As January slowly disappears behind us, so do my January giveaways, and so this will be the last of them. Over the last few weeks i've given you the chance to get away from town, this week I thought I’d keep it close to home. You can win two tickets to a performance of Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Opera House. Of course the performance will be in Italian but with English subtitles. You’ll also need to select a performance date of either the 21st, 23rd or 26th of February. E-mail me, with your preferred date, for a chance to win.
Give my love to the city, Ron

Nobody likes to be fooled unless the person fooling you happens to have extravagant hand gestures and small woodland creatures hidden about their person – no, not a sexual deviant but a magician, of course. Over the next 3 nights, Miller’s Studio is having a Magic Festival where some of the best Swiss magicians and illusionists will be attempting to coax out your inner child and dazzle it with wonder.
Thursday to Saturday 8 pm, Miller’s Studio

What do you do when you feel that Western society’s obsession with the seductive forces of capitalism are getting, perhaps, a little unhealthy? Scale the barricades? Protest in the street? Sulk? Well, if you’re Martin Schick and Damir Todorović you put on a satirical stage play incorporating dance, comedy and criticism called Holiday on Stage – Last Days of Luxury, which is showing at Gessenerallee on Friday. By playing with the clichés and aesthetics of our everyday lives they try to show that there is a place for beauty and romance in our daily lives. Performed in English with German subtitles.
Friday 7 pm, Gessenerallee

We’ve all had a gadget that stops working or clothes that tear and fray, and what do we do about them? Well, if you’re anything like me, they’ll get ignored for a while, hoping the magic elves will miraculously fix them, and then they’ll be given, or more likely, thrown away. Well, this has to stop! And Talent Café are here to help. They’ll be at Jenseits on Saturday afternoon and you can take along your items needing repair and make them new again. They’ll offer equipment and advise for electronics, ski and snowboard repair, knitting and sewing, soldering and pretty much anything else you need fixing up. Admission free.
Saturday 3 pm to 6 pm, Jenseits

Whilst the Europaallee building site has slowly become the Europaallee office and shopping quarter of Zurich, Remise has been occupying one of the abandoned buildings in the area and has been a glistening art and party jewel in the cement and dust that surrounds it. Well, now its time is up and Remise will be sadly closing its doors for the last time this weekend. On Friday night they’ll have a great line-up of local bands playing live as well as theatre performances. Whilst on Saturday night you can dance away the heartache at the farewell party with a selection of djs supplied by the party label Klanglicht.
Friday 7.45 pm (free entry before 9.30 pm) and Saturday 11pm, Remise

There are a couple of fantastic Berlin djs in town on Saturday night at different venues, and I couldn’t decide which one to recommend to you. I then realised I can do whatever I want to. So you get both. At Zukunft will be legendary dj brothers Tiefschwarz, who’ll be playing some of their deep house and techno favourites. While at Café Gold, Dapayk & Padberg will be serving up a nice slice of their ethereal electronica as they tour the release of their new album.
Saturday 12 am, Zukunft
Saturday 11 am, Café Gold

Levin is a singer/songwriter from Rapperswil who takes his songs and basic guitar sound and loops them through a sampler, layering and creating live sounds and beats that become as big and rhythmic as a full band. On Tuesday at La Catrina he’ll be joined by rapper Pablito to add an extra dimension to his soulful folk.
Tuesday  9.30 pm, La Catrina

Buttermilk is not just a thick, slightly sour-tasting, milk-like liquid (also with a very low fat content, by the way), but also a new café and bar in Kreis 3. At Meinrad-Lienert-Strasse 27 you can spoil yourself from now on with cocktails and a selection of fine Italian and Spanish wines served with seasonal appetizers. At the opening night on Friday you can also enjoy a prosecco, appetizers and music by DJ Mus Tache.
Friday, 18:00 Buttermilk, Meinrad-Lienert-Strasse 27

Atelier Kalk will be the guest of the Marta shop at Martastrasse 114 over the weekend as they open their pop-up outlet store selling some great Zurich fashion and jewellery designers work for discount prices.  On offer will be Street-Files, Kari Kari, On y Va, Making Things, The Gloss, OPI and Komana. Now that the January sales are nearly over, why not start February off with one more.
Friday 2 pm to 8 pm, Saturday 11am to 7 pm, Sunday 2 pm to 6 pm, Marta, Martastrasse 114, 8003

The American biotech firm Bioglow launches an online auction at the end of the month for their first glow-in-the-dark plant. In the past chemicals or UV-light produced this luminous effect, but the Starlight Avatar (the cool name of their new plant) is a mixture of luminescent photobacteria and a tobacco plant. The creator, molecular biologist Alexander Krichevsky has a dream: that his plants will become the new light bulbs.

After Blur, Gorillaz, The Good The Bad and the Queen and countless other collaborations, Damon Alburn has finally released his first solo effort, Everyday Robots. Pure melancholic delight. Enjoy.