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Nostalgia Travel: NYC's Big Wheel Race

October 15, 2008 at 11:15 AM | 0 Comments

This Saturday, October 18, Central Park will play host to the NYC Big Wheel Race. Tossed together by the pranksters at Newmindspace, racers can enter with big wheels, tricycles, skateboards or even a roller skate screwed to a 2x4--just as long as the vehicle's seat is no more than a foot off the ground.

Superhero attire--as well as protective gear--is suggested, and you'll probably need it: The race takes place down the Great Hill, the highest point in the park.

You'll need to email Newmindspace to register if you're racing, but spectators can just show up at 103rd Street and Central Park West by 2 pm to catch the start of the action.

Related Stories:
· Newmindspace [Official Site]
· The Big Wheel Rally [Zoomdoggle]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of a Big Wheel rally in San Francisco: Jef Poskanzer]

Fall Culture Travel: Act Out with Improv Everywhere

September 24, 2008 at 11:55 AM | 2 Comments

               

For last year's MP3 Experiment, colorfully dressed masses descended on the park around the World Financial Center to play games and create a bull's-eye formation as directed by a faceless voice. Great fun was had by all! Now the pranksters behind the MP3 experiment, Improv Everywhere, are bringing the internet-driven playtime to three additional cities in the fall.

New York's MP3 Experiment takes place this Saturday afternoon on Governors Island; hipsters in Toronto, San Francisco and Chicago will get their shots September 28 and October 4-5.

Related Stories:
· Instructions for New York's MP3 Experiment [Official Site]
· One Of Last Year's Missions: Frozen Swarm Takes Over Grand Central [Jaunted]
· Hipster Swarm Engulfs New York City Park [Jaunted]

Frozen Swarm Takes Over Grand Central

February 1, 2008 at 12:03 PM | 0 Comments

               

Improv Everywhere's latest mission infiltrated one of New York's most famous landmarks: Grand Central Terminal. More than 200 people swarmed the train station and froze in place for five full minutes. Hilarity, obviously, ensued.

This is the same crew that organizes NYC's infamous No Pants subway rides, the most recent of which happened on January 12. They also put together the swarm that invaded Battery Park last summer.

If you wanna get in on one of these events, it's as easy as signing up on the Improv Everywhere mailing list.

Related Stories:
· Improv Everywhere [Official Site]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]
· Travel Videos coverage [Jaunted]

It's Summer Somewhere: Flash Mob and Shop at KL's Petronas Towers

January 29, 2008 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

With an average high temperature of about 90 degrees year-round, you'd be safe to say that it's always summer in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. KL is modern and full of interesting sights to see and a whole lot of shopping, plus it's home to the tallest twin buildings in the world: the Petronas Towers.

And it's at the base of the Towers, home to one of KL's numerous shopping centers, that tourists might have been confused by a recent flash mobbing. Word of the sudden public meeting was spread by bloggers and at the appointed time, one of the mobbers tore up a newspaper in protest against a mainstream media mogul. Hundreds of people were suddenly there, and just as suddenly gone. (Reminds us of that hipster swarm in NYC.)

But if flash mobbing isn't your idea of a good time, then take a ride to the top of the Petronas Towers for a fantastic view over the city. If you get one of the free passes (1,700 per day), you can cross the Skyway that joins the two towers at the 41st floor. Of course that's only half way up--it's 88 floors tall--but you don't want to get greedy.

Related Stories:
· Malaysia's Foreign Tourist Arrivals Hit High [Forbes]
· Kuala Lumpur Gets a Metblog [Jaunted]
· Flash Mob in KL [Metroblogging]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: superciliousness]

Hipster Swarm Engulfs New York City Park

August 23, 2007 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments


Ever wondered what 800 people gathering in a field looks like from above? Now you know. As you might have guessed from the watermark, some pranksters belonging to a group called Improv Everywhere recently drew a huge crowd of people who would apparently do whatever the Internet told them to do--even when that advice is as cryptic as, "Download this song, go to a park wearing red, green, yellow or blue, and start listening at 4PM."

The track instructed participants, some who had come from as far away as New Hampshire and California to meet at the World Financial Center, to point to the Statue of Liberty, take pictures of each other and high-five unsuspecting pedestrians. We were there but obeyed the track's instructions not to stop to take pictures. Rest assured, it was tons of fun.

Past Improv Everywhere missions have included a synchronized-swimming routine in the Washington Square Park fountain, giving out dirty "snowcones" in Aspen, Colorado and faking a U2 gig in Midtown.

Related Stories:
· Improv Everywhere [Official Site]