Austin received an early Christmas gift this past weekend as Sergio Flores — aka “Sexy Sax Man” — blew through Austin (pun intended). Mr. Flores’ audacious talents Internet-famously earned him almost 12 million views on YouTube in a video featuring the shirtless, suspendered, mulleted musician playing the hook from George Michael’s 1984 hit “Careless Whisper” to bewildered — and ostensibly aroused — audiences in various mundane locations: Ross, a shopping mall, a college seminar, etc. more ›

Last week, I was mentioning trying to change my shitty Christmas attitude. I’m happy to report that, like some holy miracle, though I haven’t gone overboard and starting liking all the nonsense, at least the December doldrums have remained at bay. Not only that, but I recalled two funny stories of Christmas past, both involving trees. And so, herewith, my gifts to you this season. O Tannenbaum Part I December 2000, was, as ever, a crappy time for me. But despite my Christmas allergy, when I got word that a couple of kids in the neighborhood were going to be going without a tree, my unstoppable urge to Take Action and Fix Things went into high gear. Never mind that I rarely got a tree for my own son, I couldn’t bear that his little friends would have to go without. more ›

I have been on this planet for more than a couple of decades now (actually, nearly five). For the vast majority of this time, I have loathed and despised Christmas. To the point that, were you to ask my closest friends to name five characteristics that most define me, Christmas Hater would likely land on most lists at least as often as Crazy Dog Lady. And so, as October rolled around and the stores trotted out all those fucking holiday decorations, and piped in all that loathsome fucking holiday music, I did an internal wince. Oh Fuck. Here it comes again. Fuck you December. Go Away. more ›

• Clueless about gift-giving season? Check out this Hipster Holiday Gift Guide.
• Did you know there were internment camps in Texas during WWII? Historians are now trying to preserve both the stories of people who were in the camps, and what’s left of the structures.
• Never mind the people calling for his blood, former Longhorn coach Greg Davis seems like a decent fellow in this profile.

Giving someone a gift card for Christmas may be wildly popular, but it doesn't always show a lot of imagination. The Austin Community Foundation believes they've found something better. more ›

• Doh! Don’t rob the mayor of a small town! He won’t be happy about it, and he’ll really want the cops to catch you.
• Do you know a real, no-nonsense girl who rides horses, and who is between the ages of 12 and 16? If so, you might want to tell her about this casting call for the lead role in a Coen Brothers movie. Squee!
• Pitchfork covers Fun Fun Fun Fest! (They liked it, they really liked it!)

• Car collector dies… in a car accident.
• Be careful whom you shoot when they are coming into your condo!
• Skip class=find true love.

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through Spike’s house She sought out ways her Yuletide misery to douse. The hand knitted socks hung from the shower rod sans care Washed with generic shampoo also used for her hair The pooches were nestled all snug on the futon Dreaming of liver and dead squirrels and croutons When Warren in his undies awoke from a nap Announcing, In the laundry room a dog took a crap! She looked at the pack—Rebound, Bubbles, Satch, Tatum And promised if that happened again she would crate ‘em. more ›

Head down to the Capitol steps on Saturday, December 6 to be one of thousands celebrating the season with KUT's Eklektikos host, John Aielli. Aielli will be leading carolers through a songbook full of popular favorites between 6-7 pm, with the tree lighting to follow. This year's tree is a 40 ft. tall Juniper, which will be augmented by new Congress Ave. Holiday lights. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

With Speeding Motorcycle, Zach Scott Theater has delivered a solid product. The basic story is simple—boy meets girl; boy becomes obsessed with girl; boy really, really can’t let go. The show also deals with Johnston’s stint inside the mental hospital system. we’d recommend it for any Johnston fan, but unlike most of Zach’s offerings, bringing your granny, your momma or your baby sister might be a little problematic. more ›

Police on the lookout for Adrian Jaimes and his three abductors; his older sister recognized one of the abductors as someone who had harassed her and her brother in January on their way home from school. Sorry, Texas GOP Primary voters planning to vote for Romney! He's dropped out so that his campaign won't help the terrorists win. Or something like that. A lot of Texas GOP voters not happy about having to vote for McCain. more ›

In keeping with its aim of promoting exceptional artists to the unsuspecting masses, or “starting fires”, SureFire Media + Promotion presents an exciting line-up of local talent this Thursday at Antone’s. SureFire takes on responsibilities such as booking, publicity, and marketing for Austin acts with The Soldier Thread and The Mercers being just two of the bands on its roster. The Antone’s showcases are meant to bring a new set of local bands to the legendary venue -- according to SureFire’s Director of Media Relations, Stephen Tatton, “Antone's is really an Austin landmark, and I think that if we can do something there that helps everyone involved, then we've done our part.” more ›

Miles, 42, is being sued for a laundry list of items after witnesses claim he crashed a holiday party, yelled obscenities, brandished a gun and got his snog on with another man's wife. Oh, and in addition to compensatory and punitive damages, the suit also requests that Miles submit a blood sample to be tested for STDs. more ›

After four of their utility cabinets caught fire or exploded—two incidents in suburban Houston, and the most recent explosion on Christmas Day in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin—AT&T has finally moved to replace the defective batteries, made by now-bankrupt Avestor. more ›

• SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others.
• Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list.
• Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island.

It could be that it’s the holidays. Could be that I'm simply tragically lazy and just now got to putting this final piece together. Could be lots of things. more ›

The holiday season can slow things down in town but it cannot keep you from yearning for some good, live music and busting out your new, Santa provided wardrobe. If you have not had your mistletoe and Kringle fix, Emo’s steps in with a Christmas special (literally) on Friday. Christmas Special (featuring members of Voxtrot) provide Holiday cheer and Christmas carols with support from The Black and Red Leaves. more ›

To begin, I want to re-stress that the stories were/are supposed to be sent to truecraig [at] austinist.com. I’m stressing this because this first one was sent to another address of mine and it got caught in a spam filter. Mere luck had me locate it. Come to think of it, it may not have been meant for use here at all, but after reading the email, it certainly fit what I’m looking for, so whatever [yet another comma] it's included. more ›

I vaguely recall, when I was eight years old, writing a letter to the North Pole. I remember this letter in particular, because it was the year I didn’t write to Santa. Instead, I wrote to the Head Elf. more ›

As Christmas approaches, good shows tend to get sporadic and good friends tend to leave town, but the promise of Emo’s Free Week will carry us into the empty canvas that is 2008. Still, we have ten days or so to find that one last good moment of 2007. more ›

As you may have noticed already, we’re hosting karaoke all night at The Mohawk tomorrow. Join us at 9 p.m. for Austinist Indieroke and enjoy the inevitable spectacle featuring amazing, average, and sub par vocalists, each belting out a choice hit from our rich catalogue. more ›

Ringo Deathstarr auteur Elliott Frazier has had a banner year: having soldiered on through countless lineup changes, the band managed to release the best shoegaze record of the year (well, EP), earned a coveted slot among The Onion AV Club's Worst Band Names of the Year (scroll down a page or so), and head out for an east coast tour in February (nothing to put in parentheses here)! You can wish them well tonight at Emo's where they'll play with their pals in La Snacks, plus Haunting Oboe Music and Fever Dreams. Also, Merry Christmas! more ›

This just in: Naughtier-than-Nice News from the North Pole Police Blotter. Criminals filled with the spirit of Christmas have outdone themselves this week. We have only one question: what in the Ebenezer Scrooge is wrong with people? more ›

At the Vortex, Rob Nash continues the saga of the Smiths in the holiday edition of his Holy Cross series, 12 Steps to a More Disfunctional Family. Nash is a wonder to behold as he switches characters, and you don't have to be familiar with the storyline to enjoy the current installation. more ›

Vandals are smashing SUV rear windows around town and not stealing anything. Austin Energy's fuel charge goes up in January. Trinity U. school officials discover multiple firearms in a student's dorm room after the student checks out for winter break. more ›

A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part photo essay, one, two). That wasn't the only photo essay either: Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy friends and Star Trek actors all joined in at the Writers Strike and KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas brought two nights of amazing bands that included Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park (Part I), Modest Mouse, Muse, Spoon and The Killers (Part II). Not only is L.A. a great music town, it has just been named the best city for bookish types. For those who are looking for something a little more active, American Gladiators are back (yes!) and if that's not enough, how about a Christmas gift of action and adventure? more ›

It's not even Christmas yet, and we're still talking about Murder City Devils at Fun Fun Fun Fest, but that won't stop us from gearing up to begin bringing you the latest rumors and confirmations regarding 2008's SXSW music festival. It's right around the corner, and we're not the only ones with our minds set towards March: plenty of bands have already announced their intentions to be here for the week. more ›

Thirteen years after founding Salvage Vanguard Theater, Artistic Director Jason Neulander is stepping down. Neulander has grown SVT from a crazy little fringe collective to a powerhouse producer of cutting-edge works. No doubt it'll be very exciting to see what he gets into next. more ›

With the promise of receiving many gifts in return, this headlong rush into the temples of consumer culture hardly looks like the selfless goodwill to all mankind, but a few bookstores around Austin are offering the opportunity to participate in the truly noble exercise of helping the needy and downtrodden this season. more ›