Things To Do In London Today: Monday 18 November 2013

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!

Make your own wrapping paper at The Book Club in Shoreditch tonight, details below.

Listings

BLOOD: Today’s opportunity to donate blood is at Old Town Hall in Chelsea. Free, see site for terms and conditions.

SKATING: Seasonal skating is GO (or GO, WOBBLE, STOP, CLING TO SIDE, SKID, TOPPLE OVER depending on your aptitude). Check out our round-up of all the pop up ice rinks in London here.

LAST WORD: The Last Word spoken word festival at Roundhouse started over the weekend. There is plenty to see, read our festival preview for more details. Until 1 December

RICHMOND: The month-long Richmond Literary Festival continues. Check out the full brochure here.

HISTORY: The London History Festival begins today. Tonight Charles Moore discusses his biography of Margaret Thatcher at Waterstones Kensington (£5/£3, 7pm). Until 28 November

JAZZ: The London Jazz Festival has begun, and it’s BIG. Check out our map of venues and recommendations but take a look at the official website for full listings and tickets, until 24 November

BUSINESS: A morning looking at the future of business takes place at the British Library, with presentations from expert speakers, a networking reception and most importantly, coffee. £10, prebook, 9.30am-2pm

CRYSTAL ENERGY: Discover how computational chemistry is helping us to understand materials that could have a significant impact on the future of clean energy. At The Royal Society. Free, just turn up (early arrival recommended), 6.30-8pm

DEBATE TRUST: Whose Voices are Heard? is a series of debates bringing together young people and experts from various backgrounds to discuss young people’s complex relationships with authority. Today’s debate is titled Trust in Authority. £5/£3/free with code FWonTrust, prebook, 6.30pm

GIG: Mott the Hoople's triumphant 2009 reunion showed that frontman Ian Hunter can still put on quite a performance, despite being past his 70th birthday. You can see them at The O2 tonight — at time of writing there are still Tier One tickets available. £51.85, prebook, 6.30pm

WRAPPING PAPER: Learn how to create your own custom-printed wrapping paper and cards at The Book Club in Shoreditch, with stamps and stencils provided by Good Empire Events. £9.13, prebook, 7pm


Good Causes of the Day

Laugh Till It Hurts is at The Comedy Store tonight with a cracking line-up featuring Dave Johns (MC), Stewart Francis, Terry Alderton, Romesh Ranganathan, John Gordillo and Katherine Ryan. Even better, it's all in aid of Mind — a mental health charity who provide support and advice to anyone experiencing a mental health problem. £13, prebook, 8pm

London Connection Puzzle

Did you solve last week's puzzle? The clues were KEMPT, SLYE, POOPE and BURBADGE. The connection is that they were all Principal Actors in the original productions of Shakespeare's plays. Well done to Amber Sybesma, who correctly spotted the link from just two clues, and thanks to Thomas Ogilvie for setting it. A new puzzle starts tomorrow.

From the Archive

It's Monday, and to mark a brand spanking new week of commutes here is a photo gallery from 2011 of London bus stops. Enjoy the ride (if there's enough space for you to get on).

London Weather by Inclement Attlee

This is what BBC Weather should be showing:

Weather