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......

Last spring, we interviewed New Rock Church of Fire for a Three Stars piece, and they revealed to us their deepest desire as a band: to play the Black Cat. Well, Santa apparently reads DCist, because tonight the Alexandria natives are getting their wish. Tonight they'll play the Cat's main stage with Velvet, Mas y Mas and Hammer No More The Fingers. Originally slated as a CD release show for NRCOF, it'll be more of......

FRIDAY: >> The 18th Street Lounge's regular Wednesday night reggae stars SEE-I are at the Rock and Roll Hotel to celebrate the holidays with some friends who are sure to get you dancing too -- DJ Mat the Alien and remix artists Fort Knox Five. Tickets for the Happy FKX-XMas are $10. >> Rufus Wainwright begins a two-night stint at the 9:30 Club tonight with his sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche. Tickets are still available for......

I love holiday photos like this, warm with just a hint of sparkle, rather than the garish no-holds-barred plastic Santa light display preferred by those with the festive spirit in overdrive. DC Jeff took this postcard perfect image somewhere on the Georgetown campus. Happy holidays indeed. Have you submitted your application for DCist Exposed 2008 yet? No time like the present! The 2007 winners are all over the place: mark your calendars for 6......

The swell of holiday concerts and Messiah and Nutcracker performances has reached a deafening level this week. Still, there are some excellent concerts to hear, if you just need to get away from the tinselly, Santa-hatted madness. HEADLINES: >> Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero will give a nearly sold-out Washington Performing Arts Society recital on Saturday (December 15, 2 p.m.), Sidney Harman Hall. This new downtown venue, if an article in The Economist is to be......

Good morning, Washington. The pernicious effects of this year's drought could continue to haunt the region during next year's holiday season, according to WTOP. Turns out that young Christmas trees and seedlings being grown in Maryland and Virginia were especially affected by the lack of rainfall, meaning that thousands of area children could suffer the indignity of having to make due with a sub-par decorative plant with which to entice entice Santa to leave them......

Good morning, Washington. Given that A Charlie Brown Christmas was on TV last night, this story seems especially rough. Apparently some folks stole $1500 worth of Christmas trees from the Boy Scouts that were selling them. Remember kids: leave your clearly marked tree receipt out for Santa if you want your presents delivered promptly and with a minimum of additional paperwork. Latest On Taylor Murder Investigation, Funeral: The Post reports on the few details......

The big day you've been waiting for with the excitement of a child all year is almost here -- the day that Santa Claus the Department of Public Works suspends residential mechanical street cleaning for the winter. Residents will be able to park freely without fear of being ticketed for being on the wrong side of the road after this Friday, Nov. 30, when “No parking/street cleaning” restrictions will be lifted. A date has not......

George Mason capped a successful holiday week by beating South Carolina yesterday to take third-place in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. Will Thomas paced the Patriots with 22 points and 11 rebounds, solidifying his place on the All-Tournament team. George Mason kicked off their tournament with an 87-77 win over 18th-ranked Kansas State. John Vaughan's 21 points led the team, which put all five starters in double figures. Folarin Campbell's 25 points made......

Many of you have already visited the "Solar Village" since it opened its gates last Friday on the National Mall. Last weekend the long lines literally wrapped around each house entered into the 2007 Solar Decathlon, with people eager to get a tour from the students, alumni and faculty from each university competitor. The ten competitions have been judged all week, from Architecture last week to Engineering today, with individual winners announced for each leg......

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......

Another D.C. Restaurant Week has come and gone. As much as we like to complain about over-crowded restaurants with “dumbed down” menus, there is still a part of us that finds it alluring, so we still take the opportunity to see what restaurants have to offer. Among the places we ventured out to, there were some hits and a few misses. One place that really hit the right notes with us was Viridian in Logan......

You may have admired the sculpted heads of children by Desiderio da Settignano (c. 1429–1464) in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Washingtonians are lucky to have these pieces in their backyard, rare enough for a museum anywhere, and even luckier that the NGA is the only American venue for the first international exhibit devoted to this elusive artist, Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. It draws together pieces from three major......

More grist for the mill of discontent among some Adams Morgan residents over the state of 18th Street, right on the heels of D.C. Council action that could limit the number of tavern licenses in the neighborhood. The Washington Business Journal reports that an unholy trifecta of daiquiris, skin and chicken wings is moving in to the space formerly occupied by the controversial after hours spot, Santa Rosa. The new bar, to be named Splash,......

When you grow up an obsessive musical theater fan, sometimes it can be a rude awakening when your artistic tastes mature. Appreciation for the best shows' haunting melodies, clever wordplay, or epic spectacle remains; unconditional love for the shows heavy on the schmaltz factor can fade (suddenly Phantom of the Opera doesn't seem like the world's most enduring love story anymore). But for recovering musical theater lovers, enduring lifelong fans, or even skeptics of the......

The AP has a good piece this morning on the debate over whether D.C.'s regulations are too tough on older drivers who are trying to renew their driver's licenses. Currently, D.C. law requires drivers over 75 to again pass a road test and a written exam of driving rules. A year ago, D.C. began imposing what are among the nation's most stringent requirements on drivers 75 and older. Only two states, Illinois and New Hampshire,......

Just how do you recruit a 19-year-old woman to live in a studio apartment atop a big chair in Southeast Washington? This was the incredible feat achieved by Charles Wendell Curtis, who the Post profiles in an obituary today. Curtis was the man who built Anacostia's 19 1/2 foot tall Big Chair in 1959 to promote his family's furniture store. The original chair -- when built touted as the World's Largest Chair -- was replaced......

Good morning, Washington. Now that you've settled into your desk and are sipping warm coffee in a sad little attempt to reverse the effects of that final, extra drink you shouldn't have had at happy hour last night, allow us to make a suggestion. Close your eyes, and think back. Waaaaaay back, to December of aught-six. As you'll recall, it was a simpler, balmier time back then. Children naively longed for winter's cruel embrace in......

>> We always suspected Maddy Albright was much like Santa Claus -- not so much due to a reputation for gift giving as for being magically able to keep her eyes locked on our every move in order to judge whether we have been naughty or nice. Safeway, ye know not what ye have done. [Yeas and Nays] >> Art-o-matic will take place this year after all, from April 13 through May 20 this......

>> We realize it's been a while since we stirred the pot on Butterstick mania, but there's a new way to celebrate your love for all things panda. Keds has their own (surprisingly cute) panda shoes. No, they're not made of real pandas, but these canvas creations might be some comfort after Tai Shan is ripped from our grasp and shipped off to China this fall. >> This Mardi Gras one local blogger (sorta) remembers......

If you are wondering what mysterious something seems to be missing from your life this winter, it could be opera. While we wait for the Washington National Opera's spring season to start in late March, there are a few operas on the schedule to tide us over, presented by visiting companies like the Kirov Opera and the smaller Washington companies like Opera Lafayette and Virginia Opera. Still, opera addicts will not be satisfied until WNO......

Welcome back, Washington. You're probably still busy with Holiday merriment, but we're here working hard for you. Err... rather, we'll be posting today between yelling at football games and re-heating the Christmas roast beast. Also worth noting is the beginning of Kwanzaa and observance of Boxing Day. While Kwanzaa is mainly an American week of celebration, we have special envy of Boxing Day, a holiday virtually everywhere else in the English-speaking world. It's a whole......

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......

Santa's workshop has come a long way in the last 40 years. In the most accurate historical documentary available on the subject, as recently as the mid-60s, the elves were equipped with only the skills necessary to turn out dolls, sleds, toy cars and trains, and other fairly rudimentary wood and fabric-based toys. Somewhere along the line, the Kringles must have signed up the little people for some intensive training, because the electronics coming......

The mildest December in recent memory looks to continue on for a little while longer, but don't expect actually enjoyable weather between now and Christmas Day. Instead, overcast skies and drizzly rain are settling in to the metro area, just in time to make the holiday feel slightly less merry (though maybe a little more like that thing called winter we keep hearing about). You still don't need that long underwear you asked Santa for,......

Good morning, Washington. It's December 20th. Are you still maintaining the farce that you're accomplishing productive work at the office? If so, we salute your spirit. Most of the DCist staff gave up days ago, opting instead to camp out in our office kitchens and wait for the arrival of gift baskets from vendors. How many Hickory Farms beefsticks is it healthy for an adult to eat per day, anyway? Christmas Comes To D.C. Government:......

Sorry for the late arrival of this week's agenda, but you see, I work in Tysons Corner and I was stuck in traffic. Now on to our picks! TUESDAY >> If you don't think there is such a thing as hardcore klezmer music, Gogol Bordello are in town to prove you wrong. These Eastern European transplants to New York serve up Slavic ska, polka punk, and lots of other funky fusions, but those were the......

Jose Vidro, the Nats oft-injured second baseman, has been traded to the Seattle Mariners, pending a physical exam delayed until this morning. Vidro’s a three-time All Star with fine career numbers, and he's a standup character. He's shown admirable loyalty to the club throughout the franchise’s tumultuous past and gruesome near-term prognosis. After the clearing of roster debris like Ramon Ortiz, Tony Armas, and Joey Eishen, one might think that Nationals Nation would mourn –......

For all the gentle bitching and tempered moaning we do about certain aspects of our local music venues, on the whole, they're nothing to sneeze at. Sometimes amidst endless debates about sound quality and beer prices, we forget that we're rather lucky to have so many high quality venues in the area. Luckily, the fine folks at Pollstar haven't forgotten. Wolf Trap's Filene Center, Merriweather Post Pavillion, The Birchmere and the 9:30 Club have all......

We're not sure if Indian Summer is an entirely PC term, but when mall Santas start appearing the same week it's predicted to skirt 70 degrees, we're left with two conclusions. Either we were really nice to puppies and orphans in a past life or global warming isn't so bad. Now for the rest of the news. Fenty Already In The Hole: Incoming Mayor Adrian Fenty hasn't even been sworn in yet and he's facing......