It was only two days ago that I happily sat in the View London office, typing merrily away on my keyboard as I’m doing now to bring you all a rather charmingly witty (if I do say so myself) blog about East versus West – the Notting Hill Carnival goes head to head against the new Shoreditch festival Eastern Electrics. See Eastern Electrics Versus the Notting Hill Carnival blog for the full story...

Well, you can imagine my crestfallen little face when I finally got an email this morning confirming the secret location of the Eastern Electrics festival on… Southwark Street! Hang on a minute, isn’t Southwark Street in, …

Films seen so far this year: 288
Films seen this week: Chocolate, Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, The Duchess, The Banishment, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, Hunger, High Plains Drifter

RIP: Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes
Last week saw one of those weird coincidences where two Hollywood stars die within a day of each other. It's slightly weirder this time round because Bernie …

When you think of beer festivals what do you imagine? Lager louts quaffing copious amounts of the dark stuff on an afternoon out, rotund bellies and plenty of sideburns, or an eclectic mix of all types of people sharing a passion for the most British of drinks – the good old pint. I have to admit I do prefer a more girly cocktail, but after doing a couple of beer tastings I have developed a certain taste for it, albeit in half pint options!

Well, whether you’re a budding beer connoisseur like me or a CAMRA member, this event may be of interest… From noon each day of the bank holiday weekend (Friday 22nd August-Monday 25th August) people of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds will descend on Brew …

There’s nothing we like more than a celebration. And with the news that team Great Britain is raking in the gold at the Olympics – more this go around than any in the last 100 years, apparently – we figure that we should celebrate our success before the wind down this weekend.

First things first, of course, and we’d like to pay homage to our hosts for 2008. One of our favourite Chinese restaurants in the capital, Kai Mayfair, has created a special Beijing-inspired menu inspired by the city’s most famous dish, Peking duck. Despite the dish making …