Fed up of the froth, mirth and sentimentality of the Yuletide muzak yet? To bring you an antidote and alternative soundtrack for your Christmas holidays we caught up with the utterly charming Roi Robertson of Mechanical Cabaret over a sorbet and peppermint tea and ruminated on the band's latest single, pastoral London views and the fact that we've never seen him and Noel Fielding in the same room together... Who's in the band? I......

“… Christmas turkey pie from Eat.....mmmm..... pie. Can we have a review of that too please?” So pled a Londonist reader in that Pret appreciation thread which sparked up in response to our last What's for Lunch? post. Of course, Londonist isn’t against a little pie every once in awhile. Especially Christmas pie. We’re not massive fans of Eat, but (like Pret) the only thing we can really fault ‘em on is their ubiquity.......

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and......

Now here’s a really good idea. Fishing as therapy for dysfunctional adolescents. Honestly – we’re not being sarcastic. Londonist thinks it is a splendid scheme. The initiative is called Get Hooked on Fishing, and has been operating with great success in different areas around the country: now a scheme has been funded just outside London at Darenth. Fishing is known for its therapeutic effects – the peace and quiet and sense of oneness with nature......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Indian YMCA Student Hostel 41 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6AQ Nearest Tube: Warren Street 020 7387 0411 Lunch served 12pm-2pm (Monday – Friday), 12.30pm-1.30pm (Weekends and Bank Holidays) Visit the restaurant’s website for breakfast and dinner hours Map Expect to Pay: around £5 Rating: 9 out of 10 Two amply filled bowls of curries, a heaping mound of pilau......

A day after possibly the strongest entry for the most risible right-wing attempt at 'humour' since Jim Davidson was allowed near prime time television, Boris Johnson emerged from his summer holidays (it's silly season all year round for him really) and set out his stall for taking on Ken Livingstone next May. And what a stall it is. Thrill to his delight at being able to buy mango juice in newsagents! Listen to his boast......

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom......

As the "summer" holidays limp to their unseasonable end, September's looming with an alluring offer from one of London's finest and funkiest theatres. The groovy Young Vic is offering £10 tickets to the previews of its new season production "The Member of the Wedding". Opening on 7 September the show is a revival of a Carson McCullers play set in deep South Georgia in 1945 and follows the small town dreams of 12 year......

Sometimes a burger and fries is the only thing that will satisfy your hunger. Something simple and straighforward that you can hold in one hand, neatly packaged in two pieces of tasty bread that have soaked up the juices and sauces that ooze so delectably out of the multitudinous burger fillings piled up in between. But at other times... at other times, a person needs to pick delicately and carefully through the cracked shells......

It's summer! Shouldn't you be outside enjoying the sunshine? That is, assuming we actually get any. If you don't fancy making the most of the weather, here are a few choices for a night in. On TV, Londonist likes: Tuesday, 21 August Secret Life of the Motorway (BBC4, 21:00-22:00) What screams "summer holidays" more than being stuck on the motorway on your way to or from somewhere fabulous? You'll be sure to love this......

Bug bites of all kinds are annoying. We can't think that anyone actually likes the itchiness and general uncomfortableness that comes with being bitten by an insect. And we're all aware that bites received on holiday can be potentially deadly. However, we don't usually think that bug bites here at home anything to get worried about. Diseases caught through bug bites aren't just for holidays though. Peter Kemp of Teddington noticed three tick bites......

. We're all aware that identity theft is a real problem. We've all been told to shred our personal documents before throwing them out and to keep our PIN details private so that unscrupulous people don't steal our identities and run us into debt by buying holidays to Mauritius and taking out loans in our name. We generally don't worry about our pets though. They don't have credit ratings, so we figured that their......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

Bank holidays are great, aren’t they? London is emptying as we write with the motored up masses departing for gridlock on motorways around the country and we're all looking forward to getting to the pub as soon as feasibly possible. Possibly sooner. With the warmest April on record just behind us and the glorious sunny weather this week, records numbers are predicted to pile out of the capital and shack up at the seaside,......

Ross got in contact with us to let us know that the registration deadline for the UK Dodgeball Championships (whole teams only) had been extended until Friday. While we had him around we thought we'd ask him a few questions about his adventure sports club, 8th Day. Tell us what 8th Day is all about. It's a sport and adventure club for people who want to make the most of their free time. It's......

The congestion zone, bloated and gorged on the wallets of London motorists, finally loosened its belt this morning. A doubling of girth was observed in the ensuing westerly bloat, which takes in some of London's richest inhabitants. Fans of JG Ballard will be intrigued to learn that the area approximating to Chelsea Marina is included on the extreme western fringe, as though on purpose. But what's the reaction? Mixed, of course. And the overall......

The Independent reports that the fashion sense of six men now on trial for conspiracy to commit murder on London transport in July 2005 had been frequently observed by police on several occasions. This week's court proceedings show that the apparel of the men was carefully analyzed by Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard began their "fashion study" by secretly photographing a camping trip taken by the men to the Lake District in May 2004. The......

The BBC are reporting that the driver of the coach that crashed late last night near Heathrow has been arrested on suspiscion of causing death by dangerous driving. More details of the crash have emerged: Several among the injured have had limbs amputated due to their injuries, according to ambulance officials. Police declared a major incident after the coach, carrying 65 passengers, many of them believed to be returning from holidays, overturned at 11.45pm......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

What was that we just said? Well, that mostly wraps things up for Londonist in '06... Yeah right. What we should have said is that mostly wraps things up for London in '06 because according to ABC we are ho ho ho fucked. Check out that headline: London Braces for Attack; 'Miracle' If There Isn't One Are you braced? We're not braced. We have a nut roast to worry about and a Christmas episode......

We're all so busy running about preparing for Xmas that it's easy to forgot today is the start of Jewish festival Chanukah. Chanukah isn't really that big a deal holywise in Jewish festival-land, it's just kind of got the most famous reputuation from being near the Christian present-giving festival and lots of Jewish children over the years looking sad without presents. As such it's probably the best known festival, recognisable by the lighting of......

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. Austinist wasn't as the NY Times dissed them and a local Tex-Mex institution sold out. Making them feel better was music, sweet music and the local theater getting name checked on "Heroes" Chicagoist tried to wrap their heads around a religious movie being banned from a Christmas themed park. To wash that......

After all the worry over bird-flu, environmental disaster and nuclear attack it's good to know that the UK's early warning system for just such a catastrophe works well. The threat of a tribute concert to Diana - Princess of Skiing Holidays is still in the planning stages, but thankfully we've been given plenty of time to evacuate. Anyone thinking of staying and attempting to weather the storm will probably want to take note of......

The 16-year old on trial for the murder of 15-year-old Kiyan Prince outside the boy's school gates has denied murder but admitted manslaughter. Two men were shot outside a club in Elephant and Castle in the early hours of Sunday morning. One is in a critical condition in hospital, while the other, who was reportedly shot in the buttocks, is in a stable condition. Congestion Charge alert: People living in the western extension to......

We slipped up on Photo of the Day yesterday. Does being threatened with a cavity search in Minnesota* sound like a feeble excuse? Well we have a doozy of a pic today and as long as we don't fall foul of the Patriot Act we may even have a couple of weekend posts to make up for the lapse. nic0's London Zoo: Masticating giraffe does exactly what it says on the tin and then......

It's been a while since we heard from Siobhán Donaghy - the much missed v.1 Sugababe. Her underrated debut album Revolution in Me failed to set the charts alight, but left even the normally cutting Stylus Magazine review cooing "It’s a long time since I’ve swooned around my bedroom like this. Oh Siobhán. I'm in love." Now as things come together with a new label and a second album, we caught up with the......

Last week an unfortunate combination of holidays and illness thwarted our well-laid plans to bring you the Friday Film News come rain or shine. Sorry about that. But fear not, the FFN is back to something approaching normality this week as we check out Owen Wilson’s latest lightweight comedy (You Me and Dupree), an Australian drama (Look Both Ways) and a hard-to-categorise-but-ultimately-heart-warming ghost-story (Volver). First up, You Me and Dupree – a trademark Owen......

Friday, Friday Fabric Live: Tonight dear old Fabbers is taken over by riotous Liverpool club Chibuku programming all three rooms. If the likes of Pendulum, London Elektricity and the Scratch Perverts isn't enough, then prepare to join a very long queue of people, upon realising producer-god Mark Ronson is playing live. Having recently worked on Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera and Amy Winehouse's new albums, you never know who could show up as a guest......

These listings appear 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 Chernobyl and the Nuclear Debate, Dana Centre, tonight Should we continue to commission and upgrade our nuclear reactors? It’s one of those fiendish dilemmas where both camps have strong arguments and are convinced of their position (and here’s an example). The situation’s a bit like......

After reading this piece, we've decided that Wandsworth is currently our favourite London borough to be ill in. Although anyone who's ever lived in Wandsworth, especially any of the bits that aren't Wandsworth Village, might claim that it's pretty damn hard to live there and not be ill. But we digress. Patients of Dr Alex Bobak will find, upon entering his South London surgery, that the waiting room has been transformed into a mini......