It's in the air already: the deeper shade of grey that is the London evening is creeping in ever faster, the days are cooler, and autumn is irrevocably upon us. No fair, we say. Seek revenge on a capital teeming with cheap options this week.
Monday: Free gig tonight at Rough Trade East by delightfully symphonic experimental band F*ck Buttons. Wristband collection queue to begin at 5.30, which means you should be there before work ends. Nothing like a good excuse to pop out early on a Monday. Tuesday: Head down to Portobello Road this evening to catch some cinematic magic as UK's biggest independent film festival puts on free films all week long. Tonight's fare includes funky fast shorts, Russian films, and Japanese erotic bondage films (hmm). Free! Wednesday: Our love for Ralph Fiennes may just overcome our twin hatreds for queuing and gawking, because today is the premiere of Keira Knightley's latest film, The Duchess. Leicester Square red carpet roll-out do, rendered fairly tempting this time round with the fine Mr. Fiennes.Thursday: Party in a crypt tonight at the opening event for Illumini, an electrifying new exhibition that incorporates light shows from 14 different artists. Tonight's party includes performance art, juggling acts, fire entertainers, and more, all in the creepy bowels of an abandoned crypt. Sounds awesome. Free, 6-9pm, and exhibition open daily through 14th September. Friday: If you haven't been to a film at the Frank Gehry-built summertime Serpentine Pavilion yet, then now's your chance. Tonight is the 8pm showing of A Place in the Sun, an Academy Award-winning adaptation of a Theodore Drieser novel from 1951. £5/£4 concessions — that's cheaper than HellBoy and bonus points, you won't feel subsequent guilt on having wasted your money on a freaky-deaky crimson-coloured mutant. Saturday: For you knit-wits out there, today is I Knit London Day, featuring workshops, exhibitions, and a marketplace for all things knitted. Also guest blogger, best-selling author and lifelong knitter Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot) will be making an appearance from 2-4m. At Royal Horticultural Halls, 80 Vincent Square, Westminster. 11 am-6pm, free.Sunday: Melodically-named Indian dancer Kalamandalam Vijayakumar puts on a free performance at the British Library today. Performance of 101 stories begins at 3pm, but get there at 2 to see him apply his incredible mask of distinctive makeup in public. Or, you could stay in and mourn the summer, but surely Japanese Erotic Bondage is more of a draw than that?George Bernard Shaw's doppelganger courtesy of geza's flickrstream.
