Returning from the Beijing Olympics a gold medal bearing hero, boxer James DeGale must now face another kind of battle - that within himself over whether to stick it out with Team GB for London 2012 and defend his title in his hometown or to capitulate to the admittedly attractive and lucrative professional career that could instantly make him a millionaire and an even bigger celebrity. Amir Khan barely lasted a year after his......

Well, who would have thought we'd reach our fourteenth and final London Olympic Timetable worried that a fluffed handover in the women's 4x100m relay might let the Russians chase Britain down in the overall medal table? The good news is Team GB could yet strike more gold in the final 48 hours of the game and one man in prime position to achieve just that is West London middleweight boxer James DeGale who defied......

Gold! Gold, I tell 'ee. Gold, in them thar doldrums, damn yer eyes! Ahh, hahahahahaha! We 'opes you'll forgive us old sea dogs splicin' the mainbrace in honour of our crew what's brought treasure back to these shores. Aye, aye! It's first mate Andrew Simpson o' Chertsey and his cap'n Iain Percy takin' our golden haul to five in the Star class sailing. Ahh, hahahaha... [That's enough piracy - Scurvy Landlubbing Ed] The excellent......

More medals for Britain, and "Team London", yesterday, but the seemingly relentless success in some sports is causing a nervous shuffling of feet in others. After Twickenham's Mo Farah slipped out of the 5,000m heats Brendan Foster, BBC commentator and former Olympic medallist at 10,000m, could contain himself no longer: I just feel Mo Farah ran a very poor race. He needs to be taught how to run tactically. He's got a good finish......

And it came to pass that Team GB didst look upon their works and, behold, they were good. And on the twelfth day they rested. Well, comparatively speaking anyway. Today there are only eleven gold medals available across the whole games, the fewest on any official competition day except the opening Saturday where events were barely getting started. Even on the final day of competition twelve golds are up for grabs. Just like the......

Quick quiz - which Olympic sport, flouting the notion of gender equality, is the only one without a women's programme? Boxing is the answer. Despite the male pugilists getting to pound eachother into the ground, women's boxing (not to be confused with foxy boxing) remains on the outside looking in. That may change come 2012. The Amateur International Boxing Association is planning on making a proposal to introduce female fighters at the London games,......

After some good old British summer weekend weather had outdoor athletes scurrying for cover (except for Nicole Cook and her fellow cyclists who somehow largely avoided skidding into brick walls fronted by ditches) our first representatives on show today are the men's hockey team led by recent Londonist interviewee Ben Hawes, who get their campaign underway at 3:30am (all times BST) against Pakistan, a traditional hockey superpower, but currently ranked only one place above......

While the capital's track and field hopefuls quietly build up to their first events next Friday, our rowers dive into action straight away, though by the time they get going at 7:50am (all times BST) boxer James DeGale could already be packing his bags. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and recent silver medallist at European Union level, known as "Chunky" to anybody who'd be comfortable sparring with him, faces 2007 African Champion Mohamed Hikal......

We can only assume that Boris Johnson, the man charged with finding a solution to London’s spate of tragic youth violence, has been delving into his own past for inspiration. As such, on his 16th birthday, every boy in London will receive a Michelin restaurant guide, a case of Bollinger and a plant pot full of £50 notes. Well, that’s not true, but a suggestion put forward by our new Mayor yesterday, in the......

Tough business being a writer. Our editors have promised us a 100 percent pay increase if we win a Bloggie in March, but even that won’t cover the cost of our pub outings. Still, if now’s the moment of truth, kids, when you choose prose or poetry as the more lucrative career path, note the following. When A.L. Kennedy won the Costa Book of the Year award on Tuesday for her novel Day, she......

Of course, the best way to do London on the Cheap this week is to visit friends and rellies and plough through their festive supplies of food and drink, play silly games, watch a bit of frothy telly (see Londonist Stays In for top tips) and fall asleep mildly pissed. When you get cabin fever however, here's a few ideas for low level expenditure entertainment that doesn't involve church or carol singing. Christmas Eve:......

Dusting off the snow from last year, every day this month the Londonist team will be pointing you in the direction of a Christmas present that (with a bit of luck) you won't already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we'll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings.. Even seasoned Londoners like learning more about their home city. We're proof - we put our own......

This weekend, Rowan Walker wrote in the Observer of her torturous but strangely addictive experience of training at the Islington Boxing Gym to raise awareness of the fierce campaign to get female boxing recognised as an Olympic Sport for the 2012 Games in London. According to the International Olympic Committee, "Boxing ranks among the Olympic Games' most illustrious sports" yet only for men, to date. As Walker's article indicates, the number and calibre of......

Edgware Road shisha cafe's and the ban on smoking. Something's gotta give. Boxing postman and the campaign against binge drinking. We love local news. London Marathon and a solution to its litter problem. Lorry drivers and the campaign to kill fewer cyclists. And UK immigration crack down on dangerous Doggs. Image courtesy of buckaroo kid via the Londonist flickr group.......

Because schools aren't violent enough: Boxing is being reintroduced in several schools to help pupils develop their mental and physical skills. Of course! Nothing like the risk of a good old fashioned brain injury to increase fist to eye co-ordination. The director of sport at Beckenham's Kelsey Park Sports College, Matthew Strange, believes there could be a place for boxing within the national curriculum "due to the massive impact it can have on those......

The Museum of Childhood reopened yesterday, after a one year shutdoor for refurb. Unfortunately, and tragically, the Central Line was effectively closed all afternoon because of 'a person under a train' at the nearby Bethnal Green Station. So visitor numbers were no doubt down on expectations. Those who did manage to get there would have seen what is thought to be the UK's oldest rocking horse, possibly an erstwhile plaything of Charles I. The......

No one seems to know what Lukas Moodysson is up to. People are still reeling from A Hole in my Heart which at times seemed to be an outright attack on his audience's expectations. In itself not a bad thing and we always have room under our wing for a film so ugly, but it did seem to come out of leftfield even when taking into count the darker territory he'd begun to map......

You probably hadn't noticed, but our (almost) world-famous Friday Football Preview has been enjoying a rather extended Christmas break. We tried to convince Editro that this absence was actually a protest to the Premier League, aimed at highlighting the benefits of bringing in a contintental-style winter break, but he was having none of it. Recognising our inherent laziness, he's ordered us to put our Xmas presents back in the toybox and get back to......

Today is a 'half day' for Londonist, as we're all off down the pub or venturing out to the West End armed with a credit card and a cattle prod. There's no Friday Film news as there's no films, well, The Producers is out on Boxing Day, but you'll just have to make your own mind up about that. We'll be back with a 'reduced service' (you know, like the Tube) on the 28th......

This post appears every Wednesday. If you want to let us know about any upcoming science or technology events, you can contact us on LondonistSciTech@Gmail.com Event of the Week The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures There’s only one gig in town this week. You can’t go because (a) you’re too old, (b) it’s mostly sold out and (c) you’ll be too stuffed with turkey to move. Never fear, though, as the world-famous Royal Institution Christmas......

Well, TV Troll was 50% right, which is better than nowt, as salt-o'-t'earth Strictly Come Dancing winner Darren might say. We're still kicking ourselves for not having put money on Shayne to win as we predicted aaaages ago; we could have bought new cushions for the dungeon or something with the winnings. Congrats to the winners and the runners-up; both finals were superb, although it was a pain in the arse having to swap......

Isn’t it lovely weather today? Well, let’s hope it stays this nice for the rest of the week, as there’s pretty much bugger-all coming up on the idiot box, if you ignore Big Brother (Craig and Kinga in the hot tub is definitely not mind-safe, but will she manage to smarm up to Derek enough to get him to save her?). There are the usual tired old warhorses of the schedules - Casualty, The......

Graham Coxon will be playing a benefit gig in Camden this Sunday for the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami. The gig will take place at Colour on Inverness Street and will also feature The Rifles and I Am Kloot. Doors are at 8 thorugh until 1am, and it's a 'turn up early' affair as tickets are only available on the door. Prepare to queue.......

As you've probably noticed, Londonist has been winding down in the lead up to the Christmas holidays over the past week. Obviously we won't be posting anything tomorrow, Boxing Day or the following Bank holidays, but we'll be back with a 'limited service' (like the Tube) on the 29th leading up to New years Eve. Then we're off again until Januray 4th when we'll come back with all the London news that's fit to read.......

Did you see what we did there? You see, normally it's called Friday Film News, but for today we changed the 'Friday' to 'Festive', because it's all about the films to watch over Xmas on the telly, and we managed to keep the alliteration. Anyway... One note: all these films are on terrestial television. We're not going to do that thing the papers do where we make a big fuss out of one of......

The only bad thing about Christmas? It's just too damn short. Once Boxing Day's over you've only got the stress and ultimate anti-climax that is New Year to look forward to...and then it's back to work. We need more food, more alcohol, more singing and definitely a lot more dancing. Thank God then for the Russian Winter Festival. Taking place a whole two weeks after the New Year, the Russian Winter festival is the......