About M@

Keep your diaries clear for 16 and 17 September, when Londonist’s favourite event, Open House weekend, will once again be unlocking its many doors for all and sundry (whoever the mysterious ‘sundry’ might be). For the few readers not familiar with the concept, it’s a …

This week’s entry, a literal Marble Arch – comes from Paul Carstairs, who gives us a rare insight into the creative process: Got bored watching “Congo” on Film Four, started fiddling on the laptop and made this for you. Not bad for being continually distracted …

This day in London’s history 1952 Joe Strummer is born in Ankara, Turkey. The lead singer of punk icons The Clash may not have been born here – few great Londoners ever are – but his band became synonymous with the capital after a series …

London can be a depressing place, as these images atest. Left to right: Spitalfields, Southwark, Notting Hill. As a maudlin competition for a rainy Friday afternoon, we’d like to know the most disheartening piece of scrawl you’ve ever seen on the streets of London. Have …

Those who maintain that South London really isn’t a bit shit have a new and unexpected ally. Aliens. They can’t get enough of the place. Gobsmacked witnesses watched on in amazement as two sets of bright orange lights flew eerily in formation through the skies …

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways. 5. Johnson’s Court, EC4 Where? Part of that baffling network of passages just north of Fleet Street. Well maintained and currently undergoing a refurb of street furniture (check out the inky-black water feature – not pictured). …

We’ve always thought there was something vespine about those new flats next to Vauxhall Bridge. So it’s good to have confirmation that we’re not the only ones. Reader Tanny sent in this rather disturbing image of giant wasps and mantis at St George’s Wharf. Some …

Talk about Big Science. A team of London researchers are hoping to turn Mount Everest into a giant outdoor laboratory. And they’re looking for over 200 volunteers to help with their work. The ‘Xtreme Everest team’, headed by Dr Mike Grocott, of UCL’s Institute of …

This day in London’s History 1948 The last Olympics to be held in London draw to a close. With most of Europe still under ration and all the piggybanks long smashed to pieces, it wasn’t a universally popular decision to hold the XIV Olympiad on …

The Olympic site may be suffering from a £100,000 weed problem. And it’s nothing to do with the familiar cannabinoid odours wafting in from Roman Road on the westerly breeze. An invasive plant species known as Japanese knotweed is apparently entrenched in the area, and …