One of the reasons our economy could be in a real mess this year is that the price of basic stuff like fuel and food is going up fast. That means that it’s difficult for the central banks in Britain and Europe to justify lowering interest rates to encourage us to spend more — because spending would spur more inflation, which could get out of control. In developed countries, inflation is kind of like......

Doesn't sunshine make everything seem better? Alright, it's been brass monkeys but nothing lifts the winter blues like bright skies, crisp air and early daffodils. It's half term for most kids this week so your commute might even be more pleasant. In which case, perhaps you'll be more inclined to get out after work and try something different that's light on your wallet and heavy on aceness. After all, we really can't afford good......

This weekend 670 swimmers from 21 countries will converge on the Tooting Bec Lido to take part in the international Winter Swimming Championships 2008. The event, which always takes place in an unheated outdoor pool, is being held outside Finland for the first time ever. Olivia Brown, a member of hosts the South London Swimming Club and entrant in three of this weekend's races, took time out from training to tell Londonist why she's......

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......

A couple of weeks ago our attention was drawn to the London FrontRunners, a running club that somewhat surprisingly had decided to stage their unique version of A Christmas Carol at the Drill Hall. Running and acting not being the most obvious of bedfellows, Londonist decided to find out who or what the FrontRunners really are. We met Graham Kennedy, one of the two Presidents, and Leila Brosnan, a long-standing member, just before they......

Jermyn Street Theatre is a tiny space. And when we say tiny, we mean tiny. We'd guess at 80-100 seats. And if you're over 5ft 10, you can forget about leg room for the evening. Luckily, Opera on the Run's delightfully light-hearted show, The Perfect Picnic should be more than enough to divert your ears and eyes away from any cramp forming in your legs. Recently-redundant David doesn't want to go the opera; he's......

Ken and TfL launched a new, united scheme for 11-18 year olds who qualify for free travel today. From June, they'll need a snappily titled Zip card which is a free Oyster photocard that must be beeped - a la 'pay as you go' - for them to get around town for nothing. Lurking beneath the shiny revamped scheme though lies the dark beating heart of Big Brother. Compelling kids to beep their Zips......

All cars must pay the congestion charge if they enter the congestion zone. That's £8 a day unless you are driving a taxi, a police car or one of those little buggies that runs on jam. Of course, Londonist sidesteps having to pay the charge by bounding around the city on the back of a giant mechanical deer. However, a number of enterprising individuals are registering their cars as taxi cabs in order to......

Next week our beleaguered government will be announcing innovative new policies aimed at tackling the public health time bomb of increasingly fat and lazy Londoners. GPs will be prescribing - wait for it - exercise, of all things, and dishing out maps of local parks to encourage us urban, sedentary types to get out there and get fit. Genius, frankly. As long as they don't charge £6.65 per map. Foresight, a government research unit......

A night of clubbing is as much about the music you want to hear as it is the experience you hope to get out of it. Whilst there are endless opportunities to don your best threads and brave the night buses to see and be seen, we prefer to come as we are, get sweaty and get down. With their irresistible selection of post-punk and electro classics and obscurities, Our Disco ticks all our......

We were hoping Bobby Davro would get a plum lead in a seasonal favourite this year and had early bets on a Dick Whittington. Or at least his cat. However, we can now reveal that in fact he'll be hamming it up as Muddles the Jester in the New Wimbledon Theatre production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Davro may be a household name but last year they had the Fonz. You can't......

Ahhhhh, Monopoly. With its cute Scotty dog and get out of jail free cards, it's everyone's favourite rainy day game. But why do people have to keep tampering with it? So far, we've had Star Trek, The Simpson's and a version just for Kent. Not forgetting the really expensive one with the little jewelled houses. Now it seems Monopoly has gone national. And, well it all gets a bit strange after that. You'll no......

18. The Cheetah Of Shooter's Hill Over the years many ‘flaps’ of ‘big cat’ sightings have hit the headlines, from the so-called ‘beasts’ of Exmoor and Bodmin, to the more recent Bluewater leopard Bexley ‘big cat’. However in south-east London during the early 1960s, the Shooter’s Hill ‘cheetah’ scare was on everyone’s lips – back during a time when such cats were considered extremely mythical and were often misunderstood and wrongly identified, but were......

Londonist has been chortling all day at the latest antics of Westminster Council.It would seem that they are so desperate to rid Soho of its last few bastions of (real) sin (as opposed to fake sin) and close down the remaining three clip joints that they have resorted to texting all who stray within 30 metres of one of these establishments – in the hope we guess of starving them out. They have after all......

Now it’s properly August there’s not much coming up on the tellybox. However, if you really can’t be arsed to get out there and catch some cheap London, Camden Fringe or Shoreditch Festival then you could keep your London head in check by paying attention to the following: On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 6 August Super Vets (BBC1, 19:30-20:00) Terrible title but a nice opportunity to catch a behind the scenes look at London......

While we always encourage you to get out and about to enjoy all the great things in London that we hear about - talking in toilets, the stars, graffiti, cool clubs, groovy gigs and nice parks in one week alone - we also like to share the joys of staying in. The pleasures of curling up on the sofa with your very own Londonist selection of TV highlights could actually save your life and......

Spitalfields Market, in case you hadn't noticed, has been undergoing a major facelift. Last year, the revamped western end reopened with trendy boutiques and eateries, amid grumbles from some quarters that the area would lose its character (it hasn't). Now it's the turn of the central market. This has now closed for around 3 months while the floor is refurbished. The usual Thursday, Friday and Sunday markets will be moved to a spot on......

As always, there are a million things to do in London this week. If you fancy a night in though, here are a few things to keep you occupied. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 16 July Building Britain (BBC1, 19:30-20:00) The first in the series, Peter Ackroyd's back to take us through the changes in London's skyline and how money and power are influencing how our city will look. Olympic Backlash: Tonight (ITV1, 20:00-20:30)......

The last thing you expect to find as you're leaving a nursing home, perhaps after visiting your gran or your mum's Aunt Agnes, is a giant snake slithering around the car park. Of course, the word "giant" is relative, but we figure that a three foot long corn snake counts. If you were outside the Ashton Lodge Nursing Home in Sunbury last month, we're sure you'd agree. The police and RSPCA were called after......

One of this summer’s hottest new bands, Reverend and The Makers, are set to play two exclusive shows on Saturday, which could be one of the last chances to see them before they explode and you can say “I saw them when they were tiny”. Currently garnering tonnes of airplay on Radio 1 with their new single “Heavyweight Champion”, they have a brand of electro-funk that’s perfect for the festivals…. Catchy, danceable and hundreds......

Though we love London for being so damn urban and gritty, sometimes when the sun shines and the air is warm, we find ourselves longing for the quieter, greener setting of a village. Debate continues over London's composition; is it one sprawling megalopolis or a series of interconnected villages, each with its own identity and dialect? We're siding with the village idea for today and tomorrow, as Trafalgar Square will be covered with turf......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a......

Today’s snow made us feel quite festive, even though it’s the wrong time of year for all that. But with all the unpredictability of our modern changing climate, we need to enjoy these sorts of things when we can. So instead of contributing to the rising tide of dissatisfaction with how poorly equipped our services are to deal with a small amount of snow these days, we thought we would turn our thoughts to......

We love freecycle. We've waxed lyrical about it before.. Since then we have received a book and are still waiting to hear back from a woman about some dinosaur stickers. While browsing through lists of beds and curtains and the implausible amount of doors that always seem to come up, we came across a chap called Matthew Smith who takes broken iPods, fixes them, and gives them back out to the freecycle community for......

A couple of weeks ago on Friday, the perfect antidote to a certain, unmentionable reality TV showdown was a gig at Swiss Cottage Library, of all places. For one night only, the aptly named Mr Hudson and the Library, graced the award-winning building as part of a larger tour of book lending institutions. Their hard work is in aid of the "Get it Loud in Libraries"campaign, promoting the ever growing catalogue of CDs available......

Windows Vista was launched in the UK today and Bill Gates was on hand to put the operating system through its paces at the British Library Full press release here, but this was the part that caught our eye: Bill Gates and Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, also announced the digital reunification of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. The two notebooks, known as the Codices, are owned by the British Library (Codex......

Please make an extra special effort to mind those closing doors this morning. See, it's 'Be Nice to Transport Workers Day', according to the good folk over at Team Nice. What do we want you to do? Nothing onerous. Offer your bus driver or station staff a smile in the morning, acknowledge them, perhaps even say hello. Strike up a conversation if you feel like it, just try not to let your irritation at......

King's Cross train station has been closed and evacuated, the National Rail Enquiries woman tells us - due to bits falling off the roof. All mainline rail services from King's Cross have been cancelled. London Bridge is partially closed. Apparently - according to a forwarded email from a friend who works nearby - bits of the roof there have fallen off too. Update: Thanks to commenter Caspar who says London Bridge is still sort-of......

We're getting a 10-minute firework display to see in 2007: A sound and light show, including giant building projections, will precede the pyrotechnics at the London Eye, the mayor's office said. There will be free travel on selected services and no congestion charge between Christmas and the New Year. Mayor Ken Livingstone said the free travel would make it "easier to get out and about and safely home". Cool. We're already warming to the......

Already today we've had the return of This Isn't London (something we are all very excited about), a bit of New York that will be forever England and an appeal for tourists to get out of Central London. So here's something that wraps up a cock-eyed view of the Capital, relocates it somewhere else and ensures that tourists will have to go way past Zone Six to sample its charms: Thames Town, Songjiang, Shanghai.......