And we’re not just talking about the hills of the Chankly Bore. Londoners are being advised to batten down the hatches on Monday morning, when a rather ferocious weather front is predicted to romp across the UK. The Met Office has gotten all serious on us. After that weather forecast, they have of course been awfully careful, but this seems to be more than the normal, jovial ‘wrap-up-a-bit-warmer’ banter. And even our favourite meteorological website......

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......

Today, in the evening, Led Zeppelin are showing us a whole lotta love by bringing it on home. Instead of going to California, or even over the hills and far away to Kashmir, their first reunion rock and roll concert for 27 years is happening at the 02 venue on the Greenwich peninsular. In real heartbreaker news, Londonist read the physical graffiti (OK, bit weak that one, we know) a bit too late – there......

Mobile phone thieves beware: Londoners are fed up with your antics and they’re not going to stand by anymore. One man in particular is roaring mad. Russell Clarke, a City worker, was having coffee with his wife and baby daughter at Daisy’s in Walthamstow when a skilled thief approached their table and, using distraction techniques, diverted their attention long enough to steal his wife’s mobile phone. When he realised what had happened, he gave......

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......

Leonardo DiCaprio was yesterday nominated for an Oscar for his role as Danny Archer in Blood Diamond, while his co-star, Djimon Hounsou, is up for a Best Supporting Oscar. The film directed by Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, The Siege) is first and foremost an action movie although it does do a good job of highlighting the misery caused by the illegal trade of conflict diamonds in Africa. But is it any good? Well......

There's not much more to say about the weekend ahead except... "Whoosh! Whee! Bang! fffsssssssssstttttt....POW!" It's Bonfire Night so London is going to be quite preoccupied with either getting as close as possible to some pyrotechnic displays or heading for the hills far away from the fireworks. In case you need any other distractions between now and Monday, here's a slightly truncated Culture Crawl for those who would rather get their thrills from non-exploding......

We were upset to learn that the tobacconists Bonds of Oxford Street are no longer Of Oxford Street. The premises that they occupied for the entire childhood of one Londonista has been invaded by a shop that sells handbags. Bonds have been relegated to some backwater trading estate in SW16. Sentimental adolescent memories are attached to that purveyor of fine tobaccos, cigars, and pipes of all distinctions, shapes and sizes; we bought our first......

Well we finally got our own American style terrorist threat level and it's already gone all the way up to 4: The government today made public its official assessment of the threat of a terrorist attack, warning that it is "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely. The five-level categorisation is published for the first time on the MI5 website, and is one degree short of the most severe rating - "critical", which......

This week: The Proposition, The Child, and The Hills Have Eyes. Plus all the usual film news and Trailer of the Week. Let's kick things off this week with a look at The Proposition, John Hillcoat's Aussie western starring Guy Pearce and scripted by Nick Cave. Londonist reviewed this film recently and gave it a resounding thumbs up (can thumbs resound?) and it looks like at least two out of our three regular broadsheet......

You may have noticed London was looking a bit festive in an Oriental style over the weekend. The Chinese lunar Year of the Cockerel ended on Saturday and on Sunday the Year of the Dog was ushered in with simultaneous events in Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. In previous years the event has been celebrated only in Chinatown itself with restrictions on the amount of firecrackers and fireworks that could be used, keeping......