Things To Do In London Today: Friday 7 February 2014

If you’ve not already done so, you can subscribe to these daily listings and have them delivered to your inbox at 7am every morning. Alternatively, subscribe to Londonist Daily to hear about events further in the future. And help spread the word to your friends who haven’t discovered us yet!

Late at the Tate. See below for details.

Listings

BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Stoll in Fulham and outside Wells House in Bromley. Free, see site for terms and conditions

LAST CHANCE ART: Ronchini Gallery's exhibition Paolo Scheggi: Selected Works From European Collections is a rare opportunity to view some of the Italian artist's most iconic pieces, and closes tomorrow. Free, just turn up, until 8 February

NEW ART: Repentista #1 is a showcase of Brazilian artists, many of them exhibiting in London for the first time at Gallery Nosco. Free, just turn up (certain days only — check first), until 23 February

MUSIC EXHIBITION: The Foundling Museum houses a new exhibition, By George! Handel's Music for Royal Occasions, opening today, looking at composer Handel's association with the British monarchy. £7.50/£5, just turn up, until 18 May

ASTROFEST: Get your geek on with a trip to European Astrofest 2014 at Kensington Conference Centre, a two-day exhibition about space, with conferences and lectures on various topics, open to amateurs and professionals. Continues tomorrow. Exhibition only: £8/£4, just turn up. Extra costs for conferences, and prebooking essential. From 9am

GUIDED WALK: Despite the name of the Around the Tower walk, the Tower of London only gets mentioned briefly. Instead this walk covers the eastern edge of the city, including the Roman and medieval wall, and one of the Ripper murders. £10/£7.50, prebook, 11am

FREE TOUR: Today is the monthly free tour of the Royal College of Physicians. Gruesome stories in a Grade I listed building. Free, prebook, 2pm

OLYMPIC OPENER: The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi takes place today. Watch it live on BBC2 at 3.30pm

LATE AT TATE: A group of experimental film and moving image artists take over the Tate, featuring short film screenings and the 1840s GIF party. Free, just turn up, 6pm

MARITIME TALK: Join Christine Riding, Senior Curator of Paintings at the National Maritime Museum, at Waterstones Piccadilly for a talk on JMW Turner's life and work. Free, prebook, 7pm

POETRY: A community of young poets and some stars of the spoken-word scene get together at the Gallery Café in Bethnal Green for Burn After Reading, an evening of inspiration. £3, just turn up, 7pm

FRIDAY FILM: Reel Islington hosts this month's First Friday Film Club. This month's offering is Howl, looking at the life and work of Allen Ginsberg. £5/£2.50, prebook, 7.30pm

GUERILLA ZOO: Guerilla Zoo's Interzone event pulls together an eclectic mix of performance, art, music and DJs to celebrate the William S Burroughs centenary.£30, prebook (location revealed upon booking), 8pm

MOTOWN NIGHT: Stratford Circus hosts The Motown Sound, a glamorous night of Motown music with a Motown-themed menu also available (extra charge). £35/£25, prebook, 8pm

CARABLANCA TANGO: London's longest running tango club at Conway Hall is an evening of classes hosted by guest teachers followed by an Argentine milonga with music by live DJs. £12/£10, just turn up, 8pm (class times vary — check the website)


Good Cause of the Day

Is Music Journalism In A Critical Condition? is a panel discussion curated by two different radio shows, discussing the changing face of music journalism, due largely to the internet. It takes place this Monday, 10 February at Soho Skeptics. Tickets cost £6, with money going towards Resonance 104.4 FM, London's only, and the world's first, arts radio station. If you're feeling extra generous, there is an option to pay £16 for a ticket, with the extra £10 also going to Resonance FM.

London Connection Puzzle

Your full set of clues: St Pancras Old Church, Mount Pleasant Sorting Office, The Blackfriar and Holborn Viaduct. What's the London connection? Many people have already guessed correctly, so no need to email in.

From the Archive

You may have seen a few extra buses around this week as a result of the tube strike, but have you seen this many? On this day in 2012 we were looking at this picture sent in by James Bird of a seemingly infinite queue of buses on Essex Road. If only they were joined up like train carriages, we could walk the length of them before they moved anywhere.

Londoddities

This week's theme is 'Animals'. Today's entry concerns one of the capital's most famous beasts. Guy the Gorilla (1946-1978) was such an iconic ape that different statues grace both his former home at London Zoo, and also Crystal Palace Park. That's more outdoor London statues than Henry VIII or Dickens can claim. You can also see Guy's stuffed body on show at the Natural History Museum. Guy was a sensation in his time, attracting much media attention and thousands of extra visitors to the zoo. While preparing for his hominid role in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dan Richter spent hours with ape, learning his movements.

guy

Photo: Guy in Crystal Palace Park by Dan Derrett in the Londonist Flickr pool.

Previously in animal week: Get Stuffed!, London’s minotaur, Animal War Memorial Dispensary, cattle troughs.