The Special Relationship

Sorry, I did intend to have a picture of the week's media love-in, Britney and Paris, here today. But this recent picture of Courtney Love in London was too tempting. Especially on the back of our new relationship with a 'No Smoking' Britain. So I hope you weren't after a high-brow debate about the terms of the real "special relationship."

No, we finally made it to Friday and after a week of conscious Brilton (c'mon, that's good) abstinence I am hungry for mind-free indulgence. Because don't you just love when two great franchises come together to form an even more powerful shallow entity? Sort of like Time Warner merging with AOL - the synergies and economies of scale are just so compelling for Brilton. Just look out for the radioactive cocktails girls.

And what about us ever stoic Londoners defying radioactivity on planes via impulse Christmas shopping flights to New York as the dollar plummets towards 50p? Too bad that $100 Nano costs $800 in airfare. But never mind those fuzzy maths. Let's set the record straight with the 17th edition of City Slicker's "Week's Action, Weekend Reaction":

1) Unimpressed by another year of Banksy's supposedly "non commercial" Santa's Ghetto? React by decidedly escaping mass produced trash and head to the East London Design Show in the restored Shoreditch Town Hall. Fri-Sun

2) Curious about all the crazed hype surrounding the temporary Reindeer Theatre at the Truman Brewery? React by joining in the mayhem of the funny, scary, pornographic, accordion-driven Belgian street opera trio, the Tiger Lillies. You have to love a criminal castrati. Sat, Sun performances

3) Hoping that this weekend's trial run of traffic-free Oxford and Regent Streets is a cracking success? React by retreating from the hordes of GDP-boosting shoppers by enjoying "Fashion Tea for Two" at the nearby Marylebone, trendy Mandeville Hotel.