It's been seven long years since Kraftwerk blew our freaking minds at Hammerstein Ballroom, and the hugely influential German electronica collective hasn't been back to NYC since. That will finally be rectified in April, when Kraftwerk (which currently features just one of its founding members, Ralf Hütter) will perform (or "manually sequence" sound and video) in the main atrium at MoMA. In a series of eight concerts over as many nights, the mysterious Kraftwerk will "play" songs from eight albums, as well as compositions from their catalogue adapted specifically for this exhibition’s format. And this format sounds elaborate, with 3D video and plenty of other post-modern psychedelic effects TBD. We hope they bust out the robots!
Kraftwerk Returns To NYC With 8 Night Stand At MoMA
"Big" News: Zoltar Has Arrived At Coney Island!
Zoltar, who you know from his small yet important role in Big, has arrived at Coney Island! At least, some sort of distant relative of his has. We're told this version of Zoltar is currently living under the Wonder Wheel beside Grandma's Predictions, and that "they are already close friends!"
Video: Honda Creates Lazy Machine
Since the Segway never really took off, there's hope that Honda's new personal mobility device (the U3-X) won't either. It's function? Helping you meet your ultimate laziness potential; moving at 3.7 mph, it'll "scoot you from spot to spot with out having to worry about wearing out your precious leg muscles." It's just a prototype now, but Honda's head honcho himself says "I might really use it if my legs grow weaker." The U3-X: the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
Lots of People Scored Free LIRR Tickets, MetroCards
More details have emerged in that “magic MetroCard machine” story the Post broke yesterday. Turns out it that it wasn’t a MetroCard machine, but a LIRR ticket machine (which also dispenses MetroCards). And make that machines; the Times reports that from 2004 until last May, countless people have unwittingly used the machines to get free tickets and MetroCards, exploiting a software glitch that let riders with insufficient funds on their debit card or credit card obtain the tickets for free.
Bad MetroCard Machine Leads to 800K Windfall, Arrests
A trio of grifters allegedly bilked the MTA out of $800,000 over the past three years by exploiting a software glitch in a single MetroCard machine in Penn Station. According to the Post, police have arrested a Roosevelt, Long Island resident named Cary Grant (ha), his wife Lisa Foster Jordan, and their friend Christopher Clemente, a former student at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School whose scholastic career ended in 1990 when he was convicted for heroin and weapons possession.
Credit Cards Boost Some Cab Drivers' Income
It seems that after months of threatening, chasing and punching passengers who insist on paying with plastic, some city cab drivers have come to love the new credit card devices, which will be in all taxis by the end of August. Their original objections were to the 5% transaction fee, but now drivers are reporting higher tips because of the way the machines display the tipping options.
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