Things To Do In London Today: 19 November 2012

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TICKET ALERT ONE: Tickets for the Aldwych station tours go on sale today through London Transport Museum.

TICKET ALERT TWO: Be ready at 10am for the first release of Donmar Warehouse £10 front row seats for the upcoming all-female production of Julius Caesar.

LUNCH MUSIC: Listen to the Jubilee Quartet play Schubert during your lunch break at St Martin in the Fields. Free, just turn up, starts 1pm.

OUTSIDE ART: Spot Anthony Lister's east end murals before they get graffed or cleaned off and drop by his Soho show for a more formal exhibition

HISTORY: Learn about the Renaissance on the first day of London History Festival at Kensington Central Library. Tickets £5 from any K&C library, starts 7pm.

FILM: The London Iranian Film Festival begins with documentary Dark Room and feature film Here Without Me at Apollo Piccadilly Circus. Tickets £11+bf in advance, £15 on the door. Screening starts 8pm.

GIVE BLOOD: Stop by the Hop Exchange in Southwark or Freemason's Hall in Covent Garden to donate today.

BARNET: Documentary, the Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble will be screened at the House of Commons, Committee Room 12. Free, just turn up (early to get through security), 6.30 for 7pm.

BODY SNATCHING: Find out about murder and grave robbery in 1830s London with a talk from author Sarah Wise at Museum of London. Tickets £7, concessions £6, pre-book, runs 7-8.30pm.

DANCE: Young Israeli contemporary dance company Batsheva Ensemble makes its UK debut at Sadler's Wells. Get there early as security will be higher than usual, protests are expected. Tickets £12-£32, book or turn up, starts 7.30pm.

FOOD WRITING: Peckham Literary Festival begins with Ms Marmite Lover at Persepolis. Free, just turn up, 7pm.

COMEDY: Sketch group Wit Tank are back at the Courtyard Theatre in Shoreditch for their autumn residency, with some special guests. Tickets £5, pre-book or just turn up, show starts at 8pm.

LIVE MUSIC: Showcase Live presents up and coming artists, Charlie Brown, Relics, Andreas Moe, Jukeboxx and Jackie D Williams at Under the Bridge in Fulham. Tickets £11 online, book. Gig starts 8pm.

SHORT PLAYS: Watch a trio of new, darkly comic, short plays at the Short Cut Festival at Tristan Bates Theatre, Seven Dials. Tickets £8, conc. £6.50, pre-book or just turn up, show starts 7.30pm.

Random London Fact of the Day

The British Optical Association Museum near Charing Cross provides a history of the optician's trade. This is far more interesting than you might expect. As well as dozens of macabre-looking glass eyes, the museum also contains the frames of Dr Crippen's glasses (missing the lenses, with which he tried to slit his throat) and a Long-Necked Jedi eye from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

Weather

Morning sun will struggle behind cloudy bits before giving in to grey and wet spells in the afternoon. But you enjoyed Sunday, right? BBC Weather tells you more.

Random Hidden False Rumour Of The Day
Gordon's Wine Bar on Villiers Street holds an annual 'Gordon day', when people of that name assemble for a free glass of vino. Messrs Strachan, Brown, Ramsay and Sumner have all been guests of honour, but former host of the Krypton Factor Gordon Burns refuses to attend.

Photo by Glen Scott via the Londonist Flickrpool.