Looking for a cheap night out? It doesn't get much better than a $3 ticket for the Loft Cinema's showing of The Hideous Sun Demon at 8 p.m. tonight:

Good old radiation helps transform a straitlaced scientist into a hideous reptile freak whenever he’s exposed to the sun in this classically cruddy hunk of ‘50s monster junk.

Internationally and locally acclaimed Mexican artist Cristina Cárdenas, who for years has used her work to vocalize her discomfort with gender and cultural stereotypes, is going to be exhibiting some of her work at the YWCA's Frances McClelland Community Center starting next week.

Cárdenas' exhibit will be the first show under the new-ish curator of the Galleria, Valerie Galloway.

"We are proud and excited to be showing the work of this important artist at the YWCA, an organization that is committed to the empowerment of women and racial justice," she said in a press release.

The pieces at the YW will exhibit the past about 15 years of Cárdenas' work. The painter/sculptor/print maker/activist follows the traditions of other Latin American artists - like muralist Diego Rivera—of using her pieces to protest social and political issues affecting Latinos, women from all over and others. Her work is bi-cultural—an expression of her Mexican roots fused with having lived here for decades.

"I have had the pleasure of knowing Cristina for many years and that I have always loved her weaving of strong women into her visual narratives. She has way of telling these tales of Mexican experience, history and myth through her feminine gaze," said Liane Hernandez with the YW. "Unlike so many images of Mexican history, these women look back you, they confront you with their gaze, fingers, toes, hearts and story; they are beautiful, but self-possessed. Cristina's images are a perfect way to engage viewers and spark conversation."

The Galleria is part of the Francis McClelland Leadership Center, which is a place that's sponsored many chats among community members on "personal growth through journaling, financial literacy workshops, parenting and gender role constructions, sex trafficking, immigration reform and mass incarceration."

Cárdenas was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico but later came to Tucson to attend the UA for a master's in fine arts.

You can actually see one of her art installations at the Avenida del Convento and Congress Street streetcar stop. 

An opening reception with Cardenas is happening Jan. 28. So if you go, you'll probably get to meet her. It's from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and free.

The "Los Ojos de Mujer Artista que Emigra"/"The Eyes of the Immigrant Woman Artist" will be open from Jan. 9 to Feb. 19 at the Frances McClelland Community Center, 525 N. Bonita Ave. For more info, visit www.ywcatucson.org.

We've got a pair of tickets to the UA Men's basketball game on Jan. 17 against the Utah Utes, and we want you to take 'em.

All you have to do is email me at [email protected] with the subject line "GO WILDCATS" sometime before the end of the day on Monday, Jan. 5th. I'll pick the winner randomly, and get in touch by email on Tuesday morning.

The game starts at 5 p.m. on the Jan. 17, at the McKale Center. We'll have the winner's tickets waiting at Tucson Weekly HQ.

I'd like to extend all of my respect out for the folks who will wake up tomorrow, ready to greet the new year with more than just the last half of a cold burrito and a headache. For those do-gooders and teetotalers, you can start 2015 off with intentions set and a good stretch by heading out for some New Year's Day yoga.

The Yoga Tree off of Oracle Road south of Orange Grove Road is offering an all level yoga class beginning at 9 a.m. The class will blend pranayama and meditation classes and will finish off at 10:30 a.m. with warm tea and scones. Single class rates are $15 per class.

Tucson Yoga at Fourth Avenue and 12th Street is also offering a special New Year's Day celebration from 9 until 10:30 a.m. Single classes are $6.

Finally, each of the Yoga Oasis locations are offering the following classes:

Yoga Oasis Downtown (245 E. Congress Street, Suite 101)
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.: Yoga Hour

Yoga Oasis Central (2631 N. Campbell Avenue)
9 - 10 a.m.: Intro 2 Yoga
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.: Yoga Hour
12:15 - 1:45 p.m.: Expanding
2 - 4 p.m.- Articulate Your Aim Workshop
4:15 - 5:15 p.m.: Yoga Hour
5:30 - 7 p.m.: Expanding
6 - 7:15 p.m.: Intro 2 Basics

Yoga Oasis East (7858 E. Wrightstown Road, Suite 116)
6:30 - 7:30 a.m.: Basics
4:15 - 5:15 p.m.: Yoga Hour
7:15 - 8:15 p.m.: Yoga Hour

Drop-in rates for all Yoga Oasis classes are between $5 and $11 per class, depending on which class you attend. For more information, visit the Yoga Oasis website.

Just in case one of these ten New Year's Eve options didn't really catching your eye, Maker House is joining forces with Tucson Comic Con to offer three parties crammed into one for their Time Traveler Ball. The event is peppered with replica memorabilia from your favorite TV shows and movies and, of course, cosplay is encouraged.

As the name would suggest, you can traipse through time between three parties: the past's 1955 Enchantment Under the Sea dance (you know, from Back to the Future), the present's Maker House courtyard, and the future's Blade Runner and Fifth Element EDM room. Live performances by eight live bands and DJs including The Outlaw Rebels and Al Foul will keep guests entertained on three separate stages. 

You can also snap a picture of yourself with all manner of time traveling devices including Arizona Doctor Who's TARDIS, Bill & Ted's excellent phone booth, and a DeLorean DMC-12 from the Universal Studios Back to the Future ride.

The event is 21 and up and begins at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31. Tickets are $10 in advance or $20 at the door, with VIP and table pricing available. For more information and to snatch up your tickets to the 300 person cap party, visit the Maker House website.

Cynde Cerf, director of communications and marketing at Planned Parenthood Arizona, sends along an op-ed reminding those who are going to get busy during the holiday season to remember to use protection. Planned Parenthood will be supplying free condoms on New Year's Eve for patrons at Hotel Congress, The Shanty and Pastiche.

The holidays are upon us—time with family and friends, parties, champagne, and, even romance. At this time of year there can be such an overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness that when you add twinkling lights on a tree and a sprig of mistletoe, who knows where the evening could go?

Campaigns about watching one’s alcohol consumption during the holidays are prevalent and serve as wonderful reminders to celebrate responsibly. But, when we are finding ourselves “in the mood” at this time of year, another way to celebrate responsibly is to use a condom when you have sex.

In the United States, about half of all pregnancies are unintended and each year there are 20 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs). As the largest provider of sexual health care in Arizona, we want to remind everyone that if there is a chance you may have sex on New Year’s Eve, make sure you have a condom in your purse or wallet. The condom should be one of your most essential holiday accessories and that’s why we created the Party Prepared community health initiative.

To make it a little easier to access condoms, we have partnered with restaurants, bars and clubs in across Arizona, making 15,000 free condoms available on New Year’s Eve to communities. In Tucson, you can find free condoms at the following locations: Hotel Congress, Pastiche and The Shanty.

Condoms are not the only way to party prepared. Another way to make sure you are off to the best start in the New Year is to have emergency contraception on-hand. Condoms can break and sometimes, even with the best of intentions, they can be forgotten. If you need a primer on how to put a condom on correctly, we have you covered. Go to ppaz.org for more information and answers to questions you may have, as well as a full list of locations participating in this year’s campaign.

We wish everyone a safe and happy New Year’s Eve filled with fun, music, good food, flirting and romance. Here is to a healthy 2015!

When January rolls around, the people behind the Body Love Conference are hoping you'll do things a little differently this year. No pledging to conform to magazine cover beauty standards, no blowing money on uncomfortable shapewear. Meet up with the team, take some pictures. Look at yourself and love it.

Take a step toward self love this new year with the Body Love Conference team at their #lovethemirror photo set launch party. Prepare to throw out all of those old and tired new year's resolutions and kick off 2015 with a promise to start to love who you see in the mirror. There will be mirrors inviting you to check yourself out. Take a selfie and commit yourself to a year of positivity and loving the mirror. It's all happening on January 4th at Fluxx Studios from 4-8pm. No cover, suggested donation: $5. 

It’s time to get your last Switch-sponsored laughs in before 2015 comes. The bi-monthly comedy event, hosted by Jacob Breckenridge and Henry Barajas, is taking over the Club Congress stage tonight.

"Honestly, 2014 has been one of the best years in the history of Tucson comedy," Barajas says. "The Switch is not your traditional show. There's a different experience every time."

With a strong improv element, The Switch is known for comedy off the cuff. Barajas says this setup gives the comedians the opportunity to try out different things.

"It gives the comedians to the chance to abandon their sets and try something new," he says. "Sometimes comedians create new material on the spot and it's something they can include in their set."

You can text in your suggestions for proposed topics by texting your ideas to 477-2221 throughout the show. Otherwise, just head to Club Congress tonight for the free event. Other featured comedians for tonight include Tucson and Phoenix area performers like Tyler Ten Haken, Zackry Colston, Nick Joseph, Anthony Desamito, Molly Dean, Chet Coxworthy, Emmet Andrews, Josiah Osego, Jamie Sanderson, Steve Marek, Andrew Horneman, Ben Dietzel, and Mikey Dean. The 21 and over comedy show starts at 9 p.m.

It's time to put on your most embarrassingly festive seasonal garb and hit the streets of downtown for a beer lover's pub crawl sponsored by Dragoon Brewing Co. Beginning at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 24, you can join other merry drinkers on a trek around the city for beer. 

The planned stops and brews are as follows:
1) Tap & Bottle: Dragoon's Stonghold Session Ale
2) R Bar: Dragoon's Bicas Brown Ale
3) The Tap Room at Hotel Congress: Dragoon's Scout Porter
4) Playground: Dragoon's Biere del Bal Belgian-Style Quad

You can get a wristband to join in on the crawl for $10 at any of the participating bars, as well as Dragoon's Tap Room located at 1859 W. Grant Road Suite #111. The wristband also gets you $1 off each special Dragoon beer at the crawl stops and all of the proceeds go to the Southern Arizona Disabled Firefighter Foundation. 

The Tucson Urban League's IMA Town Hall is asking locals to come participate at a Black Lives Matter stand tomorrow afternoon while the Downtown Parade of Lights is happening.

They hope to show solidarity for the police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y. Do I still need to explain what happened in those two places?

"Also, show solidarity about the injustices that take place probably every day that we don't know about," says Deborah Embry, political action domain leader at the Tucson Urban League. 

She says the gathering was planned for tomorrow because they knew there would be ton s of people in the area watching for the Parade of Lights. 

"No one is going to speak, people are just coming together to stand," Embry says.

The stand will go on for as long as the parade does.

People looking to participate should be in front of Prince Chapel AME Church, 602 S. Stone Ave., by 4 p.m., wearing a black t-shirt or one that reads "I can't breathe."

For more information, you can contact Emry at 520-202-5360, Ext. 2234