While you ponder how much you would miss the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar, consider also the well-beloved BBC Television Centre, currently in the middle of its own listing row. While the BBC itself wants to be rid of the iconic but crumbling building, English Heritage has waded in to ask the Government to slap on a Grade II listing to save it from the pervasive and insistent hands of developers. Once listed,... [continue]

Look at that gorgeous building. What would it sound like? Head to the Laban centre in Deptford to find out this Thursday evening when artist-musicians Janek Schaefer, Jasper Leyland, Alexander Wendt and Douglas Benford will perform 108 Pieces Demolition. As the title suggests, and in keeping with the experimental nature of the artists and building involved, demolition and construction will be the theme for this evening. Far from the dance performances normally held in... [continue]

It seems in Southall, one must ask oneself, do I want fries and a yellow wheelclamp with that? Two families in Southall should consider moving to clamping-free Westminster after two identical clamping incidents have put their cars and fast food buying habits out of action. Locals Kamran Victor and Tony Martino both had their cars clamped in the car park of MacDonalds, Southall branch on Uxbridge Road by overzealous area director Atul Pathak, who... [continue]

In a press release from City of Westminster, some astonishing news about clamping and towing cars: it's going to stop. Entirely. Completely. From today, only vehicles causing a serious obstruction in a disabled or suspended parking bay will be removed to a safer location and issued a parking ticket, with no extra charges for the removal costs. Wheel clamping has in fact been slowly phased out over the last two years but today that... [continue]

Tube strike approaching, but not that kind... 700 London Underground cleaners will walk out for a 24 hour strike scheduled to start at 6.50pm this evening with a second walk-out set for 1 July which will last 48 hours. Such specific timing for the start of this week's strike is intriguing - is ten minutes to seven the point in time when the freesheets from the evening rush hour reach critical mass? Dismissed as... [continue]

Exhibition Road Music Day, Saturday 21 June 2008. The road was closed to traffic and this patch of South Kensington that is normally bursting at the seams with eager museum-goers on a Saturday afternoon was even more packed for this one day free festival. Visitors had the chance to see new venues and hear new music; we were happy to sample some shouty yet meaningful female singer-songwriter rock while enjoying excellent open sandwiches piled high... [continue]

There's a lot of treasure in London at the moment, and a lot of ways to find it. While there are treasure hunts in museums, galleries, based on alternative realities or winning actual prizes, there's just good old fashioned running around in a structured fashion, re-discovering your surroundings with a bit of organised playfulness. One such outfit offering a very nicely put together, easy to organise treasure hunts is Treasure Days. There's a variety... [continue]

It's the question on everyone's lips. Has Auntie's capacious bosom, formerly so welcoming of the frosty extremities, been overly nurturing to our fiery nucleus? Or alternatively: why do they blather on about London so much on the BBC and never mention Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Yes, cast your mind back to last November, when the Big British Castle was accused of being London-centric. Never one to forego a drawn-out and expensive investigation, the... [continue]

Some very rubbish remarks about rubbish have been made by Tory councillor Lucy Ivimy about a litter situation in Shepherds Bush. The Hammersmith & Fulham councillor sent an email to the managers of the Woodford Court tower block that blamed the throwing of rubbish from the block's windows onto streets below was down to immigrants who had not learned shed their Indian ways - because that is what Indians do, and must learn not... [continue]

It was the London Dragon Boat Festival yesterday and like the weather, it was a scorcher. 40 boats competed on the water by the London Regatta Centre near City Airport, mainly corporate teams entering for team building and networking purposes. Entertainment, food and shopping was laid on for the crowds. Some of the races were nail-biting close calls, raising whoops and cheers from the sunburnt crowd. In between those, it was a day out... [continue]

We blogged, we shopped, we cooked, we took photos, we ate, drank then blogged some more. Now it's time to vote for the best team who took part in Food 2.0: Nom, Nom, Nom, the real life Masterchef event for London's finest online communities, blogs and interwebnet outfits. Check out what happened when up to two dozen new media types were put in a kitchen and told to outdo each other with what they... [continue]

You think you know it, a row of Indian restaurants, the Truman Brewery, hip boutiques and graffitti. But you don't know Brick Lane, fully until you've had a proper tour of this rich and fascinating part of east London. Enter the new Brick Lane walk by Soundmap, a high quality downloadable audio tour by the team who made the Sweeney Todd walk earlier this year. Narrated by novellist and former Brick Lane local Tarquin... [continue]

Happy Birthday Buddha! There was much celebration in the form of bright colours, music, dancing and ritual in Leicester Square this weekend to mark the birthday of the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni Buddha in 623 BC in what is today Nepal. The tradition is to bathe the Buddha and light incense and candles as symbols of purification. It was a family friendly event with lots of friendly Fo Guang Temple volunteers guiding old and... [continue]

The last of the ghostly revellers have left the building and Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) has finally peeled away the last of the cobwebs and velvet curtains from the mega-successful Masque of the Red Death. The forest has been uprooted from the foyer, the corpses have been taken out of the basement, the grisly bridal chamber is once more an office: Edgar Allan Poe's residency is over. It is now time for Burst. Running... [continue]

Exterior. The London Eye, central London. A van is parked nearby. Zoom in to VAN INTERIOR. A projector, some seating, two men. Zoom out to VAN EXTERIOR. Focus on big sign on the side reads CANNES IN A VAN. Roll opening credits. Cannes in a Van is the event in the film festival calendar where the smallest mobile film festival roars into the midst of the biggest static film festival in Europe. Two men... [continue]

Although Bertie Wooster gets into an alarming number of scrapes in P G Wodehouse's Jeeves novels, we can't help but admire his fortitude and stick with it attitude when it comes to dining. Hot weather, bright sunshine, crowds of yelping children are no obstacles for the man who wants, needs, and has to have his tea. It helps, of course, to have a butler like Jeeves to provide the necessary. And so it was... [continue]

Picnics in the park are great... even better if the ultimate butler is there to hand out the cucumber sandwiches. It is with great excitement that we tell you about a simply ripping picnic planned for Saturday: The Wodehouse Picnic in Russell Square. We're so excited our straw boater hats are twitching at the thought of it, and we're having our finest linen pressed as we speak. All this happy Wodehouse-ian larking about is... [continue]

Day 15: Still no closer to Mordor. Ring weighs a tonne. Really wish I had stayed at home - just cannot be bothered with this sodding quest. Day 24: Legolas sings Elvish songs to keep up our spirits. Makes me sick, the way he prances about on top of the snow. I'm the shortest person on this sodding quest, I don't think it's funny when I'm slogging away behind him, chest high in piles of... [continue]

In terms of childish prank-playing, this one is an odd inversion of the usual willies, tits and bums that get drawn in marker pen on posters and text books. Instead of adding extra rude bits to a bit of public art, there has been an amusing bit of covering up on the statue La Delivrance that stands on Henley Corner in Finchley. The sculpture was unveiled in 1927 and is basically a 16 foot... [continue]

Did you walk to work today? Members of the Londonist team managed it as did notable others: Londonista Hazel went in an efficient, no messing about straight line from East End to Farringdon, while, Londonista Dean took in a pastoral pre-work stroll along a north to south route. Did walking to work change their lives? What's it like on the streets at 8am? Will they want to do it again? Let's see... Londonista Hazel... [continue]