Long before her notoriety as a cog in the creaking machinery of George W. Bush's ineptocratic administration, Condoleezza Rice trained as a classical pianist to concert level. On Sunday, having expressed a wish to do so during her final months as Secretary of State, she joined members of the London Symphony Orchestra in performing a private recital for Queen Elizabeth, which was helpfully captured on video. Par for the course, HM herself looked suitably bemused,......

The Royal Institution in Mayfair has kept a low profile these past couple of years while its Albemarle Street HQ has undergone a major revamp. But now it's back. And how. The venerable science venue, perhaps best known for its Christmas lectures, was reopened this afternoon by none other than Her Majesty. Well, one other actually, as hubby was along too. Oh, and throw David Attenborough, Heston Blumenthal and a range of Lordly dignitaries......

Merry Christmas! (Or, if you’re not so much into the whole Christmas thing, Happy Tuesday!) We hope you’re having a very lovely Christmas day. If you need a break from the family madness, here are a few things you might want to take a peek at. On TV, Londonist likes: Top of the Pops Christmas Special (BBC1, 13:30-4:30)) Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates present this look at the year’s most popular acts – and......

Her Majesty The Queen is now the oldest monarch Britain has ever enjoyed. Hang on, that sounds pervy. Let’s try again. Queen Elizabeth II today becomes the oldest British monarch. That’s better. The AFP, taking no chances that she might die overnight, filed the story thus: Queen Elizabeth II was set Thursday to become Britain's oldest monarch.. She surpasses Queen Vic, who snuffed it aged 81 years and 243 days. But our Liz will......

It’s cold outside this week, so it seems like the best plan is to cozy up on the couch and watch some telly. Why would you want to risk frostbite? On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 12 November I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here (ITV1, 21:00-22:30) It’s off to the jungle yet again with Ant & Dec as they guide a new group of “celebs” through as many disgusting tasks as you’d......

Here’s what we’ve learned this weekend: Today is Remembrance Sunday which actually falls on 11th November - Armistice Day. The Queen and other Royals attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall last night. The Ceremony of Remembrance and Cenotaph Parade take place on Whitehall from 10.30am with Two Minute Silence at 11:00am. There was some pomp, circumstance and kids with strawberries on their heads at the Lord Mayor's Show yesterday. The......

There are a number of well worn excuses for not giving in your homework on time. The dog ate it. You left it in your locker. You left it at home. It was taken off you by the school bully. A student at Imperial college by the name of Brian May has come up with quite an original effort having given in his PhD thesis 36 years after he began it. According to this......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 11th June 1988: The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (a.k.a. Mandela Day Concert) takes place at Wembley Stadium. On a scale approaching the Live Aid concert that took place some three years earlier, more than 600 million people worldwide tune in to watch the epic day-long concert featuring dozens of high profile bands protesting against the apartheid regime in South Africa and the ongoing incarceration of Nelson......

Would you like to see the Queen gagged and blindfolded? If monarchy muzzling is one’s thing, one should really get oneself to Barbican Art Gallery. There, in homage to Liz’s Silver Jubilee and the 30th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ romp down the river playing God Save The Queen, is an exhibition of punk art like never seen before in Britain. Forget bringing a picnic lunch and wading knee-deep through sproglets in the gift......

HM The Queen is on a state visit to the US this week. Buckingham Palace has received another grand old lady in exchange. Or so contributor 'Drakus' would have us believe. Keep sending your images of a distorted capital to londonist - at - gmail - dot - com......

A great interview with Marianne Faithfull gives us our favourite quote of the week: "I lived on a wall in Soho" Turns out that Marianne was a little preoccupied with drugs to notice what else was going on in Soho in the 70's, but now she's had the chance to go back in her new film Irina Palm: The grandmother from the shires is offered a job giving hand relief to clients whose faces......

Congratulations to Dame Helen Mirren on winning the Bafta. The Queen won Best Film too. Christ knows why. South Londoners are to give trees a boost with a new planting scheme. While children are to give birds a boost with a new... erm... birding scheme. That letter bomb confession turned out to be a load of crap. And Sue Lawley is unleashing her might to save Sloane Square. Go Sue!......

Wannabe French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, rallies French expats in Old Billingsgate What must it have been like to be blind during the Blitz? Nonagenerian Baroness takes a tumble down a Westminster esculator. The Queen and Tony Blair to be granted a special audience with Shilpa? Let's hope Prince Phillip isn't around. Ballerina flash mob thinggy tomorrow. The numerically inaccurate 'Balcony' image courtesy of Homemade via the Londonist flickr group.......

The nominations for the Oscars (or the 79th annual Academy Awards if you're bing picky) have been announced: Best Picture: The Departed Babel Letters From Iwo Jima Little Miss Sunshine The Queen Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) Peter O'Toole (Venus) Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) Best Actress: Helen Mirren (The Queen) Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal) Penelope Cruz (Volver) Meryl......

Down in the midst of the Londonist music dungeon we've got our fair share of ideas as to which bands are going to be high up in our last.fm chart at the end of 2007. That said, we've not afraid to see what other people are saying and steal their ideas. So when Poptones boss and all round legend Alan McGee told The Guardian that he thought uplifting pop group The Revelations were going......

This Day In London’s History 1990: Pandemonium in Westminster as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fails to win outright victory over Michael Heseltine in the Conservative Party leadership contest. Following a lengthy period of discontent from her own party, including the resignation of Sir Geoffrey Howe from his position as Deputy Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s leadership was formally challenged for the second time in as many years, this time by Michael Heseltine. It was widely......

Poor old Liz has put her back out (we didn't know Phillip still had it in him - being gagged so often must have got his goat up) and while she couldn't make the actual races (a lot of long faces there we expect) being the trooper she is nothing was going to stop her attending a lunch given by the Stewards at the Jockey Club. Sadly this injury has got in the way......

Been a while since we had a good Royal story - we sometimes forget all about them, but thankfully years of inbreeding means that the next blue blooded blunder is just around the corner. This one involves a fold up bicycle: The Queen's nephew Lord Linley refused to apologise yesterday after he was photographed pedalling along King's Road in Chelsea with his four-year-old daughter perched precariously on the rack of his folding bicycle. The......

This week - A look at the actions of the Queen and Tony Blair in the wake of Diana's death (The Queen), a lecture by Al Gore on climate change (An Inconvienient Truth) and a thriller about a famous LA murder (The Black Dahlia). First up, The Queen. This is definately the film of the week, and by the sounds of it, the British film of the year. Her portrayal of the Queen won......

More acts have been confirmed for the inaugural BBC Electric Proms, taking place 25th-29th October this year. The Electric Proms is looking to create "new moments in music" (there should probably be a trademark symbol there) so needs to be something other than just being another set of gigs. To this end each of the artists appearing has been challenged to come up with something innovative for their performance that reflects the ambition of......

Since Alex James' sideproject Wigwam crashed and burned, and Damon Albarn announced the end of Gorillaz, we've been feeling slightly more confident in claims that we'll be seeing a new Blur album by the end of the year. Now it seems there are not one but two new projects that may sadly be getting in the way. With Gorillaz on the backburner, Damon announced several weeks ago that he was a member of a new......

American intelligence officials monitored e-mails sent by the leader of the 7/7 bombers and tipped off their British counterparts that they considered him a threat. Motorists now have an extra day to check the back seat for lost change. Drivers no longer have to pay the congestion charge on the same day that they crawl into the charging zone. Brockwell Lido is to undergo a multi-million pound refurbishment which will create 50 jobs.. One......

If you're in London for the Bank Holiday weekend but would have quite liked to have gone abroad, then head to South Bank where you can pretend you're in Morocco from Friday until Monday. To celebrate the UK debut of Taoub, a new circus and acrobatics act from Tangier street theatre group Collectif Acrobatique de Tangier, the South Bank will be taken over by fabric tents offering everything Morroccan with free live performances, food,......

Time once again to take a gander at a couple of shows coming up over the next seven days that have shone out from within the Londonist Music inbox. Most of the action this week is taking place in sold out venues across the capital with names such as James Blunt and The Magic Numbers re-invigorating the (qu)easy listening genre, whilst Kanye West continues to be the biggest name in hip hop since the......

It's a rite of passage for any Londoner (or anyone who's walked up Tottenham Court Road, at least) to be accosted by a man who trades from the back of his van, usually offering some heavily discounted speakers. Apparently, if you're posh enough to live in Hampstead or Marylebone (we hardly need to tell you that Londonist writers don't fall into that category, not on our wages), you get an upmarket version of this:......

Glory be! The Queen Mum - bless her, she was such a comfort to the East End during the Crimean War - is to get a memorial on the Mall. A competition has been launched to find a designer for it. Londonist expects that the choice that Liz herself would have wanted - a branch of Threshers with a Turf Accountant next door - will not be among the inevitable shortlist of bland, artless,......

Is there anything the Queen can't do? Not only does she have unparalleled skills in waving and feigning interest (Gawd bless 'er), as well as truly world-class expertise in accepting bouquets of flowers from snot-nosed hellspawn in national dress (look, it's a demanding discipline, alright?), she is also gifted with previously unguessed-at journalistic skills. Brenda was in Canary Wharf today to open the new Reuters building with its tickertape flim-flammery, and filed a story......

Crimewatch reconstruction of Sally Anne Bowman murder throws up some new clues. Charles Clarke rules out a public enquiry in to July 7 bombings. The FSA thinks that too many of the top financial institutions' back up sites are based in London. Ken has one of the charges dropped against him but might still be charged with 'bringing his office into disrepute'. The Queen files a story at Reuters. Like journalists didn't have a bad......

What are the Royal Family for? As an anachronistic reminder of our forelock-tugging, hierarchy-beholden, deferential past, they're about as welcome in modern Britain as the sticky can of Stella you find hiding behind the sofa six months after the party. The sticky can of Stella won't demand to be shuttled around the world in grand style with an endless supply of gin, either. As Londonist is always loathe to miss a chance to slag......

There were numerous sites I could have picked to write about here. Stuff that I've been reading for years, day in day out like the brilliant Morning News, the consistently entertaining Coudal Partners, the almost legendary Robot Wisdom, and the old favourites like Kottke and Plasticbag. But in the end I picked a site that I've only recently (i.e. in the past six months) started to read regularly: Defective Yeti. Defective Yeti is not......