Posted October 24, 201311 yr Metrobot set to return to the streets of Cincinnati http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?NoCache=1&Dato=20131024&Kategori=ENT07&Lopenr=310240033&Ref=AR
October 24, 201311 yr I'm torn on this. Sometimes I think Metrobot is unique and awesome. Other times, I think it's ugly and dated. Glad to hear it's still out there somewhere, though. It will be interesting to see if it really returns.
October 24, 201311 yr Metrobot is coming back and looking for a home 26-foot-tall sculpture to emerge from storage Written by Julie Engebrecht Metrobot is headed back to the streets of Cincinnati. Where he’ll land – or when – isn’t known just yet. The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation has pledged the funds to bring Metrobot back with some updates. Finding the right location for the 26-foot-tall Nam June Paik sculpture is the sticky issue now. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20131024/ENT07/310240033/Metrobot-coming-back-looking-home?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p
October 24, 201311 yr I think his kitschy self would fit in well near the casino. Hopefully the electronic reader board arms will be updated to be able to display HD video.
October 24, 201311 yr Don't be hating Metrobot! Wonder if it would stay outside since it's worth a million. It can go in the center of the roundabout at the Banks. Or the center piece of a nursery/urban farm over FWW ala a scarecrow.
October 24, 201311 yr ^Either proposal would be outstanding. Or it could be made to mark the very spot where Iggy Pop threw the peanut butter back in 1970.
August 7, 201410 yr Giant robot returns to downtown Cincinnati Erin Caproni - Digital Producer - Cincinnati Business Courier A familiar face is returning to downtown Cincinnati in a new location. Metrobot, a 27-foot tall robot sculpture, will be reintroduced to the Queen City at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 10.The structure will be located outside the Contemporary Arts Center on Walnut and Sixth streets. Albert Vontz Jr., owner of Heidelberg Distributors Co., gave Metrobot to the city as a gift for its bicentennial and the CAC’s 50th anniversary in 1988. His son Al Vontz III and the Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation have provided funding to restore Metrobot and return it to the CAC. The sculpture was de-installed in 2009 and put into storage until CAC found a permanent home. Cont "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
August 29, 201410 yr I think it's going to look really good in that spot. By chance it faces toward one-way traffic just like it did before.
August 29, 201410 yr I read that they updated everything. Hopefully the face is still that dumb neon and isn't an ipad.
August 30, 201410 yr I'll be interested in seeing Metrobot when he's reassembled. Does he eat old people's medicine for fuel?
August 30, 201410 yr I love Metrobot SO MUCH MORE in this location. The haphazard assembly of boxes on both Metrobot and the CAC itself work perfectly together.
August 30, 201410 yr I love Metrobot SO MUCH MORE in this location. The haphazard assembly of boxes on both Metrobot and the CAC itself work perfectly together. I think the matte color, by total chance, works out perfectly against the concrete backdrop and everything around it.
August 31, 201410 yr Maybe he's been updated by getting rid of the payphone in his leg. No I read that the pay phone most definitely will be a part of the new installation. I definitely used the old one a few times in the 90s.
August 31, 201410 yr I saw he is under wraps right now (last I drove by). I assume there will be some sort of re-dedication ceremony?
September 1, 201410 yr Metrobot is being unveiled on Sept 11 at some point. Couldn't find the time. But on Sept 12, there's a Metrobot PARTY! http://contemporaryartscenter.org/calendar/2014/09/12/metrobot-party
March 13, 201510 yr I programmed Metrobot's number into my phone, but when I called and picked up the pay phone, it didn't work. It's not like the good old days when you could call a pay phone and talk to the guy standing there for free.
March 14, 201510 yr I programmed Metrobot's number into my phone, but when I called and picked up the pay phone, it didn't work. It's not like the good old days when you could call a pay phone and talk to the guy standing there for free. I had an elaborate plan to set up a Google Voice account and add a bunch of local payphone numbers the the account. So whenever somebody would call the Google Voice number, all of the payphones would ring simultaneously, and you would be connected to the first person to pick up any of the ringing payphones. Then I would post the number on Reddit or other social networks and tell people to call. Unfortunately, Google Voice must've had some way of detecting payphones as it would not allow me to add it to the account.
March 14, 201510 yr Drug dealer! Yeah this whole conversation is reminding me of It's Always Sunny where Charlie and Mac are stuck in a drained decrepit pool, and Charlie's telling Mac he only uses burner cell phones... Great episode!
March 14, 201510 yr Drug dealer! When I worked at a Blimpie Subs in Tennessee, we had a pay phone out front. I vividly remember one guy with long stringy hair spending at least 40 hours a week standing next to that phone. The owner hated him because he thought he was hurting business.
March 14, 201510 yr I programmed Metrobot's number into my phone, but when I called and picked up the pay phone, it didn't work. It's not like the good old days when you could call a pay phone and talk to the guy standing there for free. I had an elaborate plan to set up a Google Voice account and add a bunch of local payphone numbers the the account. So whenever somebody would call the Google Voice number, all of the payphones would ring simultaneously, and you would be connected to the first person to pick up any of the ringing payphones. Then I would post the number on Reddit or other social networks and tell people to call. Unfortunately, Google Voice must've had some way of detecting payphones as it would not allow me to add it to the account. There was this old trick with pay phones where you would call a three digit code then the last four digits of that phone's number, hang up, pick up the receiver, then hang it back up when you heard a tone. A few seconds later it would starting ringing and wouldn't stop ringing until somebody picked it up. It was especially fun to do with a bank of pay phones, since you could get 3,4, 5 - whatever - phones all ringing up a storm. We had 3 phones at my high school in the lobby outside the gym. During class changes we'd get them going and it would force the nearest teacher to go remedy the situation. The trick was that you had to fish around until you found the three digit code. In much of Cincinnati it was 991, not to be confused with 911. I hit 911 by mistake one time.
March 14, 201510 yr In Columbus I think it was 955 or 855. We used that trick at home to call people who were upstairs when we were downstairs.
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