Margaret Bourke-White, one of the original four staff photographers hired at LIFE magazine when it began publishing in 1936, had a talent for making beautiful pictures from industrial processes. See her photo essay on a Canadian paper mill for one such example.
For LIFE’s July 17, 1939 issue Bourke-White documented another industry: the telephone business. This was back in the day when the ability to talk to anyone anywhere by dialing some numbers wasn’t yet taken for granted.
“Even in thi
Margaret Bourke-White, one of the original four staff photographers hired at LIFE magazine when it began publishing in 1936, had a talent for making beautiful pictures from industrial processes. See her photo essay on a Canadian paper mill for one such example.
For LIFE’s July 17, 1939 issue Bourke-White documented another industry: the telephone business. This was back in the day when the ability to talk to anyone anywhere by dialing some numbers wasn’t yet taken for granted.
“Even in this age, when mechanical marvels become a dime a dozen, the telephone remains a marvelous mechanical instrument,” LIFE wrote in its story. “…When you finally hear the ring which announces that you are connected to your number, 882 separate and distinct operations have been started and completed, all in 11 seconds.”
Of course nowadays an 11-second-wait to connect a call sounds like an eternity. And the rotary phones that this story heralded are now all but obsolete. But back then it was the new wave of technological advancement. LIFE wrote that almost half the 20,000,000 U.S. telephones were dial-operated and predicted, “Eventually almost all of them will be dial instruments.”
The New York Telephone Company, which was a local subsidiary of AT&T at the time, gave Bourke-White behind-the-scenes access for an essay which includes many images that are delightfully anachronistic to the modern viewer. One shows human telephone operators surrounded by phone books that were used to answer calls to Information. Another image shows operators on the international desk manually plugging wires into specific holes in order to complete overseas calls. Another shows a board with tiny meters that tracked usage for individual phone bills.
Bourke-White also documented the mechanics of how a call was made. In LIFE’s original story the photos were part of a sequence which, combined with interpretive illustrations, documented the Rube Goldberg-type chain of events required to connect callers. Bourke-White, as she always did, found beauty in the details.
Today’s world of digital calling is undoubtedly more efficient. These photos are a record of a technological system that was wondrous for decades, but has long since been relegated to the scrap heap.
Operators routed international calls at a switchboard in New York City, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Telephone operators consulted reference books in the course of answering calls to “Information,” 1939. Nationally, information operators fielded two million calls a day.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
These international directories were kept nearby as a resource for AT&T phone operators connecting overseas calls, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
As part of their training, novice telephone operators spoke into a voice mirror—a recording device which played the voice right back—so that they could hear if they were speaking clearly enough, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
An operator worked an AT&T telephone switchboard in New York City, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
In 1939 this voice-scrambling technology helped AT&T protect the privacy of overseas calls from ham radio operators.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
For a 1939 story on how telephone calls worked, this photo showed part of a huge distributing frame studded with terminal stripes into which each telephone was directly connected to its individual terminal point at the New York Telephone Co. office.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
In a 1939 story that explained the details of how a phone call was made, the dials in this picture show a call going to 245-4400, which was the phone number of the LIFE magazine offices.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
These mechanisms made the ringing noise in a dial-up telephone, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
These meters registered calls and determined a user’s monthly phone bill, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A telephone repair man worked on a network of cables that ran beneath the New York City streets for the New York Telephone Co., 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
New York Telephone Co. lineman Wallace Burdick made repairs on telephone lines between Vallhalla and Brewster, 1939.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
EXCLUSIVE: Former Fremantle exec Shirley Bowers has joined The Jim Henson Company as VP of Global Distribution, we’ve learned. The hires puts her in charge of content sales an distribution and driving revenue from the Henson catalog, which includes the likes of Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science Kid and Fraggle Rock. She’ll also develop international […]
EXCLUSIVE: Former Fremantle exec Shirley Bowers has joined The Jim Henson Company as VP of Global Distribution, we’ve learned. The hires puts her in charge of content sales an distribution and driving revenue from the Henson catalog, which includes the likes of Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science Kid and Fraggle Rock. She’ll also develop international […]
Independent Film Company (formerly known as IFC Films) has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Georgia Bernstein’s debut feature “Night Nurse,” which premiered earlier this year at Sundance. Set for a July 10 release date, the psychosexual thriller explores a darker side to caregiving. With a cast rounded out by Bruce McKenzie (“Breaking Bad”), […]
Independent Film Company (formerly known as IFC Films) has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Georgia Bernstein’s debut feature “Night Nurse,” which premiered earlier this year at Sundance. Set for a July 10 release date, the psychosexual thriller explores a darker side to caregiving. With a cast rounded out by Bruce McKenzie (“Breaking Bad”), […]
lhboudreau posted a photo:
The goal in the game of marbles is to use a larger "shooter" marble to knock smaller marbles out of a drawn circle. Crucially, the children are playing "for keeps," meaning a player gets to permanently claim and keep any marbles they successfully knock out of the ring. As you can see in the illustration, the young girl is winning the game, having already collected a bulging bag of marbles from her defeated opponents.
During the early 20th century, marbles was con
The goal in the game of marbles is to use a larger "shooter" marble to knock smaller marbles out of a drawn circle. Crucially, the children are playing "for keeps," meaning a player gets to permanently claim and keep any marbles they successfully knock out of the ring. As you can see in the illustration, the young girl is winning the game, having already collected a bulging bag of marbles from her defeated opponents.
During the early 20th century, marbles was considered a boy's game. It was played in the dirt, requiring competitive grit and calloused thumbs. Girls of the era were culturally conditioned to play quieter, more sedentary games indoors that preserved their cleanliness and "ladylike" decorum. Seeing a girl not only participating in a rough street game but absolute dominating the neighborhood boys completely flipped traditional childhood hierarchy on its head.
Norman Rockwell moved from New York to the rural community of Arlington, Vermont, in 1939. "Marble Champion" was one of the first major pieces he created there. For the boys, Rockwell cast local children, and to find the star of the painting, he drove around local Vermont farms looking for a freckle-faced, red-haired girl who knew how to shoot marbles. He found exactly what he was looking for at a local farm: an 11-year-old local girl named Ruth Skellie.
For Ruth Skellie (later Ruth Skellie McLenithan), posing for Norman Rockwell at age 11 became a cherished, defining thread of her long life. She lived a quiet, community-centered life in the region, passing away in 2018 at the age of 90. Her memories of working with Rockwell, and how she engaged with her legacy later in life, reveal a deep affection for the artist and the fame the painting brought her. She became an accomplished, highly sought-after local seamstress, famously sewing intricate bridesmaid and wedding dresses for families in the area. For the rest of her life, she remained a local legend. Neighbors noted that if you saw her walking down the street and hollered, "Hello, Marble Shooter!", she would invariably turn her head, wink, and flash her trademark smile.
Sample ramen pizza, alongside other limited-edition items to pick up, or just make your own treats.
Snacks in Japan come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from ever-feuding mushrooms and bamboo shoots to make-your-own sweets, but one that I see fairly often in the hands of little children are packets of Baby Star Ramen. A popular snack made of deep-fried, crunchy, bite-sized pieces of instant noodles, Baby Star Ramen came about in 1959 when the founder of Oyatsu Company realized that the broke
Sample ramen pizza, alongside other limited-edition items to pick up, or just make your own treats.
Snacks in Japan come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from ever-feuding mushrooms and bamboo shoots to make-your-own sweets, but one that I see fairly often in the hands of little children are packets of Baby Star Ramen. A popular snack made of deep-fried, crunchy, bite-sized pieces of instant noodles, Baby Star Ramen came about in 1959 when the founder of Oyatsu Company realized that the broken noodle fragments left at the bottom of instant noodle production lines could actually be seasoned and packaged up as a snack by themselves.
The Oyatsu Company factory is located in Tsu, Mie, and while factory tours are currently suspended, for those who want to dive into the world of Baby Star, right next door is Oyatsu Town, a theme park offering everything from a giant athletic course to making original Baby Star Ramen, as well as limited-edition food you can only eat there, resulting in an enjoyable experience for child and adult alike.
▼ Sadly, no factory tours are currently available.
Our Japanese-language reporter Natsuno Futon visited the theme park with her kids in tow during Golden Week, one of Japan’s busiest periods for travel and day excursions, so upon arriving and noting that same-day entry was limited until after lunch, it wasn’t too unexpected. So, Natsuno’s first recommendation for any future visit is to always reserve your entry tickets in advance, particularly if you plan to go on a weekend or holiday.
Arriving at the entrance, the first thing to welcome Natsuno and her family was a giant Baby Star photo spot, appearing as if Baby Star was flowing like a waterfall, along with a spot where you could get inside a Butamen cup, Oyatsu Company’s line of instant cup noodles, adorned with designs of Hoshio-kun, the Baby Star Ramen mascot.
Peak season entry is 2,500 yen (US$15.70) for adults, whereas it drops down to 2,200 yen during the Regular days, and 1,600 yen for the Value days.
It’s best to check the company website for absolute clarity, but the general rule seems to be Saturday through Monday is Regular, Tuesday through Friday is Value, and national holidays like Golden Week in May and Obon in August are Peak.
▼ Natsuno couldn’t help but take one last look at the factory, as she really enjoys factory tours, but it sadly wasn’t to be.
Stepping inside, Natsuno was greeted with the company’s history spread out on the floor, designed almost like a board game.
It was quite interesting to learn that the name change to Oyatsu Company was an unexpectedly recent development.
▼ Not at all spoken through the pitch-black sunglasses of denial: 1993 is still very recent.
Proceeding further inwards, a giant athletic area appears, teeming with the Golden Week crowd of people.
While as an adult, Natsuno tends to curb her childhood playfulness and instead let her children loose to gallivant through play areas, she couldn’t quite restrain herself from wanting to join in on the fun. Looking around, she could even see many adults playing there quite seriously, so she embraced her inner child and entered the play equipment.
Among them, what was particularly enjoyable was the Hoshio-kun Giant Slide, which gets quite a bit of speed.
▼ They’re even considerate enough to provide wrap-around skirts to make sliding even more speedy.
The Super Giant Butamen-kun Adventure and Giant Jungle Gym are also extremely fun.
Since you walk on the net, the stimulation to the soles of your feet is amazing, nearing the level where you might mistake it for a minor piece of health equipment.
▼ Natsuno is still a child at heart, she promises.
The most popular one, though, is the giant athletic course consisting of three whole floors, which are divided by height; the first floor is for small children, but the second and third floors offer up more of a challenge.
Natsuno ventured up to the third floor together with her children but had to retire halfway through for a very specific reason: her sweaty hands.
It’s a little difficult to see in the image below, but this is a course where you have to move forward while moving around the outside of orange bars that bulge outward.
With hands that get particularly sweaty, Natsuno could just foresee herself slipping off due to them. Yet, because she wanted to show her children an inspirational figure that takes on challenges even in the face of adversity, plus it was too frustrating to just give up, she attempted it a second time and cleared it safely. However, she later heard from her children, “since we were moving ahead of you, we couldn’t see you.” Sad though she was, she still felt a sense of accomplishment, so it wasn’t all bad.
▼ There is even a section of the park dedicated to interactive digital content that kids can have fun with.
Next, the family moved on to the experience of making Baby Star at Hoshio-kun Kitchen, where you can make your very own original Baby Star Ramen.
For an additional 1,000 yen each to the park entrance fee, the children challenged the “My Special Baby Star,” where you can choose your favorite flavor from several types, season it yourself, and then have the staff bake it for you in the oven.
Natsuno had reserved in advance, but there seemed to be sufficient availability that you could even reserve on the day itself.
After completing the ramen, you put stickers on the original container, though her children instead opted to put on only a few, saving the rest for later to add to their sticker collection albums.
The family came away from the experience with the children beaming with happiness and proud faces for their new creations.
However, being hungry, they decided to swing by Baby Star Dining, where you can savor original foods using Baby Star, such as Baby Star Katsu Curry.
Among them all, Natsuno can personally recommend the pizza, particularly the limited-time Pink Butamen Gratin Pizza, being a lot more authentic than expected.
It’s baked in a pizza oven, so you get that classic pizza base texture, and the pink coloring is added via beetroot instead of food coloring.
The appearance certainly has quite the impact, referencing Butamen and its pig mascot, but the taste has no unexpected quirks and is extremely delicious.
▼ The Ramen Pizza was also full of ingredients and highly satisfying.
Of course, you can eat freshly-fried Baby Star Ramen.
At the gift shop Oyatsu Marche, limited-edition products and character goods are lined up, with Natsuno being drawn to all of the Butamen goods. He just has such a charming presence…
Natsuno also discovered Baby Star limited to Oyatsu Town, this time purchasing the Spiny Lobster Flavor (850 yen for a pack of six), and found it to have a very strong shrimp taste, both rich and delicious.
There was also a cute, little steel suitcase-like container that you could stuff your favorite Baby Star flavors into for just 1,700 yen.
Before walking through the doors, Natsuno had assumed she would be entering a facility designed just for children, but she ended up, even as an adult, enjoying it with all her might.
In the end, from their 10:30 a.m. start, they stayed fully until the closing time at 5:00 p.m., staying more than six hours. With the addition of a new area opening in Spring 2027, there will be even more to get lost in, although prospective visitors should take note that the park will be closed from January 12, 2027, to prepare for this new opening.
Whether you visit with kids or not, it’s all but guaranteed you’ll have a great time exploring Oyatsu Town, just remember to book in advance on the weekends and holidays.
End of an era is coming for ecological and economic reasons.
Train travel in Japan is going to be looking a little different, as East Japan Railway Company, a.k.a. JR East, has announced that it’ll be making a major change to its ticket design. Right now, JR East tickets have your starting station and fare printed on the front, and a magnetic strip on the back. At the gate, you slide your ticket into the slot, the gate opens up, and your ticket pops back up from another slot on the other side
End of an era is coming for ecological and economic reasons.
Train travel in Japan is going to be looking a little different, as East Japan Railway Company, a.k.a. JR East, has announced that it’ll be making a major change to its ticket design. Right now, JR East tickets have your starting station and fare printed on the front, and a magnetic strip on the back. At the gate, you slide your ticket into the slot, the gate opens up, and your ticket pops back up from another slot on the other side of the machine for you to grab as you continue on your way, then put into the other ticket gate at the exit from your destination station.
▼ A traveler inserting tickets into a gate at Nikko Station
However, JR East has announced it will be phasing out magnetic-strip tickets beginning next spring, with the eventual goal being to do away with them entirely for short-distance rides. In their place JR East will be introducing new non-magnetic tickets with a QR code that you scan at the gate instead.
▼ A video showing the front of the current magnetic-strip tickets on the left, and the upcoming QR-code tickets on the right.
The mockups in the above video are obviously jumbo-sized to make them easier to see, but the new tickets really will be larger than the current ones. JR East’s Magnetic-strip tickets measure 3 by 5.75 centimeters (1.2 by 2.3 inches), but the QR ones will be 5.75 by 8.5 inches, to make them easier to scan.
JR says there are two reasons it’s making the switch, one of which is an effort to be more environmentally friendly. JR East’s produces about 160 metric tons of ticket trash every year, and the magnetic backing has to be chemically treated before they can be disposed of. Because the QR-code tickets rely on optic scanning, though, they can be made of just regular old paper, eliminating both the potential ecological harm caused by disposed of magnetic strips and the cost to JR East to treat them.
A switch to QR codes will also reduce ticket gate machinery complexity, as they’ll require fewer moving parts than the currently complex array of gears and motors needed to propel a magnetic-strip ticket through the gate, and making QR code scanning the standard should also help promote smartphone digital ticketing services.
While the changeover will mark the end of a major chapter in Japanese train travel, many passengers stopped using magnetic-strip tickets quite some time ago. JR East’s Suica prepaid IC card became an instant hit following its launch in 2001, and it’s only grown in popularity in the years since thanks to its tap-payment simplicity and cross-functional capabilities as a way to pay for shopping, restaurant, and vending machine purchases too. JR East says that magnetic-strip tickets now account for only 2.5 percent of the rides taken on its trains, and for those who have already transitioned to Suica or other such IC cards, they’ll still be paying fares and passing through the gates as usual.
However, for some rail fans the tactile aspects of sliding the ticket into the gate, hearing the internal machinery whir and click, and grabbing the ticket as it comes out without breaking stride is a familiar and satisfying part of taking a train in Japan, so there will no doubt be people said to see it go. If this bittersweet news has them looking for comradery, they can find it among those who still remember the days before magnetic-strip tickets became the standard, when Japanese train stations were staffed with human ticket inspectors and the rhythmical ringing of their ticket punching tools during rush hour, as seen in the point queued in the video below.
JR East says it will be gradually discontinuing the magnetic-strip tickets come spring, so they won’t all be disappearing at once. In addition, magnetic-strip tickets will continue to be issued for Shinkansen and long-distance special express trains. This is likely because, depending on the passenger’s destination, these trains sometimes end up at stations in parts of Japan managed by one of the other divisions of the Japan Railways Group, which have not yet announced plans to get rid of magnetic-strip tickets. If you’re a rail fan, though, the next time you’re at a JR East station you might want to consider buying a lowest-fair magnetic-strip ticket, though, as something to remember the era by.
Rob Floyd is undoubtedly the premier mixologist in the world. But he has also built a beverage-entertainment company that encompasses global partnerships, live events, a presence on social media, TV, a book on Amazon, cruise ship events, and more. We interviewed Rob to see how his entrepreneurial journey started and how it has grown.How did you start your career as a mixologist?It all began somewhat accidentally. I got into the bar business, as so many do, when I simply needed a job and found my
Rob Floyd is undoubtedly the premier mixologist in the world. But he has also built a beverage-entertainment company that encompasses global partnerships, live events, a presence on social media, TV, a book on Amazon, cruise ship events, and more. We interviewed Rob to see how his entrepreneurial journey started and how it has grown.
How did you start your career as a mixologist?
It all began somewhat accidentally. I got into the bar business, as so many do, when I simply needed a job and found myself behind a bar. But very quickly it became clear that what I was doing wasn’t just serving drinks, it was creating experiences. I absolutely love making people happy, and the interaction every night feels like anything can happen. One study says people laugh and smile about 17 times a day. In a truly great bar, you might get 17 smiles an hour.
As I refined my style, I embraced the idea that the cocktail isn’t just a drink, it’s a story, a moment, a production. In time, I founded Rob Floyd Entertainment (RFE) to execute that vision: a global mixology practice specializing in live and virtual events, consulting, and training.
From that foundation, I began designing programs, training staff in over 75 countries, performing at major award shows, and building out the business side, not just the bar side. The journey from bartender to CEO of a beverage-entertainment company was really about seeing the intersection of hospitality, entertainment, and brand experience.
Your company puts on “Cocktail Theatre” — what’s that?
Cocktail Theatre is our signature live-event format, essentially where entertainment meets exceptional cocktail craftsmanship. We have been taking “Cocktail Theatre” out into the world since 2012.
The idea is that you don’t just have a bartender at the back mixing, you have a show; you have a theme; you have a narrative; and you have beverage artistry, flair, and theatrics. Whether it's a Super Bowl client, a corporate event, or a lavish private home, the audience is drawn into the story behind the drink.
The business logic behind it is that brands and events increasingly demand immersive, memorable moments—so we created a high-end, scalable service that marries mixology with performance, branded for the client. The script for the event can be custom-tailored and work great at company off-sites, holiday parties, and executive events.
What do your live cocktail parties encompass?
At RFE we offer “Live Cocktail Parties” as one of our event service categories. These include everything from intimate gatherings to full-on production events, with a team of world-class mixologists creating handcrafted cocktails and guiding guests.
Guests don’t just drink—they participate, learn, and enjoy. We might design a signature drink; walk participants through the process; provide cocktail-making classes on site; and add team-building layers for corporate groups. I love the team-building events because they are so fun and energetic, but also have an interactive “Top Chef” aspect.
From an operational perspective, our mission is to elevate the art of cocktail making, providing unforgettable experiences and expert training for enthusiasts and professionals alike.
So when you engage us for a live cocktail party, you’re engaging not just a bartender but a curated mixology experience: planning, design, execution, and after-event support if needed.
You also provide customized staff training for bar professionals and menu creation. Tell us about that.
Consulting is a major pillar of the business. We help bars, hotels, and brands with staff training, menu creation, bar operations consulting, and drink menu design. For example, our bar menu creation service gives you innovative menus, optimized offerings, and helps you stay ahead of trends.
In staff training, we have a trademarked teaching program used globally—we have trained over 8000 bar professionals worldwide.
Operationally, we consult on bar efficiency, profitability, menu logic, bartender performance, and brand alignment of the beverage program.
So from a business perspective it's about turning the art of mixology into a scalable asset for hospitality venues, which means systems, training, brand thinking, and profit metrics—not just the “cool cocktail” part.
What are your virtual cocktail events?
With the rise of hybrid work, remote teams, and global audiences, virtual events became a meaningful extension of our business. We host virtual mixology classes, virtual cocktail-making sessions, and virtual team building for remote groups.
We’re set up with a state-of-the-art studio, professional director on set, leading digital cameras, and high production value. Our viewer retention rate for those events is 89%, well above industry standard.
From an entrepreneurship lens, virtual events turn what used to be location-bound into scalable, global offerings. For brands, it means you can engage far-flung employees, clients or communities with the same RFE experience virtually. I view it as the logical next evolution of our live-event business.
You also do cruise ship events in partnership with Princess Cruises. What does that entail?
That partnership is a real highlight. We are the global mixology partner for Princess Cruises across their fleet. I have worked with their Global Food & Beverage VP, Sami Kohen, for many years, and he is one of the best in the business, always striving to provide the best customer experiences around the world.
What this means is that we design and execute beverage-entertainment programs onboard, across multiple ships, integrating with their guest-experience model. In effect, we bring our brand and Cocktail Theatre environment into the cruise-ship hospitality world. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, this is a high-leverage contract: volume, scale, recurring bookings, global reach.
So it’s not just events. It’s publishing, licensing, brand extension; it’s taking the mixology business into multiple product lines.
What makes it interesting is that it’s interactive: full-color photos, step-by-step recipes, backstories, and QR codes that link to “how-to” video tutorials featuring me.
The book also features some celebrities shaking up cocktails with me. There is a video of Matthew and Camila McConaughey mixing up a margarita. You can taste and view cocktails with Jason Momoa and Liev Schreiber. It’s really so much fun, and there isn’t another book like it out there.
Guy Fieri and José Andrés, award-winning chefs and stars, have worked with you. What do they say?
It has been so remarkable, and I am so grateful. The feedback from industry luminaries helps validate what we do. For example, José Andrés, the James Beard-award-winning chef and humanitarian, said: “Rob Floyd is the Delta Force of bar training. We opened up The Bazaar and SLS Hotels to great success, including a James Beard nomination. He is a pleasure to work with in all aspects of culinary and hospitality. Rob’s standards are like no other!”
And Guy Fieri, Emmy Award winner and Food Network star, has said: “Rob is a brilliant mixologist and one hell of an entertainer and performer. It is incredible to see the cocktails he comes up with, always delicious and fun to make. His programs are truly exceptional and one of a kind. Working together is always a blast.”
These endorsements do more than flatter; they reinforce our brand equity, enabling access to high-end clients, celebrity events, and strategic partnerships.
Tell us about your television career.
My television career has been a significant acceleration for the brand. I have served as a resident mixologist and contributor on the TV show Bar Rescue for over 10 years.
On TV, I don’t just mix drinks. I am part of telling the hospitality story, operational turnarounds, staff training, and bar service excellence. These tie directly into what we stand for.
John Taffer, the star/host of Bar Rescue, has been spectacular to work with and learn from.
I have also been fortunate enough to appear regularly on The Today Show, Access Hollywood, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Fox & Friends, and other media.
From a business viewpoint, this kind of media presence elevates my personal brand, which elevates the corporate brand, which enables premium collaborations, licensing, and product lines.
How did you become known as the “Celebrity Mixologist?”
I think it came from my partnerships with some of the most incredible talents around the world. From Matthew and Camila McConaughey, artist Romero Britto, Jon Bon Jovi, Liev Schreiber, Jason Momoa, and others. I have been blessed to work with some incredible people.
In particular, I recently worked with Cardi B on a new vodka-infused whipped cream called Whipshots. It's designed to turn up the volume on your cocktails, desserts, and late-night cravings!
Sandia En Fuego is a tribute to juicy watermelon and a kick of spice. In Yucatan, people love munching on watermelon to beat the heat, and here, spices are added to boost those feel-good hormones activated by the touch of heat. Enjoy this delightful drink with the magic of volcano salt, sweet watermelon, and top-notch tequila sprinkled with pepper.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Don Julio Reposado Tequila
1 Serrano Pepper
5 Watermelon Cubes
.75 oz Agave
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
Glass: 10.5 oz Rocks
Garnish: Rim with black volcanic salt, serrano pepper, and watermelon
Directions:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle serrano pepper and watermelon. Add Don Julio Reposada Tequila, agave, and lime juice. Shake with ice and strain into a volcanic salt-rimmed glass with fresh ice. Garnish with watermelon and serrano pepper.
What charitable activities have you been involved in?
It has been such an honor to work with Chef José Andrés on his incredible World Central Kitchen Charity. I have also been involved with the Fox Chase Center, Scott Hamilton Cares, Just Keep Living with Matthew McConaughey, and Women of Today.
You’ll find short videos, cocktail recipes, behind-the-scenes of events, interviews, and ongoing brand content.
Conclusion
What we see with Rob Floyd is a textbook case of turning a craft (mixology) into a full-fledged business enterprise that spans service, training, entertainment, media, and product. The art of the drink meets the business of experience—and he has built a company that leverages storytelling, brand partnerships, and high-end events to scale beyond the bar.
Hong Kong independent bookshop Book Punch and its owner have been fined HK$6,000 after holding a stand-up comedy show without an entertainment licence – the second time they have been penalised within a month.
Hong Kong independent bookstore Book Punch owner Pong Yat-ming outside the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on April 10, 2026. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP.
Pong Yat-ming and his firm, Active Experiential Learning Company, which owns Book Punch, were fined HK$3,000 each on Monday afternoon
Hong Kong independent bookshop Book Punch and its owner have been fined HK$6,000 after holding a stand-up comedy show without an entertainment licence – the second time they have been penalised within a month.
Hong Kong independent bookstore Book Punch owner Pong Yat-ming outside the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on April 10, 2026. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP.
Pong Yat-ming and his firm, Active Experiential Learning Company, which owns Book Punch, were fined HK$3,000 each on Monday afternoon after they were found guilty of breaching the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance following a trial that morning.
The two defendants were accused of holding a stand-up comedy event at the Sham Shui Po bookstore on June 29 last year, local media reported.
According to a Facebook post that month, the event was a stand-up comedy performance featuring people who had completed a comedy course hosted by the bookstore.
That day, two undercover Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) officers attended the pay-as-you-wish event, each giving HK$100.
‘Stage performance’
During the trial, one of the FEHD officers who posed as a participant testified for the prosecution.
The officer, surnamed Hui, described around 40 chairs facing the same direction, towards the event host and performers.
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. File photo: GovHK.
Representing Pong and his firm, barrister Lawrence Lau asked whether the performance space was on the same level as the audience.
Hui confirmed that there was no stage, so the performers were not elevated.
Lau said he agreed that the event was a “performance,” but since there was no stage – doubted whether it was a “stage performance,” citing the wording used in the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance.
The ordinance states that the laws apply to “a concert, opera, ballet, stage performance or other musical, dramatic or theatrical entertainment.”
A poster for the stand-up comedy event on June 29, 2025. Photo: Book Punch, via Facebook.
Lau added that while the ordinance lists “comedy” as an example of a “stage performance,” along with other types of entertainment such as melodrama and dancing exhibitions, stand-up comedy should not be considered comedy.
Pong did not testify in the trial.
Past convictions
Delivering the verdict on Monday afternoon, Magistrate Andrew Mok said he disagreed with Lau’s narrow reading of the ordinance.
He said he did not think “stage performance,” as stated in the ordinance, applied only to performances with a stage.
Mok said that Pong showed no remorse during the trial, and therefore, there was no reason to give a lighter penalty. But he noted that Pong’s attitude during the trial was “pragmatic,” and that his past convictions all had to do with promoting culture.
On April 10, Pong and his firm were fined HK$32,000 after being found guilty of running an unregistered school. The case related to a Spanish interest class that was held at the bookstore.
In 2022, Pong was convicted of serving alcohol without a licence after he served sake to attendees at a sake-book-sharing event. The judge handed down a fine of HK$12,000.
Luna Azul can take you from Tokyo to Akita or Aomori while you snooze.
The Shinkansen is usually the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B when traveling within Japan. Since the stations tend to be centrally located and there aren’t any time-consuming security checks to go through, the Shinkansen can get you to many destinations even more quickly than flying.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the Shinkansen is always the most time-efficient way to get around Japan, since as fast as the bull
Luna Azul can take you from Tokyo to Akita or Aomori while you snooze.
The Shinkansen is usually the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B when traveling within Japan. Since the stations tend to be centrally located and there aren’t any time-consuming security checks to go through, the Shinkansen can get you to many destinations even more quickly than flying.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the Shinkansen is always the most time-efficient way to get around Japan, since as fast as the bullet train may be, the ride is still going to take up part of your day. On the other hand, a new train from JR East/East Japan Railway Company will take you between Tokyo and Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region while using up hardly any of your day, because you’ll be making most of the trip while you sleep.
JR East’s newly announced Luna Azul overnight sleeper train will connect Tokyo’s Shinagawa Station with Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture, all the way at the northern end of Japan’s main island of Hokkaido. The 10-car train will pull out of Shinagawa at 9 p.m. and have you in Aomori at 9 a.m., with brief stops at Tokyo, Ueno, Omiya, and Takasaki Stations along the way at night and then at Akita, Hirosaki, and Shin Aomori Stations in the morning. The trip in the opposite direction will leave Aomori at 4 in the afternoon and get to Shinagawa at 7 a.m. the following day.
The train looks to strike a balance between comfort and utility, with differently designed private compartments to suit the needs of solo travelers, pairs, and families. The preview image below shows, clockwise from the top left, the Luna Comfort Grande, Luna Premium Wide, Luna Comfort Wide, and Luna Comfort configurations.
Guestrooms are found in nine of the cars, and the tenth is a lounge with wide windows and, presumably, drinks and snacks available for purchase.
The Luna Azul will make two round trips a week between Shinagawa and Aomori, traveling along the Joetsu and Uetsu Main Lines. Because Tohoku is especially cold and snowy in winter, though, travel demand for the region dips significantly during that part of the year, Shinagawa-Aomori will be the Luna Azul’s route between spring and autumn. In winter, it’ll instead switch to a seven-car express train that still goes out of Shinagawa in Tokyo, but runs to Naganoharakusatsuguchi Station in Gunma Prefecture, a non-overnight journey. Gunma isn’t exactly balmy in the winter either, but Naganoharakusatsuguchi Station works as an entry point to Gunma’s Kusatsu Onsen hot spring resort area, a popular place for travelers in the mood for a cozy warming soak.
▼ The Luna Azul’s spring-to-autumn route (red line) and winter route (pink line). The winter route also includes a stop in Shibukawa, another popular hot spring area that also boasts skiing options.
The Luna Azul is scheduled to go into service in the spring of 2027.
New system would prevent non-residents from buying certain items from Pokémon Center Online.
Scalping is becoming an increasingly big problem for the Pokémon franchise in Japan, and we’ve been seeing increasingly inventive attempts to counter resellers’ attempts to snatch up in-demand items and flip them for profit, such as stores making shoppers pass a Pokémon quiz before they can make a purchase or taking scissors to the packaging afterwards. Now the Pokémon Company itself is considering pos
New system would prevent non-residents from buying certain items from Pokémon Center Online.
Scalping is becoming an increasingly big problem for the Pokémon franchise in Japan, and we’ve been seeing increasingly inventive attempts to counter resellers’ attempts to snatch up in-demand items and flip them for profit, such as stores making shoppers pass a Pokémon quiz before they can make a purchase or taking scissors to the packaging afterwards. Now the Pokémon Company itself is considering possibly the strictest measure yet: requiring would-be Pokémon card buyers to show a government-issued ID card before buying packs.
While Pokémon is an even bigger deal in its home country than in the many other nations around the world where it’s phenomenally popular, this wouldn’t be a card issued by the Japanese government specifically for Poké-purchases. In a statement posted to the official Pokémon Trading Card Game website on Thursday, the company says that it is looking into requiring buyers to confirm their identity via their My Number Card. Introduced in 2016, the My Number Card is an ID card that includes the bearer’s name, address, date of birth and photo, along with a 12-digit unique personal identification number.
As of 2021, My Number Cards also include an embedded IC chip, and it’s this technological feature that the Pokémon Company wants to apply to the purchase of Pokémon cards via the Pokémon Center Online, the Pokémon franchise’s official online store. Under the system, would-be buyers would use a third-party service to read their My Number Card’s IC chip and confirm their identify, after which they would be authorized to make the applicable purchases.
▼ A My Number Card interfacing with a smartphone
The Pokémon Company isn’t planning to make My Number Card verification a requirement for any and all online purchases, but the announcement says it would be applied to “the purchase and lottery registration for certain items,” most likely referring to new releases and high-demand items (which are often offered through a lottery system in which purchase rights are randomly awarded if demand is expected to be much greater than supply).
Ostensibly, this system would allow the Pokémon Company to more easily identify scalpers who are buying in bulk and block them from making further purchases. However, there are other groups which would also be shut out from making purchases by a My Number requirement, starting with people who aren’t Japanese residents. My Number Cards are only issued to Japanese citizens and foreign residents of Japan, so tourists or overseas shoppers would be out of luck. This might actually be an intended effect of the system, though, as there’s a perception in Japan that foreign resellers make up a sizable portion of the scalper demographic.
Non-residents wouldn’t be the only ones affected by this system, though. Japanese citizens/residents aren’t legally required to have a My Number Card, and need to file application paperwork in order to obtain one. As such, there’s a portion of the Japanese population that doesn’t have a My Number Card yet, and simply uses other forms of ID, such as a driver’s license, insurance card, or foreign resident card, instead. My Number Cards also aren’t normally issued to children under 15 (though that probably won’t make a difference for buying things from the Pokémon Center Online, since kids that young won’t have their own credit card either).
The Pokémon Company says it’s also planning to make My Number Card identification verification a requirement for registration for certain official Pokémon Card Game tournaments in Japan. This seems like it could present a problem for younger competitors, but it’s likely that official registration requires a parent or guardian’s consent, and so the adult’s My Number Card would be used as a proxy form of identification.
The Pokémon Company’s announcement says that the goal of the My Number system would be to “ensure fair opportunities and safe, secure service to all customers,” and while the Pokémon Card Game website says that they are “looking into the introduction” of the system, the Pokémon Company’s official Twitter account is firmer in its declaration that they “are planning to introduce” a My Number Card requirement. The system is projected to be in place as early as August, and with application processing time sometimes taking up to two months, passionate fans will need to get their paperwork started soon.
The archetype of the LIFE photographer was a combination of artist and adventurer. That ideal was celebrated in the form of Sean Penn’s character in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but in real life no one embodied it better than Margaret Bourke-White.
Bourke-White was one of the magazine’s original four staff photographers, and her adventurous spirit was on display in LIFE’s Oct. 25, 1937 issue, which featured two related stories from her. The first, which began on page 40, was
The archetype of the LIFE photographer was a combination of artist and adventurer. That ideal was celebrated in the form of Sean Penn’s character in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but in real life no one embodied it better than Margaret Bourke-White.
Bourke-White was one of the magazine’s original four staff photographers, and her adventurous spirit was on display in LIFE’s Oct. 25, 1937 issue, which featured two related stories from her. The first, which began on page 40, was headlined “A 10,000-Mile Tour of Canada’s Northwest with Lord Tweedsmuir.” She had traveled along with Canada’s governor general as he visited remote communities in the Northwest Territories.
Bourke-White’s second story in that issue, which began on page 119, was also set in Canada’s Northwest Territories, but in that one the photographer briefly became a subject. She was on a separate tour with Archibald Fleming, the Anglican Church’s first-ever Bishop of the Arctic, when their small plane encountered heavy fog and had to make an unplanned landing in an unpopulated location. Bourke-White was the lone woman in the traveling party of five, and she pitched in to gather driftwood to build a fire while they waited who-knows-how-long for the fog to clear. That was typical of the hardiness she demonstrated throughout her career.
Bourke-White’s willingness to go the distance in the Northwest Territories resulted in an intimate portrait of the lives of indigenous people in one of the most remote locations in North America. Her photo essays in that 1937 issue, which include shots of Inuit people at their homes and at a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post, document an ancient culture being touched by outside forces, and are the reason LIFE photographers like her were always up for a journey, no matter how arduous.
LIFE photographer Margaret Bourke-White gathered driftwood for a fire after her plane made a forced landing due to fog in the Canadian Arctic, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
After a forced landing due to fog in the Canadian Arctic, members of the traveling party of Archbishop Archibald Fleming studied maps to determine their whereabouts, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Rev. Archibald Fleming served as the Anglican Church’s first-ever Archbishop of the Arctic, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Inuit people arrived by boat to meet the plane of Rev. Archibald Fleming, Anglican Bishop of the Arctic, in the Northwest Territories, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Inuit people greeted Rev. Archibald Fleming, Anglican Bishop of the Arctic, after his landing in the Northwest Territories, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A priest played during vespers in the Church of St. Theresa, Fort Norman, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
An aerial view of Aklavik, a town on the Mackenzie River delta in the Northwest Territories of Canada, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Canada’s governor general, Lord Tweedsmuir, looked at a map of his domain made of moosehide and embroidered with silk that was given to him by the townsfolk of Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
In Kugluktuk (then known as Coppermine) people gathered outside the Hudson’s Bay Company trading post, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
An Inuit person traded wolverine fur for flour, baking soda, tallow, butter, jam and tobacco at the Hudson’s Bay Company store in Kugluktuk (then known as Coppermine) in the Northwest Territories, 1947.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Furs at the Hudson’s Bay store in the Northwest Territories, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
White fox pelts at the Hudson’s Bay Company store in the Northwest Territories, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Inuit children at the Sacred Heart school in the tiny town of Fort Providence in the Northwest Territories awaited a visit from Canada’s governor general and the chance to perform a dance they had spent months rehearsing, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The sisters of the Sacred Heart School harmonized along with an organ in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
This Inuit family enjoyed such modern conveniences as a victrola, a sewing machine, and a coal-burning stove in their tent, 1937.
Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Portrait of an Inuit mother and her child in Kugluktuk (then known as Coppermine), Northwest Territories, Canada, 1937.
And yes, there is a reason Mercy is dressed that way.
With Japan being home to many of the world’s most passionate gamers, Japan Railways Group periodically partners with popular video game franchises to add a little extra fun to fans’ train travel in Japan, like we’ve seen in previous tie-ups with the Final Fantasy and Pokémon series. For its next video game collaboration, though, JR Central (a.k.a. JR Tokai) is teaming up with a series that hails from the U.S.
This summer, characters from th
And yes, there is a reason Mercy is dressed that way.
With Japan being home to many of the world’s most passionate gamers, Japan Railways Group periodically partners with popular video game franchises to add a little extra fun to fans’ train travel in Japan, like we’ve seen in previous tie-ups with the Final Fantasy and Pokémon series. For its next video game collaboration, though, JR Central (a.k.a. JR Tokai) is teaming up with a series that hails from the U.S.
This summer, characters from the cast of Blizzard’s Overwatch will be taking a ride on the Shinkansen as part of the Payload to Osaka campaign (a reference to the game’s “payload escort” missions). The promotion’s key art shows Hanzo, D.Va, Genji, Kiriko, Mercy, Hammond, and Jetpack Cat getting off the bullet train at Shin Osaka Station, the closest stop on Japan’s high-speed rail network to downtown Osaka. The artwork contains a few tips of the hat to Osaka’s famous food culture, with Hammond snacking on takoyaki octopus balls and Hanzo scarfing on a steamed pork bun (and you’ll note that Hanzo is eating it after getting off the train).
From July 17 to September 23, passengers onboard JR Central Shinkansen trains can take an Overwatch-themed quiz via their smartphones, and correctly answering the questions gets you one of seven phone wallpapers. While the wallpaper you win is randomized, you can take the quiz as many times as you want during your ride (10 questions are randomly pulled from a pool each time), and JR Central guarantees you won’t get any duplicate wallpapers until you’ve completed a full set of all seven.
Even if you’re not up to taking the quiz, you can still receive a PC wallpaper image of the illustration just by answering an online questionnaire, which, like the quiz, can be accessed through the promotion’s official website, while onboard the bullet train. This also serves as a record of your Shinkansen ride, which you can then show at the Osaka Nipponbashi branch of anime merchandise store chain Animate to receive an Overwatch cleaning cloth with the same illustration.
Animate Osaka Nipponbashi will also be hosting an Overwatch Payload to Osaka popup store with character pins and acrylic mini standees from July 17 to 26.
While Overwatch does have fans in Japan, the series’ most passionate supporters tend to hail from other countries. With international tourists accounting for so much travel in Japan these days, though, especially on the JR Tokai section of the Shinkansen network that connects Osaka with Kyoto and Tokyo, JR Central most likely expects to get a lot of interest from non-Japanese fans, enough so that the company felt the need to follow up on its official Twitter announcement for the collaboration with a statement that “These items are available in Japan only.”
Speaking of the Twitter announcement, at least one non-Japanese fan was furious about the clothing that Mercy is wearing in the artwork.
— 𓆩♡𓆪 ✦ÆØNLIZ ✦𓆩♡𓆪 (She/Her) (@AEONFLUX_85) June 4, 2026
From the choice of words and capitalization, that was probably meant as a rhetorical question, but hey, there’s actually a reason for this outfit (sorry, OUTFIT). Aside from having a vibrant food culture, Osaka is also known for its flashy fashion sense, in particular its ladies’ fondness for animal prints. Granted, it’s usually associated with women of a more mature age than Mercy, but a little touch of Osaka style isn’t completely out of place here.
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