The scourge of polite society, and a garment guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of houseproud folk across London, the hoodie is nothing if not an adaptable form of clothing. In the wake of the bulletproof edition sold by a Romford firm, another variant ready for urban warfare has arrived: gas mask hoodies are now available at Walthamstow Market. Costing twenty quid, the nylon jacket is available in brown and grey camoflauge, and......

Whatever happened to knocking? Early Wednesday morning at a home in west London, police used a digger—yes, one of those big construction trucks—to smash through a perimeter wall, then proceeded to use sledgehammers and angle grinders to get into the house to search for drugs. They probably would’ve used a battering ram if they had one handy. This was all part of a larger bust involving 500 officers who raided 30 homes and businesses......

New writing theatre company Paines Plough are presenting an absolutely cracking new way to see plays this autumn and making us think that there should be more theatre programmed like this. New writing, an exciting theatre space, a sensible time slot, a hot snack and a drink are all included in the ticket price and you can be on your way having had your culture fix by 8pm when other theatres are raising the......

As befits a truly global capital, London has established itself as a hub in the important international trade of tourist-attracting human reproductions, importing Chinese warriors and exporting waxwork celebrities. While the first crowds were taking a gander at 20 members of the Emperor Ying’s terracotta court at the British Museum, 51 waxworks produced by Madame Tussauds arrived in Washington DC, naked and apparently ready to party. The likes of Beyonce, George Clooney, Tom Cruise......

How's this for political handbags? "Ms Grell told voters her rival Barry Smith claimed to be married yet had a 14-year-old Thai boyfriend." City banker 'not German enough'. He probably mentioned the war. John Hurt finds he's not from Ireland, but Croydon. His most gut-wrenching experience since that alien parasite ruptured his abdominopelvic cavity. BBC headline 'Cocaine users are getting younger'. Who needs expensive skin care products when you can reverse the ageing process......

It would seem that Mayor Livingstone, famous for courting the unusual, is at it again. He is new-best-friends with the Polish community in London. His jolly japes this time include a Polish reception at Town Hall, replete with pierogi and pickles, and a trip to POSK, the Polish Community Centre in Hammersmith. He is quite the darling of the Polish press, by all accounts. Of course only the very cynical would suggest that it has......

How many hogs does it take to cleanse a whale? No, it's not a Zen koan. The glorious Victorian temple to murdered animals that is the Natural History Museum is cleaning up the whale exhibit in its Large Mammals Hall - using hog hair bristle brushes! But why hog hair brushes? There are many reasons, but mostly it's because using tiny, peculiar implements to clean the largest animals on Earth looks really impressive and......

Who is Pete Doherty? Get ready for a shock: Pete Doherty has had his wrist slapped again. What for this time? Assault? Possession of a dangerous weapon? No… surely not drugs again? Does anybody really care? Was anyone surprised? Will it happen again? Of course. Who on earth is Pete Doherty? OK, he sang in a band or two for a while…but that didn’t end too well - remember the cocaine shenanigans a few......

It's a good day for fans of caged simians. First, the dastard who stole SpongeBob the monkey from Chessington has been sentenced. Monkey rustler Marlon Brown will serve a year behind bars himself after what the judge described as "an act of devilry". In the event the monkey was recovered but it was traumatised and still is traumatised. You showed no remorse. SpongeBob has since been moved to Battersea Zoo. He infrequently updates his......

If Mr. T had a jibba jabbering British equivalent, what might he do if he and his trusty sidekicks were busted and broken apart? Terry Adams, leader of the notorious Adams crime family (aka the ‘A Team’), might be able to tell us – from prison. On Friday, Adams was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to seven years in the clink. At the height of their power, in the late 1980s, they were......

We're making something of a habit of this today, posting photographs of criminals that is. Fortunately, we know how to find this one - all you have to do is wait silently in the dark of night and listen out for his idiosyncratic sound, that of a car careering into something stationary. Unfortunately however, it doesn't look like this one is ever going to be locked up (and why would he be, his 'rehabilitation'......

This story has everything: German aristocracy Sex Cocaine An orgy Death Count von Bismarck What started as a small gathering of friends soon turned into a police investigation: A man fell to his death from a flat belonging to a German aristocrat during a cocaine-fuelled, gay sex party, an inquest has heard. Anthony Casey, 38, died after falling 60ft (18m) while partying at Count Gottfried von Bismarck's apartment in Chelsea, west London, on 23......

We're suckers for anything to do with Sherlock Holmes, after all, London is sweeter for his presence. We even watched that cartoon which had him thawed out and solving crimes on the moon. So while browsing the Detective Fiction on Stamps homepage at 5 am (oh the wild lives we lead!) we were happy to find a whole section devoted to our favourite cocaine and morphine addict. Eleven countries have produced fourteen Sherlock Holmes-related......

Craig Charles was arrested in London yesterday on suspicion of possessing crack cocaine. Photos of the Red Dwarf (and now Coronation Street) star supposedly smoking crack in the back of a car were published in the Daily Mirror in June; he was subsequently suspended from The Street and from his BBC6 funk show on Friday and Saturday nights. After he was suspended from Coronation Street, a BBC spokesman said: "Craig will not be presenting......

Oh no, not more sport! At the risk of sounding like a skipping CD, this is getting ridiculous. With Wimbledon added to the surfeit of sporting action on the small screen, there's even less room for actual, interesting programmes than ever. Summer of sport our collective arse (excluding our beloved sports desk of course!). Come, friendly clouds, and pour down rain on Wimbledon until the sexist pigs who run the thing are made to......

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, for the new series of Green Wing (Fri 9pm C4) is upon us! We don't envy whoever has to go round the Tube taking down all the teaser posters, however. There isn't much we can add to this, except it makes us happy. As does the thought of Adam Rickett being eaten by Lord Freddie Whatsisface - shame that the producers of Alive: Back To The Andes (Wed 8pm Five) chickened......

Thursday's Tube strike has been called off after "provisional outline agreements" were made. An inquiry into the murder of John Monckton is expected to aim criticism at the probation system. Ken has announced that London is to get 67 more green, hydrogen buses over the next four years. Fourteen members of the international cocaine smuggling 'Bling Bling Gang' were jailed yesterday for a total of 178 years on yesterday. George Michael says he has no......

Afternoon all. Last week, Sarah scored 3 out of 5, which percentage-wise, is actually our best ever result. So there you are. Perhaps some sort of prize is in order. Any suggestions? Go on, leave a comment, it will make our day. It wouldn't have to be about Sarah, or even about the Premiership, it could be about anything. We're just craving some CONTACT right now. It's Friday afternoon and another weekend of non-stop......

A protest will take place outside the Danish embassy this weekend, over the controversial cartoons printed in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The London borough with more speed cameras than any other is....(drumroll)...Croydon. The jury is out in the trial of Former Bay City Rollers singer Les McKeown, who's charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine. Kate Moss has flown out of the UK, possibly never to return. Apparently she's thinking of buying a mansion in Malibu. Well......

Jesus Anibal Ruiz-Henao, and his brother-in-law Mario Tascon, the London 'cocaine kings' who smuggled £100 million worth of the stuff into the country every year have been jailed for 19 and 17 years respectively. The talking buses we mentioned earlier this year are currently being trialled on the 149 route which runs between London Bridge and Edmonton Green. Is London really bad at recycling, or is it just a case of unfair comparison with those......

It may not have snowed on Christmas day, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that if you get to shop in stores that don't have proper names, life is a continual sprinkling of soft white powder. Especially if you read the Hindustan Times, who claimed yesterday: London Hit By Cocaine Epidemic. Now that does sound a little more fun than bird flu, but we knew this already. The HT, not known for mincing their words,......

Over the weekend the Telegraph broke the news that the levels of cocaine use in London are 15 times higher than official estimates would have us believe. And how do they know this? Well, the Thames told them. Yes people that's right: Old Man River is a narc'! Because cocaine does not break down easily, even after sewage treatment processes it means scientists (if they are so inclined) can test water samples for traces......

- A memorial service for those killed on July 7 will be held today at St Paul's Cathedral. Although some families have threatened to boycott the service. - Blunkett, Blunkett, Blunkett, Blunkett, Blunkett. - Five men were shot at by a gang who raided their house in Walthamstow on Sunday. Three were treated for minor injuries and two are said to be in a stable condition. - 700 'back office and management' jobs to go......

Joss Whedon really is a talented bastard. Not content with creating the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel phenomenon he went one better by creating a great but ultimately doomed Sci Fi show called Firefly. Doomed because he foolishly gave American television an intelligent character driven series at a time when they were much more interested in 'creating' lowest common denominator shows. Firefly was only ever partly aired and even then in the wrong......

Wow, Vanessa the biscuit-muncher from Croydon is turfed out after a mega-tense housemate vote, and this Londonist was lucky enough to see it in person at Elstree studios. (Thank you, Channel 4, for the rather wonderful salmon kebabs and the plentiful Pimm’s.) Davina was kind enough to sign autographs and banter with the polloi; she even managed to pull off the slightly odd executive shorts she was wearing. Only just, mind. But back to......

As a website that is sometimes confused by those of little brain with an American product (yes we are part of the Gothamist network, no we are not an American website) we were amused yesterday to see that some of the worst home-grown telly ideas from the last couple of years have found new life on American television networks. The Guardian reported yesterday: Over 40 years since the Beatles touched down at JFK, America......

A quick TV tip for this evenings viewing is the BBCs Drugland showing on BBC2 at 9pm. Apparently it's "an inside look at an industry that employs 20,000 people in London", no, not the Sale Sign holding industry (though that is long overdue an expose), it's the drugs industry. The BBC write up is at pains to point out that drug dealers are now catching up to legitimate retail industries in their method of ordering......

And in yet more 'white Christmas' news: Customs & Excise officers have intercepted and impounded some sacks of coconuts imported from Guyana. Far from being an attempt to prevent them being wasted in 'sound-better-than-they-taste' Bounty bars, the fearsome C&E boys actually discovered cocaine in the sacks which were in a lorry parked outside Spitalfields market. What next - heroin in demerara sugar, hash in our oxo cubes, amyl nitrate in vanilla essence, crack in......

Earlier this month we reported on the odds of a white Christmas in London this year. But it seems things might have changed since our last update. According to reports in the papers yesterday bookies have now doubled the odds on any snow falling in the capital because of the reasonably mild winter we're having so far. The odds of snow falling on 25 December are now 7-1 (at William Hill), the same as......

Londonist was interested to read Simon Hoggart's 'diary' piece in this Saturday's Guardian which gave an interesting insight into the world of London cyclists. Reacting to Turner Prize winner, Jeremy Deller's dedication 'to everyone who cycles in London" last week, Hoggart felt the need to redress the balance in favour of "all the pedestrians maimed or nearly killed" by London bike riders. Who can he mean? "I mean the hooligans who look as if......