige der fotos zusammengestellt. die meisten wurden unter zeitdruck gemacht und sind nur flüchtig nachbearbeitet – ich bitte daher, die qualität und tw. wechselnden hintergründe zu entschuldigen.

zu jeder art sind ausserdem einige der auffallendsten merkmale genannt.

teil 1 (wechselständige) ist ab sofort online.

[view photos: gehölze und ihre knospen - wechselständige beblätterung]

in 2008, ze frank has started a new project, which unfortunately ended before i even noticed it. it’s titled “color wars”.

my favourite competitions:

young me – now me
google streetview scavenger hunt

notice the book of the first one’s bronze winner?
it’s “life, the universe, and everything” from the hitchhiker trilogy. timeless literature! :)