Next week on Thursday is Ascension Day. So, like most people, I won’t work that day. Therefore you won’t receive a newsletter next week.  But don’t worry, I’ll be back afterwards. Enjoy the time off!
Give my love to the city, Ron

For some reason springtime seems to be a popular time of year to start a party night. Maybe it’s those spring-feelings that get people wanting to writhe around each other. Last week I told you about a few club birthday celebrations and this week it’s the 4^th anniversary of Neon, that Thursday night party favourite from Hive.  Invited for the party are WhoMadeWho, playing their disco-punk live, while the UK’s Little Boots and Hamburg’s Adana Twins will be sprinkling their dj sets throughout the evening, like sugar on top of the cake.
Thursday 10 pm, Hive

Manuel Tur has been around for a few years now, developing himself into one of house music’s major players. Starting with his breakout track ‘Deviate’, he has gone onto run his own label, Mild Pitch, which has itself seen some classic musical moments. He’ll be playing tracks from his new album, Swans Reflecting Elephants, at Zukunft this Friday, as well as treating us to the kind of sounds that have made him a must hear dj.
Friday 11 pm, Zukunft

Living Library takes place for the second time this Saturday at Pestalozzi-Bibliothek: But what is a living library? Instead of books, you borrow a person for a 30 minute conversation: People that belong to a social, religious or professional group, which carries a stigma in our society.  For example you can talk to an investment banker, a Muslim, a priest or a prostitute and find out if you can judge a book by its cover – or not.  Their mother tongue is German so you’ll have to inquire if they’re up for a chat in English.  
Saturday, 1-4 pm & 4.30 to 8.30 pm, PBZ Altstadt, Zähringerstasse 17, 8001 (2nd floor). Reservations possible from 10 am.

And yet another birthday! I remember writing about the opening of Bagatelle a whole year ago and here they are, all grown up and a bona fide member of Zurich’s nightlife. Ahh, it makes you proud. To mark the occasion they’ll have some great dj sets from the likes of DJ Pablo, Fabri, Sonik and Mauro, and like any 1 year old they have no idea when it’s time to go to bed, so will be open and partying until the last of you leave.
Saturday 8 pm, Bagatelle

Germans are known for many things – their efficiency, their precision and their beer to name, well, most of them but humour seems to fall way down the list, probably somewhere between romance and flamboyance in this vaguely German-bashing list I seem to find myself writing. Now along comes Michael Mittermeier, a German comedian of all things, and a funny one at that! He will be performing at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival this summer, but in the meantime will be road testing his material, in English, at Kaufleuten this Tuesday.
Tuesday 10 pm, Kaufleuten

In the early 90’s Evan Dando and The Lemonheads seemed to have it all – a dreamy front man, critical and popular success and music that solidified sunshine into 3 minute pop songs. Then along came grunge, brit-pop and for Dando, drugs. Now, 20 years after the release of their classic album, It’s a Shame about Ray, they’re back. They’ll be playing the whole of It’s a Shame… plus some of their other hits at Abart on Wednesday. Now you can party like 1999 never happened.
Wednesday 8 pm, Abart

Do you dream of opening your own restaurant? Then try it out on 19^th May.  On the Saturday after Ascension Day, the next international restaurant day takes place. You can become a restaurant for one day and welcome guests. BBQ on your balcony, ice cream on the street or a five-course-dinner in your living room – what you offer is up to you. Register online so people know about your project and when to come by.
Saturday, 19th May, all day, all over town

Looking outside, I’m sure summer is on its way – but not quiet here yet! Nonetheless, this Saturday is the official start of the swimming season in Zurich. So all pools, including lake and river will be open. Most venues have their own website – on which you also find out about on-going events, such as open air cinema, BBQ evening and parties. The website of Badi-Info provides a good overview of all venues with pictures and details. To make sure that it’s safe to dip more than a toe into the water, check the water temperatures on the website of AWEL. It’s updated daily and a good guide throughout the summer.  Until the end of May, you get the season ticket for all pools in the online shop of Zurich’s city council with a 10 % discount.

We don’t know what actually happens when we dream or if it’s possible to influence that phenomenon. An App-experiment would like to find out more. The Dream:ON App works more or less like an alarm clock (expect that you shouldn’t wake up) it monitors your movements during the night. When it assumes that you’re in your REM-sleeping-phase it plays sounds which you chose beforehand. This should influence your dreams positively. Let me know if you had sweet dreams.

Zurich has about 150 playgrounds, maybe a few more. Rebecca von Knoch visited 104 of them so far and details location, features, amenities, pictures  and additional information on her website called zuriplay. If you have children or want to find your inner child again by sitting on a swing, it’s worth to browse through the page. It will be updated regularly with more information and additional playgrounds.