“The Supreme Court has ruled that they can’t have a nativity scene in Washington D.C…that wasn’t for religious reasons…they couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.”
– Jay Leno.

This will be the last posting until next Monday as the good people at Blackbook break for the holidays. I will be spending mine with many of the people I love, but not all of them. For that I would need a sleigh, some reindeer, and in a few cases, I’d have to sneak in and out undetected. As I shopped for gestures these last few days, I could see the worry on peoples’ faces. The world looks pretty grim and hope is something that seems impotent against the myriad of problems we are facing. Yet, I believe we are blessed, for only in a downturn like this could our nation elect a president who inspires old school ideas like love, decency and fair play. I will say a prayer for him and for all of us on Christmas day. My gut feeling is that it’s going to be all right. So Happy Christmas to all, to all a goodnight and below check out part 2 of my interview with the Santos’ Party House Boys:

With Christmas just moments away, I wanted to sit down with the Santos' Party House boys; I think this is the best joint in town of its type. Rosebar, Cielo and1Oak are all different but in many ways the same. Next week, for New Years, I’ll try to get into what I think are the years’ most important places and stuff like that. Bogie had it right, or at least Sam did when he sang, “the fundamental things apply as time goes by.” This is my mantra. I believe that 2,000 years ago there was some guy just like me who had a little joint in a good location in Rome. He was close enough to the forum to grab some of that business, but near enough to the Temple of Venus to excite the natives. He served some swill and had somebody offering the modern tunes of the day on a lute or a lyre. He had a hot chick behind the bar and an ex-gladiator or two to keep the patrons in line. On slow nights, maybe he had a promotion: a toga party or an orgy.

Scott Weiland’s Snitch is now Citrine, Tim Robbins is no longer behind the Back Room, De Niro’s Ago was critically panned, cholesterol problems await at Justin Timberlake’s Southern Hospitality, and Arnold Schwarzenegger & co.’s Planet Hollywood is a tourist trap, all’s not lost -- here’s a list of celeb-owned spots worth looking into.

Spencer Sweeney, artist and one of the forces behind Santos' Party House, talks community boards, sketchy after-hour clubs, and why he's changing his name to Santa.

Point of Origin: I came to New York about ten years ago from Philadelphia where I was an art student. I started DJing when I moved here at a sketchy after-hours spot on Ridge Street. Looking back, it was a pretty significant place culturally. My first party there was with Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello. The club was basically some guy's apartment, and he got arrested every weekend. I think he had an incarceration fetish. There was this party at Standard Notions on Ludlow, which was a big hangout. Every week you'd have the guys from A.R.E. Weapons, Chloe Sevigny, Ben Cho. That's where we all came together. At the time, DJing was very genre-driven. If you went into a record store, everyone would ask what you spun, and you'd have to be like "Organic Deep House," you know?