Today, they came from the stars, i saw them are recording an XFM session and on 9 November, will be transmitting a BBC 6music Marc Riley session. We suggest you tune in. Some press people tried to describe them here and, mashed together in a tag cloud, they probably do quite a good composite job. We leave it for you to decide if they are visionary pop genii from another inspired planet or truly......

It’s OK to have foibles and fetishes, especially if you’re a girl. It can be kinda endearing – think Holly Golightly, or SJP and her shoe problem. Trouble is, these don’t wash so well when the public is paying for your little indulgences and you are generally credited with being halfway responsible. Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Mordern, seems to have a stationery fixation – how else can her whopping £49,000.00 stationery bill......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Hot Dog Stand outside the British Museum 63 Great Russell St WC1B 3BF Hours of operation seem to reflect the museum’s hours Expect to Pay: £2.50 for a jumbo hot dog Map Rating: 6 out of 10 Haut cuisine it’s not, but what’s more indulgent than a hot dog every once in awhile? And, at £2.50 for a “jumbo”......

Back in July, we went to see Leftovers at Dino’s Grill in East London. Leftovers was a performance piece in which audience members were called upon to smell, taste, touch, listen and watch, as active participants rather than observers. We got very excited. We called it a ‘journey’ and ‘an act of remembrance’ – we said that the meal we were served was ‘the most satisfying full “English” breakfast available’. Now artist Mem Morrison......

Soho streets were brought to a terrifying standstill yesterday afternoon when "a very hot and sharp smell" and a cloud of acrid smoke provoked chemical attack panic with police sealing off the area and closing roads. The Ambulance Service dispatched a Hazardous Area Response Team Unit as Firefighters with breathing apparatus broke down the doors of the Thai Cottage restaurant. However, as The Times reported, Soon after 7pm on Monday they emerged from the......

Brits love curry. London loves curry. We love curry. FACT. But the quality of curry available to you in your local restaurant or supermarket can vary wildly. Vineet Bhatia, a Michelin starred pioneer of Indian fine dining in the capital, has put himself to considerable distress to help educate us about what proper Indian food is all about. He's been tasting supermarket ready meal versions of his beloved cuisine. Bhatia opens his latest restaurant......

Clouds were billowing over Park Royal yesterday afternoon when a blaze broke out in a warehouse. The fire took hold quickly and spread to two neighbouring companies, triggering the widespread evacuation of the area. It took 20 fire engines and over 100 firefighters to bring matters under control, and the area was still smouldering and pretty much sealed off this morning. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but it is believed to......

Hello Jack! I've not blogged here for a couple of weeks. Did you miss me? ...what do you mean you've forgotten that this column even existed? Damn your face, and all it stands for! Actually, that's nasty of me. I apologise profusely and unreservedly. You've got a lovely face, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, least of all David Milliband. It would be a terrible shame to cast your face asunder from the......

Whether we're happy about it or not, everyone is aware that the smoking ban is in full force. And going down surprisingly well for the most part. The one downside of the ban is that it will unfortunately have an impact on some pubs and restaurants. Especially those without outside seating areas. But two weeks into the ban and it seems that some people aren't too happy with this. They think that for some......

The one-man protest that is Brian Haw, the only demonstrator allowed to air his views inside Parliament Square, may find himself surrounded soon. Instead of police circling him, however, it may well be other placard-waving peaceniks. Newly-minted PM Gordon Brown has called for a change in laws squelching the public’s right to protest within the grounds immediately surrounding Parliament. Currently, demonstrating in this area without prior police permission is prohibited by the Serious Organised......

If you hadn't noticed, we've been having a love affair with this city since we can remember. Hackney cabs, bagels at four in the morning, grumpy commuters, all night clubbing. It seems nothing is missing. Except maybe one thing: the countryside. It sounds strange, but sometimes it's OK to miss all things green and the sound of a cow. The smell of them sometimes too (alright, maybe not). So next month, those wonderful people......

Europe's biggest gay and lesbian festival, Pride London, is back this Saturday. Expect a hefty downpour, if the current forecast is accurate. There's heaps on this year, though, if you make it out to support your brothers and sisters. It all kicks off when the ever-eclectic Parade heads through the centre of town from 1pm, along a route taking in the West End's Oxford and Regent Streets before heading over to Tafalgar Square and......

With the Millennium and all its bugs naught but a distant memory the Greenwich Peninsula has lain fairly industrially desolate and half done for years, known mainly for the white elephant Dome, the sickly smell of the Tate & Lyle processing plant and the arse end of the Blackwall Tunnel. Life is stirring in North Greenwich though and today saw the grand opening of Peninsula Square, the gateway to the finally reappropriated and rebranded......

. As Free Range 2007 moves into its second week, Londonist has a chat with Christopher Butt from University College for the Creative Arts in Epsom and finds out about his work and love of weird smells. Christopher, tell us a little bit about you and your work. Well, I'm big on coffee and kit kats. I love the smell of ink on paper. Strange as it sounds, I also get excited about Pantones and......

Londonist read with interest over at the fine Meme Huffer that a cosmetics company has decided to capture the very aroma of London. Now, we all know that London is a singular and unique, living, breathing entity that conjures up great thoughts of architectural beauty and awesome addresses, but great smells? We think not. Sure, there are always oases of aromatic bliss like the Royal Parks in the spring or Kew Gardens pretty much......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways. 36. Marble Arch Underpass Where? It's an underpass. It passes under Marble Arch. Like, dur. What? This haphazard collection of tunnels was constructed in the early 1960s, to improve pedestrian access to Hyde Park. Ha! It’s a choice of two evils – brave the heavy traffic or plunge into the depths. We asked an aged and wise hermit on the corner of Edgware Road for advice.......

In Deptford last week, an as-yet-unidentified love-smitten individual tiptoed into the street under cover of darkness and carefully assembled a 12 foot long display of affection in cotton wool, spelling out "I love U". At this point, the sweetness of the gesture evaporated - he or she doused the message in petrol and set it alight. The local fire brigade had to turn out to tackle the blaze, which burnt the road. Oops. But......

What with all the drinking and smoking, pubbing and clubbing, gigging and ligging, not to mention trying to hunt down old Big Brother housemates with a custom Ted Nugent bow it's a wonder Londonist ever finds time to stop and smell the flowers. Yet even we will occasionally take a break from our hectic schedules to grab a good noseful of nature's gentle bounty. Pretty, aromatic, occasionally nutritious, easily recycled and low carbon emissions;......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways. 33. Newman Passage Where? In the heart of Fitzrovia, linking Newman and Rathbone streets. What? A tripartite affair, with a short cobbled road forming the western and southern stretches, and an alley leading east beneath the Newman Arms' pie room. Newman Passage forms part of the Berners Estate, and dates from 1746. The road stops abruptly to the south, thanks to the post office depot, which......

From the Beeb. The cast and creators of Monty Python musical Spamalot are hoping to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra...The public will be given a pair of coconuts to "clip-clop" in time to the Python classic Always Look On The Bright Side of Life. Gallop over to Trafalgar Square (site of a former royal stables) on St George's Day (23 April) to take part, followed by a screening of......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways. 29. Angel Place Where? SE1, close to Borough Tube and St George’s church. What? ‘Dickensian’ is an adjective so steeped in cliché that we have a rule at Londonist: whenever the word slips into a post, we get the writer to pay a sovereign towards upkeep of the local orphanage. Here, however, we can wield the description with justified impunity. This alley (formerly Angel Court) really......

Once it was a name that evoked magic, dreams and destiny. In recent years it's taken on connotations of folly, nightmare and derision, but now it looks finally as if Wembley might be ready to resume its place at the very top of the pantheon of British sporting venues. The troubled new stadium has been granted its fire alarm safety certificate, the first tangible evidence that it might really be ready to hold all......

What? Eight or nine couples snogging for ages - they were cued to start and finish by a klaxon and were being filmed and photographed throughout. Where? Outside McDonalds, Liverpool Street Station (mmm, nothing like the smell of greasy burgers frying while you're making out with someone). When? Today, just after 3pm. Why? Absolutely no idea - anyone?......

Dear Terrorists, Your days are numbered. We've got the intelligence to stop you before you even know you're about to think up an attack. We've got armed police that will take you, the guy next to you, and even people in the next borough, down in a heartbeat if it means saving the people we don't kill. We have a terror alert system that keeps our citizens updated on whatever you may or may......

Valentine's Day isn't too far off... what to get her this year? Perfume? Flowers? Why not drench her in semen? Hari's, an upmarket beauty salon in Chelsea now offers a 45-minute "Aberdeen Organic Hair" treatment that can give your hair the ultimate shine by massaging into it a protein-rich mixture of semen from thoroughbred bulls and a plant root. Owner Hari Salem had apparently tried hundreds of products including wild avocados and truffle oil......

Next month, the UK's Forensic Science Service will launch the world's very first shoe imprint database. The database will be able to cross reference the shoe- and footprints of crime suspects with shoe and footprints taken from crime scenes. Unique patters of wear and foot placement (and, who knows, maybe even smell??) make footprints very distinctive, each person's footprint disclosing unique information about himself or herself or itself. Of course if you watch CSI,......

More details have come out from the trial of the men involved in the July 21 failed bomb attack: Ms Baro told the court: "I was in such a panic. I did not know how a bomb worked and I thought we were going to die now." She said she noticed the person next to her was wearing a rucksack then she heard a bang and something came out of the bag and fell......

Oops - the Olympics have gone all wobbly again. It seems a big part of our bid was an idea to fill an old ship full of tat and try and off load it on Johnny Foreigner: sail an ocean-going clipper around the world, crewed by "young people, artists, philosophers and students" Well we'd have added a sailor or two as well, but it did smell a little like Douglas Adams' idea to ship......

Evening Standard Headline Fridge Magnets. Once the day's joyless toil in the belly of the unforgiving city is done, and we trundle back to our Barrett Boxes in travelling conditions that make the Bataan Death March look like a limo ride, what diverts you and gives you comfort? Thinking about fridges, of course, because the Evening Standard is full of frankly terrifying reports about how total social meltdown is only a tiny step away.......

The Wise Men gave the baby Jesus gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh. What is myrrh? Eddie Izzard believed myrrh might have been an illicit rollable herb of the Roman Era. He was wrong, of course. Wasn't he? And the Wise Men, as depicted in "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979) explained that myrrh was - if memory serves - a kind of bomb. But ever-reliable Wikipedia says that myrrh was an ancient perfume......