Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

Photography courtesy of Tiki Chris via the Londonist pool on Flickr. Interested in your foodie photos appearing on Londonist? Click here.......

Join Londonist on the hunt for some of this town's most photogenic meals. There are but a few months left before the beloved, run-down shopping centre that is Oriental City will shut its doors for the last time. While there are some who only frequent the few Chinese restaurants within, Londonist would like to pimp the stalls in the food court on the ground floor. Try the roti canai (fluffy Indian bread from Malaysia)......

The book grocer’s coffers are chockfull of goodies this week, so let’s jump right in and get shopping... Monday: Crikey. Take a look at author and critic George Steiner’s publishing credits and you have to wonder whether the man has actually slept in the past fifty years. Yet the premise of the prolific writer’s most recent work, My Unwritten Books, is that there are actually some subjects that Steiner has purposely left unexplored. Join......

To round up the weekend here's some of our Flickr friends' shots of Chinese New year celebrations around town. From the parade on the Strand courtesy of CdL Creative's Flickrstream. I can see you.... courtesy of magda:)'s Flickrstream. RDFZ dance troupe perform in the Great Court, British Museum courtesy of McTumshie's Flickrstream.......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

Is it just us or was January rubbish? Nice then that February, with its special extra day this year, commences with Brazilian Carnival, yummy pancakes and Chinese New Year... it's like a whole new start for 2008 and lots of it totally FREE! Monday: Get some Monday Love at the Inspiral Lounge, Camden Lock as UK Indymedia host their radical film, talk, and music night. Free entry for all those who still believe in......

The Chinese New Year Celebrations in Soho are undoubtedly one of the highspots of London’s cultural calendar, and this year there’s a load of extra stuff (some would say hype) going on ‘cos of the Beijing/London Olympic connection. Last year’s ceremonies were the biggest outside China, and this year’s look set to be even more impressive. So here’s a special Londonist round up of where to see and what to do…. 6th February: kick......

There’s a new kid in the dock, and he’s mean. Meet the Zebra Mussel: 2” of pushy and persistent potential pollutant. This striped but somewhat scrawny mollusc is musselling in on the action at watery outlets up and down the London section of the Thames. The thalassic thug is perhaps yet another example of the new breed of capitalist Russians which are moving in on London. Londonist was actually jolly excited when she noticed this......

It was New Year's Eve. You stood looking up into the sky as the fireworks faded and the boom and crack of them rang faintly in your ears. That was it, you thought. That's the last party until spring time. But you were wrong! Because in London, you can have New Year's celebrations several times over before the clocks go forwards, starting with the Russian 'Old New Year' in Trafalgar Square this Sunday! And......

The Financial Times has reported that Wagamama founder Alan Yau has sold Hakkasan and Yauatcha, his two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurants, to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for £30 million! According to the FT, Yau will retain a minority stake in the two restaurants, which seem to take turns representing London among the world’s most highly ranked restaurants. Londonist wishes to congratulate Yau on his mega-success (you lucky duck!) and hopes that (although Hakkasan and......

Firefighters rank pretty highly in our list of bona fide, real life heroes. So, news that a fire crew in Deptford rescued and resucitated a 9 month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier from a fire that started in the basement of a Chinese Restaurant yesterday, just makes us go all moist at the edges. Four people were also led to safety by firefighters from Deptford, Greenwich and East Greenwich firestations but it's the image of......

The Christmas turkey is cold and in sandwiches. A few of us have struggled back to work, carrying surplus chocolate to the office in a desperate attempt to stop our expanding waistlines. Which must mean it's about time to start panicking about what to do on New Year's Eve. Aside from rammed pubs, pricey nightclubs and awkward parties in someone's frontroom, the main focus for London will be squarely on the London Eye. Since......

Torontoist discovered their city's most ridiculous holiday lights setup, with 80,000 lights and two––two!––synchronized music routines. Naturally, they snagged a video. Chicago tragically loses one of its most recognizable neighborhood icons, the pigeon man of Lincoln Square. LAPD leaves body in car at crash scene, then tows it. Massachusetts plus mullet equals PR mayhem. Londonist sleeps in a Haunted plague pit. UC Berkeley students strip naked and race through campus, NSFW floppiness ensues. Phillyist......

If you have childhood memories of Monkey and Pigsy and the little monk that looked like a girl and a flying carpet, a strange quest and lots of nunchuck flinging and kung fu then you have to get yourself to the Bernie Grant Centre tomorrow night for the premiere of Monkey King: A Modern Beijing Opera. Presented by alternative violinists, chi2, this is electro-Monkey for the 21st urban century. Featuring Chinese drummers, film a......

Ahoy hoy, book grocery shoppers! The metaphorical book grocer aisles are stocked high with choice meats and sweet confections this December, so whatever your tastes, fill up your shopping cart and gorge yourself on this week’s selection of literary events – they’ll give you much less of a stomach-ache than mince pies. Monday: Revisit Sylvia Plath by attending the aptly named Sylvia Plath Revisited, at the ICA (7pm in the Nash Room £10 nonmembers/£9......

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......

28. Urban Legends Of The Underbelly! Urban legends are often vague, friend-of-a-friend tales (FOAFtales) similar to ‘Chinese whispers’, in that they are distorted, exaggerated and through generations of storytelling, they become myth, embedded in our society. For the last fifty or more years there has been a sinister legend pertaining to the London Underground that a mysterious, possibly caped figure, lurks in the cold tunnels, and is known for the ghastly act of pushing......

It may be 40 years since the Abortion Act legalised terminations but a BBC Radio 5 Live investigation suggests that modern day "back street abortions" are easily found in London. Thankfully, we're not talking struck off doctors and knitting needles but Chinese herbal remedies from shops in Dalston and illegally obtained abortion drugs: an undercover investigator was able to get their hands on 14 abortion pills for £30 from an entirely unqualified bloke in......

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2007 Recap from Super!Alright! on Vimeo. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of Texas's only feminist bookstore. Throughout the week, they interviewed a bunch of indie fashion designers and D-I-Y websites—Etsy, Ornamental Things, 31 Corn Lane, and Aorta Designs—for the upcoming Stitch Fashion Show. They also did......

Over on our flickr group there has been some interesting discussion about Google Maps. It's web 2.0 crazy. Simon Crubellier began the thread ('Google Maps Strangeness') with, Has anyone looked at the maps.google.co.uk satellite photo of Trafalgar Square lately? What on earth is going on there? It's obviously the crack of dawn on a summer morning, all the surrounding streets are empty, but the place is packed... The images of London were last updated......

Smoking is cool – hhhm, potentially debatable, although we know which side of the fence we straddle. Puffing a six-inch, battery powered ‘e-cig,’ which bears an uncanny resemblance to a pregnancy test, so not cool – non-debatable … or so we thought … A meagre few months into the ban, with chilly season fast approaching, club owners are getting savvy with the ciggie, most specifically the owners of Soho hotspot Chinawhite, who have just introduced......

Tony Benn's granddaughter may become youngest ever MP. Osama Bin London. Kylie in Croydon. Police arrest illegal workers in Chinatown. Must resist pun...must resist pub. Argghhh, it's a Chinese takeawy. There, got it out of the system. Image courtesy of blech via the Londonist flickr group. Tag your own quirky images with 'Londonist' and we might just use them.......

Unless you're hiding under a stone in deepest darkest Kent, you'll know about the astonishing 'invasion' of the Terracotta Army, with the British Museum opening their flagship exhibition a few weeks ago. We wrote about their arrival on these very pages for you, so you've really got no excuse. Such is the clamour to see the soldiers that they will stay for a full six months. Getting them here is clearly quite a coup,......

Yesterday saw St Martin-in-the-Fields reopen its revamped and expanded crypt cafe hot on the heels of Sunday's first church service for 90 weeks following a multi-million pound renewal and restoration project. The 18th century landmark church, which opens onto Trafalgar Square, is dearly loved in London not only for just being there but for its fantastic concert programme. This includes jazz nights, classical evenings, free lunchtime concerts and the famous and atmospheric Concerts by......

Months of research and workshops run by writer Justin Young and director Suzanne Gorman have created Moonwalking In Chinatown, an extraordinary walkabout performance which leads audiences through Chinatown in the dusk behind bobbing paper lanterns and a variety of actors and stewards. Four overlapping stories for four simultaneous groups, each led by a different coloured lantern, have to weave through the early evening Soho crowds. The range of characters and multiple storylines and also......

As befits a truly global capital, London has established itself as a hub in the important international trade of tourist-attracting human reproductions, importing Chinese warriors and exporting waxwork celebrities. While the first crowds were taking a gander at 20 members of the Emperor Ying’s terracotta court at the British Museum, 51 waxworks produced by Madame Tussauds arrived in Washington DC, naked and apparently ready to party. The likes of Beyonce, George Clooney, Tom Cruise......

Boris wants London to tackle bike thieves. Especially this one who's on the run. Not cycling. Which is a little bit silly of him. Yesterday was 30 years since Mark Bolan died in Barnes. We export wax figures just as Chinese terrecotta figures arrive. Terracotta is obviously the new wax. Three people have died in a bus crash. But if that hasn't put you off you can now go from London to Sydney on......

Autumn is settling in nicely in London and Chinatown is getting ready to celebrate. The Autumn Moon Festival is exactly what it sounds like: it is a celebration of autumn harvest, the changing of the seasons and, conveniently, is the time of year when the moon is particularly big and visible. This lends itself well to rolling out the many Chinese myths and legends about the moon and the Autumn Moon Festival is a......

When we were students, meals involved the following: Super Noodles, cheese on toast, Chinese takeaway, Indian takeaway, cheesy chips at the Student Union and beer. Oh, and more beer. Now this looks like it might change. Nutrition experts at Surrey University have put together a booklet of healthy meals to make sure freshers get all of their As Bs and Cs. Vitamins wise, that is. Recipes include shepherds pie and something called Tangy Tortilla......