As the Olympics get closer, all kinds of sponsored and branded merchandised for the London 2012 Olympics are being announced. It was inevitable that Transport for London would catch the merchandising fever, and have announced special edition London 2012 Olympic Oyster Cards to commemorate the Olympic Games.

If you’re like me and applied for loads of London Olympic 2012 tickets in the ticket ballot but didn’t get a single one, then instead of moping around at home on BBC3 during the summer, why not try your luck in getting free tickets for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee?

Is Westminster going to introduce street parking charges or not? What might have been a simple, under-the-radar introduction of a new charge on motorists parking in the borough has turned into a full fiasco, with the latest revelation that council boss Colin Barrow is quite the collector of antique parking meters.

Knife crime in London has always been a thorny issue over the last few years. Personally, I feel that there’s been too much hype and media coverage – all major cities will see some degree of knife crime – and I don’t see London as being particularly endemic.

Fancy watching the London Olympics next year on a big flat screen telly, lounging on a big comfy sofa? Now you can, and next to the Olympic stadium too! Outline Planning Prmission has been granted for a huge gigantic outdoor sofa and TV next to the Olympic village on Forman’s Fish Island.

Following the footsteps of other visionary cities in the world, London is taking small steps to offering free wifi throughout central London. Nokia has announced a limited two month trial, offering free wifi at certain locations throughout the city.

David Cameron must not have expected this when he imagined his idea of “Big Society”. The residents of the wonderful town of Staines, feeling very self-conscious of themselves about the association of the Staines name with “Ali G”, voted 2-to-1 in a poll to change the name to Staines-upon-Thames.

The route for the Olympics 2012 torch relay has now been released, and its going to take a mammoth 70 days through the UK. 95% of people in the UK will live within 10 miles of its route.

The origin of the traditional tiered wedding cake hails back to 18th Century London. It is said the story began with Thomas Rich, a baker’s apprentice from Ludgate Hill, who fell in love with his boss’s daughter and soon asked for her hand in marriage.

Have you passed by a Krispy Kreme store or their in-store displays at Tescos and have had to do a double-take? Thought someone had read the wrong date and played an April Fool’s prank more than a month early?