It is Music Monday and thus time for another Vivaciously Varietal Vibe!

This week:

Flavour: Electronica/Alternative Rock

Artist: Pendulum

Album: Immersion

Song: The Island, Part 1: Dawn

Rationale: Pendulum is one of those bands who you have heard on the radio, on multiple occasions, whose music you have probably thought is great but a band whose name you have never really got around to learning.

One of the reasons for this may be because Pendulum shares a very similar sound to South Africa’s very own Zebra & Giraffe (yes the band, not the animals we have running about). Although most of Pendulum’s songs on Immersion have less of an alternative rock element to them when compared to Zebra & Giraffe, there are times when the two bands sounds uncannily alike.

The album, Immersion, is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of aural stimulation. There are songs that will give even the most conservative of people an eargasm such as the hauntingly beautiful Watercolour and Witchcraft, while others like the death metal influenced Self vs Self will leave your ears yearning for an impotence inducing muffler. Of course, this all depends on your personal taste in music. Even so, the stark contrast in tracks on this album make one wonder if Pendulum really know who they are or want to be. Personally I think that Pendulum should stick to the electronic alternative rock sound that 70% of the album Immersion is comprised of.

According to good old Wikipedia, the band originates from Perth in the ‘land down under’ and was founded in 2002 by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul harding. Immersion is Pendulum’s third studio album release. Click here to read more about Pendulum.

Ultimately, I think that Pendulum’s latest album Immersion is good but not great. Obviously I make no delusions to the fact that I am an avid fan of the style of music I have dubbed as hauntingly beautiful. Thus, for me, this album was worth the purchase.

Check out the  video below of ‘The Island, Part 1: Dawn’ the latest single from Pendulum and be sure to let me know what you think!

Any ideas where they got the idea from for this music video? Hint: the music video is clearly inspired by this pre-Transformers’ “I did it five years ago” directors action movie. The answer is in the song’s title. If you have no clue, click here or watch the trailer here.

As always, whenever I post about Vivaciously Varietal Vibes on Music Monday’s, simply click on the name of the song to be taken to a web page that displays the songs lyrics.

Until the next time, “Milieunairs”! 

To mark this special year, which also happens to be divisible by 5 and you all know how much I love numbers, I have committed myself to 10 resolutions for this new year.

I actually had a grand plan of revealing each resolution on each new day of the first 10 days of the new year via Twitter. Unfortunately, this did not work out as planned. Nevertheless, this is the long awaited and eventual blog post to sum everything up. Without further ado, I present to you, my new years resolutions for 2010:

#1: Obtain the infamous "6 pack" by my 25th birthday.

#2: Sleep more. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night.

#3: Blog more. I would like to try and output a minimum of three quality posts a week.

#4: Procrastinate less. Whenever possible, do today what could be left for tomorrow.

#5: Maintain a good posture. Breaking my arm threw everything out of whack. Time to get it all back!

#6: Learn to play the piano. A new means of emotional expression.

#7: Go on a long road trip. Life is about creating memorable moments and experiences.

#8: Adhere to the speed limit and attempt to avoid reckless road rage driven drivers.

#9: Letting go. Stay close to those who add value to your life, discard those who only cause pain.

#10: Make the move. It is no longer if, but when.

All I have to do now, is actually stick to this list of resolutions *eek*. Far easier said than done, but it is not impossible.

I certainly am looking forward to this new year. I do believe that it has a lot to offer and I plan to make the most of it!

God speed to you all and may you all succeed within whatever it is you put your minds to!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

For starters, Britney’s last show in Melbourne was on the 13th November and we were only set to arrive in Melbourne on the 16th. Furthermore, tickets to the event were not exactly cheap, ranging from stadium seating at $250 (R1700) per person to the insanely priced ‘Love Seats’ for $1500 (for two tickets –> R10 000 ). Consequently, chances of me attending Miss Spears’ performance were pretty thin.

Or so I thought.

Through a fortunate turn of events, Britney had actually extended her tour due to popular demand, adding three extra shows to her repertoire. One of those shows, as luck would have it, was in Melbourne.

I would be lying if I said that I was not excited at the possibility of watching the princess of pop perform in the flesh. After all, like the Queen (Madonna), it is not as if Britney would be making her way to South Africa. So it was pretty much a ‘This Is It’ kind of scenario.

Amazingly, my parents ascertained that this would be a fantastic experience and wholeheartedly agreed to buy tickets to the show. Not only that, but they even allowed me to opt for the ‘stool’ seating, which is directly behind the ‘Love Seats’ and, as it turned out, was literally a meter and a half away from the stage.

Without a doubt, ‘The Circus presenting Britney Spears’ was the best concert I have ever been to. I am unable to truly relay how awesome the experience was. The circus elements to the show, alone, were worth the price of admission; from acrobats, to martial artists, clowns, mimes, weapon artists, magicians… you name it and it was there (animals excluded). In addition to the circus element, I have never before been privy to a live performance with as much pyrotechnics and stage theatrics as this. The ‘wow’ factor was simply phenomenal. I do think that the experience was made just that much better courtesy of our seats which, as I have mentioned before, allowed us to be almost within two arm lengths of the pop princess.

Contrary to the controversy surrounding Britney’s performance in the land down under, I can honestly admit that I would watch it again. So what if she lip-synchs? Anyone who has heard of Britney Spears knows that she is infamous for lip-synching (along with many other famous artists). So this was really of no surprise. In my opinion, if you want to hear an artist sing, buy the album. If you want to watch them perform, go to a concert. Whether they sing ‘live’ or not is irrelevant. With that said, it is worth noting that Britney did sing at least one song live, the ballad ‘everytime’. To all the naysayers who think Britney Spears cannot sing, let me tell you, this chick has a good voice. As a matter of fact, she actually sounds better live than through her recordings. So it is a shame that she does not perform ‘live’ more often.

Considering how close I was able to get, I was quite surprised to realise how small Britney Spears actually is. She is tiny. Then again, I am 6’4”, so a lot of people are smaller than I am. After two kids, she does look very good. While I’m on the topic of her body, it is worth noting that she is rather fit. She has good muscle tone; most definitely what could be described as a dancers body. So she is not petit and does appear to have some extra junk in her trunk. I think the biggest surprise to me was how small her boobs were. For those who know we, I’m a boob man. Britney has a good handful, but not what one would expect after all of the boob job debates. Have a look for yourself, in the album below.

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I am truly so thankful that I could have this opportunity and would like to send a huge ‘I love you’ and ‘thank you’ to my loving parents who made it all possible.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

As I have mentioned before, I have been neglecting the personal posts with which my blog was originally built on. Believe me, I actually feel bad about it. I love sharing my experiences, whether good or bad, and listening to people’s opinions. Or lack thereof. Consequently I will attempt to revive the personal aspect of Hans’ Milieu.

Okay, a quick recap of the last week:

I am actually in Melbourne, Australia, at the moment. I arrived last week Monday. The flight was pleasant with a total travel time of around 16 hours (including transit and flight times from Sydney to Melbourne). Actually, I wonder why there are no direct flight to Melbourne? Considering that the flight has to fly over Melbourne anyway. Very odd. However I have heard that Virgin will be flying direct to Melbourne from next year. Thank heavens for that as it will make travelling just that much better.

For those who are unfamiliar with my families ‘Australian’ history, all you you really need to know is that we have been planning on immigrating for the last 8 years. Well not really ‘planning’ per se, more like procrastinating. This year, however, I finally had enough of all of the indecision and took matters into my own hands. Thus I kindly told my parents, in the nicest way possible, that, if we could afford it, I would like to continue my Masters and Doctoral studies at Monash University in Australia. A logical move, considering that I am a Monash University Alumnus and already paying exorbitant international student rates, since that was the only way for me to be able to do my Masters at Monash University in South Africa. As a result I am currently enrolled as a Master’s student at Monash University’s Clayton campus in Melbourne, via external candidature (which allows me to stay in South Africa). Unfortunately, it is as complicated as it sounds.

Considering my current academic situation and our continued, but never fruitful, desire to begin a new life in Australia, it makes perfect sense for me to spearhead our Australian move. However, it is proving to be quite a lot harder than we originally anticipated. More so in terms of finding a place to live than actually obtaining entrance to the country (for me anyway). Subsequently, the last week has been focussed on finding me a place to stay while I am in Australia pursuing my studies. Needless to say, ‘house hunting’ is incredibly tedious and rather tiring especially since options are rather limited, courtesy of the strengthening Australian dollar and constantly weak South African Rand. Regardless, I do have hope that we will find a moderate place in a respectable location.

In other news I spent some time with my cousin Terrence, who is currently in Australia via Monash University’s undergraduate study abroad program, I managed to watch New Moon (review coming soon), got tickets to Britney Spears’ Circus Tour for this coming Friday *school girl scream* and have generally been having a wonderful time in Melbourne; further experiences that I will continue to write about when I have the time.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

I found out that not only were the Aussies releasing the movie a full week before South Africa (18th November vs. 27th November), with midnight premiere and all, but I would also have the opportunity to share the experience with my cousin Terrence (who is currently studying in Melbourne via Monash University’s Study Abroad Program). In essence, everything worked out as planned.

As you may have guessed, I am a self confessed fan of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. I firmly believe that this ‘saga’ offers a long overdue reintroduction to the classic kind of love story made popular by Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliette. Granted it does have a supernatural element to it, but that is what gives the story such a fantastic 21st century spin. Not to mention the fact that the story has action, Vampires and Werewolves in it, thus allowing for guys, like myself, to pick up the books without too much ridicule.

I could attempt to offer an unbiased review of the film, but considering how much I enjoyed the books and the first movie, an unbiased opinion is not impossible, but it is highly unlikely. Consequently, I will merely offer a few thoughts on the film as a whole and focus this post more on my overall experience of the event.

I watched the film at the Hoyts cinema complex in Chadstone – which is apparently the biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. To say that the complex was packed, is a gross understatement. There were so many people that one could be forgiven for thinking that the event took place on a blockbuster making Friday or Saturday night. Not on a Wednesday evening after 23:00 (11 pm).

Our $40 (R280) ticket included access to the movie, a free’ Girlfriend’ Magazine *yawn*, a large bucket of popcorn, a large soft drink of your choice and a plastic foil laced collectors edition drinking flask – which is actually pretty cool. If you were lucky enough to obtain an $80 (R560!) ‘La Premiere’ ticket (which, as crazy as the price was, I tried getting but they were sold out), not only were you given access to the ‘La Premiere’ seating and ‘in-cinema’ food menu, along with everything else, but you would have also scored yourself a New Moon T-shirt valued at $20 (R140).

On a quick side note, it is worth mentioning that the Aussie girls are very ‘friendly’ and know what they want. Which my cousin can more than corroborate, often jesting how the Aussie girls often “rape” guys if they are not careful. Suffice to say, while I was waiting in the queue to enter the cinema, I managed to strike up several ‘enlightening’ conversations with the girls around me. Five minutes more and I am pretty sure that we would have both been ravaged by the Vampire hungry Bella’s! Ha ha! Seriously though, Melbournians are very welcoming and open people. You could talk to anyone and feel as if you have known them for years. A great quality!

The movie is actually quite good. It is not a perfect rendition of the story, but book to movie translations seldom are. With that said, despite a few ‘what the heck’ moments, the movie is reasonably close to the original story outlined in the novel. Thus fans of the books will know what to expect from the film. Ultimately though, if you enjoyed the first movie, you will undoubtedly enjoy the second. However, it is worth noting, for those not familiar with the story,  that the second film is more of a dramatic love story than the first. With more of an emphasis on the main characters and the love triangle which begins to emerge between them. Contrary to what the trailer would have you believe.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon receives a fanglorious 8/10.

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I think that around 80 percent of the audience were female. How do I know? Easy. Courtesy of the deafening screams and ooh’s and ah’s which prevailed the first time Edward and Jacob made their on screen appearances *rolls eyes*. Not to mention the scenes in which they each take off their shirts for the first time (thought I was going to go deaf from the screaming). I have got to give it to Taylor Lautner though, that kid has an amazing body for someone so young *self-consciously sucks in boep a little more*. Usually I find audience participation within a cinema to be off putting. However, this time around it merely contributed to the overall experience and ‘buzz’ of the event. All in all a fantastic time was had.

*Spoiler: Do not continue reading if you have not read or watched past New Moon*
Before I end this post, I just want to share something that I finally realised after watching New Moon for the second time. I finally ‘clicked’, that Bella wanting to become a Vampire is essentially a metaphor for losing her virginity. However, the metaphor does not end there. It is extended through to when Edward insists that he will only ‘turn’ Bella once they are married. Thus enforcing the notion of ‘no sex before/until marriage’. An arguably good, yet partially unrealistic, message to be sending out to the youth of today:

“Save yourself, for everlasting love”!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

According to Canadian research company Sysomos, South African Twitter users make up 0.85% of total online Twitter interaction, beating Japan (0.71%), the Philippines (0.64%) and China (0.49%) to a spot in the top 10. Quite impressive for a third world country, hey?

Overall though, the US is the winner by quite a large margin with 62.14% of the world’s users, followed by the UK (7.87%), Canada (5.69%) and Australia (2.8%).

According to the study, Twitter attracts around 55 million unique visitors worldwide per month! Of that figure, 0.85% are South African. That amounts to about 467 500 SA visitors per month. Can you believe that? Almost half a million South Africans log on to Twitter each month. Incredible!

Looking at the popularity of Twitter today, it is amazing to think that it all started as a simple pet project in Evan Williams’ basement, way back in March of 2006. Since that time Twitter has become the world’s most popular social networking and micro-blogging site, attracting celebrity users such as Oprah, and a growing mountain of media and blog coverage. In all honesty, I use Twitter so frequently, that I sometimes wonder why no one thought of it any sooner.

[Sources: News24, IOL]

For those who still do not know, you can follow my Twitter here: www.twitter.com/HansHaupt.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

This is not the first time that they have immigrated. As a matter of fact it is the second time. The first time they went to Dubai, where they lived for about three to four years before returning to South Africa. However, they always knew that Dubai would only be a temporary change. Going to Australia on the other hand, is an entirely different scenario. For this time they have immigrated in an attempt to begin a completely new life.

As a result, a farewell was held for my cousin and his family on Sunday 13th September 2009 at Gilooly’s Farm. You may have a look some of the pictures in the album below.

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Saying goodbye is never easy. This time around though, I knew that I would be seeing them soon, thus delaying any emotional responses to their subsequent departure. Nevertheless, it still was not easy to have said ‘goodbye’. So this is for you, my cousins.

I know that my time is coming. For those who do not know, my family and myself have been thinking about immigrating for many years now. Unfortunately, we have not taken any ‘permanent’ measures to ensure a way of immigration. However, my plan has always been to complete one year of my Masters studies in South Africa and the final year in Australia. As a result, and should everything go as planned, I will leave for Australia by March of 2010 (next year). I will most likely post about this, in more detail, at a later stage. So… do not be a stranger!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

1. Hans’ Milieu was too ‘cluttered’, resulting in long load times, and needed to be streamlined

2. A new look for a new year

3. I’m sure there is another reason but between my throbbing ear and lack of sleep I just can’t think of anything else right now… except maybe of food *Hans stars blankly at the laptop screen for several moments, eardrums pounding all the while, bats his scratchy sleep deprived eyelids and proceeds to wipe the drool from his mouth – all while offering venomously furtive glances at his little cousin whose slowed breathes indicate a deep peaceful coma like sleep*

4. Man… I’m hungry. Ravenous in fact. It feels like I am being eaten alive from the inside out. Okay… I need to focus… *Hans disappears to the kitchen for a snack – Yummy, leftovers: chicken Parmesan*

5. Ah, much better… Oh… where was I?

So 2009 will be the year of the ‘New’. What that means exactly, I have not fully decided, but I reckon it will, unsurprisingly, have to do with ‘new’ experiences in love, life and studies/work/play… in everything really.

Speaking of new. A few posts back I mentioned that I was attempting a physical transition from ‘Flab to Fab’ – a 16 week challenge to turn my flabby self into something fabulous. Well… that 16 week period ended three weeks ago. The results? Enough fab to dither the flab, but still enough flab to denounce the fab.

In other words, although my strength and size have improved, there is not yet enough definition. For example: With a light press I can feel the rippling washboard that is my abdominal region, however I just can’t physically see it *sigh*.

I have not given up hope though and look forward to obtaining that ‘Men’s Health’ look within 2009. For now, I have posted a few pictures to indicate my ‘progress’ (the pictures were taken this holiday season). The fact that I have posted a photograph of myself without a shirt on (those who know me will know how big a deal this actually is, for a variety of reasons) is testament to the improvements in self confidence one can gain through exercise.

The ‘new’ year is almost upon us, only 15 odd hours to go. Have you got your new years resolutions ready? I have a few, but I have yet to put pen to paper and jot them down. What an old adage. It no longer reflects the times, in the literal meaning, and really should be updated. Let’s see… putting ‘fingers to the keyboard’? Heh heh. Or, even simpler, ‘post it to my blog’. Well, something to that effect. If you have any suggestions, I would like to here them, so please don’t hesitate to post them in the comments section. Without further ado, here are some of my ‘resolutions’ for 2009, listed in no particular order:

• Blog more often
• Get that ‘Men’s Health’ look – Abs people, abs!
• Attempt to upgrade my Masters study to a Doctorate
• Finalise our move to Australia
• Attempt to do at least one A.R.K. (Act of Random Kindness) a day

Some good news… the ear appears to have stopped throbbing. I will still have to get it sorted today though, don’t want the same thing to happen to me again tomorrow. Okay, it is the last day of the year, so I am going to attempt to make the most of it… whatever that entails! Heh heh!