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....

A season ticket for the Longhorns' seven home football games this year will cost you $385, according to the Statesman's Bevo Beat blog....

Sex toys are no longer illegal in Texas; federal appeals court overturns the ban. McCain adviser tells NPR that if Obama is the Democratic nominee, he won't keep working on McCain's campaign. Decapitation wire placed by someone on US/Mexico border fence. Hezbollah leader in Lebanon calls for "open war" on Israel at the funeral for their top commander. Yesterday the Prime Minister of Australia publicly apologized for the wrongs done to the Aboriginal people.......

In the wake of an all-conference season where he gained more than 1,600 yards, Texas running back Jamaal Charles announced today that he is skipping his senior season and entering the 2008 NFL draft....

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....

Elections to continue in Pakistan despite the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif's vow to boycott them. Republican Mike Huckabee is clueless about Pakistan. Your tax refund could be delayed due to Congress' late fix to the alternative minimum tax. UT won the Holiday Bowl and the sports world yawned. San Francisco zoo director Manuel Mollinedo claims that the tiger's enclosure fell short of the industry's safety standards. Is anyone else......

All too fitting still from movie: A Christmas Story 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......

Photos from the Sock Monkey Nativity holiday display around the corner of 37th street taken by Brian Berzer....

Listen, the point of karaoke is to get up there and belt that shit out. If you’re the type who really, really, really wants to stay true to the original version, then that’s great. But you don’t have to. Feel free to kick a leg out. Bend down and pump a fist. Throw some scat in there. Or scatology. Whatever one might choose to call “improv noise crap between actual word-based vocals”. That stuff. Do that stuff. No one really cares, including you, and that’s the beauty of the whole thing. ...

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....

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors To begin, I want to reiterate from last week that the email to send story submissions to is truecraig[at]austinist.com, not any of the other addresses you may have seen posted somewhere for me. I’m trying to keep this thing as organized as possible, see? And I'm not very skilled with email herding.......

If you’re an aspiring writer, you might want to find some time between holiday parties this weekend to brush up your best short story. The Austin Chronicle’s sixteenth annual Short Story Contest closes on Monday. Winners split $1,500 and get published. ...

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....

Image courtesy Rude Mechs The Method GunThru 12/15, Th/Fr/Sa at 8pmThe Off Center (map)[info] | [tickets] The Dick Monologues12/16 at 2pmHyde Park Theatre (map)12/12 at 7pm (sold out)[info] | [tickets]In this season of family-friendly fare, we're pleased to highlight a bit of naughty-naughty for your holiday pleasure. Admittedly it's something of an intellectually flavored naughty-naughty, but hey, that's how we like it. Rude Mechanicals' current show The Method Gun contains nudity! Whee! Nude Rudes!! Which......

Between now and January, New Release Tuesday will focus on 2007 reflections and music news related to both this year's releases, the holidays and 2008's potential. The standard NRT posts will resume in 2008. It will also feature the opinions of the author, who does not represent the Ist network as a whole. What a damn shame. The holiday season is tough for music lovers shopping for other music lovers. This is mostly because......

The Paramount presents White ChristmasDecember 9th, 11th and 12thParamount Theater (713 Congress Avenue)$7 / $5 Children, Students and Seniors, 7pm-ish, Tickets available at the box office day of show[info]Being that we live in a heat belt where it is not uncommon to see kids raking leaves in tank tops and jorts on Christmas Day (seriously, we've done it...well, not the jorts part), dreaming of a white Christmas is something that we are intimately familiar......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

Image from SOS Alliance SOS Holiday Party & Silent AuctionFriday, December 7Mercury Hall (615 Cardinal Lane)$10 Suggested Donation, 7pm - Midnight[info]Tonight, the Save Our Springs Alliance will be hosting their annual Holiday Party and Silent Auction at Mercury Hall. In addition to food, drinks and great people, the event will showcase music by two environmentally-conscience local bands, Bill Oliver's Otter Space Band and The Bouldin Creek Bobkats. The Silent Auction features items from over 300......

Judge Jeanne Meurer may be running for Travis County District Attorney. Pimp C was found dead yesterday afternoon. He was 33. How To Green Your Christmas Tree: Tips for having a more eco-friendly holiday. Colors! Gmail adds colored labels. Guerrilla artist Banksy in Bethlehem, proving if "it's safe for sissy artists, I think it's safe for everyone." Here’s What We Need: Some Way to Associate Our Low Fares with Worn Out Vaginas Using a......

Flyer from Blue Genie 7th Annual Blue Genie Art BazaarDecember 5th through December 24thMonarch Event Center (6406 N. I-35 #3100)FreeSunday-Thursday: 10am-10pmFriday-Saturday: 10am-MidnightSunday, December 24th: 10am-6pm[info]Blue Genie Art Bazaar, Austin's annual holiday shopping destination for locally-made art and various one-of-a-kind gifts, returns tomorrow for its seventh run. This year, they've outgrown the Blue Genie space and are moving to the Monarch Events Center up north, in Lincoln Village. Running from tomorrow morning through Christmas Eve, the......

The Austin Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Austin: Handel’s MessiahDecember 4, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.4214 N. Capitol of Texas Highway (4214 N. Capitol of Texas Highway)Riverbend Centre[info] | [tickets] Sir Thomas Beecham wrote of Handel in his memoirs, "Since his time mankind has heard no music written for voices which can even feebly rival his for grandeur of build and tone, nobility and tenderness of melody, scholastic skill and ingenuity and inexhaustible variety of effect…Handel…is......

Venezuelan voters didn't want Chavez as a ruler for life after all. Putin's party wins the Russian election, warns against Westerners who may say the election was unfair. Best feminist candidate: Obama? Later this week, Romney will publicly address his Mormon faith and how it may affect his possible presidency. Looks like it will be Texas v. Arizona State at the Holiday Bowl. Conan O'Brien will pay his "Late Night" crew from his own......

Flyer courtesy Downtown Austin Alliance Holiday Sing-Along, Tree Lighting and Congress Ave. StrollSaturday, December 1Texas State Capitol (1100 Congress Ave)6-9pm[info]The annual Holiday Sing-Along, Capitol Tree Lighting and Congress Avenue Stroll takes place tomorrow evening. Here's the schedule of events, courtesy the good people at the Downtown Austin Alliance: The evening starts at 6:00 p.m. when crowds gather on the south steps of the Capitol to sing the songs of the season during John Aielli's Holiday......

Photo courtesy Shrewd Productions X-Mas: Unwrapped!! A Holiday Burlesque11/30-12/15, Thu-Sat at 10:00pmHyde Park Theatre (511 W. 43rd. Street)479-PLAY for reservations[info] 'Tis the season for giveaways! And the lovely ladies of Shrewd Productions are sharing the joy by offering two free tickets for Friday and Saturday night's performances of Xmas Unwrapped!! A Holiday Burlesque. The Jingle Belles have returned by popular demand to take the chill off the cold winter nights. Or, er, the cool-ish winter......

Image from www.sustain-a-ball.org Sustainable Shopper’s Ball, "Have a Green, Green Christmas!" FestivalSaturday, December 1Burger Center (3200 Jones Road)9am-2pm, FREE[info]It's time for the second annual Sustainable Shopper's Ball Green Holiday Festival! Over 60 local vendors will be at the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market at Burger Center this Saturday with plenty of sustainable products and gift ideas to choose from. You can finally buy that sun oven for your brother-in-law, or an electronic motorcycle for yourself. You......

Elizabeth Berkley is Nomi Malone.... Showgirls 2.0 with David Schmader LiveThursday, November 29thAlamo LakeCreek (13729 Research Blvd)$12, 7:30PM[info] | [tickets]The holiday season really is the most wonderful time of year, a time where we think about family and togetherness, and most importantly, psychotic strippers. As always, the Alamo Drafthouse really understands what will make our season bright and are reaching into their magical holiday gift bag to pull out a screening of Showgirls for us,......

Photo from Soundcheck Magazine Austin's 2nd Annual Green Holiday Festival, "The Sustainable Shopper's Ball!", returns to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market with over 60 local vendors and educators offering everything from bamboo homewares to luxury organic linens SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler shares some insider tips on what the film programming team is looking for - "Should you spend money on a fancy press kit? Should you check your DVD screener 4 different times......

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and......

Adbusters.orgIf the thought of hitting Black Friday shopping seems far too overwhelming, join your fellow anti-consumerist comrades for Buy Nothing Day. The annual celebration taking place today (Black Friday) happens once again, and simply asks you to buy nothing—a 24-hour moratorium on consumer spending on the day that, for many, is defined by shopping. Join the various ways to get involved (from the credit card cut up to the whirl-mart). If you missed the Black......

Image from Scion's websiteSo you’re all set for an afternoon with the family and/or friends, tons of food on the horizon, be it Turkey or Tofurkey. Still, you need to scratch that live music itch before heading home. Well, fear not oh lovely residents of Austin, the city has a solid night of gigs on the 21st in store for the common layperson. If you’re not already planning on hitting up the Benko and The......