Things To Do In London Today: Wednesday 5 February 2014

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William Burroughs's life is celebrated. See below for details

Listings

BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Conway Hall in Holborn, Sainsbury's car park on Dog Kennel Hill, and St James Church Hall in New Malden. Free, see site for terms and conditions

LUNCH BREAK: If you’d like to do something different during your lunch break, you could take part in this 30 minute Creative Meditation stand alone session, at the Inner Space in Covent Garden. Free, prebook, 1pm

GUIDED WALK: Tour guide Stuart Harvey leads a peaceful walk from the Hammersmith Flyover to the Hogarth Roundabout in Chiswick, talking about connections to William Morris and William Hogarth along the way. Free, pre booking essential, 2pm

LION DANCE: The Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch welcomes the Chinese New Year in its own inimitable style with an evening of drinks and dim sum, the traditional Lion Dance and live DJs. Free entry, charge and prebook for Chinese New Year menu, from 5pm

REMEMBERING BURROUGHS: On the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer and artist William Burroughs, Westminster Reference Library presents this commemorative walk led by William Redwood and Antony Clayton. Free, prebook, 6pm

LONDON ARCHITECTURE: This lecture in Fitzroy Square explores some of London's hidden architecture, including 18th century palaces in the West End. £10, prebook, 6.30pm

QUEER HISTORY: Uncover Her Face at Vogue Fabrics Dalston is an evening of stories and performances offering insight into London's queer history, particularly queer and trans London life in the 1950s. £7+bf, prebook, 7pm

WHIRLYGIG CINEMA: Hackney Picturehouse hosts a monthly event showcasing emerging filmmakers, each given 30 minutes to present and talk about their work. £4/£5, prebook, 7pm

LEGO ROBOTS: Yes, really. It's our childhood dream come true. The lovely Drink Shop Do offers the chance to build your own Lego robot, and give it a name and a superpower. Free, just turn up, 7pm

POETRY & BOXING: Even if it sounds like a strange association, this talk aims to look at the world of boxing in a conceptual and meditative way. With performances by poets, artists and filmmakers at the Royal Festival Hall. Free, prebook by email, 8pm

TRIAL COMEDY: As part of the Work In Progress series, Pleasance London in Islington hosts comedian and all round daredevil Tim FitzHigham testing his new material. £5 or three shows for £12+bf, prebook, 8pm

LIVE MUSIC: Queen of Hoxton's monthly Best Kept live music night presents four new indie rock acts, Crash Island, Shanty and Lupo. £6/£5, prebook, 8pm


Good Cause of the Day

Science geeks rejoice! Bloomsbury Theatre hosts Science Showoff, a cabaret-style show in which neuroscience meets beatboxing, maths helps you find your perfect partner, and you help a good cause, as all proceeds go to The Camden LGBT Forum. £10+bf, prebook,  7.30pm

London Connection Puzzle

Yesterday's clue was St Pancras Old Church (we changed it slightly for clarity). Today's is Mount Pleasant Sorting Office. What's the London connection? If you think you have it, email matt@londonist.com (but if you're reading this in the email version, check the live site to make sure nobody beat you to it).

From the Archive

Four years ago today we were stumped for words by this photo, so much so that we ran a caption competition. We forget now what the winning caption was (a lot can happen in four years) but we're still struggling for words...

Londoddities

This week's theme is simply 'animals'. Today's entry is the peculiarly named 'Animal War Memorial Dispensary' on Cambridge Avenue, Kilburn. The name always raises eyebrows...is this one of London's most niche shops, where you'd go if you needed an animal war memorial? Do they do a roaring trade?

In fact, it's a low-cost RSPCA veterinary clinic. The building as a whole acts as a memorial to those animals who died faithfully serving humans in war, as recounted here.

warmemorial

Previously in animal week: Get Stuffed!, London's minotaur