Ooh, there’ll be mutterings amongst the cognoscenti in the Dress Circle this evening. The word on the street is that all tickets for the opening night of a forthcoming production of Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House are to be offered exclusively to Sun readers. At somewhat subsidized prices. This story is an absolute hoot for a number of reasons. Firstly the presumption that with this offer they are bringing high culture to the......

Um, we’d check before you travel if you’re planning to let the train take the strain over Easter. Miracle pensioner walks unscathed from exploding building.. There are still plans afoot to get that traditional East End sport, baseball on to the agenda in 2012… …which latter is apparently to leave us a stunning legacy. Is Travelodge taking over the known universe?. The Sun sets on Wapping as Murdoch moves to Broxbourne in Herts. St.......

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......

173 patient medical documents this time. The cache of personal information was discovered in a bag near Kingston Hospital. The files contain data on cancer and HIV patients plus ‘information on those attending conception and addiction clinics, as well as sexual disease and hepatitis test results’. Fortunately, the records are anonymised. But the hospital, ironically an NHS Trust, has no idea how the files escaped. Patients, or customers as they’re probably known these days,......

Hello Jeff! Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum - it's Christmas time! Happy Saint Jesus Day, to almost all of you! And what an event it is - a time for giving, sharing, and taking; a time for thinking about the past, as well as looking forward to the future, all the while contemplating the here and now; a time of remembrance and joy, coupled with inebriation, rage, and light misogyny. And......

It's been a bad few weeks for the Spice Girls: they released the worst selling Children In Need single ever (to put this into perspective, let's remember that Martine McCutcheon once had a Children In Need single. Martine McCutcheon), appeared in terrible Tesco adverts, played to half full shows in America and Baby Spice sprained her little baby ankle on stage. However, little Emma Bunton ingested her weight in painkillers, soldiered on and appeared......

Despite the odd recent mishap, London's lidos take their rightful alongside our parks as great places to go around the capital. 70 years ago lidos were people's cathedrals, masterful municipal palaces to promote community health and wellbeing. Over the years since then they have been left derelict or sold off. But now, they are having their renaissance. Blame global warming for warmer temperatures or the Olympics for increased interest in health - but outdoor pools......

This Feeling has been making waves in the indie world since late last year. Held monthly at the oh so stylish Parker McMillan in EC1, the night aims to "merge contemporary indie aesthetics with the underground refuge of Parker McMilian in order to create a night that will be truly big". It lands this month on Friday (28 September) starring Oasis' Andy Bell DJing, The Rifles and The Lea Shores performing acoustic sets and......

In the UK, Joe Rogan is probably best known for playing Joe Garrelli in the sitcom NewsRadio, as a presenter on the American reality show Fear Factor, and as a commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. What us Londoners may not be aware of is that Joe is also a prolific stand-up comedian, gigging regularly to huge audiences around America for over fifteen years. He mixes traditional stand-up with political satire, a dissection of......

Sometimes a story comes along that is so unbelievable it can only be presented in the style of The Sun, with lots of emboldened words. This is one such story. A couple face jail after inspectors found 316 rats in their one-bedroom flat. Stephanie Taylor and John Gooch of Staines kept the rodents in what sounds like atrocious conditions. The creatures were crammed into small cages, living on top of each other. Many had......

Here's what else has been going on while you've been at The Notting Hill Festival: This weekend's news: It's possible there could be a new Thames Barrier built. More people have been shot in North London. Toddler dies in swimming pool. Authorities agree to give bus drivers more toilets. How nice. Mum fights web drug dealers. Hooray for cyber mum! And here's what we think might happen next week: Pete Doherty arrested. Again. Amy......

It's not too late to enjoy London's outdoor events but it really has become a case of pouncing on any bit of fun going when the sun shines and hoping the rain stays away until the music stops. We've previously brought to your attention the Watch This Space festival which has been faithfully providing free outdoor performances outside the National Theatre since the beginning of July, but were frankly a bit lukewarm about it,......

Head East out of London, about as far East as you can go without falling in the water, and you will hit the sprawling conurbation known mostly as Southend-on-Sea. Most of us have been there at some stage. Whether it’s to feed the slot machines and dig holes in the beach, or to go a-cruisin’ and a-clubbin’, it has for nearly two centuries been a playground for East Londoners. And it is furthermore one......

After numerous appearances on the Continent, as well as performances at such legendary festivals as MUTEK and Detroit's Electronic Music Festival, we were beginning to think perhaps we smelled bad. Why else wouldn't Gui Boratto come to visit our lovely island? Thankfully we no longer need to be concerned about our possibly poor hygiene, for the kind souls at Allez-Allez have once again teamed with the Kompakt label, this time to bring the Brazilian......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 6th August 1937: Barbara Windsor is born in Shoreditch in central London. She would achieve fame as an actress, notably as a ‘saucy strumpet’ in the Carry On films of the 60s and 70s and later as a major character in Eastenders. Tuesday – 7th August 2001: The Department of Health pays £27 million for a private Harley Street heart hospital, re-nationalising it and bringing it into......

As soon as the sun came out, half of you probably rushed to the nearest beach. Or the nearest pub. Or the nearest airport. Now you're back in the real world and you've spent all your money. It means that we can't go and see the Summer exhibition at Buckingham Palace (we love an excuse to be nosy!) and we can't go and see Orlando Bloom in 'In Celebration' (apparently it's not very good......

Ice cream and live music are two of Londonist's favourite things. Imagine our excitment when we realised there was a festival that had both! Yes. Both! Well, that's just the kind of event that'll send our blood pressure through the roof. So what's the event are we so excited about? It's the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Sundae. Over July 28th and 29th the Gods of ice cream take over Clapham Common (so that's......

Londonist isn't going to lie to you. We love a musical. And we love Regent's Park. And what better way to combine those two loves than with Lady Be Good at the Open Air Theatre? This 1924 Gershwin musical is perfect if, like us, you enjoy some light, breezy fun. This isn't by any means serious theatre – the plot revolves around the Trevor siblings, Susie and Dick, who've been kicked out of their......

Earlier this week we told you about Galaxy Zoo, where ordinary web users help astronomers by classifying the galaxies they capture in their telescopes. But Londoners are an exploratory bunch, and after sorting a few dozen of the Milky Way’s neighbours you might ask what you could see if you went outside and looked up at the sky yourself. We’ve got good news and bad news for you on that front. The bad news......

With the sun barely deigning to grace us with its presence this summer, the only refuge of those wishing to break a sweat is the club (or the gym or the tube, but two those places are each as unpleasant as the other). To ensure that we get the maximum possible perspiration per pound, Vice Magazine's Club Do It! and 7 Year Glitch have imported Detroit's master of ghettotech, DJ Assault to headline their......

The revived Penny Dreadful, known as One Eye Grey, is back for its second edition. This loose collection of shadowy tales draws on London's folklore, presenting a cavalcade of spooky oddness and strange happenstance in one handbag or manbag-friendly dose. It's by our old mate Chris Roberts (who some of you will remember from the guided walks we recently put on). You can pick up a copy for just £2.50 from an impressive number......

Flying’s not been getting good press lately what with us all worrying about our carbon footprints and the end of the world being nigh. With summer holiday season approaching, then, and with us having quashed our environmental guilt and said, ‘Dammit, I deserve my cheap, Mediterranean jaunt in the sun’ it is rather disheartening to learn that the big boss of Heathrow has openly admitted his airport makes him cringe and we’re all in......

Buttoned Down Disco is fast becoming a London phenomenon. It's practially free if you sign up for the secret venue invite. More importantly, for a club night in London it's always really friendly. You could walk up to anyone and start talking to them if you felt like it. These are things we really don't see enough of on a typical London night out. But then, Buttoned Down Disco was never meant to be......

As the festival season kicks off into full swing, the range of “normal” bands playing the capital starts to dwindle as they recover from their Download and Isle of Wight sized hangovers and prepare for a Wireless one this weekend. First up, on Monday night, The Fratellis play Scala, which is well and truly sold out, however you may be able to get a last minute offer on scarlet mist or equivalent. If you like......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

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......

We know people can love their pets a great deal and this morning, we have learned of how far a dog owner is willing to go to protect his puppy pal. About as far as the nearest police station, if you are Jose Mourinho. Mourinho, Chelsea Football manager, was arrested last night for obstructing police when two officials tried to remove his Yorkshire terrier dog from his home as it was suspected of entering......

In Next Week: Next Wednesday the winner of the Rossica Prize, awarded every other year for excellence in literary translation from Russian into English, is announced after readings from the short-listed translations. This year’s submissions include texts ranging from the 19th to the 21st century, from Tolstoy's War and Peace to Ismailov's The Railway - our Russian is a bit rusty but хорошее везение к каждому... 23 May at 7pm, £6, The London Review......

While Kingston has been preoccupied with what photo display it should have in its new surgical centre, more redecorating has taken place in the capital, this time in Wembley Stadium where the chairs needed some new covers to fit the rest of the colour scheme. Thousands of seats in the stadium have been replaced because they went a bit pink in the sun, or as the stadium spokesfolks would have it, the seats suffered......

Today is free ice cream day from Ben and Jerry's. Could you think of any better free day? Of course, for the first time in a week the sun has gone away, but that won't stop us. There are 4 Ben & Jerry's stores in London - Leicester Square, Oxford Street (near Bond St tube), Greenwich and Tower Place. Free ice cream is available between 1 and 5 and all you need to do......