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Listings
BANKSIDE: Merge Festival begins today, so if you're in the area watch out for artistic transformations in the 'hood. Have a look at the full programme online here.
UMEÅ: The Swedish town of Umeå has been named the European Capital of Culture 2014. This largely unknown town stops off in London for two days from today, so find out why it won the title at this hub on Southbank. Free, just turn up, until 20 September
SAMPLE SALE: Inspired by London Fashion Week? Shop designer labels at knock-down prices at the Mayfair Sample Sale at 56 Davies Street. Normal entry cost is £2/£1, just turn up, 12-8pm
RICHARD III: A lunchtime lecture at the Wallace Collection has their Curator of Arms talking to Bob Savage, a man who has handled Richard III's bones. "Killed the Boar; Shaved his Head': The Violent Death of King Richard III" is free, just turn up, 1pm
BEER: Oktoberfest comes early to Kennington Park. Free admission (take beer money), just turn up, 4-11pm
LONDON FILM: Tickets are still available at time of writing for cult East End feature film Bronco Bullfrog (6pm) and also for the Chris Petit double bill, Surveillance & London Labyrinth (8pm) at Barbican Cinemas. Tickets £8.50 online, £9.50 on the door.
CIRCUS: Gerry Cottle’s Wow! Circus Show is on Hackney Downs with 50 acts spanning Cabaret, Carnival, Circus, Comedy Chaos and Daredevil acts. Tickets £13-£25+bkg, Thursday to Sunday, 5pm & 7.45pm
SUPER 8: It's a DocHouse Thursday at the ICA, with a screening of Our Nixon, based on Super 8 home movies of Richard Nixon, plus panel Q&A. Tickets £10, book, 6.30pm
MUSIC: Burning City Orchestra bridge pop and contemporary orchestral composition and Ayanna Witter Johnson presents her own compositions and gets the audience involved in creating a new one at i=u festival at Guest Projects, Hackney. Free, reserve your place, 7.30pm
HECKLER: Artists Lee Campbell and Mel Jordan explore the potential of the heckler to change our understanding of social exchanges, at Toynbee Studios. £5, prebook, 7.30pm
MALAYSIA: A free four-day festival of Malaysia starts at gallery@oxo and around the Oxo Tower. Expect food, cultural performances and traditional music. Free, just turn up, 10am-6pm.
Good Cause of the Day
Inspired by the Great North Run at the weekend? How about supporting the Ealing Half-Marathon on 29 September? Anyone over 17 who can complete the course in under three hours can take part, or you can simply donate some money to one of the race's charities. Crucially, the event is looking for additional volunteers to help steward the event — you get a free breakfast roll, a t-shirt, a medal and a free offer of a race place next year.
London Connection Puzzle
Your clue-words so far are CROUCH END and VAUXHALL CROSS. The new one today is MUSEUM. At least a dozen people wrote in with the solution yesterday, so no need to email if you've found the London connection.
From Londonist’s Archive
On this day last year we told you where London's rubble gets transported, showed our photos from London Fashion Week and looked forward to playing volleyball in the Square Mile. What an endlessly inventive place London is.
London Weather by Inclement Attlee
As Travis frontman Fran Healy once sang: "Why does it always rain on me? Is it because, during a downpour, I insist on standing in the middle of the pavement, well away from any trees or awnings, without a brolly, like the meteorologically challenged tomfool that I am?" (it was later edited down to something better suited to the song's melody and metre). If he were in London today, poor old Fran would be in for a right old soaking. Fortunately, he's gigging in Glenside Philadelphia, where the outlook is mild and sunny. Which makes me wonder...has anyone ever tracked Fran's movements and correlated them to precipitation? Does it really always rain on him...or is he the victim of confirmation bias? The subject would make for a fascinating sub-chapter of a PhD thesis, if anyone's studying the links between celebrity movements and weather patterns.
Oh, by the way, you're going to have that song in your head all day now. Sorry.
