You're so flashmobbed, baby
The Viennese Museumsquartier, MQ for short, is a largish area consisting of museums and small gallerys for the exhibition of Art with a capital A, and suchlike. Check the link - they have a rather good Cy Twombly-exhibition now. Oh, and some (new, pseudo-classy, not classical Viennese) cafés. Not too cheap ones.
Still, the main part of the MQ are its courtyards. Large ones. You can play boule there, and there are concerts and dances and stuff. But most of the time it's just a big free public space, made by the gods for simply hanging out.
Public space? Not exactly. Recently it has been infested with guys thet have SECURITY written on their shirts. They started by handing out little sheets in two languages, so that everyone could read what one must NOT do in the MQ. Such as: You can't sit there and consume a drink not bought at one of the cafés. You can't sit where you like, even when the official sitting-places are wet with rain, and the stone steps under the trees are nice and dry - sit in the wet or get away. You can't push your bike through those yards, let alone ride it, or slide by on rollerblades. You can't play music (we are talking ordinary guitars, not ghetto blasters). You can't this, and you mustn't that.
A protesting movement formed itself on the internet within days, resulting in a 2000-person-flashmob yesterday evening. The place was invaded to the strains of Cat Stevens' "If you wanna sing out, sing out". Most mobbers drank beer, and some had bikes. The museum's director has issued a statement, like "OK folks, just kidding".
You can do 'most anything with the Austrians. Tax them to the limit, arrest their neighbours for no good legal reason, they do nothing. BUT tell them they can't drink beer from the supermarket in a specified place, you have an uprising on your hands.
I really wonder what will happen to the MQ next - at the moment the protesters are enjoying a mass media hype, so I suppose it's a free country for the next few days.
Still, the main part of the MQ are its courtyards. Large ones. You can play boule there, and there are concerts and dances and stuff. But most of the time it's just a big free public space, made by the gods for simply hanging out.
Public space? Not exactly. Recently it has been infested with guys thet have SECURITY written on their shirts. They started by handing out little sheets in two languages, so that everyone could read what one must NOT do in the MQ. Such as: You can't sit there and consume a drink not bought at one of the cafés. You can't sit where you like, even when the official sitting-places are wet with rain, and the stone steps under the trees are nice and dry - sit in the wet or get away. You can't push your bike through those yards, let alone ride it, or slide by on rollerblades. You can't play music (we are talking ordinary guitars, not ghetto blasters). You can't this, and you mustn't that.
A protesting movement formed itself on the internet within days, resulting in a 2000-person-flashmob yesterday evening. The place was invaded to the strains of Cat Stevens' "If you wanna sing out, sing out". Most mobbers drank beer, and some had bikes. The museum's director has issued a statement, like "OK folks, just kidding".
You can do 'most anything with the Austrians. Tax them to the limit, arrest their neighbours for no good legal reason, they do nothing. BUT tell them they can't drink beer from the supermarket in a specified place, you have an uprising on your hands.
I really wonder what will happen to the MQ next - at the moment the protesters are enjoying a mass media hype, so I suppose it's a free country for the next few days.
posted by caru | 9:33 AM
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