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GIVE BLOOD: Today’s opportunity to donate blood is at City Temple by Holborn Viaduct. Free, just turn up, see site for times and conditions
ART IN ST PANCRAS: From today, St Pancras International will be the home to the new Terrace Wires arts project which will see world class artworks suspended in the historic Barlow Shed of the station. The first installation is a giant cloud entitled Cloud: Meteoros, by celebrated artists Lucy and Jorge Orta.
OH MY GOD WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR BACK???: Aimed towards bug lovers, Who’s the Pest is an educational symposium exploring our complex, symbiotic relationship with our creeping crawling neighbours, taking place at Wellcome Collection. See site for full listings, until 16 May
DECAYED ORGANISMS: Yum. To celebrate National Gardening Week there is a Compost Clinic at Chelsea Physic Garden, where you can learn how to produce the smelliest, wormiest, most nutritious compost for your garden. Free, just turn up, 10am
BEER: Celebrating the ‘colourful world of beer and breweries’, the Waltham Forest Sports and Social Club's tenth Beer Festival offers 25 ales, ciders and perries as well as food and live entertainment. £2, just turn up, from 12pm
CONFLICT: Conflict seems rife all over the world and this event at Gresham College with see various speakers exploring different techniques for conflict avoidance and resolution. Free, just turn up, 2pm
FILM: Catch Travelling Salesman, an intellectual thriller about four of the world’s smartest mathematicians hired by the U.S. government to solve the most elusive problem in computer science history, at a special screening at City University in Northampton Square. £4, prebook, 6pm
HUMAN RIGHTS: Peter Tatchell, renowned human rights campaigner for equal rights, democracy and global justice, will be talking as part of Campfire at ditto TV studios tonight. Free, RSVP online, 7pm
FASHION: Vintage Rocks! is a night of fashion and music, where London boutiques showcase their collections then set up shop so you can browse what you have just watched. £3, turn up or email to guarantee entry, 7pm
LONDON EVENTS: There are not one but two London-themed events in Spitalfields today: a Tudor London extravaganza at 7pm in the upstairs bar at The Bell, and a 7.30pm talk at Bishopsgate Institute about London in literature. You're spoilt for choice. See link for prices.
CHARITY: A 'glorious musical and comedic chartiy extravaganza' takes place at The Cavendish Arms. Laugh, dance and raise money for Prostate Cancer UK all at the same time. £10 donation asked, just turn up, 7.30pm
TWISTED IMPROV: For those of you who like your comedy with a little bit of humiliation, head to BattleActs! Pain Edition at Dogstar Brixton tonight to watch two teams of improvisers attempt to prove their worth through a series of improvisational games cooked up by the compere's twisted ingenuity. £5, just turn up, 8pm
COMEDY: Cariad Lloyd hosts a night of character and sketch comedy at Kings Place. Joining her are Claudia O’Doherty (who we loved last week), Jessie Cave, Oyster Eyes and Fraser Millward. £12.50/£9.50, prebook for cheaper tickets, 8pm
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Random London Fact of the Day
Centre Point might look bloody tall, but it's really a minnow in London. According to height rankings on Wikipedia, it's only the 33rd tallest structure in the capital, at 117 metres. And this only counts completed buildings. If we include those under construction that have topped out (Cheesegrater, Walkie Talkie and 25 Churchill Place), Centre Point slips to 36th. By the end of the decade, it is likely to be outside the top 50 tallest buildings in the capital. Perhaps that vision of the 23rd Century city from Star Trek wasn't so far-fetched.
Good Cause of the Day
After all that talk of skyscrapers, do you fancy abseiling down an 11-storey building? Scope, who campaign to give disabled people the same opportunities as everyone else, are organising a charity abseil down 50 Bank Street — one of the office blocks in the Canary Wharf estate. It takes place on 11-12 May and costs £20 to register (minimum sponsorship £250). Full instruction is provided, and the abseil is suitable for complete beginners. If you fancy the challenge, sign up here.
London Weather
As Chaucer once said: "Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote, / Then Londonist's weather cometh forth to froote". Shoures soote aplenty today, as the heavens y-pissynge unto the o'er-trodden (and eke y-sodden) women and men of London. Sunshine for hometime, though.
