Christmas

The Future Is Fine: Streaming music isn't evil, it's just different

Your Weekly St. Louis Bestseller List

Here's your weekly St. Louis bestseller list for the week ending December 23, as compiled by the St. Louis Independent Booksellers Alliance and based on sales at Left Bank Books, Main Street Books, Pudd'nhead Books and Subterranean Books. You have seen almost all these books on the bestseller list ... More >>

St. Louis White Christmas Expected 24 Hours Late

St. Louis could experience a white Christmas after all, just not in the traditional sense with the snow arriving Christmas Eve and blanketing the ground in time for St. Nick's visit. Instead, the white stuff is expected to begin late on Christmas Day (Tuesday) and last into Wednesday morning.

Honk If Your Goose Is Cooked!

Want to try something old and new for Christmas dinner? Sassafras Valley Farm -- located in Morrison, on the southern bank of the Missouri River midway between St. Louis and Jefferson City -- has the answer: Goose! But you have to act fast and order it by tomorrow, Tuesday, December 18.

Ho, Ho: The current theater slate brings two very funny early Christmas gifts

For Christmas, What do you Get the Music-Loving Acquaintance who Already has Nothing?

Deep inside Spotify headquarters, at this very moment, some poor marketing team is tasked with the idea of making Spotify gift accounts sound like a good idea for a Christmas present. I know this because I am too cheap to pay to make the Spotify ads go away. So far they've been wise enough not to ... More >>

Holiday Overload

The Seafarer at Union Avenue Christian Church

Bhob Rainey

8 p.m. Friday, December 23. Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, 3301 Lemp Avenue.

St. Louis Hills Holiday Light Display Keeps Growing and Glowing

Kholood Eid​Misplaced your Christmas cheer? Hop in the car and head to St. Louis Hills after sundown, because the denizens of the south city neighborhood have plenty to go around. View a slideshow of St. Louis Hills holiday lights. Every November to December, the 6500 block transforms into ... More >>

A Little More Christmas Garland

Funky Butt Brass Band Holiday Brasstravaganza: Voodoo Christmas

Courtesy of Funky Butt Brass Band​The Funky Butt Brass Band, St. Louis' finest purveyors of second-line struttin', is about to unleash its annual holiday throwdown on Saturday night at Off Broadway. Now in its third year, the Holiday Brasstravaganza gives the six-piece a chance to thoroughly f ... More >>

Black Nativity: A Holiday Celebration, the Grandel Theatre, closes December 18

The Tradition Is Bach

More than A Cupples of Flowers

Six Better Things To Do This Christmas Season Than Listen To Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Now a Christmas tradition, Trans-Siberian Orchestra will make a trek to St. Louis next month. I've been an outspoken critic of TSO for years now, and admit that my disdain toward the band has bred some unintentional negativity. This holiday season, let's explore the positive alternatives -- here are ... More >>

You Can't Spell "Capra" Without "Crap"

Training for Christmas

Bah Humbug! Brits Aren't Going for the Sprout Surprise Whopper.

How about a Burger King Sprout Surprise for a quick Christmas nosh? Eater.com says that the Brits aren't thrilled with the holiday concoction, which was being sold in three U.K. cities until today. The burger features Emmentaler cheese and what looks like a fried patty of mashed Brussels sprouts. It ... More >>

10 Things to Do This Saturday if You Don't Celebrate Christmas

RFT layout editor Kholood Eid contributed to this post. image via​In case you've been living under a rock, you probably know that this Saturday is Christmas Day, a time for joy and family and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. But what if you are joyless or family-less or see no reason to ... More >>

Funky Butt Brass Band Christmas Show

9 p.m. Saturday, December 18. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Clownvis Presley Re-Imagines Holiday Classics -- and Creates a New One -- With Christmas in Hollywood

Clownvis Presley presents: Christmas in Hollywood!​ Clownvis is a lot of things: a clown, an Elvis impersonator, a wedding officiator, a burlesque emcee, a controversial television show contestant, a nice dude. If there's one thing he's not, however, it's traditional. Thus, the Clownvis Pres ... More >>

Cratchit!

Floors of Florals

Home Is Where the Bar Is

Christmas, Wrecked

All It's Cracked Up To Be

Home Is Where the Bar Is

The End of Christmas Creep

R.I.P. Folk Singer Kate McGarrigle

​ Image via last.fmKate McGarrigle​Sad news out of Montreal: Folk singer Kate McGarrigle -- the former wife of Loudon Wainright III, and mother to Rufus and Martha Wainwright -- died of liver cancer today. She was 63. Here's footage from last December, of Kate with children Rufus and Martha ... More >>

Let's Go See Santa

Where to Observe Your Jewish Christmas (Places to Eat Out on Christmas Day)

flickr.com/photos/mnicolem​Merry Christmas from Gut Check! We'll return Monday to wrap up the Year-End Bonanza. In the meantime, Aimee Levitt suggests which restaurants to visit on Christmas itself. -- IanOf all Jewish holidays, Christmas is one of the most pleasant. It's a day free of the pressur ... More >>

Video: Rough Shop Christmas Extravaganza at the Focal Point, Saturday, December 12

On Saturday night, the Focal Point hosted Rough Shop's annual Christmas spectacular, a night of festive music featuring the band (and friends!) spreading holiday cheer and seasonal fun. The sold-out show appeared to be a riotous good time, at least judging by the videos the band posted on its YouTub ... More >>

Are Those Sleigh Bells We're Hearing? Nah, It's Just More Holiday Album Fun with Pet Shop Boys, Beatallica, REO Speedwagon and Michael McDonald...

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer spotlights a number of this year's top holiday releases. Here are several more festive releases that you might have missed. But are you really missing anything? Read on...​The Pet Shop Boys, Christmas Unlike your grandmother's fruitcake, which is always an ... More >>

Holiday Jam Countdown '09: Squeeze, "Christmas Day"/XTC, "Thanks for Christmas"

(Like last year, A to Z will post a holiday-related MP3 every day of December, leading up to Christmas. If you have any requests, suggestions or files to share, email me.) In 1983, power-pop legends XTC -- performing under the moniker the Three Wise Men -- released "Thanks for Christmas." (We gave ... More >>

St. Louis Stage Capsules

Dennis Brown and Paul Friswold suss out the St. Louis theater scene

Sweeter than Figgy Pudding

Not Your Garden-Variety Caroling

Pork You, Christmas

Holiday Jam Countdown '09: Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Xmas Time (It Sure Doesn't Feel Like It)"

(Like last year, A to Z will post a holiday-related MP3 every day of December, leading up to Christmas. If you have any requests, suggestions or files to share, email me.) Very quietly, Boston ska-core legends the Mighty Mighty Bosstones released a new album, Pin Points and Gin Joints, today. Samp ... More >>

Ten Things to Do Under $10 This Weekend in St. Louis, December 4-6, 2009

Inexpensive holiday crap abounds this weekend! Some of it's free, some of it's $6, all of it's $10 or less! So please, take this opportunity to escort your friends -- naughy or nice -- to one of these events this weekend and sneakily pick their brain for holiday gifts. You'll thank us later.Maplewoo ... More >>

Holiday Jam Countdown '09: My Morning Jacket, "Santa Claus is Back in Town"

(Like last year, A to Z will post a holiday-related MP3 every day of December, leading up to Christmas. If you have any requests, suggestions or files to share, email me.) Before he shaved off his beard, My Morning Jacket's Jim James certainly resembled Santa Claus -- albeit Mountain Man Santa Cla ... More >>

Holidays (and Nights)

Don't Let's Wait

Cow Kidnapped, Sheep Decapitated in Brazen Attack of Hillbilly Nativity Scene

​Maybe it's a lesson as to why you should never set up Christmas decorations before Halloween. Or maybe it was just a senseless act of pagan vandalism. Whatever the case, the good people of Laurie, Missouri, are today left questioning who stole the hand-painted, wooden cow from the town's nativity ... More >>

What Day Is It?

Celebrate with Song

The Gift of Good Tastes

´Tis the Season (Already?)

Happy Xmas

(War is onscreen)