Things To Do In London Today: Wednesday 15 January 2014

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The 2014 London Art Fair is at the Business Design Centre, Islington. Details below.

Listings

BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Abbey Centre on Great Smith Street, and St Olave Parish Hall on Fenchurch Street. Free, see site for terms and conditions

ART: Two great exhibition openings today: the Jerwood Open Forest exhibition "examines art in the environment" through sound and film installations (free, just turn up, until 23 Feb), while Whitechapel Gallery examines Hannah Höch’s extraordinary career from the 1910s to the 1970s, including as a member of the Berlin Dada movement in the 1920s (£8.95/£6.95, prebook, until 23 March)

MORE ART: The 26th edition of the annual London Art Fair takes place at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Over 120 galleries from around the  world (although the majority are UK-based) display works from established and emerging talent alike. £17/£15.50 per day, prebook, until 19 January

ASTRONAUT: It's not every day that a former Commander of the International Space Station is in Foyles on Charing Cross Road. Chris Hadfield signs his new release An Astronauts Guide to Life. Free, prebook recommended, midday-1.30pm

#ASKBORIS: What do you want to ask the Mayor of London? Log on to Twitter and use @MayorofLondon #AskBoris to submit your question. Details here. Free, from 12.30pm

ADVERTISING MUSIC: Dr Stephen Rose delivers a lecture at St Sepulchre-Without-Newgate about classical music that has been created with advertising in mind, illustrated by live performances by a Royal Academy of Music chamber ensemble. Free, just turn up (early arrival recommended), 1pm

THE SQUARE MILE: London photographer Niki Gorick talks about her new photography display at Guildhall Library, which shows the amazing diversity of daily life within the City of London. Free, prebook, 2-3pm

UNIVERSE: Hey, what're you doing over there? Oh, nothing really, just investigating...THE UNIVERSE (cue dramating keyboard pounding). Head to City Lit for a lecture on how spectroscopy (the study of interaction between matter and radiation) can help us to understand the nature of the universe. £13.37, prebook, 6-7.30pm

TUBE KULTURA: This is right up our street. Artsadmin hosts Tube Kultura, where seven guest speakers, each doing a weird and wonderful thing (or things) connected with the tube, have seven minutes to share their underground stories. Our secrets of the underground video maestro Geoff Marshall is on board. £5, prebook, 7.30pm

COMEDY POETRY: Never Mind The Full Stops at Hackney Attic describes itself as "spoken word meets Mock the Week", as two teams battle it out over a series of games. £5/£4, prebook, 7.30pm

ORCHESTRA: London Philharmonic Orchestra perform Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 at Royal Festival Hall, preceded by the world premiere of a new concerto for viola and orchestra by James MacMillan. £9-£39, prebook, 7.30pm (there's a free pre-concert event from 6.15pm too)

STORYTELLING: A combination between stand-up and storytelling, Natural Born Storytellers is at The Camden Head with the theme of ‘broken promises’. Got a story to tell? Sign up! Just want to listen? Head along. Free (donations welcome), just turn up, 8pm


Good Cause of the Day

Resonance 104.4fm is an art radio station run by volunteer musicians, artists and critics from London's cultural communities. Want it to keep going? They are asking for your help in fundraising and donating so they can keep the good work up.

London Connection Puzzle

Yesterday's clue was HORTENSE. Today's is CATHERINE. Think you've spotted the London connection? Edit: we have a winner, so no need to email the answer.

From the Archive

Is it a station? Is it some kind of launch tube from Star Wars? Is that Wall-E lurking at the end? Reader Sam Hart distorted an image of Tottenham Court Road tube station last year and the result was decidedly futuristic.

Londoddities

Continuing our Roman Week on Londoddities, today's feature is this wonderful model of Londinium, which can be found in the crypt of All Hallows By The Tower. It clearly shows the extent of the ancient city walls, and the separate military fort to the north-west. An early version of London Bridge crosses the Thames, while the River Walbrook still flows through the valley between Ludgate Hill and Cornhill to the left. Effectively, this is The View From The Shard circa 200AD. Those in the know will spot that something is missing, however. The model was made in the 1920s, long before the remains of the Roman amphitheatre were discovered beneath Guildhall.

Next time you're near the Tower of London, pop into the church and take a look down in the crypt (it's free), where you'll find this wonderful model alongside other London treasures.

romanmodel

Previously in Roman Week: The ancient bed of the River Walbrook, the wall beneath Old Bailey.