Museum of London's latest's wheeze is to bring magic and mystery to their Late in the form of one Pete Hathway who will be performing street magic and cunning trickery to astound you a week today, whilst mystical tours of the galleries will be pointing out the more sinister objects, like witch balls and curses in Roman gall. Ew. To get the atmosphere just right, they need a suitable soundtrack and are stumped. We......

Edward T. Meyer is the Vice President of Exhibits and Archives for Ripley Entertainment. He's worked for the company since 1978, and has personally acquired more than 20,000 exhibits. He took some time to answer a few of Londonist's questions about the new London location of Ripley's Believe It or Not, which opens today. Why did Ripley’s Believe It Or Not decide to open a London location? London is one of the greatest cities......

The artwork that will adorn the ceiling of the first gallery at the Natural History Museum is a tree. Not, I'm afraid, the one we were bigging up the day after the launch of Darwin 200. But a tree nonetheless. A "17 metre-long permanent installation" of a tree, "cut lengthways to include the roots, trunk and branches." Wowsers. Artist Tania Kovats' concept was selected by judges from 10 proposals and will be unveiled on......

Last night, we attended the launch of Darwin 200 at the Natural History Museum. If he was still alive, Charles Darwin would be an actual living legend, due his 200th birthday on 12 February 2009. Clearly he's dead but that's no excuse not to have a national programme of activities around his life and work, especially since it's also nearly 150 years since the theory of evolution was pronounced and "Origin of the Species"......

Islington may get a bad rap once in a while, but Londonist still loves it. And we’re not alone: A new museum has opened on St John Street celebrating the borough and its history. The Islington Museum details the history of the borough from its humble beginnings as Iseldune village and spans the centuries including accounts from residents during the two World Wars and a bust of Clerkenwell-resident Lenin (formerly in the Russian embassy).......

Interesting concept this. What would Martian anthropologists make of us Earth-dwellers if all they had to go on were examples of contemporary art? The Barbican Art Gallery, disguised as a museum on the red planet, plays out this indulgence in a new exhibition. Those crafty aliens have bagged some prize exhibits. Warhol, Hepworth, Hirst - and a Henry Moore maquette, covered in molluscs for some reason. Dozens of cultural relics are scattered around in......

After the (non-)scandal of (un-)banned Tube posters, the works of Lucas Cranach the Elder are now well and truly on show at the Royal Academy. Painter, print-maker, illustrator, businessman, propagandist, and huge fan of the female nude, this is Cranach's first major exhibition in Britain. And while you're gazing at all the nakedness, remember; this was a mate of Martin Luther, and those erotic female nudes are all about Protestant devotion. Honest. Openings Ahoy!......

A few weeks back a group of Flickr folk, led by Annie Mole and supported by Trusted Places and the lovelies at Flickr themselves, were given free tickets to run amok in the London Transport Museum with their cameras. The Museum reopened in November last year following a major revamp and what better PR could the place wish for than a load of London photographers taking nearly 700 snapshots, posting them on Flickr and gushing......

As part of a multi-billion pound investment programme, the cross-city Thameslink line is to get a brand new fleet of trains. Southern Railway, who will be operating the new stock when it comes into service next spring, will deploy 44 carriages to run northwards to Bedford instead of terminating in Blackfriars as they presently do. Good news for commuters who do the daily yo-yo up and down Thameslink's fifty-odd station route. However, we were......

As we mentioned briefly before, Thursday brings the East 2008 Festival. For six days, a cornucopia of performances, exhibitions, workshops, food and other events ensures entertainment with emphasis on promotion of the best of East London. Here’s our pick of the mix: 6th March: F-EAST - artists Wiebke and Nicholas Morgan cook a meal from 12 recipes from a Nigel Slater cookbook, and serve it for visitors as an exploration into ownership and the......

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 officially Spring and by Pisces it's lovely out there in the sunshine. Crocuses have been spotted in Highbury Fields so our biggest recommendation for expenditure light trips this week is get to the parks and into the gardens and witness the miracles of the changing seasons. If you're in need of more artificial stimulation, however, and are squirrelling all your spare cash into your ISA before the end of the tax year then......

For those of you with a penchant for furniture with an artistic flair or pretty but undeniably useless knick-knacks, your mecca is open for this weekend only. FORM: London - which takes over Olympia National Hall until 2 March - falls somewhere between massive gallery experience and fantasy shopping excursion. Featuring items from understated hand-carved furniture to large-scale paintings to surreal centre pieces. And everything can be taken home if the contents of your......

‘It’s new and it’s bloody scary,’ says the tourist blub. ‘C’est nouveau et terriblement effrayant,’ it repeats in French. Well, you try sounding menacing in that language. ‘Eine neue, unheimlich gruselige Sensation.’ That’s more like it. We prefer the German, especially as ‘die London Bridge Experience’ carries an apt definite article. London’s new tourist attraction beneath guess-which bridge opened its doors yesterday. (After two days of PR misery when power failures scuppered the media......

A list of London's most popular attractions in the last year have been named. The British Museum took first place with almost 5.5 million visitors thanks to the help of a motionless army. Museum heads attributed the 12% spike in visitors to the First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army, the British Museum's most popular attraction since King Tut's goods were on display in 1972. If you want to go toe-to-toe with an army that won't......

There’s a new, rather large, kid on the block. Today, London’s new movie museum, The Movieum (geddit?), has opened its door to the public, catering to the interest of those, who were left wanting, when the Museum of Moving Image (MOMI) was closed in 1999. The Movieum, situated in County Hall on the South Bank, claims to be both tactile and academic, displaying props and sets from a variety of British films, as well......

Al Fayed and his Royal Ghouls conspiracy - Macca, Mills and the millions - enough already!! Science Museum specialists to strike over pay... Unsurprising since London's streets may as well be paved with gold Junior suffrage in action as Young Mayor of Tower Hamlets elected (are you registered to vote in May?) Eels attempt to put the Royal back in Festival Hall Image courtesy of Shutterbuguy via the Londonist flickr group.......

If you could get the Sarcasts (Digg), the Grunts (YouTube) and the Silent (Londonist’s forgotten readers’ forum) into a room together, what would you hear? The Science Museum might have the answer. New installation ‘The Listening Post’ slaps up random content from hundreds of chat rooms simultaneously, bringing you an orgy of words. “It is an awe-inspiring ‘portrait of chat’,” says the press release. Alan Partridge is having wet dreams. The installation debuted in......

There's something of a Valentine's theme to the Arts of choice taking place in the capital this week. But Londonist knows for every young Juliet embracing the idea of timeless romantic love, there's a Bridget hugging her near-empty vodka bottle, crooning to Chaka Khan. So, in the name of balance, here's a varied, half 'rom', half 'com' round-up for you all. Shows for Swingin' Lovers: Photographer Gregg Stone, has been taking snaps of kissing......

The book grocer’s coffers are chockfull of goodies this week, so let’s jump right in and get shopping... Monday: Crikey. Take a look at author and critic George Steiner’s publishing credits and you have to wonder whether the man has actually slept in the past fifty years. Yet the premise of the prolific writer’s most recent work, My Unwritten Books, is that there are actually some subjects that Steiner has purposely left unexplored. Join......

We're considering giving our notice at Londonist Towers and upping sticks for a new home. Specifically, we want to move into Jean Prouvé's Maison Tropicale. The prefabricated bungalow, standing on the front lawn outside Tate Modern, is in London as part of the excellent Prouvé retrospective at the Design Museum. Dating from the 1950s, the Maison was an attempt at creating lightweight, flat-pack housing for colonial authorities that could easily be loaded into a......

To round up the weekend here's some of our Flickr friends' shots of Chinese New year celebrations around town. From the parade on the Strand courtesy of CdL Creative's Flickrstream. I can see you.... courtesy of magda:)'s Flickrstream. RDFZ dance troupe perform in the Great Court, British Museum courtesy of McTumshie's Flickrstream.......

Congratulations – you can read! (Presumably. Unless you just look at Londonist for the pictures.) Literacy is sexy. Hyper-literacy, even sexier. Or so we at Londonist tell ourselves as we don our Coke-bottle glasses and curl up each night with a bottle of wine and a dictionary. But enough about our steamy Valentine’s Day plans. What have you got planned? Now, you may have inferred that we’re a jaded lot over here at Londonist.......

Happy February, FOBGs. Another healthy serving of book groceries awaits you this week. Stick to a well-rounded book diet, and you’re sure to stave off a winter cold. We have no actual data to support this contention – we’re book geeks, not science nerds – but it certainly sounds promising. So eat your greens, drink your grains, and check back later this week for a bonus edition of the Book Grocer especially dedicated to......

As this Thursday’s the first Thursday, you’re likely thirsting for some First Thursday activity. Fortunately for you First Thursday thirsters, there’s a first-rate event worthy even of your chock-full diaries (you might even note it in ink, but we’ll leave that difficult decision to you): The Museum in Docklands keeps its doors open late this week – we’re going to be coy and let you guess the day – with a lineup that will......

Is it just us or was January rubbish? Nice then that February, with its special extra day this year, commences with Brazilian Carnival, yummy pancakes and Chinese New Year... it's like a whole new start for 2008 and lots of it totally FREE! Monday: Get some Monday Love at the Inspiral Lounge, Camden Lock as UK Indymedia host their radical film, talk, and music night. Free entry for all those who still believe in......

The Chinese New Year Celebrations in Soho are undoubtedly one of the highspots of London’s cultural calendar, and this year there’s a load of extra stuff (some would say hype) going on ‘cos of the Beijing/London Olympic connection. Last year’s ceremonies were the biggest outside China, and this year’s look set to be even more impressive. So here’s a special Londonist round up of where to see and what to do…. 6th February: kick......

Beware the pornographic perils of Bluetooth Chelsea Barracks sold for incredible £959 million - expect imminent Sloane explosion as 2000 luxury apartments move in Afghanistan soldiers' exhibition up for award at National Army Museum Home time warning - trains between London and Milton Keynes are suspended Happy birthday Thames Barrier, 25 today! Image courtesy of Simon Crubellier via the Londonist flickr group.......

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......

The Book Club is dead! Long live The School for Gifted Children! Robin Ince's Book Club, for the unacquainted, was a delightfully ramshackle evening of intellectual mirth and experimentation, which was given a grand farewell in December at the British Museum. Tonight The School for Gifted Children kickstarts the glorious sounding N20 Comedy Festival for show, stories, songs and outright lies in the dinky Studio 68 at Battersea Arts Centre. Robin Ince is in......