Admittedly, Russell Brand, the British comedian and actor, probably best known in the U.S. for his role as Aldous Snow, a rock star in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, can go a bit over the top with his humor.

Because he will be hosting the MTV Video Music Awards tonight, he is on U.S. entertainment radar again. However, it's an earlier appearance on David Letterman in May that caught my attention.

This account of why he missed his first scheduled appearance on David Letterman pokes a bit of fun at U.S. immigration without being anti-American. According to him, Brand wasn't allowed back in the U.S. after a trip to Britain to promote the movie because of his past record. Although he doesn't specifically state his past problems, they have to do with drug issues for which he has had treatment.

Basically, Brand's hilarious style of story-telling captures an interesting cast of players and circumstances at U.S. immigration. I do think he's embellishing, but it's funny. For example, he describes a Gambian man wearing an American flag tie under going questioning and hones in on the stereotypes of people who look suspicious.

You might have thought that London was already expensive, but next year you can look forward to budgeting even more money when visiting the English capital. Mayor Boris Johnson plans to raise London Underground train and bus fares next year by an average of 6% above the inflation rate.

What exactly does that work out to? The cheapest London Underground fare which you can get by using an Oyster prepaid card will rise to £1.60, or $2.85, in January from the current price of £1.50. That doesn't seem like a huge change, but for people -- and even tourists -- who use public transportation on a frequent basis, it certainly feels like it.

The current London Underground cash fare for a ticket -- £4 -- is reported to be the highest in the world for a subway system; apparently the city really wants to keep its ranking.

The Boston.com segment "The Big Picture" has an overview of some fantastic photos of London "from above, at night". They are the work of aerial photographer Jason Hawkes and are the most beautiful aerial photos I have ever seen.

The photos were taken from a helicopter, using a digital camera mounted on a gyroscopic mount and the article has photos of most major London attractions, including the London Eye, Tower Bridge and Big Ben. If you love London (who doesn't?) then I highly suggest checking out these photos, as well as some of the other work of Jason Hawkes.

(Photo from jasonhawkes.com/Boston.com)

There's been a couple of big stories in the London newspapers this past week. One is the full fledged anticipation of the 2012 Olympics after the so-called "hand off" on Sunday, as Josh wrote about recently. Another is the fact that shamed pedophile (and former British pop heartthrob) Gary Glitter is back on British soil after being released from jail in Vietnam (he served three years on charges of sexually abusing children).

But another story, which hasn't been as hyped, could impact you as a traveler more.

BAA, Britain's largest airport operator, is expecting a ruling from the country's Competition Commission that will order a break-up of its airport holdings, on the grounds that one company owning so many of Britain's major airports is not good for the country.

The result? BAA is likely to have to sell two of its airports, maybe more.

BAA owns giant Heathrow, and also Gatwick, Stansted, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Southampton.

Most pundits are speculating that Gatwick or Stansted are on the block (and perhaps both), as are Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Obviously, holding onto Heathrow will keep BAA a powerful market player.

What does this mean for you?

Any time competition trumps monopoly the consumer could win, in terms of better and more varied service and better prices. There are rumors flying around that a group of airlines is thinking of pooling its money and buying a BAA airport. Ryanair is one airline denying that it's looking into buying an airport (in this case, Stansted, a major hub for the carrier). With airlines in control, they could save on costs and, in theory at least, pass that on by way of lower fares.

The BAA isn't buying the competition argument, however. It says that owning Heathrow really doesn't translate into a competition issue with other British hubs because Heathrow isn't vying against them for business. Heathrow is going up against other European and International hubs, like Paris, Amsterdam and Dubai.

People in Britain like to point out how relatively uncommon, if not to say unheard of, gun violence is in their country. What they tend to overlook is that you are far more likely to get a knife stuck in your ribs.

OK, that's a bit of an overstatement. But here in Europe's largest city they are cracking down on knives in a big way.

Last night, surfacing from the Angel Underground stop at around 8 p.m., I saw at the station's entrance police hastily setting up portable metal detectors -- two of them -- through which they would choose people at random to walk.

Others seeing this might have been confused at first. But only the night before, walking through Leicester Square in London's tourist-heavy West End, I came across the same kind of checkpoint: Two metal detectors right in the middle of one of the square's thoroughfares, maybe eight police officers, and a line of mostly younger-looking night revelers who had all been stopped and told to walk the line, so to speak.

It was a seriously odd sight in the middle of the heavy flow of foot traffic, these detectors, surrounded as they were by the humming clubs, theaters and pubs of the district. It seemed almost funny. I stopped and asked an officer what was going on.

"Metal detectors," he said.

"I can see that. But what are you looking for?"

"Knives."

London is about three months into a massive initiative to curb a significant surge in knife violence this year, which has already claimed the lives of nearly 25 Londoners, mostly teens.

Hugs all around. If you're near someone give him or her a hug. If you're by yourself, just wrap your arms around yourself and squeeze. MMMMmmmm.

By the end of the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, when the credits rolled in the U.S.'s broadcast version, I was once more feeling warm and fuzzy, just like I did at the end of the opening of the games. Again, I'm a real Pollyanna sometimes.

The shots of athletes hugging each other, even if they were not on the same team, (like this photo posted on AOL) or with their hands thrown upwards in triumph--or in tears--either from joy or abject disappointment, revved up emotions--at least mine. As one of the commentators said during the closing, the games do give a sense that there is hope. Yes, we can all get along. The hugs seem to prove it.

Hugs, if you noticed, were given out by EVERYBODY--it didn't matter the nationality of the hugger or hugee, whether it was for a feeling of triumph or in comfort. If not a hug, at least a pat on the back or a rub on the shoulders was offered and accepted.

While I watched the closing, I also thought about how the performance arts of a country can reflect the cultural values of the people who live there and influence the emphasis on how the art is used.

The closing ceremonies of Beijing '08 were not quite as spectacular as the opening ceremonies.

Not quite, but almost. There were still plenty of people wearing LED lights, drummers and acrobats climbing tall structures.

London got a chance to do their "we're hosting the next Olympics" skit. It sucked in comparison to the other performances of the evening. There was some guy who looked like an gray-haired Jimmy Page. (It was obvious that the Stones said no to the gig). And Beckham kicked a ball off the top of a bus that had magically converted into some sort of green lump.

While they shake off their Olympic withdrawals, some people are passing the time by guessing what the opening ceremonies are going to look like in '12. Here are some of the ideas:

1. They will hire the cast and crew of the Beijing opening ceremonies and perform the exact same show.

2. They will tap a different film director, like Ridley Scott or Madonna's husband, and offer an unlimited budget to create a series of whimsical dance numbers featuring soccer hooligans and those guards with the furry hats.

3. Beckham will be, under order of the queen, part of the ceremony. Fine, as long as he doesn't have to say anything in that high-pitched cockney voice or take his shirt off.

Whatever they come up with, it's going to be great.

Unfortunately, fans will have to wait until 2011 to get their hands on some of the 7.7 million tickets up for sale.

If you like Mexican food, then Europe typically offers nothing but frustration.

I've been living in Europe for nearly four years and I have never stumbled into a "Mexican restaurant" that hasn't ended up being only the thinnest interpretation of this revered cuisine. Europeans cannot do Mexican, for a number of reasons, but it comes down mostly to a blandness of palate that does not demand much on the flavor scale.

So, a Mexican joint is usually at the bottom of my list in terms of options.

Imagine my surprise, then, to arrive at Wahaca in London last night, the city's hottest Mexican restaurant.

I was encouraged right away by the line snaking out of the door and halfway down the street. And I wasn't disappointed: Wahaca is a seriously good Mexican restaurant that infuses its dishes with the requisite heat and flavor that you'll find if you spend long enough eating in Mexico.

The place's name is obviously a transliteration of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and features what it calls "Mexican market food," small plates of simple tacos, quesadillas and tostadas filled with basic, but flavorful, ingredients. I tried the quesadilla filled with chorizo and potato and sampled the salmon ceviche tostada, which had some really good heat to it.

There are bigger dishes on offer, as well: Burritos, enchiladas and grilled fishes.

They get salsa right here (two kinds, green and red), habanero figures in a lot of dishes, and there is a whole menu of variously aged tequilas.

Perhaps best of all, it's not that expensive.

The restaurant recently won Britain's best "cheap eat" award. I wouldn't say Wahaca was cheap, but with many of the dishes in the $6-$8 range, it is cheap by London standards.

I usually don't like recommending restaurants, but I will in this case. If you're a fan of Mexican (and I'm talking Mexican, not Tex-Mex) and are in London, try Wahaca.

In a city as vast as London, eating out can be at both times challenging and easy.

Easy, in that you can pretty much fall out of one restaurant and into another here -- and challenging, because the facility of that fall makes it difficult to discern a good find from a tourist trap.

Another challenge to eating in London is that Londeners are keen diners-out, and reservations at many of the places worth your time can be hard to come by.

And then there's the expense of London restaurants.

That's where TopTable comes in.

TopTable is Britain's answer to OpenTable in the U.S., allowing you to search for restaurants and book instantly-confirmed reservations online. You can also find pithy restaurant reviews and menus for many of the eateries listed.

What I like most about TopTable is a link on the left hand side for special offers. This allows you to search for, say, London restaurants currently offering 50 percent off menus or two-entrees-for-the-price-of-one specials.

Searching in London, you can simply indicate the neighborhood where you would like to dine and see if there are any restaurants in the area offering special discounts. I'm writing this from an apartment a friend is renting in Covent Garden. Checking places for this evening, I see dozens of places with offers on right now, from free glasses of wine to free entrees.

I don't think you should always let you wallet dictate where you eat dinner, but in London, especially these days, you have to look for ways to stretch your money farther.

I've been in London not much more than an hour and I've already spent $61.74.

The breakdown went something like this:

• $31.62 -- Stansted Express from Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Station (one way, 45 minutes)
• $24.18 -- Oyster Card purchase for London Underground, plus $10 in ride credit (good for 5-8 rides on Underground)
• $5.95 -- One pint of bitter at the pub where I now write this

It's not news that London is expensive. Gadling's recently departed blogger extraordinaire Iva said as much in her dispatches from the British capital earlier this year.

Still, the sheer expense of doing anything in London beyond strolling through museums is enough to make you think twice about visiting.

For me, this is a shame, this slight anxiety I get before every trip here, knowing as I do that I am going to part with some serious cash. London is a city I want to keep within my steady European rotation, a place with which I've long had an affiliation: I lived here for three years as a kid; it's the birthplace of my brother; some of my earliest experiences as a traveler were had rediscovering the city as an adult.

According to the Associated Press, Americans in general are abandoning Britain these days, largely due to the weak dollar, which has made quick hops over the pond more costly than ever.

The AP says American tourists numbers are down 120,000 from this time last year. That's not an insignificant number: The British government estimates that those lower numbers translates to about $650 million in lost revenue.

I should point out that it's not just Americans who are thinking twice about London and the rest of the UK. The British government says overall tourist numbers are down 5 percent in the last year.

Right now 1 GBP is worth about $1.85.

I would continue my lament, but my friend is currently looking through the Internet and asking my thoughts for a restaurant tonight. I can almost hear my wallet now, protesting...