Here at Londonist, we haven’t been shy about our support for cycling. Getting exercise while avoiding the congestion charge or mass transit is definitely positive. But there are some who need to take mass transit in order to get into London – or have an impossibly long journey and need to take the Tube part of the way – and cycle from that point on. We salute these efforts, but not everyone is so......

Londonist is a massive fan of two-wheeled transportation, especially when it comes with a gift voucher attached. Yes, the lucky residents of Islington can now give up the motor, get on the manual and be £100 richer. Or even £300 richer, for those who would otherwise fork out £200 annually on a parking permit. We were practically packing the bags and moving to the Borough upon reading this, but alas, the following recent government statistics......

Advent is upon us. Hanukkah starts on Wednesday. Office parties are already everywhere. Tis the season to be jolly, jolly, jolly but we know this can be draining, emotionally and financially. Don't let the state of your wallet throw you over the edge. We can't afford to buy tickets to the BFI IMAX all-nighter next weekend and we're not allowed to enter our own competition. But we can do the following splendid things for......

Rapha makes clothing for serious cyclists - the couriers, the racers, the hardcore fundraisers pedalling over the Andes. They are also organising one of the most unusual events we've had the privilege of hearing about: this Saturday is the second Rapha Roller Race Culture Clash which is "a four-way clash between teams of bicycle couriers, cycle journalists, media folk and a ‘dark horse’ Dutch team made up of unnamed riders." And before you try......

It seems Ken Livingstone isn't content with the new, faster Eurostar, but wants to make London actually resemble Paris. He is proposing pedestrianised, tree-lined streets a la the French capital and even wants to get us our own version of the famous Paris Plage, the artificial beach that takes over the Right Bank of the Seine. For this, the Mayor wants to shut a section of the Victoria Embankment's four lanes from traffic. Other......

The breathlessly international Bicycle Film Festival is seven years old this year and it is rolling into London with a string of cool films and even cooler parties and exhibitions, from Wednesday 17 October to Sunday 21 October. Films about two-wheel transport range from modern-day radicalism in Canada to gruelling fundraising cycle hikes over the Alps, from the factory floor in America to changing lives in Ghana, a helmet-camera tour of several international cities......

Londonist appears to have spent all of our money on excellent but expensive gigs and over priced taxi fares this weekend. So once again, we've got no money. No, before you ask, we haven't ever heard of budgeting. We don't need to budget when there's all this exciting free stuff to be done this week: Monday: With so many other cool kid bars around in East London, the Rhythm Factory doesn't get written about......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

Well, ish. It's been announced that drivers of three thousand cabs now have the choice to use a new biofuel fuel mix. Each driver that opts for it will get their mitts on a nice green sticker to proudly stick to their windscreen. A handful of cabs parked next to City Hall this morning for a photo opportunity to celebrate. Or it might have been to chauffeur certain London Assembly Members around, we're not......

If you have ever felt that you were caught in a David Lynch film, you will know what we mean. (For the record: Londonist loves David Lynch.) Everything seems to alternate between slow motion and fast forward, but you know that can’t be right. Different people tell you different stories and they don’t make sense even though you know they should. That’s what it feels like for the main character in Bicycle, and that’s......

Contrary to the grey skies and what sounded like thunder twenty minutes ago, it is summer in London! And that means... the National Theatre's annual outdoor free summer festival Watch This Space is back for two and a half months of stuff to enjoy. Last year, we remember seeing the three lissom-limbed, fetching, female acrobats of Mimbre getting rained off their three storey climbing frame (see picture, right), a dragon made out of drums......

As the festival season kicks off into full swing, the range of “normal” bands playing the capital starts to dwindle as they recover from their Download and Isle of Wight sized hangovers and prepare for a Wireless one this weekend. First up, on Monday night, The Fratellis play Scala, which is well and truly sold out, however you may be able to get a last minute offer on scarlet mist or equivalent. If you like......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

Playing a gig as a solo musician can be quite a strange experience. Rocking up to a dingy pub on your own with just a guitar for company can be at once isolating and liberating - you may miss out on the friendly banter of bandmates and friends but it certainly seems to make dealing with calamity easier, as I experienced last Tuesday night. The pub in question - Leonard's on Northampton Road, EC2.......

This week - The pilot light's gone out... on the sun (Sunshine) and Will Ferrell goes iceskating (Blades of Glory). Don't you hate it when the sun is going out and you have to go and reignite it? First up, Sunshine Bradshaw gives it 4/5, calling it a "beautiful-looking new space adventure". All of the reviews today are impressed with the way this film looks, It's a film with some stunning sequences and gobsmacking......

We’re always on the lookout for a good Indian restaurant for pesky out-of-town visitors who seem to think curry’s all that’s worth exploring in the foodie fleshpots of London. So we were cooking with gas when we scored an interview with the Bombay Bicycle Club — their motto: “a stop for “a curry a cut above the rest and ‘adventurous’ alternatives”. As you may know, being open-minded is a pre-requisite for those interested in......

If you go out to a 14+ gig today, you’re sure of a big surprise. If you go out to a gig today, you’d better go in disguise (white berets are where it’s at, peeps). For every kid that ever there was, will gather there for certain, because, today’s the day the 14+ have their post-mix-pop-fuelled sugar-rushed amateur crowd-surfing with vertical-face-plants-into-the-sweaty-morass * riotous mayhem! Catching the end of Bombay Bicycle Club’s set at a......

This sounds like fun: BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS LIVE! Catch one of the most acclaimed films of 2003 on the big screen with a live soundtrack featuring turntables, accordion and guitar produced and performed by Animat with special guest Ed Carter (Winter North Atlantic) as seen at the BIG CHILL FESTIVAL. If you haven't seen it then you should. It's a charming little film full of clever ideas and a delightful style of animation. It actually......

Loving fleabilly's London because as usual something else is going on in our head. In this instance we see our hero side stepping a crushing double decker attack from Nightbus only to be confronted by Cyclo the Bicycle Beast.........

The trial of the Metropolitan Police, over health and safety allegations relating to the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, will not be heard until October next year. Sir Robert McAlpine has been chosen to build the £280 million Olympic stadium. We assume he'll have a bit of help (boom boom). A new report claims that London will face an ‘increased risk’ from radioactive waste if a new generation of nuclear power plants are......

Been a while since we had a good Royal story - we sometimes forget all about them, but thankfully years of inbreeding means that the next blue blooded blunder is just around the corner. This one involves a fold up bicycle: The Queen's nephew Lord Linley refused to apologise yesterday after he was photographed pedalling along King's Road in Chelsea with his four-year-old daughter perched precariously on the rack of his folding bicycle. The......

Cycling has reached saturation point in our capital of late: the Tour of Britain finished with a few laps around the Royal Parks this weekend and the city's capability for large-scale cycling events has been called into question after a bit of a fumble during the race. Still, you've followed the race, you've bought the cheeky replica yellow jersey, you've smelt the sweaty lycra... now see the film!. Or indeeed, see the sixth annual......

“Black Stars of Ghana! A striker wanted!” cried the commentator for Accra’s Hot FM as half time approached with his team unable to turn the superiority of their possession and play into a goal against a determined and well-organised Togo side in last night’s friendly at Brentford’s Griffin Park. Chelsea’s Michael Essien played a forceful role in what must be one of international football’s classiest midfield quartets, regularly combining with captain Stephen Appiah for......

This could get interesting: Number plates for bicycles are being considered by the mayor in a bid to improve cycling standards. Ken Livingstone believes bicycles and their owners should be registered so that law-breakers can be caught. Crazy idea? Good idea? We're not sure... This all kicked off after Ken did something we thought no one in their right mind did - he listened to a caller on a live radio phone-in show. Some......

Londoners love living dangerously. For years we braved the Routemaster, not giving a damn that it had a big hole at the back and we still see closing tube doors as a challenge. Dodgy kebab shops are our Mos Eisley and sometimes we step off the kerb without giving bicycle couriers a second thought. It shouldn't come as any surprise then that as soon as the police announce a shoot to kill policy we......

OK, OK, no photoshoppery to be seen here, but we thought it made a good old-school riposte to last week’s oh-so-clever London Eye/bicycle image. The photo comes courtesy of Tom Marlow (that’s him, there, look, with the bike), and Hilary Jennings (behind the shutter). Who needs Photoshop, I took this last year...and I would have gone back and improved it if my bike hadn't been nicked five minutes later. Think you can do better,......

Well, here we go again. This week, a truly surreal effort from reader Mehrdad Aref-Adib. In his own words: The front wheel is locked with a U-lock but the rest of the bicycle has been stolen. Locking the front wheel is not a sufficient security measure in London. The alleged thief was described by police as 'Massive'. Rating: 8/10. Incredible execution and alignments. It is big and it is clever. Keep sending those photoshopped......

When Londonist decides we like a band, we really do go on about them rather a lot (eg. Pipettes, Lucky Soul), so you can probably imagine quite how much we are bouncing round the office having heard that favourites Dead Disco are in town on Tuesday. Fresh from a Lamacq Live session and on the brink of releasing 2nd single Automatic (on Fierce Panda no less), the Leeds three piece will be playing at......

Next week, Londonist's favourite cycle shop Velorution is holding a Brerlin evening as part of it's ABorC series of events (i.e. Amsterdam, Berlin or Copenhagen - which is the best model for London's cycling culture). As part of the Berlin evening there'll be a video link-up with Keirin (Berlin’s trendiest bicycle shop apparently) to talk about about Berlin's cycle trends and messenger's chic; a presentation by the Royal Parks of their plans for greater......