A pickup bar for geeks.

October 21, 2001 6:53 PM

A pickup bar for geeks. 60 TV cameras on the ceiling can be controlled by bar patrons from stations all over the bar, to snoop on other people. See someone you like? Send 'em an email; and maybe if you hit it off you can walk across the bar and actually talk to them.
posted by Steven Den Beste (28 comments total)

Or go to their site
posted by liam at 7:20 PM on October 21, 2001

Or go to the the page in their site for pictures of 09-20-2001.
Please tell me this was more helpful than the comment above.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 7:30 PM on October 21, 2001

Er, yes it was. I meant the bar's site. I was distracted by baseball on tv. Thanks.
posted by liam at 7:40 PM on October 21, 2001

But do they do deliveries?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:41 PM on October 21, 2001

fuck, why even go to the bar if you are that detached from socialization?
posted by machaus at 7:47 PM on October 21, 2001

After taking a look at some of their fotos, I'm pretty
disappointed that their monitors aren't LCD's. They might
have done it on purpose for the "Old Style Effect" along
with the phones from the 60's.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 7:48 PM on October 21, 2001

Worst. Bar. Ever.
posted by Hildago at 8:51 PM on October 21, 2001

The creators of Remote Lounge have turned an electrical supply store into a digital playhouse for local hipsters.

i'm not a hipster. (i still shop at the gap.) i guess i can't go. darn the luck. this is sentence five.
posted by double+good at 9:05 PM on October 21, 2001

fuck, why even go to the bar if you are that detached from socialization?

Exactly. I can almost picture the conversation after the obligatory 100 smiley faces have been exchanged:

"Hey, I'm Rob1200"

"Hi, I'm JeaN-0, but you can call me Jean."

"So you like stuff?"

"Yeah stuff is good."

*LONG nervous moment*

"I liked you better on-line."

"I'll go back to my station now, we can still be friends right?"
posted by skallas at 9:24 PM on October 21, 2001

Finally... The webcam in my pants pays off.
posted by shinybeast at 10:01 PM on October 21, 2001

ack, no one's cute!
posted by elle at 10:10 PM on October 21, 2001

God forbid someone should go out into meatspace and say "hello my name is...."

Pathetic.
posted by ilsa at 11:18 PM on October 21, 2001

wow. "asl?" may now become a valid pick up line.
posted by atom128 at 11:20 PM on October 21, 2001

"Love is just a flick of the wrist away in Manhattan."

Exactly. It's a bar for wankers. (And for pairs of pretty girls who want to sit and talk to each other and get free drinks all night from anonymous wankers.)
posted by pracowity at 11:27 PM on October 21, 2001

Big Brother for even greater losers.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:48 AM on October 22, 2001

I just wanted to say that the next time I'm shoehorned into an uncomfortable social situation with someone who wants to chit-chat to me even less than I do to them by a hyperactive host or hostess who hates to see anyone not engaged in conversation...

**deep breath**

...and quite possibly even considers themself to be some kind of matchmmaker, although that would suggest that they're not, y'know, completely crap at it, and frankly they usually are, I'm definitely going to try to open with "So, you like stuff?" preferably with the stress on the "stuff" rather than the "like", just because it would be interesting to see how the other person reacts and watch them attempting to escape from this madman they find before them, and who knows, I might end up having a conversation about Stuff, which could be interesting.

I love a really big cup of coffee first thing in the morning.
posted by Grangousier at 1:31 AM on October 22, 2001

It's novel. Why it seems to have struck such dissonant chords in the MeFi masses has me boggled.

I'd visit it with/without my current SO and mutual friends, if only to goof off, and be able to openly indulge my voyeuristic tendencies (we've all got 'em).
posted by precocious at 1:34 AM on October 22, 2001

Stuff is good. I like stuff.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:39 AM on October 22, 2001

No way. Stuff is bad. Know how many people are killed by stuff every day? Think of the children.
posted by marknau at 2:21 AM on October 22, 2001

Stuff for some; miniature American flags for others!
posted by youhas at 2:29 AM on October 22, 2001

Damn, I couldn't check to see what their drink specials are. I think I'll keep going to the bar across the street, with the $3 cocktails at happy hour.
posted by meep at 2:52 AM on October 22, 2001

precocious said: It's novel. Why it seems to have struck such dissonant chords in the MeFi masses has me boggled.

There are few things nerds enjoy more than laughing at other social retards. I suppose it helps them forget, although only for a few minutes, how empty their own lives are. If only they could have real life friends like the people on Buffy.

But at least these people are turning off their computers (select start, shut down and then follow on screen prompts) and going outside... you remember outside, right?
posted by MarkC at 3:30 AM on October 22, 2001

There are few things nerds enjoy more than laughing at other social retards.

Is this a social trend? I think the angst surrounding this has alot to do with it preserving a hands-off internet AOL chatroom culture and taking out the normal everyday risk of talking to someone before deciding over IM that "Yes, we should talk."

Spying on each other with cameras and hiding behind screen names is not a replacement for healthy social contanct. Its in fact creepily voyeristic and adds more bagage to an already cumbersome mating process.
posted by skallas at 5:42 AM on October 22, 2001

not digging on the televisions. the camera adds ten pounds. besides ally mcbeal, who needs that?
posted by mich9139 at 8:33 AM on October 22, 2001

We have thousands of bars in Manhattan. We have retro-air-travel-themed bars, fire-breathing bartender bars, a bar with no entrance, and a bar without a bar. In other words, no gimmick is too much for the ambitious New York bar entrepreneur (barntrepeneur?). I wouldn't give this place long, but then I like joints with cheap beer and elderly customers.
posted by liam at 8:42 AM on October 22, 2001

Finding a mate is a tough job. What's so wrong with trying to make it easier?

Maybe times have changed; it's been years since I visited a chat room. But in the old days, they were great places to meet people. The problem was that the people you met were more likely to live around the world than next door; it led to a lot of long-distance phone bills and jet commutes. Sounds like this bar has solved that problem by coming up with a way to get everyone in the same (big) room. Well, good for them: anything that makes it easier for people to find each other is good in my book.

All this geek-bashing is a bit silly; it sounds like something a scriptwriter for a satirical teen movie in the early '90s would have put into the mouths of the "popular kids".

-Mars
posted by Mars Saxman at 8:45 AM on October 22, 2001

I'd like to offer a review from someone -- namely me -- who has actually been to the bar. First of all, I went there not for the voyeurism (snore), but for the potential exhibitionism (mmm...). The bar is actually more exciting and interactive than it sounds in this rather dry Reuters article (oddly, someone sent me a French version of it the other day), but not nearly as spicy as it could be. This is for a simple reason: Everyone has too much fun playing with their gadgets rather than realizing that yes, yes, they are being watched. Thus, it's quite dull if you're just watching online. Does anyone hook-up here? Well, I didn't see anything of the sort. Are "geeks" the only people who come here? Well, actually, the people who were there when I was there actually were quite lively and good-looking. So go figure. Anyway, I recommend going...if for only one time.
posted by lowblow at 4:07 PM on October 22, 2001

Just went there for the first time and enjoyed it quite a bit, if only for the novelty. I imagine the only times I'll go back will be to show it to out-of-town visitors. I was amused, though. The retro design, black-and-white screens and clunky joysticks are pretty hip.
posted by muckster at 9:43 PM on March 26, 2002