Things To Do In London Today: 23 November 2012


GIVE BLOOD: Fulham's community hall and Mile End's Ecology Pavilion both have donation centres today. Go on, it'll make you feel really good about yourself. Free, just turn up, times vary

ASTRONOMY: UCL invites you to explore your universe with a two-day programme of talks, demonstrations and hands-on fun. See the full programme here. Free, just turn up, all day

SKATING: Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland and its associated rink open today. This year’s rink is supported, sponsored or themed (it’s not clear) around Ice Age 4. £10.40, prebook, 10am-10pm

AUSSIES TAKE NOTE: Some big Australian ice cream company are setting up a booth shaped like a frozen tub in Victoria station. If you're an Aussie ex-pat, you're invited to enter the tub and record a 30-second message explaining why you'd love to win a free flight home. It'll be in the station on Saturday too. Free, just turn up, 11am-7pm

JAPAN: The annual Hyper Japan festival comes to Earl's Court, with food, technology, cosplay and many other wonderful Nipponese novelties. Runs through Sunday. £12, prebook or turn up, 2-8pm

FINNISH CHRISTMAS: Celebrate Noel the Finnish way, including food, gifts and traditions, with a Christmas fair at the Finnish church in Rotherhithe. Runs till 28 November. Free, just turn up, noon-8pm

TRANSPORT: Have your say on the proposed Northern Line extension to Battersea, at Sainsbury’s, 62 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2LF. Free, just turn up, noon-7pm

PARTICLE PHYSICS: A talk about the Large Hadron Collider and the search for the Higgs Particle takes place at UCL as part of their astronomy festival. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

LATES: Unwind after work with a spot of culture at the British Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A, National Gallery or National Portrait Gallery. Free, check websites for closing times and events.

POETRY: John Hegley and Chris Hardy are the poets at Fourth Friday at the Poetry Cafe. Free, just turn up, 8pm

COMEDY: Marcus Brigstocke is at Blackheath Halls making a case for restructuring society: The Brig Society, no less. £16, prebook, 8pm

A-Z OF HIP-HOP: The Doctor's Orders present a night of alphabetical hip-hop at Shoreditch's The Book Club, from ASAP Rocky to Zulu Nation. Plus, everyone gets a free poster of 26 of the featured artists. Free before 9pm, then £5, just turn up, 8pm-2am

BURLESQUE: Chaz Royale's 10-Year Anniversary celebrations at Bush Hall are hotly tipped, but tickets are selling fast. Tonight and tomorrow. £24.50, prebook, 8pm

ROLLER SKATE: The Friday Night skate starts at Wellington Arch. Anyone who feels competent on skates is welcome to join. Free, just turn up, 8pm.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC: An evening of artists from R&S Records, including James Blake, Space Dimension Controller, Lone and Pariah takes place at I Can Studios, Hackney Wick. £15, prebook, 10pm-6am

Random London Fact Of The Day

CS Lewis is to be honoured with a memorial in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. A curious fact about the Narnia author's death ranks among the highest echelons of unusual trivia.

Lewis died on exactly the same day as fellow writer Aldous Huxley. Two of the greatest figures in 20th Century literature dying at the same time would normally warrant pages of commemoration. But, by a remarkable coincidence, a life even more momentous was to be extinguished in Dallas, Texas. Lewis and Huxley expired on  22 November 1963, a date that would forever be associated with President John F Kennedy, a motorcade, and a grassy knoll...

Weather

Is it possible to photocopy the weather? Cos that's what it looks like the meteorological deity is up to. The aweless skies will be pretty much the same as yesterday, with some of the wind knocked out of them. Lazy weather-making, frankly. BBC Weather.

Secret Hidden False Rumour Of The Day
A corrective day is added to the calendar every four centuries, much as in a leap year. However, this only applies to territories to the west of the Greenwich Meridian. This means that Woolwich, West Ham and other places east of the line are technically younger than the rest of London.