In Intimidad, documentarians Ashley Sabin and David Redmon follow the lives of Cecy and Camilo, a young couple living in Reynosa, Mexico. Cecy and Camilo both work for minimum wage in maquiladoras, trying to save money to buy land, build themselves a house, and bring their daughter Loida back to live with them....

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. LAist received a Christmas present in the form of a drunk Santa Claus in a g-string. Bostonist launched......

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....

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....

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?...

I bet you DO. So it’s the holidays, and people are cheering with cheer and whatnot. Lots of eggnog getting sloshed on your under-aged cousin’s workboots and such. Your aunt booted her meds and has already stripped down and dry-humped your artificial tree. Twice. Dad was putting lights on the house and somehow managed to take out your Mom’s azaleas and his left knee. So you painted his cast to look like the trampled azaleas and that caused your Mom to rage like a stuck bull and she drop-kicked a honey-roasted ham through the back door window. Your sister got caught masturbating with two of your younger out-of-town cousins, and she had white-boarded diagrams and a Powerpoint presentation on technique like it was a well-practiced roadshow routine in a Santa hat. ...

Photos from this weekend's inaugural Santa Speedo Run, which took place during the Trail of Lights 5K. Check out triman's blog recap for more about this festive fundraiser for Out Youth. Previously: Santa Speedo Run Balances Naughty with Nice — Just Pray You Don't Lose a Nipple Photos by Yann, Mark Cathcart, Cody Dickson, and Justin Lichfield If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.......

According to Microsoft, Santa likes to talk about oral sex. The space shuttle heads to the International Space Station this Saturday. The CIA destroyed vidoetaped evidence of their interrogations of two top terror suspects in 2002. Rest assured, this is probably an isolated incident. A positive sign for our economy. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a mormon and nobody cares. The U.S. House sends kickass energy bill to Senate. City ordered to put......

Photo by Wylie Maercklein, courtesy YTCC The Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical!Through 12/22, Th/Fr/Sa at 8pmSalvage Vanguard Theater (map)[info] | [tickets]The North Pole is a pretty raunchy place. That’s what the Yellow Tape Construction Company would lead you to believe, anyway. And while we don’t remember Frosty the Snowman dealing smack in any of the Christmas fables we used to read in kindergarten, it’s not implausible. He may be a sentient amalgamation of button, coal,......

It’s list-making season – for children who believe in Santa, music writers, etc – and there are three rap albums that you are bound to see wherever it is that you see lists: Jay-Z’s American Gangster, Kanye West’s Graduate, and Lil’ Wayne’s Da Drought 3. These artists all create good music and lots of people purchased and enjoyed all three of these works. Lil’ Wayne, in particular, may have produced the two most gifted hours......

Photo by Wylie Maercklein The good folks at Yellow Tape Construction Co. are giving away two tickets to Thursday's opening of The Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical! According to their website, "When one little boy loses the Spirit of Christmas, his disbelief sends the North Pole into chaos — Rudolph is a diva, the elves are disenfranchised, and Santa has suddenly started growing old! Can Frosty the Snowman and his sidekick, Soniyeve — the pluckiest......

Sign of global warming? Two butterflies make their first appearance in the Valley; they haven't ventured this far North before. Austin lawyer forged judges' signatures on personal bonds. KXAN shows how an Austin couple's startup is making it simple to buy from Shanghai (see video at right). GOP Presidential hopeful Huckabee was in town fund-raising last night. Operation Blue Santa needs volunteers. And so does the Human Rights Commission! State Rep. Mike Krusee won't......

Photo courtesy austinsantaspeedorun.com Santa Speedo Run at Trail of Lights 5kSaturday, December 8Zilker Park6pm[info]During next weekend's Trail of Lights 5k Run, Zilker Park's festive arrangement of lighted scenes won't be the only eye candy on display. Some steely individuals will get together to participate in Austin's first annual Santa Speedo Run, wearing, as you might have guessed, nothing but the trademark Lycra swim briefs. It's all in the name of good fun, while (informally) fundraising......

The notion that ‘It's not a conspiracy theory if it's actually true,’ is about as spot-on and useful as ‘Golly, she ain’t a witch if she done drown.’...

This press release from Yellow Tape Construction Company crossed our desk today, and it not only sounds like too much fun, it also helps the environment! Good...and good for you. Who hates that? Have a box of gaudy Christmas decorations your spouse won't let you display? Stop letting it gather dust in the attic, and give it to Yellow Tape! We'll take your singing Santa dolls, blinking, animatronic reindeer—even that dollar-store garland from your first......

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own such......

Division Day Beartrap Island (Eenie Meanie) Formed in Santa Cruz in 2001, Division Day honed their craft in a small sound-proofed bedroom. They put together an EP, The Mean Way In, in 2005, and have earned a bit of blogosphere recognition since then thanks to their catchy indie pop hooks and knack for a good cover song. Beartrap Island, their first full-length, is full of toe-tapping, old fashioned sing-a-long start and stop rock'n'roll that......

Let's get to it: ACL Fest organizers dropped the aftershow schedule yesterday, and it's fairly extensive. Stubb's, La Zona Rosa, The Parish, and Antone's will all host aftershows over the Thursday to Sunday that everyone is in town for the big event. Highlights include an intimate show from The White Stripes and Cold War Kids at Stubb's, an extra gig from Argentina's loungerific Gotan Project (also at Stubb's), appearances by Spoon, Common, and Queens......

Looking for the perfect person to share your Texas summer with? Share a knowing glance with that person on the greenbelt this weekend? Wave at a cute guy in another boat on the lake? Stare longingly at a super cute emo chick at the Mohawk? If only there was a way to track that person down after you chickened out and never said hello. Oh yeah, there's the interweb. Or just check it out......

An elderly woman plowed her car into a West Austin Randall's market yesterday, after becoming disoriented in the parking lot. Much like the man who crashed his Buick Le Sabre through a Santa Monica farmer's market several years ago, the woman reportedly experienced a bout of "pedal error," stepping on the accelerator instead of the break. Four people inside the market were injured by flying debris, including the woman's son, who ended up pinned under......

Absolutely nothing, but they're all part of a Halloween-style flash mob being planned for this Saturday, May 5th, in Georgetown. Equal parts bizarre spectacle and fodder for a film to be submitted to AFF next year, the Cinco de Mayo flash mob will take place at a youth championship soccer game. Thus far, they've already convinced a pair of unicyclists, "some" local media, and a mariachi band to come. They're hoping to get at least......

If you need an excuse to visit San Antonio this weekend, you might check out the grand opening festivities for the Museo Alameda del Smithsonian. The museum is the largest in the nation dedicated to Latino arts and culture and is the official state Latino museum. Their mission statement is to "tell the story of the Latino experience in America through art, history and culture." Museo Alameda is also the first museum (outside of D.C.)......

One of our favorite radio shows around is Morning Becomes Eclectic, the weekday program produced by Santa Monica public radio station KCRW. Affable Englishman Nic Harcourt, host of MBE and music director at KCRW, has helmed the program since 1998, introducing his listeners to some of the best new bands around the world while playing a range of genres that encompasses progressive pop, world beat, indie rock, jazz, African, reggae, classical and more. You......

It's the handsome downtown gallery owner with curly hair or the hot Astanga instructor at Yoga Yoga South. It's the girl in the cutoffs at El Chilito or your favorite Lone Star Rollergirl. It's your local secret crush. Just in time to scope him out while you're hopping among downtown venues for SXSW, Austinist brings you this edition's interview: Drew, The Cute Pedicab Driver With the Slightest Southern Accent. Drew continues the streak of awesome......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

It's that time of the year again. Time to reflect back upon all the great shows that we attended, all the Lone Star we drank because we couldn't afford anything else, and all the ditches we fell asleep in. But now, as the holidays bear down upon our weary bodies like a drunken hook-up, its time to give something back. Luckily for us, there are two opportunities to do just that in the coming......

We have a confesstion to make: We are not expert gift-wrappers. We can admit it; it's cool. While we have always thought that there was a bit of charm in our mishmash newspaper and (visible) Scotch tape wrap jobs, the truth of the matter is, our friends and family were probably just being kind as they gave an obligatory chuckle upon viewing our shabbily-wrapped tidings. Furthermore, if you’re giving said shambles to certain adorable......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors Saviors and Santas and all that mess. It's upon us. Like a tax audit with a soundtrack and fancy tinsel. Your friends and family will be requiring restitution for having bothered to know you for yet another tired-ass year. Some people you love, some people you owe, and some people who you’re......

TUESDAY [12] fashion/shopping • South Lamar shops host a big whoppin' holiday party/shopping soiree with catering by Sazon and Le Marseillaise, complimentary wine, martinis, and cofee, and various discounts from 10-25% at Birds Barbershop, Roost, Downstairs Apparel, 365 Ways - 365 Days and Legendary Beads (6-9pm) music • The Faint, Ratatat at La Zona Rosa music • Mayor Will Wynn introduces Guy Clark at Cactus Cafe (8pm) music • Zom Does Jazz Night at......

The Daily News Record (DNR), an industry magazine for menswear retailers, recently counted Austin's very own FactoryPeople among its list of "America's 50 Most Influential Men's Wear Stores." Austinist's favorite local clothier (and, on occasion, late night locale for downing complimentary vodka tonics) is listed among such well-known boutiques as Santa Monica's Fred Segal, Chicago's Hefjina, and New York City's Jeffrey. The sole other non-department store in Texas recognized by DNR was Dallas' Stanley......