Holiday Season, it is? Give gifts you will

As December careens by, it can be a challenge to stop and savor that this unseasonably cold (for Austin), strangely damp weather is a season. A holiday season, even! Which can mean a chill winter break for some, a major celebration for others, but mostly it means giving. Gifts can be homemade, store-bought, in the form of a gift card or membership, but mostly it's the thought behind the item and the look of sheer glee on the face of the person being gifted. The wide eyes, the grabby hands, and the ripping of the wrapping paper take a mere fraction of the time it takes to deliberate, decide, execute procurement, and delivery of the gift, but hey. It's a season. It's great to get and it's fun to give. Get into it. Be that "it" The Muppets movie, singing "Feliz Navidad" until you think you're going crazy, or making lists. Here is a tiny cheat sheet of what to get for who this season.

For the show-goer
Hey! Are you old and do you stand in the back? Are you annoyed at the latest batch of Rock Hall of Fame inductees and refusing to eulogize Emo's, which shut down its main room on Red River this fall, and will close its indoor room this December, making it the latest cultural (ahem) loss to the Austin rock scene? Well then, you should be visiting the iconic, soon-to-be-shut dumpola at any one of a number of interesting, loud shows going on in December. Commemorate the loss with one of these rad show posters as seen here, which can be bought at the venue the day of the show, and not on Emo's annoying website store.

For the obsessive music fan
ATX photographer and fan Michael Crawford released the Rock Garage compilation earlier in 2011. Bands include Honky, Pong, Brutal Juice, and Amplified Heat. It should melt your face off and cause tinnitus, and more record collecting.

For the tasty food truck enthusiast
Forever seeking out new menu items and taste sensations can be the built-in benefit of the Austin Foodie Card, a discount card that automatically grants the member 25% off of meals of $10 or more(not including drinks, daily specials, or happy hour).
This means a card-holder can stop in at any of the participating Austin food venues and try something new or find a new favorite, then get a freaking discount. Membership costs just $25 for a whole year, and the discount shouldn't overwhelm the restaurant like those Groupon promotions tend to do.
Trucks participating in the Foodie Card program include Dogellos, Sun Farms Kitchen, Rockin Rolls, Love Balls at the East Side Drive In, and Hill Country Pierogi. A full list of participants can be seen at the Austin Foodie Card site.

For the death metal pizza lover
Don't be false metal. Eat at Hoek's Death Metal Pizza. They also have banana bread. And just in time for the season, there is an amazing Cafe Press store where one can get very pricy yet highly desirable Hoek's Death Metal Pizza hoodies, maternity t-shirts, stadium blankets, and a shirt for your dog.

For the stealthy Amazon shopper
Amazon.com is offering a deal to shoppers with smart phones and the desire to download their PriceCheck app, then the tenacity to go out to a store starting at 9pm on December 9th and running through Saturday, December 10th, scan the bar code of an item to compare its price online, then not buy that thing right then and there, but to buy it at a discount online. Amazon will give you a 5% discount of up to $5 on electronics, toys, and music, automatically applied through the app. Just scan the item in-store. Amazon is allowing each customer three of these mini-discounts. Don't mind if I do.