7/7 survivors and heroes who tried to save others receive Royal Humane Society award The Bachelor: London Calling finds 'true love' with blonde, Californian actress. Oh, telly.... East End clergy get police protection Dodgy circumcising Leyton GP struck off Art is objective concedes Streatham council Man left dead on the loo for a year and a half. Cat dead too. Pearly Kings & Queens at the Covent Garden Puppet Festival courtesy of Siberfi via......

Hooray for 4 day weeks! And hooray for many seasonal celebrations. If only it would stop raining we'd be radiant with joy. This week we definitely can't afford to see the glorious New York City Ballet at the Coliseum (up to £95 a ticket!) so we made do with the reviews. Neither can we cover the costs of a bank holiday break away from the city but, hell - why would we want to......

There's masses going on for us culture vultures to choose from this week. First Thursdays As it's the start of March, it's First Thursdays this week. More than 80 galleries and museums will be open til 9pm across East London. We recommend John Squire's (yes, him from the Stone Roses) Re-engineered Garments; alternatively, pretend you're an alien at the Barbican. The Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art opens this Thursday. East is East East London's......

It’s March already and the daffodils are blooming and we’re feeling all full of the joys of spring. So, of course, we’ll be settling in on the couch to watch some telly. But in a spring-like frame of mind, naturally. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday 3 March Withnail & I (Film4, 21:00-23:05) Enjoy the squalor of 1960s London in this classic film, which is one of our favourites featuring our fair city. Camden’s never......

The Met Police have been hacked. Well, at least the external company that manages its site has been. Someone "emblazoned" their home page with fuzzy, stripey, red-lipped, unibrowed monster Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba, a kids' TV show. Called Officer Brobee on the site -- gotta stay in character, right? -- he said "Oh hai guys, do joo wanna bes a policeman lulz? I see that teh so15 anti-terrorism anti-lulz police are hiring more incompetent......

Where's Gil Grissom when you need him? Before London gets their own version of the hot shot crime scene investigator TV series, the police will have to do. They've got a real nut to crack with the murder of 94-year-old Thea Zaudy. CCTV footage of the suspected murderers, including Mrs Zaudy's cleaner, show them carrying a large empty suitcase from Notting Hill station and later lugging the same suitcase, now full, back to the......

We wanted to promote tomorrow's charity comedy night for War on Want at Shepherds Bush Empire for two reasons. Firstly, because it is going to be a spectacular night, with some remarkable comedians, in aid of a very good cause. And secondly, because their press release contains a line which, lacking as it is in context, had us giggling like children for far longer than is socially acceptable: "Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller, with......

Taking a cue from police investigators and reality TV shows looking to create a scandal, Harrow Council in northwest London has started to use voice risk analysis -- a type of phone-based lie detector -- to try and catch fraudsters claiming unneeded benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions. How does it work? "The technology detects changes in people's voice patterns such as hesitation or avoiding direct questions, and identifies them as a......

We like to think we have a broad range of cultural interests at Londonist. In a day, we can bring you news of a new electro-pop retro psychedelia band playing Camden, a Korean theatre company performing a German play to tango music, an art exhibition that involves bringing your own art and dance performances full of writhing nude, geriatric bodies. So it gave us no end of pleasure to hear of two news items......

Photo by Phillyist's Matt Johnson, SkyscraperSunset.com, December 19, 2007. Phillyist explored an impending implosion and lived to tell the tale.Gothamist marveled at the city's new NYC-branded condom campaign - especially the use of a Toronto landmark in the advertising. (Also, fun fact: Gothamist turned five years old yesterday.)Tired of the worldwide Scientology protests? Torontoist totally isn't: they covered the big downtown protest the day it happened, and followed up with an examination of all......

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......

It’s a beautiful sunny February, and we’re back after a brief hiatus. The American writer’s strike has just been resolved, which means our American favourites will be back on our screens before too long, but until then here are a few things you may want to take a peek at. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 11 February City of Vice (Channel 4, 21:00-22:00) The series looking at the creation of the modern police force......

Photograph of Michael Strahan, coach Tom Coughin (holding the Vince Lombardi trophy) and quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning by Tien Mao Gothamist was amazed after the Giants won the Super Bowl, the city went wild, and it witnessed a ticker-tape parade.Barack Obama drew 20,000+ ahead of Seattle’s Saturday caucus.Londonist had Super Tuesday too.Elusive guerrilla street artist Banksy revisits Los Angeles.After the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and came this close to making......

Ken Livingstone has officially launched a program to help London become the greenest place to film in the world. Not *that* kind of green - we're not going to see Regents Park stand in for the Amazon Basin anytime soon. We're talking the other green. The one we got all excited about yesterday. Y'know, the environmental one. 'Green Screen London' is a series of initiatives aiming to make our film and television industry the......

While lesser politicians find themselves embroiled in the mundane tracasseries of campaign funding, our Mayor takes a more creative tact. Twenty artists, including Banksy, Antony Gormley and Marc Quinn, are selling their work to raise money for Livingstone’s re-election. The ‘Bid For Ken’ auction takes place at 7pm on 6 March at the Aquarium Gallery in Farringdon. Boris Johnson is courting the creatives too. He of the humorous initials is focussing on ’singers, rappers......

As we ease out of the austerity, self-denial and penny-pinching of January, so too the arts world comes even further out of its shell. This week sees a whole host of exciting openings. Take your pick; payday's passed and February's just round the corner! Be the first Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious opera about love, corrupt local government, marriage, executions and heroics, The Mikado comes to the Gielgud Theatre from Wednesday. Alistair McGowan stars as......

Are you an unreconstructed, consumerist, couch potato with no social conscience? Excellent. Read on. Because the Rubbish Game wants you. We went to the Rubbish Game this week and, if only we hadn't got distracted drinking wine, we might have won it. Through 3 punishing rounds of stuff distribution we managed to zero our waste, creatively and cunningly disposing of it through righteous means. We dabbled in the recycling fair to win recycling tokens......

An airliner crash landed at Heathrow this lunchtime. Eye-witnesses on BBC Five Live and forum posters watching on TV suggest that BA38 from Beijing landing on runway 27L at Heathrow, wobbled on an usually low approach angle making a heck of a lot of noise. The rudder nearly clipped the perimeter fence, missing by only a few feet. Its undercarriage seemed to be up and then the plane belly-flopped into the grass short of......

Following the slabs of human shit exhibited by artist Santiago Sierra at the Lisson Gallery, bodily waste seems to be cropping up in unusual places with distressing (pardon the pun) regularity. Now we hear that a shed in Sutton has been obliterated by a block of ice that fell from a passing airplane's leaky toilet. Lloyd Gater and his partner were sitting at the kitchen table, when they heard an almighty crash outside. Rushing......

Pigeons may be flying rats to Ken Livingstone and thousands of other Londoners - but to some, they are war heroes. And worth a pretty penny in portrait form. Oil paintings depicting the birds who flew back and forth during two world wars, acting as spies and messengers have been sold at auction for astonishing prices. Sold by Bonhams auction house, the eight oil paintings were purchased mostly by an unnamed buyer who placed......

Well, here it is. New Year’s Eve. We’ve told you where to go for fireworks, and where to go dancing, but you may not be feeling up for the whole NYE hullabaloo. If that’s the case, or if you’re feeling very ambitious and hosting your own celebration at home and are in need of background telly, here are a few things you might want to take a peek at. On TV, Londonist likes: New......

Well, it’s over for another year. Time to settle down, relax, and get ready for another batch of shopping in the January sales. On TV, Londonist likes: Carmen (BBC2, 13:45-16:25) This just might be the world’s most famous opera, and even if you’re not an opera fan, you’ll definitely recognise some of the songs. From the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, this production features an international cast, impressive sets and live animals. My......

Merry Christmas! (Or, if you’re not so much into the whole Christmas thing, Happy Tuesday!) We hope you’re having a very lovely Christmas day. If you need a break from the family madness, here are a few things you might want to take a peek at. On TV, Londonist likes: Top of the Pops Christmas Special (BBC1, 13:30-4:30)) Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates present this look at the year’s most popular acts – and......

It’s Christmas Eve already? How did that happen? Surely you’re all done your shopping now, so time to reward yourself with a few nice things to watch on TV. On TV, Londonist likes: Jamie at Home Christmas Special (Channel 4, 17:10-18:15) Say what you will about Jamie Oliver, he puts on an entertaining cooking show. And we’re guessing this Christmas episode will be chock full of amazing dishes that will look incredibly simple and......

Have a nice relaxing Sunday in front of the telly, resting up for that last minute dash at shopping tomorrow. Here are a few options you might want to take a peek at. On TV, Londonist likes: Heston’s Perfect Christmas Dinner (BBC2, 14:45-15:45) If you’re feeling nervous about cooking Christmas dinner, this maybe isn’t the programme for you. You’ll very likely feel intimidated and that your dinner doesn’t match up. But if you want......

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......

It’s the week before Christmas, and like us, you’re probably panicking because you’ve still got loads of shopping to do. If you have a spare night when you’re not out at wild and crazy office Christmas parties or fighting the crowds on Oxford Street, here are a few suggestions to keep you entertained. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 17 December Dispatches: How Safe Are Your Christmas Toys? (Channel 4, 21:00-22:00) If you’re Christmas shopping......

If you're stumbling around department stores, going red and sweating with embarrassment as you try to choose the perfect piece of lingerie for your other girlfriend, then this Thursday help may be at hand. Both this week and next Thurs (20th Dec), John Lewis on Oxford Street are hosting a Lingerie Buying Academy for Men. With detailed instructions on how to gather the necessary information you need beforehand (check for size, colours, brands etc),......

London is getting more dangerous by the day ladies and gentlemen. It's not enough that a quick trip down Oxford Street is going to leave you gasping like a floundering flounder on the deck of a homeward bound fishing trawler, now you can't even grab the number of your local brass from that phone booth down the road in safety. Well, not if you live in Camden, so breath easy SE London for the......

With a month of holiday shopping, parties and general merriment in front of you, you’ll probably be in need of a few rest days. Here are a few things to keep you entertained if you fancy a night in. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 3 December How London Was Built (ITV2, 20:00-20:30) Who knew there were giant “seemingly unsupported” staircases in the Bank of England? Adam Hart-Davies shows us this very impressive sounding staircase......