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Oh my. It's like being 16 again. Alex is shaking his fringe, Damon's doing the 'walking geezer' dance in his Fred Perry shirt, Dave is... well, Dave's drumming isn't he, and Graham is just being the coolest bastard on the planet. Yes friends, it's Blur, and they're back in London.

Do you have a caption for today's Photo of the Day? Leave it in the comments below.

...except, it turns out, they don't. As Tuesday's report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says, council house waiting lists aren't prioritizing immigrant families at all. In fact, less than 2% of social tenants arrived in Britain in the last ten years.

The squish of a sodden soft toy underfoot as we are led carefully into six inches of water in a darkened, flooded studio theatre encapsulates the uncomfortable and unnerving atmosphere of A Lament For Medea. This short (under an hour) performance is stiflingly intimate; the hypnotic slosh of water, the keening songs of the performers, the proximity of everyone else dangling their feet in the pool is a coup by Zecora Ura. The setting is extraordinary and the intense, ritualistic performances throws all who enter into the limbo world of Medea, post-murder, pre-consequences.

Tomorrow around 1pm, thousands of people from around the world (including some undisclosed celebs) are expected to descend upon the Royal Exchange for (as far as Londonist can ascertain) the world’s first ever Pants Amnesty. The idea is to show up at with a pair of “bad pants” and to change into a free pair of more humane and eco-friendly undies. Organized by makers of fair-trade and organic cotton underwear, the event is part of global campaign to “rid the world of bad pants” and to raise awareness about the highly toxic insecticide, Endosulfan. Despite it being banned in 62 countries (including the European Union), Endosulfan is still in widespread use in many developing countries, on crops like cotton, soy, coffee, tea and vegetables.

Following what it euphemistically describes as "ongoing debate" over the right to take photographs of the police - a debate that saw hundreds campaign earlier in the year - the Met today issued a document offering photography advice to the concerned citizen.

A report for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has found claims that immigrants 'jump the queue' for social housing are a myth. Just 1.8% of social tenants have moved to the UK within the last five years, 10% were born abroad but have lived in the UK for more than five years, and nearly 88% are UK born.

TfL has announced that they are offering refunds to anybody affected in last month's 48-hour tube strike, reversing their earlier decision to point the finger at the RMT.

The downpour that drenched London this afternoon has played havoc with the transport network. Ominous rumbles of thunder and attendant arcs of lightning exploded into torrents of precipitation just as rush hour rolled around, leading to predictable calamity for the homeward bound. Flash floods saw Hyde Park Corner, Victoria, and Green Park stations closed, while the Bakerloo line was giving Edgware Road a miss as a result. An undercurrent of bubbling Tweets suggested that Victoria was due to re-open at 7.30pm, with some reports saying everything but the District and Circle lines were back in business, but that's not confirmed yet. Update: all stations have now fully re-opened. To anybody who claimed about being too hot in that glorious heatwave we sweated through last week: we blame you. Any entertaining homeward bound-stories, acts of random kindness, tango-dancing in the rain, or stories of vile commuters behaving badly, are welcome in the comments.

It could have been yesterday’s gloomy, drizzly weather or maybe just the cold feet that accompanies the thought of bopping about the City of London in your underwear. Whatever the case, those that donned less than usual for the Pants Amnesty at the Royal Exchange numbered in the dozens and not the thousands. Still, what they may have lacked in numbers they more than made up for in sheer enthusiasm. Their commitment to the anti-Endosulfan cause (which according to a comment left on our preview post is misguided) is impressive. Pants off to you!

If you're Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, you man up and step into the breach, that's what. When the person with the 6pm slot failed to arrive for their hour-long turn on the fourth plinth yesterday, organisers quickly called Nairne, beseeching him to fill the gap. He was only too happy to oblige, and spent his sixty minutes sketching a panorama of the view from up top. This is the first time a plinther has no-showed, but with 2,400 places during the artwork's run, it probably won't be the last. Perhaps the One & Other organisers should arrange a special pool of "emergency" back-up folk who can step in last-minute? There are hundreds of former Big Brother housemates or long-forgotten Z-listers who'd jump at the chance of reminding people who they are, even if it's only to groups of tourists and uninterested pigeons. Or if they wanted to go high class, the occupants of that palace down the other end of the Mall who might be interested -- just tell them it's a 21st century version of It's A Royal Knockout.

A Tradition I do not Mean to Break is an exhibition you should not mean to skip. Featuring new moving image works by David Blandy, Tereza Bušková and Henry Coombes, the exhibition explores cultural subjects near and dear to these three artists’ hearts. Blandy’s Mississipi minstrel film, Crossroads draws viewers in with serene imagery. Coombes ignites imaginations with his erotically charged period drama about English landscape and animal painter, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer. And, Bušková? Well, her film and photography of Slavic Easter rituals, (cockerel beheading ceremonies and whatnot) simply mesmerize.

Nicholas Penny, Director of the National Gallery, has unleashed an extraordinary broadside against Anthony Gormley's Fourth Plinth experiment. Speaking to The Times, Mr Penny berates the idea as symptomatic of Britain's shift away from artistic and architectural appreciation. He blames the Square's demise on its part-pedestrianisation a few years back. People are now too noisy and enjoy themselves far too much:

Last night the Architectural Association officially launched their summer pavilion in Bedford Square.

On the day it decides to rain, here come are the pub recommendations you've been waiting for. Our friends at Fancyapint got together last week to pool their considerable pub brain resources and compile a list of top al fresco drinking spots for you to enjoy this summer. Today we have their top ten beer gardens, tomorrow, ten top roof terraces and Wednesday, ten riverside hostelries.

A few bleary-eyed and saddle-sore Londoners will have more-interesting-than-usual water cooler banter about what they did on their weekend. A big night down the pub? No, a 120 mile overnight bike ride to the Suffolk coast.

As we mentioned yesterday, theatre cats may be about to make a comeback. Time was, there were moggies living in theatres across London but increasingly, as they died or retired to live with little old ladies, fresh blood wasn't brought in.

This is the winner of RIBA's competition to redesign London Bridge, a crossing so bland that passing a turd on the carriageway might count as making an improvement. But how fantastic would this be? A kiss-my-glass canopy of gardens and farmers' markets, like a hippy version of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Crystal spires that recall the days when the heads of traitors were raised above the bridge on spikes. And all kinds of imaginative shipping hazards randomly strewn along the Thames. Fantastic.

In the pantheon of breakfast cereal critters, the Honey Monster always held a cherished place in our childhood hearts. Cockier than Coco Monkey, tougher than Tony The Tiger, and quite frankly a creature whose single-minded savagery was more captivating to the impressionable young mind than the effete jousting of Messrs Snap, Crackle, and Pop -- and all this despite the cereal he fronted, Sugar Puffs, behind nigh on inedible. Fast forward a couple decades, and it seems that far from settling into a relaxing retirement, the Honey Monster is still out there working his finger to the bone: he's appearing this weekend at Harlequin shopping centre in Watford, quite literally pimping a new cereal that goes by the name Honey Waffles. Can't his employers just let him grow old gracefully?

Over 100 firefighters were called out to a blaze in Soho's Dean Street this afternoon. Much of eastern Soho was cordoned off, including the westbound side of Oxford Street. Latest word is that the fire was caused by a faulty air conditioning duct at 76 Dean Street. No one is thought to have been injured in the fire.

A series celebrating the talent of our friends over in the Londonist Flickr pool who make our site look great with their fabulous photographs. Here, they introduce themselves and share their favourite London shots.

Gone but not forgotten: it looks as if Woolies, darling of the high street, may be enjoying something of an afterlife. In North London they are being colonised by the 99p Store chain (which has already caused one riot of anticipation this week). Last month a former branch opened as an art gallery in Leytonstone. Perhaps the most interesting/worrying reincarnation is in Peckham, where the empty store has opened up as a co-operative bazaar selling tight clothing covered in glitter and plastic furniture covered in glitter. High Street historians would see this as a glorious return to Woolies' market trader roots: cynics might simply see it as the devolution of the High Street. What's happened to your Woolies: is it still standing sad and empty, or has it been recycled? (Image/sinister pictures)

Located in Devonshire Square (essentially across Bishopsgate Road from Liverpool Street Station) with a lovely terrace (and smack dabbedly up close views of the Gherkin), Cinnamon Kitchen is a fairly new restaurant offering modern Indian cuisine in a stylish, swish and contemporary setting (they’ve got an especially sleek bar as well).

Your host is a deeply not-great local comedian by the name of Karl Edrik. Let's just say he's no Terry Wogan. Although a large portion of the kids seem to come from the same "Eyes and Teeth, Boys and Girls!" stage school there is a distinct lack of pushy parents and hissing at opponents that you might expect at such an event; the laid-back atmosphere of Champion Hall (a small community centre-cum-church) helping to put everyone at ease.

Simon Key and Tim West used to work for Waterstones; they'd barely settled in as managers of the Wood Green branch when they were informed the chain was closing the store down, leaving the area with no bookshop at all. So they decided to do something about it and the Big Green Bookshop was born.

Facing a losing battle in their fight to preserve Seventies-vintage housing block Robin Hood Gardens, the 20th Century Society and RIBA have gone on the offensive with a photography show dedicated to showing the building in its best possible light.

Epicurienne is this week's blogger, a dedicated documenter of London's food - and the world cuisine on her travels. As well as selflessly eating on our behalf, she includes a splash of London transport and weather and general commentary to top up this lovely London blog.

The Wellcome Collection throws open its doors on Friday for an evening of "diagnoses and cures" with all manner of delightful (and not so delightful) talks and curiosities to divert you.

Felt a distinct lack of tweed in your life recently? Fret not, gentle readers, for the Chap Olympiad is almost upon us, bringing period costume, 'sporting' events and other genteel silliness to Bedford Square Gardens this Saturday.

Skystation, a "new concept in public seating", has opened outside the Hayward Gallery.