Monday, March 7, 2011

Just Got 86'ed


86'ed means a bar refuses to serve a customer for certain reasons. It is more than a slang, it is in the dictionary if you search it. Here is the definition from the free dictionary.com:

eight·y-six or 86 (t-sks)
tr.v. eight·y-sixed or 86·ed, eight·y-six·ing or 86·ing, eight·y-six·es or 86·es Slang
1. To refuse to serve (an unwelcome customer) at a bar or restaurant.
2.
a. To throw out; eject.
b. To throw away; discard.
[Perhaps after Chumley's bar and restaurant at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, New York City.]

But this word has got to have some story behind it. Well, you saw the last sentence in the definition. Chumley's bar & restaurant, now as a tourist atraction in New Yock City has its own historical background.

"It was established in 1926 by the socialist activist Leland Stanford Chumley, who converted a former blacksmith's shop near the corner of Bedford and Barrow Streets into the Prohibition-era drinking establishment. The speakeasy became a favorite spot for influential writers, poets, journalists, and activists, including members of the Lost Generation and the Beat Generation movements.

A look at the Chumley's interior

A number of qualities remain from Chumley's Prohibition history. Notably, the Barrow Street entrance has no exterior sign, being located at the end of a nondescript courtyard ("The Garden Door"), while the Bedford Street entrance, which opens to the sidewalk, is also unmarked. Inside, Chumley's is still equipped with the trap doors and secret stairs that comprised part of its elaborate subterfuge" (Wikipedia).

The "82" sign at the door was probably its only distinguishable landmark.

During and after the Prohibition era (google it), Chumley's became one of NYC's many literary hangouts serving drinks a who's who in 20th century literature including notables such a s John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eugene O'Neill, William Faulkner, James Thurber, Anais Nin, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ernest Hemingway, Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg. Original dust jackets and portraits still line the walls. According to legend the term "86 it" for "kill it" or "forget about it" comes from a warning the cops would give, phoning ahead to Chumley to let him know they were on the way and customers should "86" out the exit. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/371215197/in/photostream/

Thursday, February 17, 2011

What Is in Your Bag?

What is in your bag? The seemingly private question, is curious and interesting to ask! Some people's bags are messy with lots of stuff, and some are organized and tidy. What you put in your bag, are not only things that are useful and necessary for your outing and work, but also include things that reflect your interest, personality and occupations. Stuffs in one's bag can really tell a lot about a person.

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People have creactively started the idea of posting the pictures of stuffs in their bags, organized in a neat way. There are even groups on Flickr, called "what's in your bag", "what's in your pocket" that people can upload these pictures to. Each bag tells a different story of life...

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Diana Photography

The Diana camera is a plastic-bodied box camera utilizing 120 rollfilm. It takes twelve 6×6 cm photographs using a simple plastic meniscus lens. Originally marketed as an inexpensive novelty gift item, the Diana was later used by professional photographers to take soft focus, impressionistic photographs somewhat reminiscent of the Pictorialist Period of artistic photography, but utilizing contemporary themes and concepts.



What is special about Diana, is the soft, dreamy colour texture it captures in film. The simple yet rich colours present a retro-story world itself. Its vintage style is remained, and the photo must by shot in conventional film exposure. 

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    SLR Closeup Lens

    Cross Processed

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