Until the end of the December i’ll keep sharing some tips and tricks about my newsletter with you. So after telling you about the message box and search subscription, here comes tip 3: Surprise a friend with a message in the newsletter. Each week you can send messages through the newsletter to your friends and family. Click on 'write message' (just below this message), log in (!), select 'publish message in Ron Orp’s Mail' and start writing. When you’re done, all you need to do is list the nickname or the email address of the person(s) you want to send it to and surprise them. 
Give my love to the city, Ron

Over the next 2 weeks Bildwelten 4 will be showing 108 works of art by 34 artists in one of the 18m2 rooms of R57. Now that all of the numbers connected to this event have been used, let’s talk about the important stuff – this is a chance for you to experience the creative imaginings of young artists jostling for the sweet air of recognition and a chance of immortality. Whichever description works for you, this is definitely worth a visit.
Thursday to Saturday 18th Dec  5 pm,  KunstRaum R57

With these first few days of snow in Zurich, what could be better than a shot of reggae to keep the edge off the cold? Tiken Jah Fakoly comes from the Ivory Coast and along with the warm bass and rhythms of his music, he infuses his lyrics with political poetry that speaks to the realities his country faces.
I have 3 pairs of tickets to give away.
e-mail me
Thursday 8 pm, Volkshaus

If you’re English and have a sense of humour you have certainly heard of Paul Merton. From his beginnings in the 80s as part of the alternative comedy scene he has become huge part of the English comedy landscape. A comedic Big Ben, if you will.  Guy Stevens’ Funny Laundry now brings him to Switzerland for the first time with his Impro Chums. The show is almost sold out in Zurich but i have 2 pair of tickets to give away.
e-mail me
Friday 8 pm, Volkshaus

Goldie has always been the dark prince of electronica, bringing his personal visions and demons to the music. It’s been nearly 20 years since he first came onto the scene and he still brings the same intensity and passion to his art as he always did. If the snow is a little too much, and the reggae doesn’t do it for you, I suggest seeing him at his only Zurich show at Rote Fabrik this weekend, and letting the drum and bass work it’s hot magic on you.
Friday 10 pm, Rote Fabrik

Monkeys on Stage sounds good enough as a headline to get me interested, even if that was all that was going on, but this indie-rock party puts a selection of new Swiss bands on stage and asks of them only one thing: that they rock-out. Some of the previous ‘monkeys’ have gone on to get signed to labels and had records released. So catch them while you can, before Hallenstadion is their venue of choice.
Saturday 10 pm, Papiersaal

Mondays in December will be hot, despite the weather forecast. The Plaza hosts a burlesque show with international starts and artists from London, Geneva, Las Vegas, Helsinki, Berlin and Liverpool. And because there is so much talent to see, they repeat it over the next three weeks. Will I see you there chérie?
Monday 8 pm, Plaza

Last Monday I met a friend at Bar Sol at Manessestrasse 132. It’s been a while since I’ve been there. It’s just next to Abart and you’ll only pass it as a pedestrian. Bar Sol has been there since forever. It’s a comfortable place with plain wooden tables and chairs and a homey feel. It says tapas bar outside but there’s a special every day ranging from Sashimi to Schnitzel. The later is always on the menu on Mondays. It’s as tender as butter and definitely worth a visit. The bar has no website and doesn’t take reservations or credit cards.
Bar Sol, Manessestrasse 132, 8045 Zürich

This weekend, Zurich pretends to be an Egyptian town with bazaars all over the city. Next to the usual suspects there are two special ones. Basismarkt: Basislager, the creative hub in the Binz quarter, opens its doors on Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm and on Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm for a market which offers everything from A like architecture to Z like zoo animals (don’t take me too literally). Senior Design Factory: At Rosengarten (the locale at Kalkbreite) the Senior Design Factory sells hand made presents on Saturday from 2 to 6 pm. They sell goodies such as jam like Grandma used to make or ginger bread. Visit either of them to get into the holiday spirit if the snow hasn’t done the job yet.

Elena Habicher is a visual artist who lives in Zurich. It’s been a while since i’ve been to one of her exhibitions but her work really amazes me. Currently she is back at school and started a new blog, through which shares her personal view about art, style and people. The blog is like her, elegant but fun.

1) Go to Google Translate
2) Set the translator to translate German to German
3) Copy + paste the following into the translate box: pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch
4) Click 'listen'
5) choose other sounds