In light of the news that hunky Santa will no longer be gracing the waxed floors of the Beverly Center please enjoy this round-up of other poser Clauses. Like the seven dwarfs of Disney fame, these Santas enjoy their own name distinctions: Yodaclaus, Plasticclaus, Deadclaus, Creepyclaus, Sexyclaus, Kermieclaus and, of course, Barfyclaus. To see Larry Kingclaus, you'll need to go to the Hollywood Christmas Parade. more ›

According to Andy Williams, this is the most wonderful time of the year. Why? Scary ghost stories! On the surface, it's drier than Mormon egg-nog out there, but seen through Williams' lens, the screens are full of magic. The most wonderful film of the week may be Nightmare Before Christmas, but don't forget the ghosts in Fiddler! It's tradition! But when push comes to shove, nothing shouts red & green like the New Beverly - it's got a Muppet show, sex & violence! more ›

Weekend plans still up in the air? If 20,000 feet isn't enough elevation for you, boldly go to the Aero for screenings of JJ Abrams' Star Trek, fanboy tribute Free Enterprise, and a Trek triple: Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock & The Voyage Home. TrekMovie.com has organized panels reuniting the cast & crew of Free Enterprise, and welcomes writer/director Nicholas Meyer in-between Khan & Search for Spock. For a different warped drive, the Warner Grand has cracked-out Christmas flick Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, paired with surrealist seasonal import Santa Claus. If you'd rather stick to this planet, the Nuart has celluloid space-cases Werner Herzog & Nicolas Cage unspooling all week in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. more ›

At the family Christmas Eve party, the ex-sister-in-law of Santa shooter Bruce Jeffrey Pardo made it out of her parents' Covina house alive with her injured daughter who was shot in the head--luckily with a non life-threatening injury. 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.

On Hollywood Blvd., we've got many characters to take pictures with. There's Superman, The Hulk, Spiderman and now, we introduce Santa in a G-String with a tinge of rum and egg nog coke on his breath.

The driver -- 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds -- was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving [on Sunday evening], in this case a misdemeanor, police said. In addition to a red Santa hat, he wore a blond wig, red lace camisole, purple G-string, black leg warmers and black shoes. more ›

Of all Christmas specials, this one is my absolute favorite. The Heatmiser is perhaps the greatest character ever to come out of the stop-motion animated specials of my childhood. Enjoy this musical interlude from The Year Without a Santa Claus. more ›

At the end of each month LAist attempts to review some of the music and musicians that were covered over that four week period. Below is a mix of just some of the month's musical moments: more ›

Yesterday's citywide public relations blitz, "A Day Without a Bag," to bring awareness to our bad habits of using and and ditching paper and plastic bags in the trash was a quaint effort by city and county leaders -- a step in the right direction, as it were. Though, in a nation where the average household consumes 750 plastic bags a year, one day, or two bags, is hardly habit forming. more ›

OOOwww! Good evening Los Angeles! Wooo! How you all fee-ull? more ›

Ahhh, Christmas, carols fill the air along with the aroma of baking cookies. hearts are filled with joy, and Santa sends out obscene mail to good little girls and boys. Here are some stories of holidays gone bad, including some from holidays past. Ho ho ho!!!

Author of nasty letters from Santa sought more ›

While I deeply love many different kinds of Christmas music, this is one form that tugs hard at the heartstrings. Soul music is just a perfect vehicle for the kind of unironic SINCERITY that I want from a good Christmas song, that makes their heartwarming messages hit home completely. Here's a few to put your mind at ease. more ›

movie as much as it does a big, dumb Hollywood action movie. I miss the old, non-invulnerable John McClane. Zeppelin party at my house! Bring the sharks! more ›

The Flickr Related Tag Browser, a much easier way to look at photos in Flickr. more ›

Happy holidays to Clipper Nation. more ›

Like rewatching “The Year Without a Santa Claus” or drinking eggnog, ABC has decided that the Lakers playing the Miami Heat is a holiday tradition. That’s seriously how they’ve been promoting today’s Christmas Day match up (11:30 on ABC 7) for the past couple of weeks — “a game that has become a holiday tradition.” What this match up really seems is sad — more than three years after Shaquille O’Neal left the Los Angeles... more ›

If you watch television or read the newspaper today, or if you did those things yesterday, it seems to us that something is missing. The newspaper will tell you about holiday sales, the television will show you stories about Christmas trees that catch fire, or recipes to make low-fat desserts, but there's very little, if any, stories about Jesus, the reason for most of our celebrations this time of year. We don't expect the... more ›

Happy Holidays! more ›

- Now that's a bad ass trailer - Defamer - My bad little girl is bringing her bi-hotness back to Lost - tv squad - Is the Pope gay? - NY Post - The Answer is a Question Mark for tonight's game in Denver - AP - Woman thrown from her car and into LA River during a traffic accident, probably fatal - LA Times - Clippers only a game and a half out... more ›

Have you seen Santa trying to cross the street this holiday season? Did you yield to him or were you naughty? Those who are bad are getting tickets in the LAPD's Santa Claus Crosswalk Enforcement Detail. You may have also seen a rise in DUI Sobriety Checkpoints, and heard of the free MTA riding this Christmas and New Year's. It's been a busy week for the LAPD and here is some blotter info: A 20-year... more ›

As LAist posted earlier this week, ready or not, Christmas is just around the corner. (See your local Starbucks baristas in their spiffy new red shirts hawking who knows what.) And so what if it's not even Thanksgiving? Does anyone really care? more ›

This weekend sees the opening of at least four new movies hitting theaters all across the Southland, and in surveying them LAist can't help but think how Angelenos could experience the same events in said movies around Los Angeles without ever having to pay a cent. more ›