That'll show 'em

(Quick note: After today, City Slicker is off to recharge its urban battery. Back with a vengeance Monday 14th August.)

What an odd week it has been. We left July, the hottest one on record, behind and woke up to leaf dropping temperatures. And for perhaps the first time in English history nobody is talking about the weather. Temperatures have gone the equivalent of Naples to Norway all in relative silence.

How decisively un-English. When there finally is a reason to inveigh against the weather everybody is left speechless. C'mon Londoners, show us some spirit, some passion, or just simply some reaction. A bit unsure? Take inspiration from Mr Commute Suit Man(pictured here). Fed up with being hemmed into someone's armpit on the Underground, he reacted with the space hogging people deterrence outfit. Now that is a true reactionary.

So let's show them how it's done with a little of our own spirit. Here we have the second edition of City Slicker's 'Week's action, Weekend reaction.'

1) No Thursday is not the new Friday, that is why it's Thursday. But we fell for the old pub house propaganda, yet again. And we are recovering from our reckless abandon, or just that pint too many, with a vow to react with a healthy weekend. And what better way than to head to Regents Park, NW1 for Fruitstock, a weekend festival put on by the nice guys from Innocent smoothies; complete with music gigs, a farmer's market, yoga lessons and a poetry slam corner. It's free, fun, laid-back, and all a bit well, fruity. www.fruitstock.com 020 8600 3177. 5th Aug & 6th Aug. 12PM-9PM.

2) Still sticker shocked by the news from New York that Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics magnate, paid a record $135 million for a Gustav Klimt painting. As if we need reminding that all those £14 lipstick purchases do add up. React by getting your own summer collectible at the 100 @ £100 art sale at Bankside Gallery, SE1 (just behind the Founders Arms pub on the Southbank). 020 7928 7521, www.banksidegallery.com. Thurs 3rd Aug to Sun 20th Aug. 11-7 Daily.

3) Feeling the itch to be a bit indy, a bit trendier than your ignominious Big Brother addiction, react by heading to West London's Portobello Film Festival www.portobellofilmfestival.com for a free collection of short and long films in a number of locations around the market area and beyond. And after that dose of culture, secretly loving Miami Vice will be even more of a cheeky thrill. Runs Thurs 3rd Aug to Tues 22nd Aug.

And that's it for now. Back a week from Monday.