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Café culture addict

~ Drinking tea and writing stories in cafés

Café culture addict

Monthly Archives: May 2012

The process of creation

27 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Creating, Writing

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creating, Creation process, human brain activity, writing.

What makes us humans want to create things? Why do we create? And how does the process grow in the mind and spirit, to be later translated into piece of work, art, music, film, poetry, sculpture, architecture, DIY, crafts, theater, and so forth?

These questions are not news, naturally, and still, have we got an answer?

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As for why? It may be to find an aim to life on earth, provided one  has  not founhd it yet (maybe). Or is it the eternal desire for eternity. (or, at its worst, desire for immortality, perhaps?).

How? can be split into to parts: the how on a materialistic P.O.V., an how on a more spiritual, disembodied P.O.V.

Whereas the latter is tricky to give an answer to, the former is easily stated : we no longer each day have to get in our gardens (or a field, to harvest it) to crop our veggies for food.

How? on a spiritual P.O.V : Remember Henri-Georges Clouzot (“Les diaboliques”, among other master pieces)  filming Picasso in 1955 in Nice?  The painter was “drown” into intense concentration developed by the  inspiration, painting on a glass, as the camera rolled on on the other side and completely focused on the right gesture.The film was called “The Picasso Mystery”. Picasso was so focused, he ended tired and tensed. Many agree that Clouzot demonstrated the creative process of the artist in that film. Yet one cannnot show the electrical impulses in the brain, from the idea to create something, until its final completion through the hands  (drawing, engraving, writing, sculpting, constructing, painting, playing, screenwriting, shaping, manufacture -meaning “fait à la main”, made by the hand, literally translated from Latin-…) or the body (choreography, dance, acting, singing…).

What is the motivation? The desire to surround ourselves with beauty? To leave an immortal chef-d’oeuvre to our fellow inhabitants of the earth? Deliver a message? Induce other to reflect on the civilization and the contemporary society? Find one’s true self through creation, to be shared by other people with a similar sensibility or inclination?

Or just to have fun while doing what one loves and is breathing for? Could it be for the only sake of the beauty of the gesture? The perfect mastery of an art, put into the inner self (as a gift from above) to educate and bring joy to others, as another gift (to be passed on or taught)?

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Better still, it’s always nice to think that we, humans, are the result of the  process of creation of Mother Nature…

Creatively processed… not bad, as a starter in life…

Keep calm and create, my fellow bloggers or readers, friends and you people I do not know, on the other side of the laptop screen,  and the world will be a better place.

Creatively yours,

Floreva

PS : P.O.V. : Point of view.

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Writer’s Block

22 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Books, Writing

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move on, overcome a difficulty, Writer's block, writing.

Aha. The writer’s block…

The BIG bad wolf of everyone dealing with writing, be it screenplay, novella, novel, poem, article for a specific field, PhD thesis, internship report, memoir, fiction contest (250 words), plays….

Image

Different prominent masters on the subject of writing have settled down their opinion and the clivage is very easy, as black and white, cold and hot, rain and sun…

For  half of them, writer’s block is just a view of mind, namely a concept created by those suffering from it, and they erase the struggle to arrive to the idea that one can easily overcome that state of mind : just sit down and write. Discipline as the strongest fighter, and you, the writer, as the general in charge of organizing and winning the battle… not bad an idea.

The will to write seems to be just the perfect answer.

And, on the other hand, we are offered a more psychological explanation and an emotional meditative approach : writer’s block really exists. And you have to wait until it’s over, and deal with it gently.

You can try to fight it, put yourself at war against it, the best thing will always to let go of that ugly anxiety creeping in your mind that you are not able to produce a single meaningful and/or satisfying sentence. Then… leave it, turn to something else, refresh your mind, do something else, maybe write something else. Find help. Read books on the subjects. Or just do something that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject you are sweating on.

Like many fellow authors, I have experienced THE writer’s block. It is a dark corner where you do not want to be stuck after sun has set or dawned, because it will eat you rest away, make your night all white and your day crappy, burn down the self-confidence you have so patiently pieced together -from various positive comments and solid bricks that construct your path to become an acknowledged author- and that inner feeling in your guts that you must write, because you are born to do so.

As I urged myself on the mindset of sitting behind the white sheet, my fountain pen point resting still on the paper, making a larger stain of black ink, I thought there was no way I could draw a single line nor write more than a sentence.

It lasted for weeks. And it was utterly self deprecating.

First, I thought I should fight it. Again and again, and more, and stronger, and sit there day after day after day, slightly breathing as time escaped me coupled with the fact that I had not done any other thing than waiting for the dark veil to be carried away by my patience. But since I am not a person who likes to waste time and waits for the silence to murmur the words of the Muse’s inspiration, I embraced another conviction.  I was willing to write, but  not like it was an obligation, and I did not want to let it aside.

So I moved on and did other things and wrote other things. I watched movies and series, to nurture my mind, jog my ability to shell the screenplays of the films I was examining, and exercise the skills I had learned regarding screenwriting and writing.

I wrote poetry and a novella, instead of returning to the main task. But the core of my work remained untouched. In the same time, I stuck on a discipline, although not as harsh nor as iron-willed as advocated in some manuals.

In those moments, I came to think that no one is entitled to allow my writingself to be tucked in a box or another. Between the white idea of fighting like a warrior of the Writing Light and the black pool of letting the block eating one up untiI one would emerge pure and strong again, there is a infinity of greys. (Yeah very cliché, I know, but common sense and clichés are so often easily forgotten in favour of brighter new half-empty concepts, that sometimes one loses touch with what is obvious ..)

And one has to deal with their subtle nuances until one frees oneself from the block.

Writer’s blocks do exist, no need to pretend it is something one chooses to escape their duties, and that the will solely can break it down. It can be highly destructive, creativity-speaking . But writer’s block needs also to be fueled with fresh ideas and dealt with humourously.

Some white and some black, to create one’s very own shade of grey-ish writer’s block.

And being able to overcome it.

Best of luck to you, if you are stuck with that unpleasant companion. Take courage, the journey may be long, but there is always an end station…

Floreva, Writer’sblockfighter, too…

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Music lovers

19 Saturday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Caffeine, Life in style

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Arabian Dance, Ballet, Ben Stevenson OBE, classical, Houston Ballet, music, Nutcracker, romantic, Tchaikovsky

Most of us are music lovers. Music inhabits our lives. Surreptitiously, boldly, evidently or discretely. Music usually floats in the air in my place at various hours.

I like it when it is romantic, swing, bop, baroque, rock, pop, Johnny Cash -and Creedence Clearwater-style-country.  Amidst many others. In any case, it has to be swinging and being able to be hummed or sung (shower or car, no preferences).

Among the classical composer, Tchaikovsky is a favourite of mine.

A middle-aged man with grey hair and a beard, wearing a dark suit and staring intently at the viewer.

The Russian composer is the immortal  creator of “Nutcracker”.  Each musical piece of that ballet is so perfectly amazing, it’s hard to pick just one. The whole masterpiece carries the audience away in a land of fairy-tale dreams and search for the self through courage and the poetry of grace.

I do not know if you remember  the Arabian Dance (The “Coffee Dance”), with its languorous rhythm. I saw a performance by the Houston Ballet last December, in a choreography by Ben Stevenson, OBE.

Houston Ballet perfoms The Nutcracker

Ballet: The Nutcracker
Dancer: Nozomi Iijima
Photo by: Amitava Sarkar

Overall, the ballet choreography is masterfully developed, the Scenic and costumes designs are striking and inventive.

My  imagination just flied away as the dancers perform the Coffee Dance. Tightly draped in their silky coral costumes, the performers  are as light and voluptuous as the aromas and flavours one can find in a cup of black coffee.

The ethereal fabric of the costume floating around them evoked the sinuous lace of the dense foam that tops an espresso. The intricate moves of their arms intertwined in a delicate sensuality matched the music so well, it was frustrating to see it end and be replaced by the  stronger and bolder “Tea dance”.

The previous Snowflakes and Angels dances were by no means less interesting, and the Arrival at the Sugar Plum Fairy palace prolonged the magic.

Thinking of the performance I saw, as I am just listening to Tchaikowsky’s music now, brought all those images and souvenirs. And the most vivid is the Coffee Dance.

Strange, maybe. Or maybe not, given my taste for the brew…

Thanks, Mr Tchaikovsky. I thank Mr Stevenson and the performers of the Houston Ballet for the magnificent moment they gave to their audience as equally as I praise their talent.

(I’ll post later on Oldelaf and the funny song “Le café”. visible on Youtube).

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Café littéraire

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Caffeine, Writing

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authors, Café littéraire, Nemesis, Paris, screenplay, screenwriting, Vienna

As the day begins, this is what I am given, while driving towards the city. It is 6.55 am. A pinkish mist coats the hedges and the lawns I pass by. Sky promises to be bright blue. There is little traffic before I hit the feeder leading to the centre of the Metropolis. The ideas and whereabouts regarding the writing I am battered in start to roll in my mind. I am making corrections and adjustments already, in the quietness of my car.

I enjoy the rising of the sun. Anywhere I can. It feeds my need for beauty and aesthetics in the simplest possible way. Like a token of joy. I think of the characters I must deal with today. Their motivations, their interactions with others, their conflicts, their nature, the drama, the laugh…

Then, moments later, I sit in front of a freshly brewed coffee. With my laptop, I can carry my work office everywhere. I connect through WI-FI and voilà.

A glance around me, and I dive into the thoughts nurtured by the latest movies or series I watched, or the current piece I am working on, and that I have sorted out during  my earlier driving.

The day develops while I keep writing, proofing, correcting, changing, cutting scenes…My brain races. So much to do, so little time. I take a second coffee, then a third. My heart beat quickens a bit. I begin to be very caffeinated. I drink water. I gaze at the walls when they are decorated. When I am stuck in a scene in the screenplay, it is utterly helpful to let fresh air (metaphorically speaking) rippling on the ocean of the codes and conventions one follows to build characterization or inner conflicts.

When Nemesis escapes you, close your eyes and smell the coffee.

It sometimes induces a loop in the field of the work I have to do, like a breath of fresh air.

Writing in a café is highly pleasurable.  It makes a daily task blissful. Cafés littéraires, as they are called in France. Cafés or coffee houses where one writes or discuss literature (or politics).

It connects us with all those beloved authors, and allows a spiritual communion to the magnificent prodigy of human nature : crafting sentences and words to craft and explain our lives and the future.

Coffee and writing, seemingly so intimately bound to speak of our human conditions. The best could be found in the cafés in Vienna, the coffee hours held in the Salons in Paris, London, St Petersburg in the past centuries, where ideas for better everything where sketched and refined.

The warmth of the anonymous company of fellow beings. The observation of nature.

A microcosm accommodated within 4 walls and processed by a coffee machine.

Long live the cafés and coffee houses, where we can seek and find matter for writing, fuel for our thoughts, and nicely light ephemeral connections through a smile or a inconsequential gaze.

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Ultra tech’ed and the Diet of the Brain

16 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Life in style

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blog, brain, Diet, social media, technology

Technology is  wonder.

Technology is wonderful.

Technology is wonderfully changing our lives.

It supersizes our [virtual] life, by expanding its possibilities. It changes the relationships we have with the information, the way we deal with it and how we choose it.

Maybe a little too much, tough. Throw yourself in the big flow of big media world and you’ll embark on a new dimensional trip.

 This is no news, of course. Every magazine invites us to join and follow them. In a manner or another. Light, inconsequent and intellectually famishing.

What is a little new is the way we feel about it. These constant rivers of tiny things mixed with major pieces of events affecting our daily routine are hard to get by properly. We may treat the newly elected president in a country in Europe, a new series on HBO, a raging battle between two media stars and the latest  turbulence on Oprah’s audience ratings with equal interest. Yet, their impact on people’s life is not the same.  It seems however that the human brain is increasingly suffering from compulsive info-eating disorder.

Checking our mail on our phones, taking pics with it to post on our dashboard, be it P*nterest, whatever blogplatform, Stumbl*, Flick*r, Factsbook and so one…We need to be connected, all  the time. And we spend more time connecting with strangers that rewiring the emotional interaction with fellow neighbours in our existence. Those people who inhabit our daily hours or moments, our occupation and the accidental meetings our western way of life provides aplenty.

The occasional news that the star-bling-fashion addict inside us, tucked between our social self, our inner self, and our professional self (and I consider full-time motherhood to be a profession, and a demanding one) gets from gossip/fashion magazines that one can read at the dentist’s waiting room has seemingly become a junk food, and this junk food is what our brain needs more and more to feed on.

It’s time for the brain to go on a diet. Time to focus on the important things, nurture the human brain with real consistent food and spare a little time (very little) for shallow or piddling snacking. Not the other way round. What if more people would just stop the flow and go full gear on their own thinking?

I am an optimist, viscerally, and do hope it could produce more good literature, new brilliant ideas (tons of them), intelligent ways of enhancing courtesy in every aspects in this life we share on this marvelous Garden of Eden. And then the consequences would be unimaginably good.

If only.

If only everyone could choose to become a better person, and help each other in bringing out their best inner part, peace and freedom would be our daily subjects to relish and comment on.

Time to braindieting, instead of brainstorming, somehow…

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On writing. My manifesto

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Writing

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Manifesto

I like coffee and I love movies and series and…

…I write.

I am a writer.  I just rediscovered that unexpectedly. I reconnected with that part of me only two years ago, just before moving to the USA. An acquaintance of mine  who turned out to be a coach approached me (she’s a friend now).  In exchange of me being one of her clients to practice her skills and tools on (so that she could get her certification), she would give me a whole session (7 hours) of free coaching .

I have long adopted the  motto : “when life hands you lemons, do not regret those are not oranges, and make a good lemonade out of them”.

So, here I was, presented with a crazy opportunity. A “win/win” opportunity.

So I accepted and made my lemonade. I had no clue I needed a coach. But I needed one. In the first place,  it helped me assume this identity, my writer identity. The working identity, this social cloth you have to wear when people ask what you do in /of your life, and that everyone can translate into chunks of perception of your person. Not that they will really understand your being, your (personality/soul,…you name it), or simply you. It just helps them in creating a shape in which you can fit. Easily identifiable.

Now, 5 months after the session has ended, I am proofing a book I already wrote in 2010. I have been working on the corrections for too long now, and I need (soooo badly) to have that one finished and sent to find its path to publication… Paradoxically, to gather forces from other fields and make a mind change, I also wrote a novel,  have half-written a second, produced a novella, dozens of poems and I am involved in a scenic project (a friend proposed we produce something together, she’s working on it on her side, me on mine, and we meet, acknowledge things, meet again, see the progress, it’s wonderful).

I am in the state where I need to think of the future of those writings and their making into books. First will come this proofed book. Considering the subtle arcane of such an adventure, a business plan is needed (I come from marketing, y’know), in order to market the product (the book) and the brand (pen name/author and maybe what stands behind).

I suppose that a literary agent will ask : “so, you write… and do you have a blog?”.

How very embarrassing it must be to confess that, well….lack of  audaciousness…and time, hum….busybusybusy….

No this cannot be an acceptable anwser

One  wants to write, one writes since childhood, there’s no other work in the whole world that brings more joy. It makes one’s guts on fire when one answers people’s questions about the subject.

So I started a blog. I must confess that it’s been a while (ahem, nearly 4 years…) that I wanted to experiment the blogging thing.

And it is hard. And demanding. And one wants to change subjects, or the tagline. All the time. Until one finds on’es songline. ( it’s a clumsy reference to Bruce Chatwin for you, but utterly meaningful to me).

As I need entire jugs of caffeine to force my eyes to stay open (life is short, and things must be done, the Big Sleep will provide plenty of time to rest), as I am a cinema fan from an early age (I started to read the upscale TV magazine received at home, with cinema review, critics and intelligent comments, very “Cahiers du Cinéma”-ish, if that rings a bell,  @ 9years old, and had begun to watch the Midnight Club cinema, when I was 14 and never stopped since), I knew I had to blog about those subjects. And occasionally about  myself (like I just did), but do not be afraid, it won’t happen often ;-).

I’ll do my best to produce decent posts, and please my readers, who are so kind to spend a moment with me. Do not be harsh on judging me or my style, English is not my mother-tongue, nor am I an experienced blogger. Let me experiment your benevolence, fellow bloggers. We have so much to learn.

Stay tuned.

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Celebrating Hollywood Glamour

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Movies, Places

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Cinema, Elizabeth Taylor, Hall of Fame, Hepburn, Hollywood Blvd, Humphrey Bogart, Jack Lemmon, L.A.

Hepburn.

A name shared by two major actresses. One epitomizes dry wit in screw ball comedy. The other embodies charming ingenuity. Both are symbols of The Hollywood Glam. Today, Golden age movie lovers (as me and 5 other very good friends for instance) remember Katherine, born May 12th, 1907.

Portrait of Hepburn, 33 years old

She’s best remembered for her role alongside Legend Humphrey Bogart in “African Queen”, “Mary of Scotland”, “Bringing up Baby”, with Cary Grant playing a deliciously geeky paleontologist, “The Philadelphia Story”, “The Lion in the Winter”, “Woman of the Year”, “Guess who’s coming for diner”.

Miss Katherine was a theater wonder too. She even played the role of Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, in the Musical “Coco”, in Broadway.  And of course, played most of Shakespeare’s immortal chef-d’oeuvres. Let me mention “Taming of the Shrew”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “Anthony and Cleopatra”, and “Much ado about nothing”.

66 year long career, 44 feature films, 33 plays. She liked her numbers to be even, one could say.

This reminds my of my trip last year, in L.A.

It was in February,  the blue sky was bursting with sun, the air was light and breezy, the palm trees were nicely trimmed.

My camera was showing impatience to encounter Hollywood Blvd, the Chinese Theater and Sunset Blvd.

I went also on top of Observatory Hill, to catch an amazing view of the city, the ocean sparkling away in the horizon, and all the memories of “Rebel without a cause” secluded in my mind, as I strolled around and inside the building.

Later, I drove on Sunset Blvd, photographing the houses of those who built my love for the cinema and my interest for the entertainment industry. Below is B.Karloff’s former house (dark pic, I’m afraid, for the impersonator of dark characters).

Lana Turner’s former house.

Mansion of a beautiful one (alive and above).

In the vicinity of the loop where Cary Grant used to live ( below)…


…one stumbles upon this…

…Undoubtedly handy for the Bentleys and RR owners in the neighbourhood.

While in L.A. I tried those super trendy flavoured coffees from various shops, in Malibu, on Hollywood Boulevard, on the beach, in Santa Monica district, and I wanted to taste different kind of brews. Conclusion : I’m not a fan of vanillastrawberry/cinnamon/citrusblueberry/whatever fancy/ aroma. I prefer my Italian to be strong, rich, well scented, and easy going.

No fuss coffee for me, please, even in super glam bold California’s City of Angels.


The organic deli just around the corner was so inviting, I sorted my pix in there, while resting my sore feet, and made myself a wish and a promise : to come here again with more time to be able to visit a studio (or two), and work harder, to get to live here.

I raise my ultra-caffeinated black coffee to thy, Hollywood.

A toast for the joy, the drama, the humor, the laugh, the thinking, the glamour, the cogitation instilled in our lives.

A toast also to The Frères Lumière and Georges Méliès who made it all possible,

Th. Edison,  Buster K., Abel Gance, DW Griffith, Renoir, John De Cuir, Edith Head, Givenchy, Chas Chaplin, Ealing Studios (UK), The Studios de Joinville (France), Cinecitta (Italy), Babelsberg Studios (Germany), Fritz Lang, Alec Guiness, Jimmy Stewart, Garbo, Marilyn, Jeanne Moreau, Godard, Wiene, Murnau, Jean Dujardin, Michel Gondry (“Science of dreams”, “Be Kind, rewind”), Mitchum and Lancaster, Ozu, Bruno Ganz, Nino Rota, Mancini, Agnès Varda, Imamura, Dame Judi Dench, Jack Lemmon, Damian Lewis, Brenda Blethyn, Hannah Schygulla, Romy Schneider, Bibiana, Begalu, Daniel Brühl (“Goodbye Lenin”, “Joyeux Noël”), Patricia Mazuy, Joséphine Siao, Maggie Cheung, Guillaume Canet, Eva Green, among many others.

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Route 66, with a drop of milk, please

09 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Caffeine, Life in style, Movies, Places

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50's, cadillac, Coffee, Creedence Clearwater, Diner, Dust Bowl, Elvis, Grand Canyon, Grapes of Wrath, Jack Kerouac, John Ford, John Steinbeck, Johnny Cash, Mother Road, On the Road, Route 66, Travelers

Fellow travelers, cofffee -on -the -go amateurs and connoisseurs, Easy Rider fans, wanderers of the world….

….YOU…who have a link, special,  accidental or else, with the Mythical Route 66, I’ll share this with you.

Before boarding that helicopter…..

….to tour the Grand Canyon…

…take time for a coffee in Williams, Arizona.

This train reminded me of how the Mother Road had so strongly embodied, in the 30’s, the search for a better living  during the Dust Bowl for thousands of farmers.

They were heading West  towards the sunset, (what a significant symbol, marching towards the last ray of light), just as the Pioneers had done before them.

I remembered the poignant dignity of a struggling Tom Joad ( young Henry Fonda) in the movie “The Grapes of Wrath” .

And then, the splash of colors of neon signs across the small town set my mind into another mood, more joyful and happy. Now it was rockn’roll allover, and Jack Kerouac was riding next to me, reciting immortal sentences.

On a portion of the Historic Route 66, diners proudly claims their attachment  to a long bygone era.

I decided to choose whichever was open that day.

Route 66 Diner was closed, although promising.

And Twisters Soda Fountain had no food to offer.

But they have Elvis.

And a Cadillac(  it’s not an unbalance in colors, it’s really pink). Really beautiful too.

So, the third won the deal.

Black & White checkered linoleum, red and  chrome chairs and booths. Huge Cola Soda ads. Neon, coffee, cream soda and burgers. Welcome back in the 50’s.

Coffee was overly nice, light and flavoured. Could have been a bit more muscled by using stronger beans, though.

All prices, on the souvenirs, postcards, magnets, even on the menu, bear the homage to the Mother Road. Look closer. All prices are $* and 66 cts.

This is the Route 66 Café, pal.

Other little time capsules such as that one can be found along the Main Road of America.

Follow the brown signs “Historic Route 66” and the white shields painted on the road, watch “Billy Connolly’ Route 66”, episodes of the late show Route 66, order an ice-cream soda at the soda fountain, have Creedence Clearwater’s Midnight Special or Johnny Cash blasting in the cd player and just… do… it.

Cruise.

Twisters and the Route 66 Café
417 East Route 66
Williams, Arizona 86046
(928) 635-0266

John Steinbeck Novel The grapes of Wrath, 1939, won the Pulitzer

John Ford Movie The Grapes of Wrath, 1940, 20th Century Fox, won the Academy Award for best director.

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Happy Birthday

09 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Life in style, Places

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blogosphere, Happy Birthday, Houston, Route 66

Some have a birthday to celebrate today.

A year of wisdom to add to their precious/amazing/wonderful/”Iamworkingonimprovingit”/happy/demanding/not always easy/creative/(whatever adjective suits you) life.

A year more for a dear one.

An additional year in the blogosphere, maybe.

A year to commemorate  a special event.

For others (could it be me?), it commemorates the decision  to move from Europe (France) to Hello Houston, USA.

Happy Birthday.

(A post on a very “fifties” style café on the Route 66 is ripening in the draft room, photos are long to upload)

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Mad Men and the Mad Men fashion wave

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Life in style, TV Series

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60's, Banana Republic, Brioni, Calvin Klein, Fashion, Hugo Boss, Mad Men, Vanity fair, Vintage

The MadMen show is a hit (3.50 mio viewers on the premiere day, last March, in the US).

International Broadcasting. Multiple awards winner.

So, it was bound to happen. Now, 60’s elegance is inescapable if you are a city-dweller. It is impossible to pretend it is not there. And what zing this has !

In 2009-10 already,  Banana Republic stores in the US displayed clothing inspired by the series. They have teamed up again with MM prod/costume department to market  a limited Spring collection.

Fully advertised in Vanity Fair’s April issue.

 



Timeless elegance.

Calvin Klein, Brioni, Hickey Freeman, Hugo Boss, Brunello Cucinelli ads, in April VF issue.

Mad Men fashion is upon us. Well…more tight tailored preppy jackets, tightly fitting polo shirts and impeccable slacks…  that’s better than baggy worn out jeans and shapeless Tees.  Time has come to dig out vintage gems and glamour.

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…with a coffee spoon… in the Library

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Caffeine, Life in style, Places

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Andrew Irvine, George Mallory, In memoriam, Library, Mount Everest, Starbucks, writing.

Image

Today, I need to extra-focus. I got to be making progress.

This work on Mallory MUST get significantly dealt with. I need to write more. Perhaps I have to climb Mount Everest myself too to find enlightenment….

As for now, I think, I’ll just need this helper…

… all day long, particularly in the library (where I will stay, glued on my computer, writing, writing, writing, correcting, again and again and again)…

I’ll take also my hot water in a thermos with me and get my caffeine as others just step outside to smoke their cig. With that other little helper.

To brew this.

Newbies (to me at least) from Starbs, found in the store yesterday night.

It’s  been 87 years and 11 months today that George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine lost their lives high on the top of the world, about 500ft short of the summit.Next month, the 8th of june, it will be exactly  88 years that they have been resting on the mountain.

In memoriam.

 

 

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Nicotine and Caffeine are in a boat…

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Caffeine, Life in style, TV Series

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bogart, caffeine, Casablanca, Coffee, Don Draper, Mad Men, Maltese falcon, McMurray, Mitchum, Nicotine, Noir movies, whisky

…Boat sinks… Which one do you save first?

Strange thought of mine, I know.

I just wondered, while watching an ep. of Mad Men tonight on Netflix (luv the series). Because we all know these two are so often paired. Why? Because they supposedly are as equally addictive? Ever noticed you have a cowboy’s breath when you come to have them unfiltered or unsweetened ? Nevertheless, coffee is good for you and your brain, just ask Voltaire (up to 60 cups a day), or Swift. Whereas cigarettes…Not exactly replenishing…

 COFFEE  http://over-coffee.com/

Coffee and cigarettes…Oh, I almost forgot… and alcohol… Now that’s just the perfect attire for a man . Or  shall I write The Man? It has been so in the collective unconsciousness of the Western world for decades. At least on screen. And the perfume of masculinity that rides besides them is so strong, it’s hard to decorrelate one from another without bruising the image of what the French call the “éternel masculin” (immortal masculinity). Curiously enough (curiously, really? “curiously”? are you kidding me?), oldies are packed with this trio of little geniuses.

Particularly in the Noir movies (dish of choice for me). Meet Bogie in the Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, To have an have not, see Fred McMurray and Robert Mitchum… Recent movies too. Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs…

Over the years, in the industry, alcohol’s part shrank and almost disappeared, became as nearly as invisible sometimes (unless you expose some one with a liquor problem). Nicotine put one foot in the grave when battles against some companies were being fought on grounds of endangering the health of their customers. And with the ban of cig’s on working premises and more justice battles,  Sister Nicotina took place in her little coffin adorned with bills of laws and amendments and rules and blablabla law-ish (not mocking, just explaining).

But the lid has not been ordered (free country, free will, free smoking in my car/tub/house/loo/closet… ah-ah…gotcha!) . Too bad…

So there she lies, glorious as a nearly defunct tyrannic queen,…but… still breathing on her iron lung (addictive substances and image of coolness, maybe?). So how can the industry in L.A. escape this dilemma (real cool men smoke, and drink booze and fuel on caffeine) ?

They make historical series. Clever.

The hard part, though, may be to find actors that …smoke. (Yeap, might be difficult, since every one is keen on protecting their capital-health). Coolness has shifted. Now, it’s cool NOT to smoke and NOT to drink. And to have a moderate (or better, extra-low) consumption of caffeine (You know, deaaar, only when it’s mango-eating days.My diet).

Take Don Draper and his Mad Men crew, for instance… They almost chain-smoke all episode long. They begin to tackle old Johnnie RedJacket as early as 10 in the morning sometimes. They swallow gallons of coffee (ok, the american bottomless mug o’joe has no equivalent on earth and every European expresso makes a corn-fed and happiness-bred Yankee cough until next Christmas 😉 but anyhow…). They keep talking to each other well within the courtesy zone. And they kiss/sh*ahem*ag their lovers/spouses/secretaries/fiancees (choose) and embrace them strongly enough for them to be covered with those substances (metaphorical). And no one seems to notice that the cowboy’s back from hell.

Because, come on, have you ever kissed/talked to a guy who’s been smoking not light cigarettes, and about nearly 40 of them, and had a whisky one too many and his mouth…ahem… lips coated  with several layers of caffeine? It’s not the handsome model  freshly groomed and having chewed his whitening paste for 3 minutes posing for a famous cigarette brand near a campside fire, darling.

Nope.

We all have friends who are heavy smokers (but being a lighter smoker doesn’t prevent from dragon breath either) and do not have the glorious habit of brushing their teeth after each puff. I had several colleagues like that. One to one Meetings were…hum…started with the offering of a chewing gum. On unlucky days, gum was refused.

O gosh.

Caffeine is something we can manage pretty nicely behind the lips,  no big deal on the overall image. But Nicotina…aaargggh.

So if I happened to be on that particular boat one day, I’ll save lady Caffeine and let Nicotine drink her death.

Coffee <3

Source : Pinterest meetovercoffee

I have spoken.

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Q: Am I sure to get my caffeine shot today ? A : Sure, buddy, try this… (Last minute post)

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Caffeine, Life in style

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

coffee on the go, fair trade, Fashion, flavour, green, Nina Ricci, pastilles, Scarlett Johansson, Vermints

….What the heck am I talking about, you may ask….

Well, I just (hum…yesterday) stumbled upon….this.

No, I did not stumble upon Miss Johansson (though in this issue of Vogue, she wears a utterly gorgeous silk dress by Nina Ricci that I won’t despise owning, should you know).

Look closer. The box.

It is a box of COFFEE PASTILLES.

Yes.

I know.

Me neither.

But yes.

I tried them this morning (no time to grind and brew) and it was….perfect (for a product like that) , flavour is there, no too sweet (well maybe if you prefer the beverage unsweetened, of course), not too bitter. Packed with the rich aromas you can find in a cup of Jamaican goes Arabica bean.

From Vermont!

AND green AND fair trade. AND delicious.

And practical.

So, problem solved. Wanna have your daily shot? No coffee shop around? No friends’house nearby to rush into to fix a brew?

It even smells good coffee.

No need to worry, my caffeinaddicted friend. Vermints is for you.

And a pastille lasts as long as a sipping of a cup. The cup is in your pocket, now.

Oh, yeah!

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Margo Channing @ White House Black Market

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Caffeine, Life in style, Movies, Places, TV Series

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Banana Republic, Bette Davis, celebrities, Coffee, Don Draper, entertainment, Eve, Fashion, George Sanders, glamour, Gossip Girl, Grace Kelly, Mad Men, Mankiewicz, Marilyn Monroe, movie, Prada, style, Town & Country, Valentino

Last Thursday I had an appointment at 9am. As I was very early and there was no traffic jam (lucky me!) I had nearly 40 minutes before hand, so I went for window shopping in Town & Country. Weather was fine, parking lot still empty, the set of beautiful shops nestled between Memorial and Kimberley was just ready for a private visit.

Nobody around.

Too good to miss.

I grabbed a coffee – just a coffee *sigh*-at the Starbucks corner in the store, and off I went.

The first windows belonged to Banana Republic. Very “Mad Men on a Safari tour”.

Yeah, it’s a jungle out there.

The “Men collection” is just …just…perfect. Nothing to add here. Have a look.

I remembered these ads in magazines for the spring collection featuring designs seemingly taken just out of the series.This  kind of team up between BR and Madmen surely is bound to be a hit….and the male model has a strong resemblance to Don Draper…

Is it Don Draper already?

I left the Men Mad with their Jungle Out There and I shifted to the huge windows of White House & Black Market.

Such a lovely boutique, such pretty items.

Sophisticated yet cool. Classic with a twist, bold style and fashionista-pleasing collections, displayed in a glamorous, boudoir-style shop.


And they are not ashamed of their commitment to charities (which is always a good point).

Hum…how can I tell you… I can’t resist.

Certainly Margo Channing would have bought her day garments in there (or at least, sent Birdie to buy them), had she not been only real on the silver screen and had the brand existed back then. Grace Kelly seems more a J Crew-type girl, I should say. In the evening :  Balenciaga, Valentino, or Nina Ricci. For both Miss Davis and Miss Kelly.

Bette Davis portraited an immortal Margo in the Movie “All about Eve” (Mankiewicz, 1950,20th Century Fox). Should you wander why the movie is a MAJOR classic in the history of Cinema (apart from the numerous awards it received), just pick a copy or dive into Netflix, and (re)discover the imperial Bette Davis, the ruthless predatory nature of the bitchy Eve (incredibly talented Anne Baxter), the stylish and smoothly cynical Addison DeWitt (magnificent George Sanders), the lovely debutante Marilyn Monroe, the charming and reliable Gary Merrill, the confused Hugh Marlowe and the naive friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), encapsulated in a masterpiece so carefully crafted, that it looks like a  diamond necklace, sparkling with wit and brilliant dialogues, sumptuous costumes and decors, and such a mastery of photo and directing, you’ll be swept off you feet…

As for me, I love diamond necklaces…

PS : in Pop culture, references or homage to Miss Channing or to the movie are plethora, the following are the latest addenda to the entertainment industry (I thank Wikipedia-San for his help on the subject, seeing I am not a big fan of the Simpsons nor of Glee):

  • Blair (Gossip Girl, season 3, ep “Enough about Eve”) dreams that she is Margo Channing
  • P. Almodovar’s movie title “All about my mother” is a reference to Mankiewicz’s, and the first scene shows the protagonist watching the 1950 movie on TV, later a character is accused of  learning her lines “just like Eve Harrington”.
  • A 2008 Simpsons’s episode is called “All about Lisa”
  • In a Season 2 episode of Glee, a character is called a Latina Eve Harrington
*****
Later, during lunch time, I sneaked in the shop to try some garments on.
And then back to work…
So long, WHBM.

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Vienna, Klimt and Demel

06 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Life in style, Movies, Places

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Café Central, Demel, Hofburg, Hoffmann, John Malkovich, Klimt, Kolo Moser, Raul Ruiz, Secession movement, Sissi, Vienna, Winter wonderland

In a few weeks from now, I’ll be flying to Vienna.

I’ll have a lot to do but surely will find some moments to sneak into one of those mythic havens praised by travelers and writers : the deliciously old-fashioned café houses (e.g. the Café Central, as shown below ). After all, the art of consuming coffee was born in this city, after the Siege by the Turks, when bags of strangely perfumed beans were left by the attackers after they were defeated.And of course, I must pay a visit to the artifacts of Sissi’s glamourous passage on Earth, gracefully displayed at the Hofburg.

Last time I went it was in winter and it was wonderful.

A Winter wonderland.

Christmas Markets were heavenly lit.

Klimt and the Secession members will also have their fair share of my time.  The buoyant years of the Secession era are plastered all over the city, and they call for my respectful attention to their extraordinary applications to architecture, fine arts, design and furnishing. 

Klimt, Kolo Moser, Joseph Hoffmann, Joseph Olbrich and Otto Wagner, I’m glad I’ll see your works again.

BTW, 2012 is the 150th year of Klimt’s birthday, and Vienna is celebrating the eminent artist.

Which leads naturally to mention the movie “Klimt” by director Raul Ruiz (2006), with John Malkovich in the role of the painter. Whereas, as a fan of Klimt’s work, I had great expectations regarding an insight view of the artist’s challenging and daring ideas and aspirations to hustle a little the establishment and the Academy, I ended being disappointed by the… hum… liberties taken with the historical truth and the quasi-sole “libertine” aspect of Klimt’s life that Ruiz chose to expose.

Klimt may have been caught in the turmoils of both an artistic revolution and a sexual revolution – the latter being instigated by Freud- at the beginning of a new era, and he may have been the subject to scandals (particularly through his  paintings, uber-controversial for that time, have a close look at “Medicine”, “Jurisprudence ” or  “The gold fish” for instance), he will forever embody a new way of representing the world, as the impressionists will in their way too.

His influence was major in the history of art and his legacy is tremendous. It would probably have been much more consistent and satisfying to explore the reasons for his troubled relations with authority and women (and particularly Emilie Flöge). Probably deeply rooted in the attachment to his mother and loss of his father and his brother, which resulted in his assuming financial responsibility for both his father’s and brother’s families.

Klimt is particularly honored this year at the Belvedere, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Leopold Museum, Albertina, Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, and Vienna Museum. If you may be near Vienna those coming months, indulge your artistic cravings for beautiful and powerful art, and go meet the genius.

Well, for me, I shall pack a soothing cream for my (future) aching muscles, as I’ll certainly will not only greet the master’s works, but also walk into every sightseeing-worthy corner.  It will be a delight, and Demel’s famous pastries and delicacies will be just a dream away.

I just discovered that Demel is present in NY as well as in Vienna, and has an online shop. I can’t wait to order…

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