The long awaited debut album Please Turn Me Into The Snat is an introduction for the uninitiated to the amazing world of Connan Mockasin, and a renewed pleasure for established followers – introducing characters from cats with larger-than-life personalities and unicorns in uniform, to alter egos such as Don Dicaprio. The album was written and recorded over 18 months in East Sussex, UK and an abandoned haunted house in Wellington.

Mar 20, from 8 pm, Chicks Hotel, 2 Mount St, Port Chalmers. Book it: www.eventfinder.co.nz & Cosmic Corner, $23.50.

You can get your exclusively designed bow tie pin in WORLD stores and ASB branches nationwide for a $2.00 donation during bow tie week, or you can get a fabric bow tie pin from MDA collectors and selected stores.

The raw silk bow tie (named ‘WORLD of difference’) in the distinctive blue and yellow of the Muscular Dystrophy Association will be available in WORLD stores nationwide during February and will retail for $90RRP with $10 of every purchase being donated to MDA. I say grrrreat!

“We’re so excited to be able to play our own unique part in supporting this great cause. In creating this special bowtie WORLD hopes to draw more attention to the valuable work the MDA does,” says Francis Hooper, WORLD designer.

Muscular Dystrophy Association Managing Director, Chris Higgins, told me “We use the bow tie symbol to represent the many difficulties people with a neuromuscular conditions face each day. It has been wonderful to have our Patron Judy Bailey front the campaign and to partner with WORLD for the 2010 Bow Tie Campaign.”

They also tell me that muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular conditions are unpredictable, incurable and disabling, and can affect anybody, at any age. Usually they are genetic and sometimes occur more than once in a family, although often there is no family history.

Join me and Mother Bear in donning a ‘WORLD of difference’ MDA bow tie – not only will you look sharp, you’ll be helping a very worthy cause!

Read more at www.mda.org.nz

Once I’m replete, though, I won’t have to go home – I can relax in my deckchair and watch some of the free street entertainment – or even stay for dinner, and to enjoy the music at the Meridian Strawberry Jam!

Waimate Strawberry Fare – Seddon Square and Boland Park, Waimate, December 12 from 10:30 am

The rival cities of Wellington and Dunedin were announced as the country’s first fair trade cities by the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) earlier this month.

Dunedin was awarded a giant certificate by the New Zealand Fair Trade Association in a special ceremony in the city centre on Monday, celebrating the city’s new status as a certified Fair Trade city. Wellington was simultaneously awarded status with Dunedin by FTAANZ, but as Mayor Peter Chin said after receiving the award: “In my mind, Dunedin was first…they [Wellington] were passed after we knew Dunedin had complied with all the requirements.” Wellington shouldn’t be miffed, though – it’s still the first Fair Trade capital in the world!

When cities get behind a movement, great things can happen! Dunedin has 10 Fair Trade schools, more than any other region of New Zealand, and the business community has really listened to the message, with many of my favourite coffee spots taking up the challenge! Lots of businesses have opted for Fair Trade as well, while Tomahawk School is going through a process to win the Guinness World Record for the smallest Fair Trade school.

Why has Dunedin embraced Fair Trade so enthusiastically? Well, it might be the large student population, or it could be that Dunedin, with its strong roots in Scotland and the Presbyterian Church, just has more fair people! Whatever it is, congratulations, Dunedin…you’re standing up for what you believe in!

Trade Aid gifts are a great choice because they are beautiful, unique and handcrafted. You know they will be ethical because they come from an organisation dedicated to giving the poorest workers in the world a fair price in exchange for their efforts, and at the same time, because they are fair trade goods, they are much more likely to be produced in a sustainable way. And when you give a gift from Trade Aid, you give twice – once to your loved one and once to the person who produced the gift!

So pop down to Trade Aid and see what they have – there’s a huge range and you can find something to suit virtually anyone! Christmas gifts, food, men’s and women’s gifts, and of course there are things for children, for the home and for fun! Lots of the goods are green, so you can shop there for the greenies in your life!

Find out more about Trade Aid, find your local branch and get tips on being a responsible shopper, at www.tradeaid.org.nz