Things To Do In London Today: Friday 15 March 2013

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RED NOSE DAY: Comic Relief's Red Nose Day is back, so expect to see a few people walking around in pyjamas today. As well as the event below, we have a list of some of the capital's fundraising events, take a look here

GIVE BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at the Emirates Stadium and St Olave Parish Church on Fenchurch Street. Free, just turn up, see site for times and conditions

STONE SCULPTURE: An exhibition of stone sculpture opens today at The Stone Theatre Gallery, which celebrates the relationship that sculptor Paul Vanstone and landscape photographer David Anthony Hall have with the ancient and natural world. Free, just turn up, until 10 May

KNITTING (K)NOSES: Old Spitalfields Market has teamed up with The Knitter magazine, which is bringing its team of expert knitters to the market to raise money for Comic Relief. Pop along for a customisable knitted red nose with all proceeds going to the charity. Free, just turn up, 11am

EXHIBITION TALK: The Virtual Insanity-Virtual Expression exhibition, where you can experience the role of new technologies in jewellery making, is halfway through its run at The Goldsmiths' Centre. But today you can attend its 'Behind the Curtain' event where you can try the technologies for yourself. Free, prebook, 12.30pm

LUNCHTIME TALK: Join British composer, Michael Nyman at the Institute of Contemporary Arts for a talk on his illustrious career as a composer, musicologist, pianist, conductor, author and film-maker. £5, prebook, 1pm

HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE: Professor Claire Preston delivers this talk on how Thomas Browne and some of his 17th Century contemporaries helped develop a scientific language to match the scientific advancements of the period, at The Royal Society. Free, just turn up, 1pm

LUNCH MUSIC: Singer-songwriter Alex Taylor plays acoustic guitar in the Royal Festival Hall foyer. Judge for yourself whether comparisons with Bill Withers, John Martyn, Damien Rice and Jeff Buckley are justified. Free, just turn up, 1pm

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

GIG: The Dan Reed Band are playing the Camden Underworld this evening. Be part of the crowd for simple acoustic songs with world sounds and samples. £16, prebook, 7pm

POETRY, MUSIC, HUMOUR: A bit of everything in this evening where Chrys Salt and Alan Franks, two award-winning writers and performers, present a selection of their own work. Free, prebook, 7.30pm

FAMILY CEILI: Get the family in the mood for St Patrick’s Day with a free family céili at the London Irish Centre. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm

SOHO: Actors Rebecca Steele and Daniel Dresner perform works about Soho, including from Virginia Woolf, Samuel Johnson, William Burroughs, Casanova and Lenny Bruce. £10, 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

COMEDY: This is your chance to see people off t’telly in a small club: Ardal O’Hanlon and Shappi Khorsandi are at Headliners in Chiswick, along with Topping and Butch and Simon Bligh. £12/£10, prebook, 9pm

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Random London Fact of the Day
Reader Roger Bridgman provides today's dose of trivia:

Dubious London fact: In an early attempt to control immigration, Heathrow was chosen for London's new airport because it was the only place near the city with a name totally unpronounceable to all foreigners. There's an H to defeat the French, a TH to defeat nearly everyone except the Spanish, an EA that's pronounced EE to defeat the Italians, an R to defeat the Chinese and a W to defeat the Germans and Russians. It was just luck that it happened to be on a nice flat bit of land suitable for aeroplanes.

Actual London fact: Heathrow was originally a little row of houses on Hounslow Heath called, reasonably enough, Heath Row. You can see it on old maps.

London Weather


Today's forecast comes from Harold Godwinson, last Anglo-Saxon king of England. The regal meteorologist can be found on the side of a weather station in Hastings, where he predicts a range of weather conditions. Sadly, raining arrows is not among them.