...make sure you chose somewhere that looks as though they take pride in cleanliness. After a campaign against dodgy establishments deemed a risk to public health, Moon Pizza - a Walthamstow restaurant popular with local schoolkids - was just closed down by Environmental Health after people working nearby saw "rats jumping from a window". Inspections revealed poor hygiene with grime and rodent droppings all over the shop, and covering containers intended for takeaway food.......

Just how far are you from a rat? We've all heard the urban legends but delve a little deeper into them with ratman Paul Cowdell at the next meeting of the South East London Folklore Society tonight. He'll be talking about his research into rat folklore as well as their natural history and what distinguishes London ratlore from that of other cities. SELFS meet upstairs at the Old Kings Head off Borough High Street......

We turn now to Lambeth, a borough with a proud pugilistic tradition, where an epic battle is raging between two of nature's most tenacious talents: Rattus rattus, or the black rat, and Lumbricus Terrestris, otherwise known as the humble earthworm. Sadly for fight-fans everywhere, the two species aren't set to engage in hand-to-hand (or rather claw to, er, 'wormy head') combat. The feud has been sparked by a wily caretaker at Dunraven school in......

Rats have taken over Muswell Hill. And we're not just talking about the clowns from Haringey Council who dumped those confidential documents a few months back. No, these are the genuine deal, the scurrying little beggars themselves, all brown of fur and sharp of claw. Residents in N10 have spotted sewer rats (species:Rattus evillus) ambling along Dukes Avenue and the Broadway, putting fear and terror into the hearts of locals without so much as......

To celebrate World Rat Day we bring you a top tip from Mike Atherton over at Trusted Places: the Rat Race window display at Wieden + Kennedy. That is, a tube map made from real tubes, running around which are real rats. Cute ones too. These are no disease ridden, scraggy traditional London sewer rats, however, but 21st century, media savvy, Shoreditch types living in run-around rodent luxury. They're even on Facebook citing amongst......

Being attacked from the rear when one's rear is most exposed, by something from the mysterious depths of the lavvy u-bend is a fear universally played on. Remember Arachnophobia? Heard of New York's sewer alligators? Pity Deptford's Maxine Killingback, then, who was distracted from the job in hand by the frantic scufflings and splashings of an unfortunate rat in her toilet bowl. Ms Killingback has rheumatism in her legs and back and couldn't move......

Another day, another transport strike looms: this time it’s South West Trains. Quick: What’s 7 + 8 + 4 + 9? Did you have to use your fingers to complete the calculation? Half of Londoners do. And it’s costing us £500 million a year. Right, so the money goes to a worthwhile cause, but please don’t name your child Ulysses. We’ll take our greens with a side of green, please: Camden Council wants to......

Talia has already covered the more common places to go dancing tomorrow night, but for a more alternative music New Years Eve, then wander over to Kings Cross’ Monto Water Rats to catch Brighton rockers Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster play a special New Years gig with support from Gingerbread Men, The Foxes and a few others. Alternatively, there are still a few tickets available for Super Fury Animals at Royal Festival Hall. The fun starts......

Remember the pigeon feeding turf wars of 2006? Well, the Pigeon Action Group are back in the news. A candlelit vigil was held at midday today on Trafalgar Square's north terrace (in daylight?) to highlight the plight of the poor starving birds. Westminster City Council closed the loophole that had allowed certain pigeon protestors to feed the birds on a daily basis back in September to make the public square more hygenic and pleasant.......

To be honest the rain and coldness is kind of making us not want to go to gigs at the moment, preferring instead to wrap ourselves up warmly at home. But if we did, this is what we'd be bouncing at. Monday: The biggie tomorrow is of course Led Zep at the O2, but you've more chance of meeting Santa than getting tickets for that. So instead, forget the dinosaurs and try something new......

OK, so maybe not kills, although it might, but it is bad for you. Details to follow. A new report shows that shopping in an area with a high volume of traffic has a worse affect on your lungs than walking around a park. For a moment this looks like one of those no shit Sherlock stories; however, the study is specifically related to people with asthma and the effect that diesel engines have......

Here’s what we learned this weekend, whilst you were drawing up your Christmas card lists (or crossing people off them): It’s been a bad weekend for London’s performers, with even the ROH being dissed, and one band getting the worst review this Londonista has ever seen. But it has been a great couple of days for pussy cats, with three of them being rescued from a derelict flat, and another being turned into a......

28. Urban Legends Of The Underbelly! Urban legends are often vague, friend-of-a-friend tales (FOAFtales) similar to ‘Chinese whispers’, in that they are distorted, exaggerated and through generations of storytelling, they become myth, embedded in our society. For the last fifty or more years there has been a sinister legend pertaining to the London Underground that a mysterious, possibly caped figure, lurks in the cold tunnels, and is known for the ghastly act of pushing......

Every so often we come across a band from overseas that we love. We listen to their album 100 times in a row and then check their live dates, only to discover their last UK date was about a week ago and there are no more planned. This happened a few months ago when we finally got round to listening to Thirteen Tales of Love And Revenge by The Pierces. The band is made up......

Tonight start the week by going to see massive Swedish popstar Marit Bergman at Hoxton Bar & Grill. She's playing a one off UK gig in an attempt to get signed in the UK. (£6, here. Former Hefner frontman Darren Hayman teams up with fledgling band The Wave Pictures at The Luminaire (£8, here). Plus the awesome Cold War Kids play Shepherd's Bush Empire. On Tuesday, German dance kids Digitalism are at the Scala......

As reported last week, Monday should see you going crazy to hear that one good song (are there others) by Peter Bjorn and John at the forum. More importantly make sure you get there in time to see support act Those Dancing Days. We caught them at Water Rats on Saturday and are pleased to report they combine cuteness and moodiness with alarming grace. The much loved Beirut play an instore at Rough Trade......

Some of our favourite Scandinavian bands are coming to the UK in the next couple of weeks and we thought you better know about them. First, the most mainstream, Robyn will play her first live dates since everyone woke up and realised she was actually amazing, at The Scala on Thursday. The gig is unsurprisingly sold out but there are tickets currently knocking about for face value on Scarlet Mist. The weekend is filled......

Kick off the week tomorrow with Stephen Fretwell at Cadogen Hall (£15). The singer songwriter is touring his 3rd album "Man On The Roof" and by all accounts it's pretty good. Or if you like your things with a bit more soul (or rubbish pop depending on your point of view) then the 'legend' that is Craig David begins the first of four dates at Ronnie Scott's (£25). The Mercury nominated one man dream-machine......

Editors start a three night residency at Brixton Academy on Monday (17.50, here) but the real treat has to be Reading's squelchy electro boys Does It Offend You Yeah? shuffling their stuff at Barfly. Campy London trio Palladium are at Madame JoJos (£7, here and dreamy Canadian shoegazers Stars play The Scala . The incredibly bouncy Operator Please have flown in from Australia on Tuesday to take part in the NME Freshers tour alongside The......

Just after seven, and we're arriving at the Monto Water Rats, rushed and slightly late having dashed across London, expecting to see an already performing Crispin Mills et al and a small crowd of appreciative and nostalgic thirty-somethings. Instead though, there's a sign announcing that the band wouldn't be playing for anoher two and a half hours. Having split just three years after their seminal record, K, in 1999, the various members of Kula......

Or, stuff you think about London that's true but is actually rubbish. 2. Dick Whittington and his cat. Everyone enjoys a good story. Especially one with a happy ending, interesting characters and familiar friends. Well this Londonista was a bit shocked and annoyed to discover that Dick Whittington's cat was completely made up. Well, that is to say there's no evidence to show it ever existed. For those of you who can't remember, let......

Experimental hardcore stars The Locust play The Underworld on Monday night. Tickets are £12 each, and still available for box office collection. Emo favourites Circa Survive play the Barfly, though tickets are long gone. The Ravonettes play Bush Hall for a sold out show, former Japan frontman David Sylvian plays Royal Festival Hall, with a smattering of tickets available at £37.50 each. John Mayer plays the first of two sold out nights at the Royal......

Monday night sees mad Australians Architecture in Helsinki come to the capital to play Koko after a stop off at Bestival this weekend. Tickets are £12.50 each and still available for box office collection. Faithless play the first of two nights in the capital at Shepherds Bush before moving on to Brixton on Tuesday night, which is mostly sold out though there are some balcony seats left. KT Tunstall plays an instore at HMV on......

It seems summer is officially over now (though it seems to have never properly arrived really…), and with that the early autumn tours start to make an appearance. First on Monday night are two bands that are playing at this weekend’s Connect festival, Modest Mouse and the Polyphonic Spree. American band Modest Mouse play the Forum, with standing tickets sold out, but still with seats available at £18.50 each. The Spree brings their triumphant show......

Except they’ve moved to a tip in Croydon and are decidedly less furry than their 1970s incarnation. When Channel 4 advertised for volunteers to participate in a prize eco-challenge, most of the respondents were anticipating the jungle, or polar icecaps perhaps. What they actually ended up doing was living as modern Borrowers on rubbish for three weeks. Literally. They were plonked in a municipal refuse dump in South London and told to get on with......

Sometimes a story comes along that is so unbelievable it can only be presented in the style of The Sun, with lots of emboldened words. This is one such story. A couple face jail after inspectors found 316 rats in their one-bedroom flat. Stephanie Taylor and John Gooch of Staines kept the rodents in what sounds like atrocious conditions. The creatures were crammed into small cages, living on top of each other. Many had......

Remember those heady days back in the late 90’s when Feeder were good? 'Just a Day', 'Buck Rogers', stuff like that? Well, if you miss those brilliant pop-rock crossover tracks then look no further than Mute Math, a New Orleans fourpiece who manage to combine the pop-rock of Feeder with the strength and musicianship of Biffy Clyro into their live shows. Playing last night at Monto Water Rats, Mute Math were the last to......

It seems that half the country (and Londonist staff) is on holiday at the moment. Still, here's the best of what's on musically across the capital this week.Jazz singer-songwriter Norah Jones  is the highlight of Bank Holiday Monday night, playing with M. Ward at Hammersmith Apollo. Tickets are sold out, however be sure to check out scarlet mist and other providers. Meanwhile hardcore punk stars Bane play Underworld, with £10 tickets available either on the......

Bit of a slow week for live music with most larger bands travelling around Europe doing the festival thing. However, what better time to go and see a band you haven’t heard of – you might get a nice surprise! Monday night sees Dwarves bring their simple loud, yet nuanced punk repertoire to Monto Water Rats. Tickets are still available at £13 each.  If free things are of more interest, woman of the moment Kate......

Mayor 'wobbles' over West London tram. Man burns down his wife's house...twice. No rats smelled in connection with the other double fire in the news. A two-tier parking scheme is introduced. The peerless Diamond Geezer, as usual, spots what the rest of us missed. The Olympic Park is now closed off for five years of development. He describes several walks around the derelict land that are now impossible. Image courtesy of [windscreen fly] via......