Things To Do In London: Thursday 9 October 2014

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Catch a screening of 20,000 Days On Earth at Phoenix Cinema.

Listings

BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Kilburn Community Centre, Tesco in Beckenham, Trent Park Golf Centre in Oakwood, and the usual donor centres. See site for terms and conditions.

PARLIAMENT: Londonist readers get 20% off midweek guided or audio tours of the Houses of Parliament during party conference season. Book tickets online through Ticketmaster, in person at the box office or by phone on 0844 847 1672 and use promo code LMIDD20

COCKTAILS: Don't forget, it's London Cocktail Week. Overwhelmed by choice? Take a look at our guide for a nudge in the right direction.

INTERIORS FESTIVAL: Belsize Park is hosting its first annual Festival of Interiors on England’s Lane. The street’s interior specialists open their doors, giving people the chance to meet the design teams behind the showroom facades and get professional advice. The festival will also showcase the area’s retailers and cafés and include cooking demonstrations at various kitchen showrooms. Free, just turn up, 4pm-8pm

VINTAGE KNITS: Geraldine Warner, author of Vintage Knit, is at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Southwark for a talk about vintage hand knit designs from 1920-60. Followed by a Q&A and book signing. £15/£12, prebook, 6pm

FLOOD TALK: London disaster historian John Withington will be examining whether floods are getting worse in a free talk at Swiss Cottage Library. John  has written six books on the history of disasters including London's Disasters: from Boudicca to the Banking Crisis, Flood: Nature and Culture, and A Disastrous History of the World. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm

AFGHANISTAN AND EMPIRE: Tonight's Behind The Scenes event at Horniman Museum in Forest Hill focuses on stories of British imperial adventure told through the Horniman's collection. Afghan journalist Zia Shahreyar and historian Bijan Omrani will talk about Horniman’s objects from Afghanistan and Pakistan. £5, prebook, 6.30pm

SUPPER CLUB: Fortnum & Mason's monthly supper club takes on a Korean theme, as it is hosted by with Judy Joo, the Korean-American chef who is known across the world for her contemporary take on classic Korean food. £45, prebook, 7pm

LONDON THINKS: Tonight's event at Conway Hall in Holborn sees feminist campaigners Laura Bates (founder of the Everyday Sexism project) Caroline Criado-Perez (co-founder of The Women's Room) discuss the evolution of 21st Century feminist campaigning and how to solve the problem of institutionalised sexism in society. Chaired by Samira Ahmed. £15, prebook, 7pm

FOLK MUSIC: Two female folk singer-songwriters, Bella Hardy and Cara Luft, perform at Cecil Sharp House. Their performances have an emphasis on vocal harmonies and songs with stirring narratives. £12, prebook, 7.30pm

AFTER EARTH: The New Black Film Collective takes over Stratford Picturehouse every Thursday in October as part of Black History Month 2014. Tonight, there's a screening of 2013 sci-fi feature film After Earth, preceded by short film Many Moons. £6.50, prebook, 8.30pm

DIRECTOR SCREENING: Meanwhile, at Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, there's a screening of Nick Cave docu-drama 20,000 Days On Earth, followed by a Q&A session with Directors Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth. £9-£11.50, prebook, 8.40pm

Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings. Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at hello@londonist.com 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.


Good Cause of the Day

Solar Schools is am organisation which provides teams of teachers, parents, volunteers and students with tools, training and support to help them crowd-fund the cost of solar panels for their school roof. Plenty of London schools are looking for funding to get solar panels installed, and this week, three new London schools have launched their campaigns: Robert Blair Primary School in Camden Ashmole Primary school in Lambeth and Our Lady of Grace Catholic Junior School in Brent. To support these schools, donate here.

From the Archive

Picture this. There's a fox in your garden with "an odd look on its face". What do you do? Certainly not call 999 - yet one Londoner did just this, believing that London Fire Brigade were the people to deal with the wayward creature. Here are some other ridiculous reasons that Londoners have called 999.