You know when celebrities lose the plot a little bit? Britney with the hair, Charlie Sheen with his tiger blood? Well, Julian Casablancas, of The Strokes fame, seems to have his own answer to the age-old celeb flip-out, he’s got himself a new band called The Voidz. Rather than the 70’s New York cool of The Strokes, this time around he’s gone for a more Bladerunner dystopian chic, looking like heavy metal hippies, with music that sounds as if radio stations were being beamed in from every corner of the universe. Julian may have taken a turn for the weird but when was that ever a bad thing? He’ll be playing at Plaza tonight and I have 2 x 2 tickets to give away. Email me.

Thursday 8 pm, Plaza

Flexible lips, a voice and guitar are everything Heymoonshaker need to create their unique sound. The two Londoners, Dave Crowe (a beatboxing marvel) and Andy Balcon (a smart blues guitarist with a voice like honeyed sandpaper) met busking and seem to explore, discover and invent music from every genre and era. Urban beats, deep bass, blues-rock rhythms and a serving of roots merge into their own style that may just need a new genre to describe it. They’ll be playing at Exil tonight. I have 2 x 2 tickets to give away. Email me.

Thursday 8 pm, Exil

Several bucket lists are going around about places to visit before it’s too late, ranging from the Great Barrier Riff (soon extinct) to Venice (soon under water). But they all forget to mention Oktoberfest. What used to be an interesting experience with too much beer turned into a spring break spot with a hundred mile long waiting list. But this wouldn’t be Ron if there wasn’t an upside: This Friday, there is a beer garden opening at Basteiplatz that reminds you of Munich’s finest with free beer from 5 to 7 pm.

Friday 5 pm, Hugo’s Biergarten

If you’re looking for that little bit extra while you’re perusing your local flea markets, there are a couple happening this weekend that, will indeed, give you that little bit extra. Firstly, on Friday at Grubenstrasse 15, which is a new, temporary cultural complex, they are having a design and vintage market that sees some great local designers showing their wares, they’ll also have food, drinks and music on site to ease your shopping fatigue. Secondly, on Saturday at Noerd, they are having their Summerfest where, as well as the flea and design market, they’ll have streetfood stalls, a bar and music, an evening concert and after-market party that appears to have no end. 

Friday 5 pm, Grubenstrasse 15, 8045

Saturday 12 pm, Noerd, Binzmühlestrasse 170, 8050

Zurich sports 25 pool areas around town so I challenge you to try out every single one of them by the end of the summer. Send me pictures and I'll see what treat I can send your way in return. For a full list, check the city's website  where you can also order a season ticket. If the water is still too cold for your to jump into the river or the sea you can check the water temperatures daily on the website by the Canton Zurich . And friends, it's looking better every day. The water in the outdoor pools is heated so you can begin the summer splash there. The website wiewarm.ch also lists the temperatures of various pools around Switzerland.

There are magazines that are like art: inspired, high quality and you want to keep looking at them. Over six months Chöying, Laurin, Florian, Matteo, Matthieu & Rico collected the best examples the world has to offer and from Friday until the end of August you can browse, read and also buy your summer read in their pop-up store at Niederdorf. I didn’t have time to look through all of them, but I’m sure you’ll also find some English language treasure there.

Print Matters, Predigerplatz 42, 8001. Opening party Friday from 5 pm