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Listings
BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Sainsbury’s in Sydenham, Sainsbury's in Chingford and the usual permanent donor centres. See site for terms and conditions.
MIND SPORT: Today in the Mind Sports Olympiad at JW3 Centre in Hampstead: Tetris, Pineapple Poker and Mastermind. £10 per event, prebook, until 25 August
GUIDED WALK: The Tudor manor and ancient bishop’s residence of Fulham Palace opens its gates to the public for a guided tour of its gardens. £5, just turn up, 2pm
MEXICAN CARDS: The Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey has a craft workshop for adults to make Mexican Greeting Cards. Learn how to apply designs and illustrations to greetings cards using a range of different mediums. £30, prebook, 2.30pm
BALFRON TOWER: The London Society has organised a tour of Ernõ Goldfinger's Balfron Tower, with a chance to see inside a classic Brutalist ‘Urban Room’ on the 24th floor. £12, prebook, 6pm
PUB TALK: Listen to Royal Holloway postgraduate student Elle Larsson providing a fascinating insight into the history of natural science collecting and trade. The event takes place at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station, and it’s part of the periodical event PubSci. Free, just turn up, from 6pm
FREE TALK: A Tour of the Universe is a free public talk given by Dr Katherine Mack, theoretical astrophysicist and science communicator from University of Melbourne, taking place at the Clore Lecture Theatre in South Kensington. Free, prebook by email, 6.30pm
CLOTHES SWAP: Bring a few clothing items and/or books to Fairly Square Cafe in Holborn and leave with new ones. It's a "swishing" event, swishing being the new en-vogue word for swapping. £5, just turn up, 7pm
PLANT TECHNOLOGY: Attend this workshop where you'll learn how to create a light which will tell you when your plants are thirsty and need watering. Learn how to make the sensors from scratch and connect them to a solar-powered circuit. £40, prebook, 7pm
LONDON POETRY: Londonphile John Constable is at Housman’s bookshop in King’s Cross to read from his first collection of poetry. His work includes a collection of plays entitled Southwark Mysteries. £3, just turn up, 7pm
WRITER'S TALK: Poet David Harsent is at London Zoo in Regent's Park to give a writer's talk relating to the African Hunting Dogs on display at the zoo. The audience will be able to ask questions, as well as to the scientists and zookeepers on hand throughout the evening. £12, prebook, 7pm
CHARITY COMICS: Gosh! Comics in Soho launches new WWI anthology, To End All Wars, with £2 from every book sold going to Doctors Without Borders. Meet the contributors and get hold of a signed copy. Free, just turn up, 7pm-9pm
Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings. Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at [email protected] at least 48 hours before the event, and we will consider it for inclusion. Note: due to high volumes of email, we can’t always reply.
Camden Fringe
We’re over halfway through London’s biggest performing arts festival, Camden Fringe. Every day throughout the festival, we’ll be bringing you our pick of shows to catch that day. Today’s suggestions are below:
Barber & Benson is a comedy sketch show, returning to Fringe for a second year. Expect topical shenanigans and special guests. At Camden Head, until 21 August
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde requires no introduction, except to say that this one man show is performed by Mark Waghorn, who adapted it from Robert Louis Stevenson's original work. Upstairs at the Gatehouse, until 22 August
Pushers focuses on the internal conflicts that arise at a company when a vacancy opens and the employees compete for the job, forcing them to turn on each other during interviews. At Etcetera Theatre, until 24 August
Good Cause of the Day
The Proud Archivist hosts an exhibition, opening today, of posters inspired by the 20th anniversary of font Comic Sans. The exhibition itself is free, but donations are welcome, and posters will be available to buy, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. Just turn up, until 24 August.
From the Archive
This time last year, Boris Johnson had abandoned our fair city for, well, about as far away as he could get. Even in Australia, he was still causing headlines, especially when this picture of him getting up close with a baby crocodile appeared and we asked you for caption ideas. The picture may be a year old, but the caption suggestions have got plenty left to run, so feel free to add yours to the bottom of the article.
