"Undertakers are getting away with murder" say campaigners, metaphorically

The only certain things in life are death, taxes, and spiralling funeral costs. Campaigners in Teddington are outraged.

London Zoo imitates exact plot of Harry Potter - risks all our lives

First, Ohio gets overrun by escaped lions. Now London Zoo decides it’s a good idea to get a big snake. Not just any snake, a maneating Burmese python. And there’s more.

The snake arrives at the Reptile House almost exactly ten years after the famous scene from the first Harry Potter movie was filmed at the same location where Harry Potter accidentally releases a Burmese python from its enclosure.

So let’s get this straight: You’re unveiling a real maneating snake in the exact place where the exact same species of fictional maneating snake escaped almost exactly 10 years ago to the day, and doing so on the exact day 50 wild animals escaped to wreak havoc in America…I’m not one for superstitions, but take my advice people – stay away from Regent’s Park. Forever.

Archaeological finds get chucked on a skip, and other secrets of the Museum of London

They are being discarded because, and this is a brutal thing to hear, they have very little archaeological merit. History ouch.

The secret shame of London's fried chicken shops

A blog devoted entirely to South London fried chicken shops is here. What does this valuable social document tell us about the customs of the age?

London agenda for Monday 15 August

1. Listen to a wireless production of the Hound of the Baskervilles but in a theatre [Flavorpill]

2. Watch Milos Forman launch the Czech new wave at Rich Mix [Don’t Panic]

3. Watch out for Harold Lloyd and other silent classics [Ian Visits]

4. Contribute a piece of your blackened, broken heart to the Museum of Broken Relationships [Time Out]

5. Relax in Archbishop’s Park [Tired of London]

What would Chewbacca do?

Peter Mayhew says that Chewbacca would align with the Empire in riots. I think he’d grab a couple of Stormtroopers and sort it out, he tells the Mirror.

(H/T @norock )

London agenda for Friday 12 August

1. Bask in the very best music, food, learning, literature and rejuvenation while in the lakes, forests and parkland of Cornbury. at Wilderness Festival [Run Riot]

2. Tear it up in XOYO at Drop The Lime with Bart B More + AC Slater [Flavorpill]

3. Watch an investigative look into the effects of Donald Trump’s proposed luxury golf resort being built on what conservationists call the “crown jewels” of Scotland’s natural wildlife at You’ve Been Trumped [Don’t Panic]

4. Wow, a rare screening of The London Nobody Knows [Ian Visits]

5. See Corin Sworn’s Endless Renovation [Tired of London]

London agenda for Thursday 11 August

1. Check out a new Bloomsbury gallery by seeing All Things Bright and Beautiful [Le Cool]

2. Try 101 Harmless Scientific Experiments At Home [Run Riot]

3. Learn the truth about scientists at Brain Fever [Flavorpill]

4. Revel in the truth at Psychologist [Don’t Panic]

5. Find out how to build your own Berlin Wall [Ian Visits]

6. Buy books at the Kennington Bookshop [Tired of London]

Hey, listen to this kid explain to Boris why the city rioted

(H/T @BorisWatch)

Now is a good time to pick and eat London's blackberries

They are ripe, and they are juicy. Here are some good places to pick them and ways to eat them.