In yet another example of our special relationship, American cities are using clever marketing techniques to bring us subtle glimpses of their great land. This month the Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office will release a fleet of 25 branded taxis to mark the 2nd phase of marketing for Chicago UK, offering Londoners free rides around town on the first Monday and last Friday of the month. Apparently, the cabs are covered in ‘quirky phrases’......

Thanks to a lousy US box office reception, Grindhouse – the adored bastard sprog double-feature of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez – was hacked in two when it finally came here. Film nerds agog at the prospect of a three-hour neo-exploitationfest had to cough for Planet Terror and Death Proof separately, and miss out entirely on the geekalicious treat of the fake trailers that accompanied them. O cruel fate/boringly cautious distributors. But at last......

Fancy a trip to Israel? But don't fancy lining up at LHR to pile onto a tedious flight? This might be what you're looking for: a car rally from London to Jerusalem - in vintage vehicles, no less! As part of the State of Israel's 60th Independence Day, the Jewish National Fund is aiming to raise some £250,000 for residents of the Negev desert. Hence this 18 day rally, during which drivers will meander......

This week saw Londonist get incredibly excited about a few live music events. First up, was French pop sensation Yelle, who played an intimate show at the Old Blue Last. Then, we had the Camden Crawl line up which, as ever, is pretty amazing for those of us who value music over sleep. Finally, Sally got (understandably) excited about The King Blues @ the 100 Club. Once we've come down from our excitement of last......

Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

That's one of the relaxing conversation pieces to be found at a ‘Skeptics in the pub’ meetup. Tonight’s guest speaker is Dr Matthew Smith from Liverpool Hope University, who will talk about fate, the meaning of life and mid-life crises. We caught up with co-organiser Sid Rodriques to find out what skepticism is, and whether we should be skeptical of it. How would you define a 'skeptic'? A skeptic is someone who asks for......

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......

Thursday 7th February, 2008 will forever be the day that English club football did not so much cross the line as surge over it like the tape had just gone up at the start of the Grand National. The smaller Premiership clubs raced down the opening gallop, seemingly even more enthusiastic than the elite few to extend jet-set football beyond the confines of exhibition kickabouts. And yet, eight days later, it looks as if......

This week, our first literal touch up, as two of London's temporary statues get up close and personal. The image comes from Mike Miller, father of US rapper Wrekonize, whose malsized form can be seen squatting on the fire escape. No, we don't understand either. Please send in your distorted images of London to londonist - at gmail - dot com......

What a lovely day! Confused Kew think it's spring. Westminster Council wants to get sandwich boards and placards off the streets - how will we know where the golf sale is? Post-mortem fails to reveal cause of death in headless corpse case: um, it wouldn't be 'missing head', would it? Winehouse can't get into the US, so she's moving in with the Osbournes. Abu Hamza doesn't have a choice. Cab fare home on the......

Another reason (as if one was needed) for Londoners to be interested in the US presidential race: Democratic hopeful Barack Obama has revealed that he is a West Ham fan.. The White House hopeful's love for all things claret 'n blue stems from a visit to England five years ago, when his Kent-dwelling extended family introduced him to the passion of the Boleyn Ground faithful, and he's been hooked ever since. If Londonist recalls......

For over a year now Disney’s hit High School Musical has been pretty much inescapable, spawning two chart-topping soundtracks and launching the career of tween idol Zac Efron. The HSM bandwagon shows no signs of slowing down either, with the legitimate theatre production of the film playing a short stint at London’s Apollo Hammersmith Theatre as of June 30th. This new incarnation is separate from the UK tour, which begins on February 19th in......

Our weekly roundup of film reviews returns, courtesy of James Bryan… As we wallow in the truly miserable news that Aliens Vs Predator made more money at the box office last week than No Country for Old Men, we sigh and turn our attentions to this week’s offerings. The three biggest releases this week are all stamped with Oscar. We’ve got Johnny Depp singing in Cockney and slicing throats in Sweeney Todd, Tommy Lee......

The next time you're stuck in a black cab ensnarled in traffic on the North Circular, the rain sluicing through the cracked window onto your chinos, and the cabbie turns to you with a wry grin and cracks a line about how great the weather is in San Diego this time of year, be wary: this effusive endorsement of all things Americana may not be as innocent as it seems. US outfit Taxi Promotions......

Last October's clash between the Miami Dolphins and Superbowl contenders the New York Giants at Wembley was obviously considered a success as the NFL's commissioner, Roger Goodell, has announced that another regular season encounter will take place on our shores in the autumn... but not necessarily at Wembley, or even in London. Goodell said: The game in London was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the entire 2007 season. The fan interest was tremendous.......

Us and Paris have won an award for "visionary achievements in sustainable transportation and urban livability". Yes, such an award could only come from the US of A and it is courtesy of their Institute for Transportation and Development Policy that we are sharing such an honour. Ken's C-Charge scheme and best efforts to get us all on our bikes impressed the judges whilst we imagine our Parisian pals' fabulous Velib scheme won them......

There’s a new kid in the dock, and he’s mean. Meet the Zebra Mussel: 2” of pushy and persistent potential pollutant. This striped but somewhat scrawny mollusc is musselling in on the action at watery outlets up and down the London section of the Thames. The thalassic thug is perhaps yet another example of the new breed of capitalist Russians which are moving in on London. Londonist was actually jolly excited when she noticed this......

Lets face it, everybody loves a bit of zombie, there’s something oddly loveable about the undead as they lumber about feasting on flesh and being generally hungry. So what could possibly be better than a whole night of zombies on the truly massive and awe-inspiring screen that is the BFI IMAX? Absolutely nothing that’s what. The perfect date night in fact! The After Dark Zombie All-Nighter on 19 January features 4 of the best......

It’s almost Christmas! Over the Christmas holidays, we’ll be here every day recommending the best of what’s on television. We’ll do the hard work, slogging through the TV listings, and let you sit back with a nice hot drink and a mince pie. Enjoy! On TV, Londonist likes: Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1, 17:50-19:15 and 21:25-22:10) While we haven’t been keeping up with the excitement of this year’s dancing fun, we know lots of you......

After a quick break travelling the US, this Londonista is back to normality bringing the weekly roundup of whats happening in London. Monday night sees Oakland metal stars High on Fire grace UL. Tickets are available for £12 each on the door or from See tickets. Reformed 90's Brit rockers Shed Seven grace Shepherds Bush Empire, with a few tickets left at £17.50 each, if you really must indulge your nostalgia. Finally, Scritti Politti plays......

As another rock'n'roll revivalist spectacular pulls in the press, Londonist, once again, finds itself on the other side of town. Okkervil River are playing the last show in 3 months of solid touring and open tonight's proceedings by toasting the audience. It is at precisely this point that the references we have from shiny silver disc: lyrically dark, yet often beautiful, occasionally expansive US indie alt-county rock, get drop-kicked through the plate-glass window of......

Our weekly roundup of film reviews continues, courtesy of James Bryan… This week Kidman plays with her monkey in The Golden Compass, The Rock gets confused in Southland Tales, a famous person gets shot in The Killing of John Lennon and Donal MacIntyre cuddles up to some naughty people in A Very British Gangster. Ever since The Golden Compass was announced, devotees of Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy have been nervously waiting to......

Hundreds of fans flocked to Leicester Square last night for the London premiere of The Golden Compass. Fans who braved the slightly rainy weather were treated to glimpses of stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, along with the thirteen year old star of the film Dakota Blue Richards and director Chris Weitz. Based on the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights, the film has been the subject of much......

It’s probably fair to say that the couple of hundred people who wandered up to the Union Chapel in Islington last Friday were expecting a fairly low-key affair. Arguably the biggest name at the Little Noise Sessions gig in aid of Mencap was to be the compere, Radio 1’s Jo Whiley, although we accept that a few of the audience may have been a bit excited about US indie rockers We Are Scientists. Not......

This dance theatre performance based on Australian David Hicks' experiences as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay packs a lot of visual punches but doesn't speak up enough. Director Nigel Jamieson and choreographer Garry Stewart have created a powerful and breath-taking production that depicts the treatment of those kept by the US government without charge or trial through an astonishing series of aerial work and dance performed inside a huge metal cage. Projections of text......

Residents of Stoke Newington, you should be proud. Local proprietor Kirit Ved is flying the Stokey flag all the way up in Birmingham where, at a glittering ceremony, he has just been named Independent Newsagent of the Year 2007. VED News, on Church Street in N16, was singled out by the judges for its impressive range of newspapers and magazines from around the globe. Reflecting Hackney's polyglot populace, Mr. Ved stocks titles from the......

The National Archives show that back in 1967 there was a "grave security breach" when a diplomat, Mr Murray MacLehose, left the details of correspondence between Prime Minister Wilson and US President Johnson concerning the Vietnam war in a bank on Regent Street. It probably went a bit like this - Johnson - Are you sure you don't want to come and fight for the free world in Vietnam? Wilson: No, really, we're ok.......

At Londonist we are often chuffed when Londoners 'do quite well'. At least initially. Like most Brits, we love The Underdog - right up until that moment when they become A Loser. Then we slag them off vitriolically, sit arms-crossed in a huff on our collective sofa, mumble that we "never liked them anyway" and promptly forget all about them when the next Underdog comes along. What's cockney for 'schadenfreude' anyway? When Shirley MacLaine......

Tonight marks the climax of nine months' eager anticipation since we broke the news to you that the NFL was coming to town. Two days ago we secured a ticket via the final sale we mentioned last Tuesday and we can't wait for the action to begin at 5pm. If you're catching the game on TV (Sky Sports live, or BBC2 highlights at 10:50pm), you're in plenty of company. The game is being carried......

Living thousands of miles away from the White House doesn't mean you can't have a say in who's going to be living there come 2009. According to a report in The Times, London-based Americans have raised 40% of a $1 million overseas war chest for the candidates in next year's presidential election. Thus far, Barack Obama sits top of the class, with £36,000 solicited from Britain since June. His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has......