Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost.

Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into a bit of an argument about whether gridiron—that's American football—is "rubbish".

Chicagoist sounded a cautious note about the supposed declared candidacy of Barack Obama this week. The staff were much more optimistic about the plans to put organic food into the public school system, even if they usually start their mornings with a can of pop (they don't call it soda in the Windy City). Finally, Chicagoist took a moment to remember when Martin Luther King, Junior's journey brought him to Chicago, and talked with some experts to compile a list of the biggest sins in sketch comedy.

Torontoist had some serious skunk in the trunk. But, after taking a dip in a tomato-juice filled tub, they were able to look at ugly condo branding, get excited about mascot heads, and even move snow.

Austinist reported that last week's bird deaths weren't caused by poisoning. Texas Governor Rick Perry seems to have mastered the musical art of the "not" joke by inviting Ted Nugent to his inauguration, but Austinist is taking its music seriously. A new upscale Austin restaurant is trez disappointing, but the heroics of a UT grad student and his brother definitely are not. And, um, ice storms in Texas? Seriously?

Houstonist discovered why some people shouldn't be mothers: they misplace their babies. They also cooked up some dumplings (that's dumplins, in Texan), and taught their readers how to pick up men in the gym. A guy is cashing in on Houston's mini-ice storm by selling a chunk of ice on eBay, and some Houstonians decided who's to blame for sex offenders molesting kids they meet on MySpace... it's MySpace!

SFist was smokin' this week! David Cross responded to a review and all hell broke loose. "Gleegate" continues to heat up, and a town hall meeting went to the birds.

Phillyist is mourning another Eagles-free Super Bowl, but is making up for it by talking about sex, baby, getting high, loving on cheesesteaks, and appreciating optical illusions.

LAist interviewed LA's new all-sports radio afternoon-drive hosts and Chaunte of Maui Fever, and discussed a sexual holy grail: female ejaculation.

Gothamist reported that if you have a French accent, you might automatically be charged a tip. Which, you know, makes perfect sense. A Manhattan antiques dealer is suing the homeless people who live outside his store—which makes even more sense. A neighborhood power station might just be possessed, but there's nothing that some good brisket and projected art can't fix.

Seattlest discussed who's to be blamed for the death of James Kim and PDX bumper cars that look more scary than fun. They found themselves completely tongue tied as they learned about Pearl Jam's coffee drinking habits, disappointed with David Lynch's new film, and able to blog about all it from public transit seats.

Parisist was taunted by the idea of late-night Metro service every night of the week. Too bad it's not terribly easy to take babies on mass transit! But of course, why would you want to take your babies with you on a tour of a chocolate factory, or as you follow a day in the life of The Legendary Tiger Man, anyway?

Shanghaiist wished that Tommy Lee Jones would make Chinese commercials, too. Meanwhile, it's no surprise that China is full of knockoffs and bootlegs, but more surprising that there might be a mainland smoking ban by the end of the year. Meanwhile, both bubble tea houses and taxi drivers really need to keep it clean. It's for the children.

Bostonist would take this episode of Vendetta and Gunn over Miami Vice any day. They've fallen back in love with Allston, and might just have a crush on the subway knitter on top of that. But local newscasters are trying to steal Bostonist's heart with some mechanical bull riding that may not quite be up to sexy snuff.

And last but not least, DCist guided its readers through the explosion of new local businesses on 18th Street NW, wondered what the arrival of paper copies of The Onion would mean for the local media landscape, scolded the Washington Wizards for having ugly fan apparel for women, and reviewed a recent monster truck rally.

Compiled and edited by Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey.

Top photo by Londonist M@. Second photo by Ted Adams.