Four years, countless consultancy fees, umpteen broken promises and many millions of pounds later, Clissold Leisure Centre in Stoke Newington is finally re-opening this weekend. For those who've not followed the saga, here's the story in brief. In 2000 the Centre opened amidst a brass band's worth of pomp and publicity, the very model of a modern, major, New Labour endorsed Lottery-funded Millennium project. Come early 2004, the facility was closed, having accumulated a......

This coming Saturday (by which we mean 1st December) sees a sort of eco-bonanza in Dulwich – fair-trade festivities and eco-friendly gifts galore are being offered alongside Tai’Chi, belly-dancing, story-telling and, most importantly, beer. The organisers are amongst other things attempting to draw attention to a Dulwich-wide initiative to outlaw the plastic carrier bag as a harbinger of evil, and introduce jute or cotton shoppers: as such they have commissioned local school kids to come......

Paul McCartney's ex was in London yesterday for a photo shoot for the charity Viva!. Along with Heather Mills, Viva! would like us all to please eat less meat, dairy and other animal products in order to reduce global warming. We fully applaud Viva!'s commitment to the environment, and thoroughly enjoy names that feature punctuation, but we wonder how effective this campaign really is going to be. While we can't personally see switching to......

This Sunday TfL take over the North London Line. Yes, the service also known as the loony line and infamous for fare dodging and criminal activity on unmanned stations is getting a rebrand. Goodbye (good riddance) Silverlink! Hello London Overground. The long neglected, feared and cursed service that links Stratford with North London and pootles all the way around the West to Richmond is being brought into the TfL fold. It's even getting coloured......

Something is stirring in the catacombs beneath London Bridge. A cache of skeletons has been uncovered close to the steps where Nancy betrayed Bill Sykes. And construction workers on the site of a new museum are too afraid to work as tools go missing and lightbulbs explode. What sounds like the cover blurb of a Neil Gaiman novel is being presented as fact over on the BBC. Apparently, two Kentish brothers building a new......

If you've been past the Bow Street entrance to the Royal Opera House lately you'll have seen Royal Ballet principal dancer Edward Watson smouldering gingerly in a full face poster shot, stating: Meet Ed. Fact: When he's dancing, pound for pound, he's stronger than a rhino. Superheroes really do wear tights. You see what the Opera House is doing? It's sexing up. In your face! To underpin its efforts at drawing in new audiences......

A slap on the wrist for Londonist - we're three days late in previewing this year's Oxjam music festival, and we haven't even got a "dog ate our homework" excuse to cover our blushes. Must try harder next time. So what is Oxjam? It's only the most fun you're ever likely to have raising money for charity. Throughout October, thousands of budding Michael Eavis's are promoting gigs and club nights across the country. Working......

Film maker extraordinaire Quentin Tarantino has arrived in the UK to promote the DVD release of his latest film, Death Proof. Nothing newsworthy in that per se. But the whens, whos and wherefores of this publicity event are nothing short of astonishing. Londonist has learnt that the movie icon snucked (or was dragged) along to Wimbledon Dog Stadium on Monday evening where he watched the likes of Shayne Ward, Charlie Simpson (from Busted) and a......

An occasional column on the forces behind the capital’s economy. Potemkin, a Russian-themed vodka bar on Clerkenwell Road, has unveiled an intriguing set of five cocktails whose recipes will be tied to stock prices. It’s not an entirely new idea. We (barely) remember a night at the Dax bar in Hannover, and there’s the near-famous Dow Jones in Barcelona. The twist this time around is that Potemkin will adjust the alcohol content of its drinks......

…the way that apparently a lot of people have as this photo has been doing the rounds. And no, it is not part of this week’s ‘Touch Up London’ competition. It is, rather, one of the publicity shots for the much touted $30 million film, FLOOD, which is due to wash up in a cinema near you from Friday. Based on a book by Richard Doyle, it has a huge wall of water charging......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

Given that a member of Transport for London's Special Projects Team had assured us in his interview only a couple of weeks ago that the celebrated Tour De France publicity caravan would be commencing its parade around the Prologue circuit at 1:30 pm last Saturday we were more than a little startled when, as we sauntered gently along Constitution Hill at about ten past one, the first klaxons blared, heralding the arrival of a......

The Prologue of the Tour de France was quite a show. The view from the QEII centre front lawn was perfect, and a big screen broadcasting from the BBC helped dispel everyone's confusion at what the hell was actually going on. An early glass of fizz in the sunshine also helped. At lunchtime, the crowds had already built up in the sunshine and it was getting difficult to cross over the route at either......

Only a fortnight to go now before central London is engulfed by the two-wheeled juggernaut of the world's most celebrated race. "Le Grand Depart" is the title given to the weekend of sport and festivities from 6th - 8th July that marks the first visit to the UK capital of the Tour de France, a cycling contest in the same way that a royal wedding is a quiet ceremony in a local family church.......

Fresh this Week: Conceived in Jamaica, Elizabeth Marsh (1735-85) traveled further than most men, including eastern and southern India, visiting the world's biggest ports and naval bases, from Portsmouth to Rio de Janeiro. Author Linda Colley, author of In The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh, reads tonight at The London Review Bookshop, or you can hear her on Radio 4's Start the Week. Thursday 14, 7pm, LRB, 14 Bury Place, WC1A 2JL - Buy online......

London's blatantly getting on its bike. Next month, the world's largest annual sporting event, the Tour de France, freewheels into the capital for the first time in the race's 104-year history. You won't be able to avoid this juggernaut of an event, which will "see London turned into a huge cycling stadium" - so you may as well let out a deep sigh and throw yourself into it. The festival planned around the Grand......

And on the eighth day, God created overdrafts. And we all rejoiced and said “It is good” and hit up the high street for some more brand name labels and useless knick knacks. Banking: it’s not a glamorous business, really. They have been entrusted with people’s life savings, the fruit of their blood, sweat and tears, and what do they do? They make us jump through hoops like so many toy poodles in ballerina......

London Underground’s lost property department is a perennial staple for magazine writers looking for a quirky feature. Time and again, we’ve read about the unlikely sundries handed in at the Baker Street office – from false teeth to surfboards. One of the more remarkable items in the collection is an urn, containing the ashes of a person unknown. The inscrutable vessel was featured on the Arena Tube special on BBC4 a couple of weeks......

Nike (as in the shoes and shorts and other things associated with sweat - not the goddess) is in a spot of hot water. Someone thought it would be a good idea to make some limited edition crocodile shoes: Sports kit giant Nike is under fire from animal rights groups after putting a special edition training shoe made from crocodile skin on sale. The shoes come with 18-carat gold lace tags and cost £1,400.......

The stuff you find on the tube: An unpublished novel by renowned author Jeanette Winterson has been found at an Underground station in south London. The Stone Gods, by the writer of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, is not due to be published until September. Martha Oster, 27, said she was "amazed" when she found the 134-page manuscript lying on a bench at Balham station on Wednesday night. Penguin claim it was accidentally......

If we couldn't persuade you to go for a cycle to Brixton last weekend, maybe we can get you to go for a run this Saturday at 9am in Teddington? You wouldn't be alone, you know. Last time out 292 people took part in the Bushy Park Time Trial, a 5km (3.1 mile) weekly run open to anybody, whatever their standard, who'd simply like to turn up on the day and take part. Last......

We got more than we bargained for today, while in search of our lunchtime baps. This little incident took place on Neal Street, presumably as some kind of publicity shoot. What better fodder for a little caption competition. Use the comments to make us laugh.......

Eurovision Song Contest. Those three words have garnered so much undeserved scorn. And all because a bunch of singers representing countries come together on a big stage somewhere in Europe to sing some songs with poppy, up-beat melodies and sugary lyrics. What could be more fun? Hello. I'm Adrian, and I'm Londonist's shiny new Eurovision correspondent. I'm in love with Eurovision for its cheesy music, its wonderful sparkly spectacle, its joyous nationhood and its......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

On Monday Charlie Brooker wrote a heart-felt piece for Comment is Free entitled When it comes to psychics, my stance is hardcore: they must die alone in windowless cells: The audiences that psychics prey on are equally infuriating, albeit less deserving of contempt. They're just disappointing, like a friend who's let you down. Often, they're simply grieving and desperate. I mean, if you want to believe in psychics, fine. You're a dangerous idiot and......

There is almost nothing more upsetting than a life-size wax replica of a person. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, famous since the 19th century for its Chamber of Horrors, now features a life-size wax figure of Christina Aguilera. The songstress's exhibit also features a karaoke-style microphone that allows visitors to sing along with Christina. The wax statue does not move its lips, of course. It just stares at you. The waxwork is costumed as in......

Is there such a thing as bad publicity? The ban on posters for comedian Reginald D Hunter's show has got to give him more mileage than the actual poster. Dressing in a wig and frilly collars to advertise comedy seems about as cutting edge as those tedious insurance adverts with the talking parrot. If it weren't for the ban we wouldn't have bothered to check out the website and found out that the guy......

Congratulations to the five winners of our competition to win copies of the London Collection (Think Books) - put together by some of your favourite Londonist writers (plus Mike). The winners are: Mark Diggins Tim Markham Cicely Cooper John Kerswell David Constable They'll all be receiving their free copies soon. If you're not a lucky winner, you can pick up a copy of the Collection from any half-decent London bookshop, or via Amazon (ignore......

The Nelson Mandela Challenge football match between South Africa and Egypt scheduled to take place at Brentford’s Griffin Park stadium on Wednesday November 15th is in danger of being called off. Two weeks ago, the South Africa Times announced that this annual fundraiser would be moved to London for the first time “to raise its profile,” but, with the game less than a fortnight away Brentford claim to have received no more than a......

We've enjoyed ribbing Fergie for this one. The Black Eyed Peas singer has now denied confusing Tower Bridge with London Bridge in her video and publicity shots for her new song 'London Bridge' . I'm not saying it's about the London Bridge, it's just a London bridge Whatever.......