On Saturday night, Austin's entertainment district got slammed by an influx of rowdy Santa Clauses, Elves, walking Christmas trees, reindeer, Santa's helpers and other mythical creatures. Believed by the authorities to be a benign, seasonal migration, the Santas created general mayhem along Sixth Street as long as the bars were open. Steve Hopson, Austinist's investigative photographer, was present to document the damage and partake in the spoils. Photos by Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com more ›

This Sunday night, head down to 6th street and watch the paranormal comedy classic Ghostbusters on a big ass screen in the middle of a street fair. Presented by Parkside and the Alamo Drafthouse’s Rolling Roadshow, you can sample some food from local Austin establishments and partake in an adult beverage or two while laughing your ass off at the comedy genius that is Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Bill “friggin’ awesome” Murray fighting otherworldy baddies in this classic cinematic gem. more ›

Lying naked on Styrofoam trays covered with cellophane, PETA members mimicked typical meat packages at the intersection of Congress and Sixth yesterday. Photos by Steve Hopson more ›

Around 5:30 a.m., Blind Pig Pub caught on fire, quickly spreading to Maggie Mae's next door. Firefighters were able to contain the initial blaze in under half an hour. Shortly afterwards, Vice Bar, which sits several units away, also caught on fire. It appears that authorities had the second one under control much quicker. more ›

• More happy economy news! Layoffs for the holidays, yay!
• Any drunk frat boys on Sixth Street missing their parent's credit cards?
• KBR accused of using mortuary trucks that "still had traces of body fluids and putrefied remains in them" to ship ice to the troops.

UT student charged with making a terroristic threat after telling a pal he wanted to hit the campus "Virginia Tech style." Postal worker upset over loose dogs in his neighborhood leaves a Chihuahua on the Irving mayor's doorstep over the weekend. One of the teenage girls from the FLDS sect is giving birth in San Marcos today. $3 million worth of pot found by Border Patrol in El Paso as the driver attempted to truck it into the States in a shipping container. more ›

SXSW Music kicks off on Wednesday the 12th, as always with the Annual Austin Music Awards at Austin Music Hall, but it has become clear over the last few years that the music really starts the night before. Just thinking back to last year, we remember walking up and down Red River, watching bands like Golden Bear, White Denim and Broken Teeth at venues such as Beauty Bar, Emo’s and Red 7, and congratulating ourselves for getting started early. more ›

It's always great catching a band at their CD Release show, because you know they're going to be fired up and ready to bring it. And such is the state of this Thursday at The Parish Room, where Austin-proud The Boxing Lesson will be dropping their new disc, Wild Streaks & Windy Days, an unabashedly Pink Floyd-esque collection of psychedelic rock. With songs like "Muerta" and "Back from the Dead," they establish an eerily sinister tone that's ably coupled with songs nodding to their forebears, such as "Dark Side of the Moog." more ›

Another interview with our governor: he tells the Washington Post, "just because you're a liberal doesn't mean that you can't be loyal, trustworthy and kind and obedient." Good to know. Federal judge decides to suspend the law preventing groups from raising funds to lobby for the ouster of the Texas Speaker. Is Craddick soon to be outta here? Dukes campaign manager complains about Thompson's big donors; Dukes herself has received a chunk of change from GOP donor Bob Perry. Double homicide on East Sixth Street early this morning. Firefighters fighting garage fire in Northwest Austin this morning find a body inside. more ›

The best klezmer-punk band you’ve never heard, Golem are a six-piece from New York who blend old-world Jewish music with a witty repertoire of modern influences. Debuting in 2001, the band really hit their stride in 2006 with Fresh Off Boat, a whirling collection of originals and traditional numbers (including their own version of the Hora, of course) sung in five languages. more ›

After taking statements and checking evidence, APD thinks that Tevin Park-Flowers' death at NYOS was accidental. 3-year-old rescued from meth lab home in South Austin. Fire in neighboring building that damaged the Austin NAACP's office last night ruled to be arson. Flame-themed bar coming to E. Sixth Street, brought to you by the 36-year-old owner of Qua and Vicci. Catholic church leaders angry at St. Mary's University in San Antonio for housing a Clinton rally last night. more ›

Rogue Wave released their third full-length Asleep At Heaven’s Gate last year, leaving behind the safe haven of Sub Pop to find a new home at Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records. The album itself found the band conjuring up a textured mosaic of pop harmonies and poignant lyrics with the aid of sufficient guitars and keys. “Own Your Own Home” and “Like I Needed” were two of our favorite sleeper tracks of the past year, while single “Lake Michigan” was a lush pop hit never to be heard on everyday FM radio. (Watch the video on YouTube.) more ›

Robert Harrison’s forte has always been melodious pop music and his current outfit Future Clouds and Radar is no anomaly. The act’s stellar self-titled album (out now on Star Apple Kingdom) contains boundless hooks and plenty of Beatles-esque psychedelia, and has garnered rave reviews from a plethora of publications such as HARP, Paste, Pop Culture Press, and No Depression. Check out the video for “Dr. No.” here. more ›

Photo by gunnyrat on flickr
• The oil that spilled onto Sixth Street and into Waller Creek last week came from a 100-year-old underground tank.
• Jennifer Kim on the Northcross WalMart: "It's going to be a freaking disaster."
• Celebration Church in Georgetown has its own Starbucks and 5,000 attendees. Sayeth the pastor: "You can't do church without money."

City crews are working to clean up the ruptured water line that caused thousands of gallons of an oil and water mix to spill onto Sixth Street and into Waller Creek. It could take up to twelve more hours before the clean-up is complete, and businesses in the area are likely to be without water as the line is fixed. more ›

Navdo is a record label that also promotes and books artists, and this Thursday they’re hosting their first “Hangin’ with Navdo” in Austin at The Parish, featuring Peel, The Boxing Lesson, and AM Syndicate. AM Syndicate will be celebrating the release of their second album, Liberation, recorded by Erik Wofford at Cacophony Records. This will be the first release put out by fledgling label Novastar Records. more ›

Image from MySpace Ready Steady GoFriday, December 7Rio Rita Cafe y Cantina (1308 E 6th St)Free, 9pm-2am[info] This Friday, get ready to get retro. Ready Steady Go is coming to Rio Rita, and East Sixth Street is about to get walloped with the sort of danceable goodness that only five, yes five DJs can produce. Moving from their residency at Beerland, Ready Steady Go collaborators Mike Hooker and Shorty Stump will be spinning their vinyl... more ›

Image via Big Hassle PR The Straylight Run w/ The Color FredMonday, December 3The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$15, Doors at 7pm[info] | [tickets]Formed from the ashes of Taking Back Sunday, the Long Island group Straylight Run plays a blend of indie rock and chamber pop. Formed in 2003 by ex-TBS members Shaun Cooper and John Nolan, the duo left behind most of their emo influences when switching groups and recruited both Will Noon... more ›

Photo from MySpace Jose Gonzalez w/ Cass McCombsThursday, November 29The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$20 presale, doors at 8, all ages show[info] | [tickets]If left to your own Texan devices, it would be easy to assume that world-famous guitarist/heartthrob José González came from somewhere south of the Rio Grande, or perhaps even from Austin's own bustling music scene. But, luckily, you don't have to rely on your own devices. And that means that when... more ›

(Okay, what I’m about to tell you may not be true. So don’t hold me to it. And anyway, the point of its telling isn’t veracity, but rather the very real fact that it was [justly or un] canonized by bar employees, show goers, and the rest of the whiskey-breath'd throngs of Sixth Street and Red River, circa three or four years ago.) more ›

Image from Sondre Lerche’s MySpace Sondre Lerche & Dan WilsonFriday, November 16The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$15 Advance; Doors 8 p.m.[info] | [tickets] Sondre Lerche (pronounced lair-kay) is hailed as a something of a wonderkid in his native Norway. The child prodigy started receiving guitar lessons at the age of eight, and his keen ear for melody along with his songwriting ability led to couple of EP’s early in his career for Virgin Norway.... more ›

photo courtesy of Brazil’s abril.com Jens Lekman w/ Kristi RaeNovember 14, 2007The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$10 presale, Doors at 8[info]With boyish charm and a silken voice, Swedish sensation Jens Lekman will play some songs tonight at The Parish Room. Plenty of those songs are sure to come from Night Falls Over Kortedala, a critically-praised (Pitchfork gave it a 9.0, for God's sake) collection of ornate and catchy-in-that-old-timey-way pop. And, for good measure, we... more ›

Image from the Pipettes MySpace. the Pipettes with Nicole Atkins and the SeaWednesday, November 7The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$12 in advance, All Ages, Door at 8 p.m.[info] | [tickets]Get your 1960s retro fix with the Pipettes, headlining tonight at the Parish Room. The self-aware manufactured 1960s girl group vibe is somehow much more fun than it sounds, and the Pipettes won our hearts when they put out that deadpan Beyond the Valley of... more ›

Have a happy and safe Halloween! If you're headed to Sixth Street, leave your light saber/fake gun/billy club at home. Williamson County won't kick privately-run immigration detention center out of Taylor now that they aren't liable for it. Some Texas prosecutors will wait for the Supreme Court's decision next year before asking judges to set execution dates. After a soldier died in a Ft. Hood training exercise, his supervising officer is facing court martial.... more ›

Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho will remain in the Senate despite calls for his resignation. Myanmar junta summons U.S. envoy for talks. Ig Nobel awards celebrate jet-setting Viagra-using hamsters and our military's attempt to make a "gay bomb." East Sixth Street, between Pedernales and Robert Martinez, now open after yesterday's train accident caused it to be closed. North Korea agrees to dismantle "all" of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year.... more ›

Sad, but true: Sunday night, after having some drinks on Sixth Street, a young couple drove to Hutto and left their babies in the car as they indulged in margaritas at a restaurant. The children, a one-year-old boy and five-month-old girl, were locked in a Ford Expedition for half an hour on that warm evening before the cops were called. Luckily some people in the parking lot had noticed the small children in the... more ›

Conventional wisdom holds that watercolor paintings are often small to medium-size pictures depicting an urban or rural landscape, offering a visual narrative of an old neighborhood or perhaps a lovely snapshot of a seascape in winter. "Quaint," "homey," "charming,"—such are the words and phrases that come to mind. Not so for the new collection of works by watercolor artist Jan Heaton, currently on exhibit at the Wally Workman Gallery. Heaton’s over-sized watercolors are giant effervescent... more ›

With construction on the new downtown Drafthouse well underway, the Alamo's Henri Mazza recently set out to explore the stretch of shot bars along Sixth Street that'll soon be their neighbors. To wit: ...And every night, I'm going to hang out for at least 15 minutes in a random bar. Tonight,I was by myself at Buffalo Billiards, the first bar that was open when I headed east from Congress. Buffalo Billiards was also pretty... more ›

Austin native Rebecca Rosenberg has been living in South Korea teaching English, and she wants to share her experiences abroad with all of Austin. Austinist believes that we could all use some Korean culture. After nine months away from Austin, working as an English teacher in South Korea, I most miss lying on the grass with a margarita, relaxing at the meat market that is Barton Springs, with a Shady Thing pilfered from the... more ›

First Night Austin Schedule 2-5pm Family Festival 5:30-6:30pm Grand Procession 7pm Family Finale at City Hall 7-11:30pm Evening programming Midnight Grand Finale First Night Austin takes over downtown this Sunday, kicking off the second annual festival with three hours of family-friendly activities, performances, and art installations. From hip hop freestyling to Appalachian-style clog dancing, there promises to be enough culturally-rich distractions to entertain even that obnoxious nephew of yours who'd rather stay home to... more ›