There are moments where London can be proud of its diversity. This is just one of them.

The London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival - the annual feast of the best gay cinema - is shortly upon us. This year's gathering in the capital will be the 22nd time it has been held in London, and each year it seems to attract more films and popularity. Our sizable gay community and London's film and cultural cognoscenti throng to the movie theatres to such an extent that most performances sell-out speedily.

The festival will run from 27 March-10 April, and they're squeezing in a hefty 241 films (including shorts). The full programme is already up at http://www.bfi.org.uk/llgff/film_programme.

Highlights in the programme include an exploration of Islamophobia and Homophobia ('Jihad for Love'), a sexy young London rom-com ('Love and Other Disasters'), Angelina Maccarone's take on female sexuality ('Vivere') and the story of an inter-sex teenager ('XXY').

Every year it always gets tougher to get tickets before they sell out, so book early - and it may well be worth signing up to BFI roundabout now, as tickets are released to BFI members before anyone else.

'Hoorah for the gays' is what we say. Pass the popcorn - oh, and the feather-boa too. Ta.

Image of Bell & Howell 16mm Projector Model 613H (1952) taken from innoxiuss's Flickr stream

Not only the world?s most famous graffiti stencil artist, England?s own beloved Banksy is also one heck of a studio artist. Don?t believe us (or any of the hype surrounding Banksy)? See for yourself at Andipa Gallery, where ? starting this Friday ? many of Banksy?s works is to be on view. Most of the exhibition is comprised of studio pieces, many of which are rare and previously unseen. One such rare work is an exceptional acrylic on canvas painting titled Sharks (with a biting price tag of about £40,000). However, a few of Banksy?s street pieces are included to demonstrate ?the diversity and breadth of Banksy?s output.? Unlike the studio pieces, the street art?s not for sale as Andipa Gallery?s belief is that ?street art should remain within its original context.?

Please note: Andipa Gallery does not represent Banksy; Banksy is not involved in the exhibition; the works by Banksy on view at the gallery were assembled from the secondary market.

Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008

Banksy from the collection of Andipa Gallery is on view from February 29 to March 29 at Andipa Gallery, 162 and 19 Walton Street, SW3 2JL. For more info visit Andipa Gallery website.

Welcome to Versus, where Londonist takes like for like and decides which one is more likeable

On a staid north London street, a battle rages between two implacable foes to determine the answer to that essential Friday night question: who serves up the finest kebabs in N19?

On one side we have Planet Kebabs, bombastically declaring on the frontage that it offers the "best kebabs on the planet". Directly across Junction Road we descry the more geographically circumspect Archway Kebab House, and its humble though grammatically dubious legend: "Probably the best kebab in UK". But to which of these stalwarts of the shish should you entrust your stomach?

With kebab shops, it's the little differences that matter. The pita bread at Planet Kebabs was suspect, and an unsolicited serving of garlic mayonnaise onto our doner caused a fatal loss of structural cohesion and a fumbled finger-licking attempt to salvage what meat remained. Archway Kebab House, meanwhile, were more judicious with their sauce deployment, and the quality of their hummus and salad combo rated significantly higher than their astral rival.

The winner is... despite there being little to discern between most of London's late-night kebabberies, we'll forgo the Planet for the subtler charms of Archway Kebab House. But really, we're just talking kebabs here, so for a late-night fix it's probably best to go for the one with the shortest queue.

So what's being blamed for this rash of dog-bites-underaged-man stories? One theory is that attack dogs have increased in popularity, becoming a "badge of honour in some communities."

While we're more used to seeing fancy little terriers, sprightly beagles and other toy-size dogs scampering through London's parks unleashed, barely noticing our presence, we'd be remiss to say we wouldn't be scared of a doberman, German shepherd or rottweiler bounding after us, fangs bared, on our Sunday stroll.

Some are calling for more restrictions on dangerous dog aficionados, though there are no more breeds being added to the banned barker list, which includes only the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro. However, city orgs, including the Met and RSPCA, are responding to the spate of dog attacks by launching a responsible dog ownership campaign, which will involve cracking down on delinquent dog owners.

Time to take Fluffy to obedience school or pay for the consequences.

The craziest dog pic we could find courtesy of stuart100's Flickrstream

Once is a happenstance, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a conspiracy. First the maid of Chalk Farm is painted over (since restored), then we heard the Rosebery Avenue cash machine stencil has also been defaced. And today, it seems the Clerkenwell Road 'Old Skool' pic has been 'collected'.

The mural had been surrounded by sheeting for a few weeks, so many suspected it was being removed. But who's doing it? Councils? Collectors? Banksy himself trying to stoke up debate (that cut-out stencil is new and looks like his style)?

And this is happening near Old Street.

What's going on?

Image from Steve J's Flickr photostream, with permission.

Forgive us our naiveté if upon spotting this photo we weren?t immediately reminded of a scene from West Side Story. From here it was a short imaginative leap to beatific visions of the Crips and Bloods at California?s notorious San Quentin prison resolving decades of violence through their portrayals of the Jets and Sharks.

Turns out it?s not quite as fanciful as all that.

Indeed, the California Men?s Colony is hardly San Quentin. Nicknamed the ?Country Club? and ?Camp Snoopy? ? the latter because of its resemblance to Snoopy?s doghouse and not, much to our disappointment, because of Snoop Dogg ? former inmates include Ike Turner and Timothy Leary. The LSW Prison Project, which was begun by Bruce Wall in London in 1997 and has previously received attention for its popularity at Pentonville prison, comes to CMC through the prison?s Arts in Corrections programme.

The results are impressive. It?s difficult to sell Shakespeare to impressionable youth these days, so we can only imagine the initial scepticism with which the Bard must be greeted behind bars. Yet, reviews have been enormously favourable, and the project?s even found itself a poster child in a 20-year-old whose initial 75-year sentence for assault was reduced to 21 months following his involvement in the programme. He will attend Oxford upon his release. It?s hard to argue with success like that.

And where Shakespeare paves the way, can snap-happy dancing gangstas really be all that far behind? As Lear said to Cordelia, ?Come, let?s away to prison: We two alone will sing.? Bard knows best.

Just days after a similar protest at the airport itself, the five activists, from airline campaign group Plane Stupid, gained access via a fire escape, having got into the building on visitor passes, and unfurled a series of banners, one of which read "No 3rd runway at Heathrow", another "BAA Headquarters".

For the second time this week, Londonist finds itself questioning the level of security at our key transport and political sites.

One protester, going by the name of Richard George, told the BBC that they intended to stay put until at least Prime Minister's questions at noon. At which, presumably, one of the questions Gordon will ask will be "who the bloody hell is that on the roof of the Commons"?

Image from the Greenpeace website. Special thanks to Olivier Bruchez for previous photo

Fortunately, there are as yet no news reports of the sky tumbling down.

No, it wasn?t a case of a bad couple of pints you got at the pub yesterday evening, nor was it the magnitude of the moment you were sharing with that special someone ? the earth literally did move last night.

Registering in at a 5.3, according to the British Geological Survey, it is the largest earthquake the UK has experienced since 1984. Centred in Lincolnshire but felt throughout much of England and parts of Wales, the quake started shortly before 1am and lasted a mere 10 seconds ? long enough, however, to leave people ? sorry ? all shook up. With the exception of a man in South Yorkshire who suffered leg injuries when his chimney collapsed, all other reports fortunately seem to be of nothing more serious than shaken nerves.

Here at Londonist Towers, this Londonista was just slipping off into semiconsciousness and dreams of Never Never Land at the time of the quake. As the building rattled, we had the distinct thought, This sort of maybe feels like what an earthquake might feel like if I we had any idea what an earthquake would feel like (okay, so maybe it wasn?t so distinct). In the end, we just attributed the shaking to a really good party going on in the flat above ours. There are always really good parties going on at all hours of the night at Londonist Towers.

How about all of you out there? Did the earth move last night for our Londonist readers?

Shibboleth pic courtesy of I.chaplin?s flickrstream via the Londonist Flickr pool