EAV - Amore XL Tour

Yesterday I saw the concert of the Austrian band EAV (Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung - a dig at a past insurance group) at the Arena Nova in Wiener Neustadt.

When I was in elementary school I loved a lot of their songs. That was some time ago so I was a bit sceptical about the show.

It was pretty cool!

When you see them live it's much better than on the radio - like always - but I would have never guessed that Thomas Spitzer plays his guitar in such a hard way. And Klaus Eberhartinger (frontman and vocals) always knows a fitting answer to every comment coming from the audience.

It wasn't really made up for kids, as the main subject was the different types of love - and mostly the physical part.

The hall was shaking as the people clapped their hands and sang along!

They played a lot of their old well known hits, of course. And several medleys.

It was pure fun!


Websites: EAV, Arena Nova
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MC listened to: EAV - Fata Morgana
via FoxyTunes

back to school

I just was at our local University of Applied Sciences - Fachhochschule (FH) Wiener Neustadt - to sign up for their Businees Engineering Program (part-time). Now all I have to do is to pass the aptitude test on 10. April, and then, three years later, I will - hopefully - be Bachelor of Science in Engineering. And I think I will go on two more years to become Master.


Well, if I told you that I ain't nervous it be a plain lie! To be honest from time to time I feel like I'm going to s**t my pants! ;-)

Website: FH Wiener Neustadt
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MC listened to: Thin Lizzy - Whiskey In The Jar
via FoxyTunes

rocked again!

Seen on Sunday.

WOW!
As fantastic as the last time!
Just can't get enough of it!

The cast was a bit different this time. Galileo was played by Carl von Wegberg. He has a great voice too! But as so often the first set you see seems better than the following changes. But to be honest that's just subjective, and you only recognize things you liked in the other set better and don't really see the things that are maybe even better now.

I really hope that I get the chance to see it once more!

Websites: We Will Rock You (at), Raimund Theater
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MC listened to: Queen - I Want It All
via FoxyTunes

U2:3D

Seen last Thursday.
(sorry was caught in an online quiz -
really addicting but terrible)

What a show!
A great experience in 3D!

The U2 concert in Argentina during the Vertigo Tour was really fantastic!
The stadium was shaking and the audience was singing along nearly every single word.


A few years ago I didn't care to much about U2's music, but I have to admit, that I like it very much now!

It was not just a concert for fun. U2 seems to be on a nonviolent crusade for peace and freedom!
Bono and the others are real life heros of the present time. The concert was bit like a huge and loud mass for peace. After this show I would say the whole world should be sent to a concert like this. If just a few more people - and of course some of the so called 'important' people - would show the same believe in the power of change and the possibility of coexistence of all religions, races and origins like the argentinian audience did during the show, mankind could eventually really be able to achieve world peace.


Websites: U2:3D, U2
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MC listened to: U2 - Beautiful Day
via FoxyTunes

'Grease meets Hair' @ Magna Racino

On Saturday we were at the Magna Racino in Ebreichsdorf for 'Dinner & Show' again.



For more about the Racino visit my previous post about it.

Like the last time we went to the gambling area first.
This time I was really lucky and tripled my stake.
Good start for a great evening! :-)

At our last visit we saw a great ABBA revival band and this time we saw the fantastic hits from the musicals 'Hair' and 'Grease'. As special addition we also saw some hits from 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and 'Saturday Night Fever'.
The show was very good again, except for the 'Grease' part. It was not the best work and the male voices didn't really fit and it partly seemed like they were making fun of the musical.

Dinner was served in the same order like the last time.
First the appetizer - smoked Dornauer Arctic char tartar with it's caviar and sour cream - and the starter - lemon risotto with king prawns (sorry no pic).





After that delicious start we saw the first show part 'Hair'...






...and in addition 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.



Now we were served the main course - double from the Waldviertler angus with baked calf and mashed potatoes with black truffle and green asparagus (again forgot to take a photo).
Fantastic!

Now to the second show part 'Grease'...






...and 'Saturday Night Fever'.



As I said before 'Grease' wasn't the best performance but they made it up with 'Saturday Night Fever'. They really did hit the high notes the Bee Gees had predetermined.

After the show it was time for the dessert - a variation of apple and coconut. Tasted great!







The show was great and the dinner was excellent again!

I am really looking forward to be there again on 12. April to see 'Sammy, Frank & Dean - The Rat Pack'!

Websites: Magna Racino,
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MC listened to: Grease - Grease Is The Word
via FoxyTunes

Horton Hears A Who!

Seen on Friday.

I had expected more, but it was very nice.
It's really a movie for young kids - not like 'Bee Movie', 'Monsters, Inc.' or 'Ice Age' which are fun for everyone.

The animals are made up sweet but not as loveable as they could have been.
What disturbed me most was the narrator - I don't like rhyming narrators. Don't know if his text is in rhymes in English too, but in the German version it is.

What I found extremely funny was the scene where everything was made in manga style. It is as ridiculous as most of those stupid manga shows (like Pokemon, Digimon and all the other sh*t) flooding our tv screens.

Anyway, the message that every live has a right to be is very good.

For kids this movies is really nice, people who are just young at heart should stay with 'Ice Age' and movies of that type.

Website: Horton Hears A Who
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MC listened to: Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers - Swing The Mood
via FoxyTunes

Surprise!

Yesterday my sweetheart Julia surprised me with a present she had Amazon send to my office. She had told me something about an upcoming surprise before but I had no idea what it could be.
When a colleague came to my office and gave me the packet from Amazon I didn't realize that this was the mentioned surprise and was a bit confused because I hadn't ordered anything from them. But after opening it I understood.
Inside the packet were two books in wrapping paper with a card attached - reading: 'from your regular blog reader'.

The books are 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown and 'The Guide to Dan Brown's the Solomon Key: The Essential Primer' by Greg Taylor.

She had the idea because I wrote - a few posts before - that 'The Da Vinci Code' is the only book by Dan Brown I haven't read by now and that I am also waiting for the publishing of 'The Solomon Key'.

Julia, you are such a sweetie! I love you!

John Rambo

Seen yesterday.

This movie is not an action movie, even if some people may think so.
I can imagine that the only fiction part of the movie is the figure of John Rambo and that a few man can eliminate an army. The rest of the story seems like it could be real life. The terror, the humiliation and killing of innocent people. Just take a look at the daily news on TV.


I guess most people know who John Rambo is, or have at least heard of him before. So I will not tell to much about the story, because it's rather similar to other parts.
People get in trouble - Rambo gets them out.
The only differences this time are (besides of his age) that he isn't going alone - small group of mercenaries is on his side - and that it is much bloodier and really affecting.

Website: John Rambo
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MC listened to: Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
via FoxyTunes

Sweeney Todd

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Seen on Saturday. (Sorry that it took so long.)

Amazing!
The basic story reminds a bit of 'The Count of Monte Christo' because of the fact that a innocent man is deported for something he didn't do and lusts for revenge when he comes back.
But 'Sweeney Todd' is much bloodier and has, in addition to the baseline, a macabre sense of humor.

Johnny Depp, who plays Sweeney, has a fantastic voice as singer too!

I liked the movie a lot!
It takes you to the deepest parts of the human mind, as the story and the deeds is easy imaginable in those hard times back than.

Website: Sweeney Todd
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MC listened to: Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heavens Door
via FoxyTunes

'Digital Fortress' by Dan Brown

On Tuesday I finished another great piece of work by Dan Brown.
It's the third book I've read from Dan Brown.
After reading 'Deception Point' - with it's political plots - and 'Angels and Demons' - with it's ancient myths, I have to say that 'Digital Fortress' would be in my ranking in the middle of these three. There is more action then in 'Angels and Demons' but I like the myth a bit more then technoligy thillers.
'Digital Fortress' is full of suspense and unexpected twists.
I really enjoyed reading it!

The only book by Dan Brown left to be read is the legendary 'The Da Vinci Code'. Unless until he publishes 'The Solomon Key'. ;-)

The plot:

When the NSA's most classified technological wonder--an invincible code-breaking machine--encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls in its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power.

The NSA is being held hostage... not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it will cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides she finds herself fighting not only for her country, but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

Websites: Dan Brown, Digital Fortress
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MC listened to: U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
via FoxyTunes

We Will Rock You

Don't know what to say!
The term 'WOW!' just doesn't explain it quite enough!

It's more then a musical, more than a show. It's a unique masterpiece!



Can you imagine a world without REAL music? Where everything is computer-generated and to be downloaded via the internet? A globalised world of GA-GA, ruled the a company called Globalsoft? Where music instruments are banned?
Me neither!
Galileo (Sascha Alexander Lien / first cast: Serkan Kaya) and Scaramouche (Jessica Kessler) are on the journey of their lifetime. They are on a crusade to find the last hidden instruments to revive the one and only real and true music - ROCK!



The story is great and the music is fantastic, wonderful, breathtaking!
The hits written by Queen really shake the walls of the good old Raimund Theater and make you really feel alive!

We would watch it over and over again. And we WILL! :-)

The producers:

Ben Elton,
Robert de Niro,
Brian May,
Roger Taylor



Websites: We Will Rock You (at), Raimund Theater
Pictures taken from musicalvienna.at
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MC listened to: Queen - A Kind Of Magic
via FoxyTunes

riders on the storm

WTF!
This weekend the storm 'Emma' blew over great parts of Austria. It did a lot of damage and some people got hurt and a few even were killed. But after all we are very lucky not to have such catastrophal disasters in our area as there are in other parts of the world!
On Saturday we went to Vienna to see the Queen-Musical 'We Will Rock You', a great birthday present I got from Julia. Whe we started in Wiener Neustadt sun was shining and it was rather warm. So I didn't think it would get so bad on the way.
Half the way to Vienna we met 'Emma' on the freeway. The the wind was fast and hard, the embedded rain wasn't falling straight down or a bit tilted by the wind - it was coming nearly horizontally!
In parts it was hard to keep the car straight on track. Worst was that it came in single strong squalls. I was really glad that I have a limo and not a van or something like that.
It was the first time I had to drive 70 kph (about 44 mph) or less on the freeway without being caught in a traffic jam.
When we arrived in Vienna it was already over, just a bit windy.
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MC listened to: The Doors - Riders On The Storm
via FoxyTunes