Hello to all you yellow line-straddling, hand-holding, directional-looking, earbud-wearing, ticket-holding, children-monitoring, just-trying-to-get-to-work-and-home-in-one-piece enthusiasts. --- Have you seen UTA's latest attempt to do damage control after one of the worst years of safety it's had since Trax opened up? Next time you're on a train or at a station, check out the red and yellow “reminder” signs UTA has put up. They may be a little hard to find for some people, because they're posted in all the same spots they maliciously mount ads for Visa and Phoenix College on, or where they usually post out-of-date maps and service times, but they're there. And the reason they're there is because it's cheaper to post billboards and hope you get the message rather than take extreme preventative measures, which is the only option UTA has left. The point of this is that it's been a shitty year as far as safety goes, so please keep your wits about you and stop rushing to be somewhere. In lieu of a 337 Wall update, here's a message from the streets that seems to be appropriate this time of year...

Going over to art, last time on the Saturday post we promoted the Captain Captain Studios' open house. For those of you who couldn't attend, fear not! We've got some photos of the art you could have been checking out live and in-person, along with Trent Call's interactive piece where you could take his designs and change them to look however you wished. You can check out the photos in this gallery here.

Moving on to events, tonight I'd like to highlight two specific showcases, the first being the Dunk Santa Dance Hall! Head over to Bar Deluxe with $5 dressed up as Santa and get down on the dance floor! The night will be DJ'd by a few familiar names to keep your jolly red ass bouncing, including Davey Parish, Rebecca McIntosh, DTAB and Red Siren. This year hasn't had a lot of Santa pub crawls, so break out the suit and enjoy at least one tonight!

For those of you not in the drinking mood, or who may be in Provo, the 100 block of University Avenue will be hopping with Parallax's final show ever at Muse Music. But just two doors down will be Velour's All-Star Christmas Special. These events are usually packed every year as the venue does its best to bring in Utah County's finest to perform acoustic sets, while also selling cheap goods for final holiday shoppers at its merch bazaar. This year's lineup is insane -- just look over the poster below to see the list. This will be Velour's last show before the holidays, just $7 starting at 8 p.m.

Tomorrow holds an interesting event in this state as Dec. 18 is World Snowboard Day. Both The Canyons and Brighton resorts will be taking part in the event, which will include live demos, contests, product testing, environmental awareness, concerts and parties to follow. A lot of the details are still being worked out and slowly added as this is being posted; keep an eye on the official Website and the resorts to find out more about what's happening.

For those of you who may not be into boarding, down in the valley at Brewvies we'll have the last of the Geek Show Movie Nights for 2011. This month, the podcast panel will be in full force as they bring two movies for the public to enjoy and yell at. This month it's a Josh Wheadon Christmas as the double feature will be the Firefly-based film Serenity, and the Internet sensation Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! The films kick off at 5 p.m. and, as always, are absolutely free.

On Monday, we'll see Mo's Neighborhood Grill taken over by poets as the next edition of "Put Your Mouth Where The Word Is" takes center stage. These poetry slams from Salt City Indie Arts have become massive events unto themselves, as they've started attracting some of SLC's best writers and speakers to the forefront of the local entertainment scene. This event will also be a fundraiser for the U of U's first-ever CUPSI (College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational) team, so go help support them. It kicks off at 8 p.m. for just $5 to attend, but they're still taking people to perform on a wait list. For further details, visit the Facebook event page and sign up.

Next on the docket, we'll skip all the way to Friday, where The W Lounge will be having one hell of a fundraiser before the holiday nights officially hit us. It'll be throwing the 3rd Annual Soul To Sole Christmas Fundraiser and Soul Dance Party. 100% of the door money will go to benefit the homeless students Unaccompanied Youth through the Utah Educational Foundation, which will also include raffles for prizes and anyone who's willing to graciously donate more upon arrival. The night is entirely dedicated to classic '60s and '70s jazz, Motown, funk and soul music. Do me a favor and request Sam & Dave's “Hold On, I'm Coming” for the City Weekly staff on hand.

Moving on to Sunday -- what day is it? Why, it's Christmas Day, sir! Not a lot in the way of events, but that didn't stop the aforementioned W Lounge, which will be playing host to a Very Christmas Disco Ball. That's right, get out on the holiest of holy nights and get down to the sounds of the remixed '70s with Jesse Walker and Johnny Wad as they take over the room for anyone looking to shake off the early morning gloom of getting socks.

After that, the week kinda dies out until the event-of-all-yearly events makes its return: EVE 2012 -- kicking off on Thursday, Dec. 29, over a three-day period, all leading up to midnight and the celebration of the new year. To try to cover everything they've got in store for downtown SLC and surrounding areas would take a ridiculous amount of space on this blog, so just do yourself a favor and check out the Website for details and prices for the various happenings.

As for the blog -- it's an interesting time of year for this blog as we approach an online milestone. Content-wise, we'll check out a concert from the weekend, visit with the latest geek podcast, look into a local clothing line, visit one of the city's most prolific photographers, interview the last of the Open Screen Night winners, and we'll have something special for you on Christmas Day ... provided Santa isn't late. At least that's the plan for now; as always, we'll see what happens.

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