Thanks to a lousy US box office reception, Grindhouse – the adored bastard sprog double-feature of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez – was hacked in two when it finally came here. Film nerds agog at the prospect of a three-hour neo-exploitationfest had to cough for Planet Terror and Death Proof separately, and miss out entirely on the geekalicious treat of the fake trailers that accompanied them. O cruel fate/boringly cautious distributors. But at last......

After the (non-)scandal of (un-)banned Tube posters, the works of Lucas Cranach the Elder are now well and truly on show at the Royal Academy. Painter, print-maker, illustrator, businessman, propagandist, and huge fan of the female nude, this is Cranach's first major exhibition in Britain. And while you're gazing at all the nakedness, remember; this was a mate of Martin Luther, and those erotic female nudes are all about Protestant devotion. Honest. Openings Ahoy!......

It was somehow appropriate that Bill Oddie should be in attendance to witness the final display of England's finest young songbird on the eve of her maiden migration to the winter warmth of Texas and California. Laura Marling closed her brief national tour on Sunday night playing to an audience entirely composed of purchasers of the lavish Songbox version of her debut album, "Alas, I Cannot Swim" in a performance at the Union Chapel......

We fell in love with Black Cab Sessions the moment we first heard of them. How could we not? Taking a drive around the best city in the world (okay, we're biased, yes) in a design classic with some of our favourite bands rockin' out in the back seat: it's exactly how we'd like to spend a lazy afternoon. Since we generally are unable to scrape together enough coins to even steal sideways glances......

There's a Spitfire in Trafalgar Square today. Not a Banksy Spitfire, amusingly positioned so it looks like it is crashed into the steps leading from the National Gallery. It's not propped up between the lions by a protest group and it's not there as a misguided celebration of Prince Harry's safe return to England. It's there to launch a campaign to put a statue of Sir Keith Park on the fourth plinth and do......

Ken's race advisor Lee Jasper steps down Al fresco boozers in Harrow - you're no longer welcome Tessa Jowell unveils Olympic legacy action plan London is Eighties pop star territory: Whitney Houston to follow Prince and Jacko with comeback gig Al Sugar meets Ann Summers: sex shop boss to enter charity Apprentice Cinematic Spitalfields courtesy of Homemade via the Londonist flickr group.......

Harrygate escalates: Prince pulled out of Afghanistan, whilst the media whip selves into frenzy over involvement in the news blackout/leak. Winegate averted (for now): Winehouse will not face charges in connection with husband’s alleged attempts to pervert justice. Guess which city is the world’s museum capital? We’ll give you three guesses; first two don’t count. A day after M&S announces it will charge for plastic bags, Gordon Brown indicates that the government is ready......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 18th February 1996: An IRA bomb explodes on a double-decker bus on Aldwych, killing the bomber and injuring eight members of the public. Tuesday – 19th February 1960: Prince Andrew is born in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace. Wednesday – 20th February 1913: Two suffragettes set fire to the tea pavilion at Kew Gardens at around 3am, destroying it completely. Thursday – 21st February 1946: Alan......

A 24 bus crashed into a bridge at 9am this morning on Prince of Wales Road NW5, injuring 6 people and wiping out its own roof. The bus was on diversion following the Camden Canal Market fire at the weekend. Other buses had been successfully centering themselves and passing unharmed beneath the arched bridge since the fire cut off access to Camden High Street. We wait to hear what on earth the driver was......

Macabre London: First, man denies murdering model but admits to necrophilia; then a headless corpse turns up in northwest London. We find ourselves suspiciously eyeing other commuters on our Tube ride home this evening. Corrupt London: We know that London is ranked first on all kinds of lovely lists. But we’d prefer to forgo the dubious distinction of being first in rates of debit and credit card fraud. Tonally challenged London: Londonist thinks it’s......

Well known architectural pundit Prince ‘Chuckles’ Charles gives the London skyline a right royal disapproval: Not just one carbuncle on the face of a much loved old friend, but a positive rash of them that will disfigure precious views and disinherit future generations of Londoners. Says the grey heir. Charles was born in 1948, so the lamented ‘old friend’ he loves so much must be the shabby, bombed-out city of the 1950s. And those......

When it comes to major American pop stars fetching up in our lovely city, Londonist sometimes thinks that the Eighties never ended. Following Madonna's permanent move here, and Prince's celebrated 21 shows last year, the third in the triumvirate of pop megastars from the Decade That Style Forgot is to join them - Michael Jackson is reportedly coming to town, and he'll be on a nice little earner if he does. Like Prince, Jackson......

We already knew London was capital of the world, but 2007 has firmly cemented us as the best city by far musically. The Millennium Dome reopened as the O2 Arena, hosting not only 21 nights of Prince, the Rolling Stones, Take That, and the Spice Girls first UK dates for 10 years, but also the most anticipated gig for a good decade or so: Led Zeppelin’s reformation. Unfortunately this Londonista had to settle for some......

It’s almost Christmas! Over the Christmas holidays, we’ll be here every day recommending the best of what’s on television. We’ll do the hard work, slogging through the TV listings, and let you sit back with a nice hot drink and a mince pie. Enjoy! On TV, Londonist likes: Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1, 17:50-19:15 and 21:25-22:10) While we haven’t been keeping up with the excitement of this year’s dancing fun, we know lots of you......

Four weeks till Christmas! Argh. Funds are all focused on present buying and getting through the party season but we still want to go out and about because the heating isn't working properly at home. We can't afford to go and see Gandalf drop his trousers in King Lear but, thankfully, there's lots of cheap and interesting stuff about as usual. Monday: Start the week with an event truly in the spirit of London......

Don't worry. We're not going to have to cling to the sides of trains. Yet. Ken's been to Delhi, where he picked up some ideas about being cool on the streets. Unfortunately it's cool on the streets in a temperature related way rather than cool on the streets in a Fresh Prince of Bel Air way. Addressing an environmental conference, Ken said, We’re heading for some tremendously hot summers, people will start dying in......

It’s cold outside this week, so it seems like the best plan is to cozy up on the couch and watch some telly. Why would you want to risk frostbite? On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 12 November I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here (ITV1, 21:00-22:30) It’s off to the jungle yet again with Ant & Dec as they guide a new group of “celebs” through as many disgusting tasks as you’d......

October hasn't been a great month to be a Royal. If it's not a blackmail attempt, or being immortalised in bronze for a controversial sculpture, now they can't even go out for a spot of recreational rare-bird shooting without some spoilsport kicking up a fuss. It's been reported that Prince Harry was interviewed by police after two rare hen harriers, a legally protected species of bird, were shot in flight at Sandringham. The prince......

As we noted yesterday, art fair season is upon us in full force this weekend. With so many events happening around the capital, it would be hard work to take it all in, and the best advice one can offer is to try to see as much as you can without making it all a rushed annoyance of cab rides. Possibly even better advice, however, would be to make a point to check out......

Paris thinks it can take us on as a financial hub. Quand les cochons volent. Rare Faberge egg up for sale. Now, don't know about you, but we've never been able to take such things seriously since Viz's Tony Hadley Faberge pineapple. Anyone else remember that? Prince Harry is dead! In bronze at least. Alexandra Palace: nobody's ever really known what to do with it, and the pattern continues. Image courtesy of Homemade via......

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......

Go. Go. Go. Never have we wanted to shout about a theatre production company more than Punch Drunk. Ever since we saw them perform Faust in an old warehouse, we were obsessed. On Friday night, we went to see their new offering, Masque of the Red Death at the Battersea Arts Centre and we haven't shut up about it since. There is no other show like this. Seriously. What other theatre will plunge you......

We’re sticking to our laurels – we just don’t care about London Fashion Week. But we do care about Prince, our Purple Hero of Pop. Thus, this morning, we cast our eye for a protracted second on a more enjoyable fashionista blurb – “Prince wows London fashion elite.” Turns out the artist formally known as Prince not only joined Matthew Williamson’s show, but stole it, leaping onto the stage to cajole all with his......

Experimental hardcore stars The Locust play The Underworld on Monday night. Tickets are £12 each, and still available for box office collection. Emo favourites Circa Survive play the Barfly, though tickets are long gone. The Ravonettes play Bush Hall for a sold out show, former Japan frontman David Sylvian plays Royal Festival Hall, with a smattering of tickets available at £37.50 each. John Mayer plays the first of two sold out nights at the Royal......

St James wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd could be considered as a family-run community corner shop. But when you consider that the family are eighth generation owners, their local community includes the Queen and Prince Charles, and even the ‘corner’ is formed from Henry VIII’s tennis court, you soon realise that this place is in no danger from supermarket encroachment. It's possibly the poshest corner shop in history. Londonist, lucky us, recently wangled......

Tired of watching the cohort of British heroes cast rudely aside at the world's premier tennis event each year, London has finally given our boys a fighting chance by creating a tournament that surely offers Tim Henman (pictured), Andy Murray and his doubles-specialist brother Jamie their best ever hope of hoisting individual silverware aloft in the capital. They've only got three dangerous foreign types to overcome this Saturday in Betfair Turbo Tennis and you're......

Arguably the best city in the world for a music fan to live, pop legends come to play in London all the time. Often not only do they come for just one gig, but they stay for a while when they could easily make haste for the comforts of their own homes to eat biscuits and play video games. Prince recently played the O2 for three full weeks, Sonic Youth resided at the Roundhouse......

We've only just finished telling you tales of dragons flying over London. Now they're sailing our seas. Well, dragon boats are anyway. Not just any dragon boat. This boat just happened to break the world record for crossing the Channel, helped by a woman from South London. Dicky Robinson from Wandsworth helped the all female 'Sisterhood' team sail to victory. They're now the first all female team to sale the channel in a dragon......

The Proms are a marvellous institution. Remarkably diverse musically, accessible, world class and - crucially - cheap as chips, they are the soundtrack to summer in London and we are privileged to have them on our doorstep. It was with an eager step that we hied ourselves to the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday afternoon for the sold-out 48th Prom, despite the glowering sky and hint of rain in the air. Arriving at around......

What a start to the week! After such miserable weather this weekend DeVotchKa have arrived to add some flavour to our weeks at the very purple 93 Feet East in the heart of Brick Lane. The venue was packed out early on and we even spotted Justin Hawkins hiding amongst the crowd with long haired friends. Opening for DeVotchKa was an unusual surprise for the crowd, not the cabaret or burlesque that we're used......