Yesterday, he had a list of various options for noshing on Christmas Eve. Here are some places going all out to serve you after the presents are all opened and the wrapping paper is piled high. Also, I know most of the various resorts are providing some food service so giving them a call is also worth a shot. Again, in the holiday spirit, if you know of anywhere else that plans to be open, please let us know in the comments below.

• RA Sushi at La Encantada (2905 E. Skyline Dr.): 6 p.m. to midnight
• Lodge on the Desert (306 N. Alvernon Way): Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Pastiche Modern Eatery (3025 N. Campbell Ave.): 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• McMahon’s Prime Steakhouse (2959 N Swan Road): 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Fiesta Buffet (5655 W. Valencia Road): 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• PY Steakhouse (5655 W. Valencia Road): 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Congressman Ron Barber fired off a press release blasting House leaders for leaving Washington yesterday without resolving the fiscal-cliff showdown following the spectacular failure of House Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B":

U.S. Rep. Ron Barber today criticized leaders of the House of Representatives for leaving the Capitol for the holidays without addressing the impending fiscal cliff—now less than two weeks away.

“We must stop this political gamesmanship and get serious about reaching a bipartisan agreement that will set us on the path to long-term deficit reduction,” Barber added. “House leaders spent most of the week wasting time and further damaging the American people’s trust instead of coming up with a real proposal. My constituents are fed up with this nonsense and so am I.”

The House left Washington this evening less than two weeks before the nation is scheduled to go over the “fiscal cliff.” That is the term given to a series of tax cuts scheduled to expire and deep budget cuts that will be imposed Jan. 2, unless Congress and the president reach agreement.

Barber opposed the Spending Reduction Act of 2012 today. The same bill, which slashes funding for several domestic programs, and would impose steep cuts on Medicare, failed the House in May with many Republicans opposed. Today it passed 215-to-209 with 21 Republicans and all 188 Democrats opposed. The Senate has said it will not consider the bill.

On Jan. 2, across-the-board, automatic spending cuts known as sequestration are scheduled take effect. That would impose $1.2 trillion in cuts — about half from the military and half from domestic programs including infrastructure, education, health care and public safety.

The Spending Reduction Act of 2012 would mean steep reductions in food assistance and school lunch programs, further cuts to the child tax credit and health care for kids, and eliminated funding for services for seniors and people with disabilities.

“We must stop this posturing and come to an immediate solution to extend the income tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses and stop sequestration,” Barber said today. “And we must have a balanced and bipartisan approach. That is the only way that we can create jobs, continue our economic recovery and address the deficit and restore faith that we can find common ground to get the nation’s financial house in order.”

Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler looks at what happens next:

In an effort to reduce their environmental impact, Saguaro National Park has eliminated their vending machines and installed these bottle fillers. Check them out.

A woman was attacked while running along the Rillito River Path last week. Get the details and see how police suggest trail users stay safe.

• Automatic wildlife cameras snapped this photo of a male jaguar on a nightly walk in the Santa Rita Mountains on Oct 25.

The UA Communications bureau reports that an adult male jaguar has been spotted in the Santa Rita Mountains by robot cameras:

An adult male jaguar and an adult male ocelot have been photographed in two separate southern Arizona mountain ranges by automated wildlife monitoring cameras. The images were collected as part of the Jaguar Survey and Monitoring Project led by the University of Arizona. Both animals appear to be in good health.

In late November, the UA project team downloaded photos from wildlife cameras set up as part of the research project and found new pictures of a jaguar in the Santa Rita Mountains. A total of 10 jaguar photos were taken by three UA cameras and one Arizona Game and Fish Department camera. The cat’s unique spot pattern matched that of a male jaguar photographed by a hunter in the Whetstone Mountains in the fall of 2011, providing clear evidence that the big cats travel between southern Arizona’s “sky island” mountain ranges.

“We are very pleased about these photos,” said Lisa Haynes, who manages the research project. “I am proud of our field team and their incredible knowledge and capacity to place these cameras in the best locations to detect jaguar and ocelot movement.”

Apparently, some geniuses at FUSE TV decided it would be a great idea to have Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J, the MCs of Insane Clown Posse, go Mystery Science Theater 3000 on, well, anything put in front of them. Astoundingly, it isn't the worst thing I've watched on YouTube (that "honor" goes to the series of "popping" videos on YouTube. For your own sanity, I do not recommend you search "youtube" and "popping." Ever.)

What impresses me is the fact that, really, Violent J actually seems reasonably intelligent and interested at times...whereas Shaggy is about as insightful as you would expect from a man who has a large, stylized "D" tattooed on the back of his head.

Actually, neither of them are insightful, and the highest praise the trailer gets from them is that "the freshest part of that video was the elephant's ass." But still, good for them! Not many people are able to successfully make a brand out of it being Halloween every night. Go you, Insane Clown Posse. Go you.

I just got horrible news. I've learned that I will have to wait until the end of 2013 to find out how Sherlock Holmes (SPOILERS!) survived the leap from that tall building at the end of the last season. And, to be sure, I'm talking about the magnificent BBC series, Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch in the starring role, not the CBS cutesy knockoff, Elementary, which, by comparison, is paler than Newt Gingrich's latest wife.

The BBC series is just stunningly good, meticulously written and brilliantly acted. Best of all, at 90 minutes each, the episodes play more like movies, with time for subplots, dead-end clues, and lots of character development. Cumberbatch's Sherlock is dead-on haughty, clever, and in a constant state of annoyance—all at the same time. He seems permanently befuddled by the fact that not everyone in the room (or in the world) is willing to bow down and/or kiss his ass. In a real acting coup, Cumberbatch manages to be simultaneously endearing and off-putting.

The series is the work of Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis, two writers for the ridiculously popular Doctor Who series, who came up with the concept of bringing Holmes and Watson into the 21st Century during their long train rides to the Doctor Who set in Cardiff, Wales. They have created a monster, one equal in excellence and popularity, that has people all over the world screaming for more. They, however, will not be rushed—nor could they be, even if they wanted to.

The current delay was caused, in large part, due to the absence of Martin Freeman, who plays Dr. John Watson. Freeman was away starring in the title role of The Hobbit, a movie you couldn't get me to see with a promise of a trunkload of money and a new head of hair. Freeman, whom some might recognize from his role as the porn-star stand-in (or lie-in) who, through clever, detached chit-chat, falls in love with his naked co-worker in "Love Actually," is up to the task as Watson. A war veteran who doesn't like to talk about his past, Watson suffers Holmes semi-gladly, but bristles at Holmes' unwillingness (or inability) to express any sort of human emotion, or even acknowledge his bond with Watson.

Special credit goes to Andrew Scott, who plays Holmes' arch-nemesis, Jim Moriarty. Totally obsessed with Holmes, Moriarty is sniveling and whiny, yet always at least one step ahead of the sleuth. If anything, Scott's acting job surpasses even that of Cumberbatch.

There are women in Holmes' life, although he does his best not to notice. Una Stubbs plays Mrs. Hudson, the landlady to Holmes and Watson, and Louise Brealey portrays Molly Hooper, a pathologist who has the warm, trembling thighs for Holmes. Co-creator Mark Gatiss plays Holmes' brother, Mycroft, who alternately clashes with and helps his brother. Mycroft claims to hold a "minor position" in the government, but Sherlock is having none of it.

For instance, in one scene:

MYCROFT: For goodness sake! I occupy a minor position in the British government!
SHERLOCK: He is the British Government—when he's not too busy being the Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis. Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home. You know what it does for the traffic.

Do yourself a BIG favor. Watch just one of the six episodes (yeah, only six) that comprise Seasons One and Two of the series. They're available on DVD at Amazon or you could probably catch them on Netflix or one of the eight million other websites—legal and otherwise—that stream TV series. If you don't think it's absolutely amazing, you can go back to watching Honey Boo-Boo and I'll never bother you again.

• Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
• Not the hamster in question

From TMZ and presented without context for hilarity's sake:

The moment that hamster was handed off to a screaming girl in a harsh, frenzied environment was likely the moment it gazed at the short path to its doom.

BroScienceLife is a YouTube channel that's apparently being brought to the world by Mike & Gian Comedy, who I have never heard of before but will start following now because this is 100% MAGIC.

According to a study out of the University of Utah and published by the Journal of Experimental Biology, human hands evolved over time to be just as useful in conflict as they are in use of tools. In other words, they were made equally well to build and destroy.

From The Telegraph:

"The role aggression has played in our evolution has not been adequately appreciated," said Professor David Carrier, from the University of Utah.
"There are people who do not like this idea but it is clear that compared with other mammals, great apes are a relatively aggressive group with lots of fighting and violence, and that includes us. We're the poster children for violence."
The forces of natural selection that drove hands to become nimble-fingered also turned them into weapons, Prof Carrier believes.
"Individuals who could strike with a clenched fish (sic) could hit harder without injuring themselves, so they were better able to fight for mates and thus be more likely to reproduce," he said.

So when it comes down to it, we evolved to punch things better so we could have more sex. Works for professional fighters, I guess.

Glib comments aside, the article continues by going further in depth as to the mechanics of force as delivered by the human hand, noting that the force of a punch, over the same amount of surface area, is three times that of a slap, and the structural advantages a fist has to producing force, over a slap.

For the rest of the article, check out The Telegraph.

Do you have guests in town and need to entertain? Maybe you just aren’t the cooking type. Either way, you are in luck! There are a few places willing to stay open and help you out. Here is a list of a few restaurants open Christmas Eve. If you know of others feel free to share and leave it in the comments below. Come back tomorrow for Part Deux, those open Christmas day.

• RA Sushi at La Encantada (2905 E. Skyline Dr): 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Dakota Café & Catering
(6541 E. Tanque Verde Rd. #7): Lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; reservations are recommended.
• Lodge on the Desert (306 N. Alvernon Way): 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Lotus Garden (5875 E. Speedway Blvd.): 11:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m.
• Pastiche Modern Eatery (3025 N. Campbell Ave.): 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Rocco’s Little Chicago Pizzeria (2707 E. Broadway Blvd.): 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Tavolino Ristorante Italiano (2890 E. Skyline Dr.): Serving both their normal Menu and a special Italian menu featuring “the feast of the seven fishes.” Two seatings; one at 5 p.m. and one at 8 p.m. Seating is limited, reservations highly encouraged.