I'm feeling philosophically inclined these days, so I've started a new thread in the Forum: Frivolously asked questions. Feel free to post your own.

Give my love to the city, Ron

Seefeld Razzia’s Pocket Opera Lounge blends a bar atmosphere with contemporary djs and classical opera interludes, and this week it takes an interesting turn, featuring the crossover between opera and film music. Entry is 10 francs when the doors open, free after 9 pm.
Thursday 7 pm, Seefeld Razzia

Zurich’s tonhalleLATE is what happens when classic meets modern. This week, Terry Lynn, Drumpoet Community djs Alex Dallas and Soultourist, and visual artist Roman Beranek of Projektil Productions team up with David Zinman’s orchestra to present Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. Click here for ticket information.
Friday 9 pm, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich

DJ Muri and DJ Yougene help you forget the work week at Amber’s Escape party. It’s been two years since Amber opened on the Bahnhofquai, and I’m sure there will be a lot of celebrating on Saturday night.
Saturday 10 pm, Amber

Ms. Brandy’s Open Mic calls itself “the open mic for open people.” A little liquid courage is all it takes to follow Tom Swift and his “Loopomatic Groove Circulator” (your guess is as good as mine) at Bazillus this Sunday.
Sunday 8 pm, Bazillus

The Dillinger Escape Plan, the mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey, plays Mascotte on Tuesday night, warming up the crowd for the regular Karaoke from Hell party that starts at 10.30 pm.
Tuesday 7 pm, Mascotte

France’s Air (Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin) plays the Volkshaus on Wednesday. Their new album is called Love 2, and Godin says, “The album is much more energetic, live and loose.” Dunckel adds, “We wanted everything to be fresh. We didn’t try to take a conscious direction, we just tried to produce something that was alive and had energy.”

Wednesday 8 pm, Volkshaus

Now that the ski season has well and truly started, I plan to put some of my vacation days to good use and hit the slopes (or at least the après-ski scene). Over at One Big Yodel, American writer Chantal Panozzo has a funny entry about the vacation disparity between Americans and Europeans:

“After living in Switzerland for almost four years, sometimes Americans ask me if the Swiss work hard. And all I can say is, Not as hard as you. Maybe this is a good thing. Most Swiss people seem to work around 41 hours a week. Of course, they work harder than the French (this isn't saying much) and have less vacation than the French (doesn't everyone?). But still.”

I’ve never thought of myself as a slacker, but if the ski-boot-clad shoe fits... Coffee break, anyone?

Offbeat and fiercely committed to the new, Rotterdam is home to a number of respected architects and designers. Here, designers Joep and Jeroen Verhoeven and Judith de Graauw from Demakersvan, architect Reinier de Graaf of OMA and architect Ben van Berkel of UNstudio talk about the city’s redevelopment, its diversity and how it inspires their work.

Have a question? Need some advice? Ignored by everyone else? The Non-Expert over at The Morning News fields questions from the delightfully desperate and the curiously confused. This week: what happens if you mistake a bottle of Robitussin for a Jäger bomb.