With the economic crunch getting gloomier by the headline, and the country's impecuniosity mounting, it's a great time for the return of London On The Cheap, your weekly guide for squeezing the pleasure outta those meagre pennies
Friday: The British Museum continues its Iranian film season, in conjunction with the blockbusting Shah Abbas exhibition, with a screening of At Five In The Afternoon, Samira Makmahlabaf's tale of a young, secular woman's attempt to become Afghanistan's first female president. 6.30pm, £3,or £2 concessions.
Saturday: So is Dalston really the coolest place in the country, as the Guardian reckons? Find out for yourself by sampling one of the venues they recommended: the Dalston Superstore, on Kingsland Road, which tonight hosts their regular Disco Bloodbath night. Free.
Sunday: One for the kids, this. Tate Britain's Art Trolley allows kids to pitch their elbows in, produce their own Botticelli or Banksy, and then have it displayed at the Art Trolley Gallery. Free, 10am - 5pm.
Monday: A fine double-bill at the Prince Charles cinema in Leicester Square, where they're showing two canonical Eighties staples you've probably only ever seen on the small screen: Weird Science at 6.30pm, followed by Ferris Bueller's Day Off at 9pm. £5, or £3.50 for members.
Tuesday: Getting their horticultural hat on in time for Chelsea Flower Show, the Royal Society hosts a talk by Sir Peter Crane on the subject of plant evolution. Titled The Origins of Flowers, that Darwinian echo is intentional: the scientist spent his later years immersed in botanical research, and wound up amassing more evidence for natural selection than he even presented in his more celebrated text. 6.30, free.
Wednesday: Obama's election may have made gloating about the predicted demise of the United States less socially acceptable, but the country that dominated the previous century still looks certain to lose its grip on the levers of world power sometime in this one. Join experts at London School of Economics as they discuss the declining hegemon and ponder what the world will look like afterwards. 6.30pm, free.
Check out London Is Free for more events that won't worry your wallet.
