A school in east London has hit upon a novel way to reign in the young'uns and keep them from that common bugbear, anti-social behaviour: get them pondering philosophical questions about life, the universe and everything. Gallions Primary School in Warsall, Beckton, introduced a course called Philosophy for Children in 2004, and in just a few years it has reaped great rewards. Behaviour at the school has dramatically improved so much that they've launched......

This weekend column is brought to you by the founders of Niceties Tokens, Liz and Pete of Team Nice. 31. Office Sociology We all know how we our personality type can be taken into account for our role within our work place. Sometimes our personalities are chosen to make the perfect team, like a manufactured boy band. But what about the subculture within the office itself? And then what about the effect on our......

Now I'm the king of the swingers Oh, the jungle VIP I've reached the top and had to stop And that's what botherin' me I wanna be a man, mancub And stroll right into town And be just like the other men I'm tired of monkeyin' around! Theatre producers The Steam Industry may not have designed their live stage version of Disney's The Jungle Book to turn in to a singalong event but once......

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......

Now I know my ABC, won't you come and spray with me. These typographic shutters have been around the Shoreditch area for AGES, but we couldn't resist featuring them in the wake of the Brooke Shields Alphabet mystery. The letters were created at least a year and a half ago by Eine, and many are still there. We've tracked down a fair few, but have to acknowledge Dave Gorman for several. He's captured the......

Previous tales of the Mouse family can be found here, here , here and here. Continuing from previous episode... the Mouse family moved out of Newham Hospital, then to Asda, then moved into the Cheesegrater skyscraper, where Papa Mouse discovered that his son Tim-Tim and his wife Mama Mouse were lovers. In despair, Papa Mouse leapt to his death, then returned from the dead to win back the heart of Mama Mouse with an......

Remember how last week we told you of the awful news about Lily Allen's dog, Maggie May being stolen? Well, Maggie May is back home! On Wednesday, she received a call from a man claiming to have bought the dog as a present for his sister, her friends went to meet the man and handed over the cash reward in return for the dog. However, it may not have been as innocent as it......

According to an article in The Economist published in 2003 London Underground has one of the best safety records of any of the older metro systems in the world, with just one fatal accident for every 300m journeys. Posters every now and again remind us about the tally of accidental deaths that occur each year and of course there is the occasional news story of a death or the improbably mundane driver announcement that......

The Londonist Literary List appears every Tuesday. If you'd like to bring an event to our attention, please email londonistlit@gmail.com. If you haven't seen the blog, or spotted them in the Guardian, Post Secret's conceit is simple - send a postcard airing a single piece of your dirty laundry. Now there's a book and an accompanying exhibition at Foyles till December the 10th. The new Smoke - a London Peculiar is out too. Here's......

We'd like to start writing more about comedy here at Londonist. We have (arguably) the best comedy circuit in the world yet it has gone thusfar unwritten about by us at Londonist HQ. But fear not, we have changed our ways. We kick off with an interview with comedian, Richard Herring and a comedy recommendation for the week. Richard Herring is probably best known for his television work with Stewart Lee, 'Fist of Fun'......

Two dark and disturbing despatches from the depths of D-list celebrity today. First up: central London is now a Pete Burns free zone. The ex-Celeb Big Brother 'star' was conditionally bailed for harrassing ex-boyfriend Jason Peters but has been ordered to wear an electronic tag and keep a 10pm to 6am curfew, and told to stay out of the congestion charge zone "unless he has a pre arranged appointment." Apparently when Pete turned up......

Now I'm spreading your legs with mine inbetween. Nope, not the start of a Razzle reader's story but a line from the new Morrisey album: Ringleader Of The Tormentors, wherin the Mozzmeister becomes the thinking indie fan's Tom Jones. Sort of. But what does Morrisey have to do with London? Well, almost nothing as far as we can tell, other than editro thinks the sun shines out of his gladioli. But we do have......

To call Dans le Noir 'high concept' dining would be an understatement. Basically the idea behind the restaurant (which opened in the past week after the success of a Paris version) is that you eat in the pitch black in order that your senses will be heightened, and your taste buds will be liberated. You can't see what you're eating, who you're eating it with, and anything that might illuminate proceedings (phones, lighters, infrared......

We picked up this book at lunchtime yesterday and finished it later the same evening, desperate to see how it resolved, but mostly curious as to what the deal was with the guy having sex with the otter. That kind of thing plays on our mind. It also plays on the mind of sixteen year old Felix who stumbles upon a statuette of this inter species sex act in a discount store he dubs......

To-day was the most glorious of days. A bright sun shone through the cloudless sky, so as one could quite forget the season, were it not for the countless bunches of holly and mistletoe adorning every doorway, and the fresh chill of the morning. I still marvel at our good fortune, here in Ruislip. Only two years ago, our modest village seemed so isolated. Now I am able to board an electric train bound for......

Internet personal ads are truly the wave of the future. We're partial to Londonist's personal ads over there to the right, but any number of sites now promise to help you find... y'know... a mature relationship built on mutual trust and respect... or whatever. Anyway, all you need to do is come up with something witty to say about yourself, and an attractive picture. But here's where things seem to get tricky for many......

Straight people don't know, what you're about... They put you down and shut you out After running into Kelly Osbourne at the She Makes War gig on Sunday night Londonist was wondering what the latest news was with her dear old dad. It turns out that Ozzy has finally been diagnosed with Parkin syndrome meaning that the shakes that have afflicted him for years (and have been a source of amusement for unfunny wankers......