Saturday, June 16, 2012

Vignettes #61


 Some people who know me well call me a 'weirdo magnet'. Just tonight Ursula and I went to visit the opening of an exhibition ('Armenhausreich' at the Kunstverein Graz) where quite a few of our friends were participating artists, and we expected to meet a lot more friends on the occasion. We arrived timely, and the show was already well attended. For a moment we both just stood there taking in the scenery and checking for familar faces. It was just a few seconds, but enough time for an elderly heavyset guy to approach us asking whether we had a few moments time for him. Politely, but reluctantly we didn't say no, and this man started talking about 'outer space physics' and how the 'powers above us' are manipulating us. He managed to include health insurance abuse in his sermon and how our democracy is being undermined. Nothing what he said made any sense, and he was rapidly mentioning different topics which obviously had no connection to each other. We finally managed to shake him off by accepting his flyer and promising to 'study' it. Later a short look didn't help much either, especially since the paper had a text no longer than 4 or 5 sentences. Obviously, he was on about the so-called 'Weltraumgesetz' (The 1967 'Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies') and his aim was to install some kind of human rights declaration within this law...

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