I keep a close watch on news from around the world; you gotta keep up with important international events.

Which isn't to say that nothing significant happens in New Zealand. Far from it. It was good to see this week that every television network and national newspaper picked up on the fact that Benji Marshall had hurt his toe.

Not being an avid follower of rugby codes, I first assumed that someone's pet hamster had been injured. But only till a photograph of the poor pet with the dislocated digit proved to be a far more fearsome-looking beastie. Either way, this is clearly serious and important stuff. I kept waiting for his manager to say Benji was suffering from a 'foot-fade”, the sort of explanation which apparently makes everything all right again.

Sticky situation
But sometimes big issues on the world stage just don't appear on our radar here. We spent endless weeks undergoing a free marketing campaign courtesy of the media for the benefit of a dark sticky spread that comes in little jars, all because it experienced a few months of 'supermarket-fade”, but this week far more alarming news about another dark sticky spread that comes in little jars went relatively unnoticed.
In Germany, in the central town of Bad Hersfeld, a parked trailer was broken into and an unknown number of thieves made off with 5 metric tons of Nutella.

Now I'm not one to be overly impressed with crime or criminals. The cult of gangster celebrity escapes me. But 5 metric tonnes? Wow. That's 5000 kilos of Nutella. You're gonna need a lot of bread for a stash that would probably fill a decent-sized swimming pool.
It turns out that particular region in Germany, which includes a highway heavily-travelled by trucks, is something of a magnet for food thieves. One possible explanation for the Nutella theft is that the gang of sweet-toothed robbers needed something to accompany the 5 tons of coffee they stole a few months ago.

And, with all that sugar and caffeine swirling around it seems almost logical to mention the other big food hiest there, at the end of last year - 34,000 cans of Red Bull.
Red Bull, coffee and Nutella. The breakfast of champions. I assume police are looking for a gang of fat teenagers, wired to the eyeballs.
Right. Let's leave that – before I get tempted to mention last year's theft of $NZ400,000 of maple syrup in Quebec – and move on to a couple of upcoming concerts in Tauranga that look well worthwhile.
First up, alt-folk outfit Bond Street Bridge are coming to play at the Tauranga art gallery next Thursday (18 April) with their multimedia song cycle 'The Explorer's Club: Antarctica”.

Inspired by the stories of Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, this is the baby of singer/songwriter Sam Prebble, who has recruited a band of seasoned folk musicians from the Auckland underground and produced a series of vignettes drawn from the diaries and letters of the adventurers. The tales of shipwreck, frostbite, and survival in the snow are presented in a combination of spoken-word storytelling and original folk songs, the songs accompanied by projected heritage photographs, taken by the explorers themselves nearly a century ago, used with permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
The show has played at both the Wellington and Auckland Fringe Festivals and won the award for Best Music in the 2013 NZ Fringe Festival Awards, so I think we can expect something pretty special. It starts at 7.30pm, tickets are $25 from the gallery.

Tattletale talents
And next Tuesday (16 April) the Tauranga Acoustic Music Club is bringing the rather wonderful Tattletale Saints to the Historic Village Theatre at 17th Avenue. They're a duo comprising singer/songwriter and guitarist Cy Winstanley and singer and upright bassist Vanessa McGowan, who have just launched their debut album How Red Is The Blood, recorded in Nashville with bluegrass wiz Tim O'Brien producing (he played in Tauranga at the Arts Festival a couple of year's back).
I've seen these guys at a couple of festivals and they are fantastic! Great playing, lovely harmonies and good songs in a sort of country/folk vein all make for a magic combination. The show kicks off at 7.30pm, tickets are $15.