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Café culture addict

~ Drinking tea, observing society and writing stories in cafés

Café culture addict

Category Archives: Cafés

Just brew it.

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Life in style

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Coffee, Praise

 

Mr. Coffee is one of my best friends.

 

 

Comforting, strong, warming. He’s a good chap, never willing to override the ideas that belong to others. On the contrary, he helps in developing them creatively (ask Voltaire).

He’s a good co-worker to work with, supportive and quietly present.

He does not take much space in my office, and he is reliable. I can always count on him to perk me up and instill stamina when days are set on the gloomy side. He always agrees to come with me in fancy places to meet some friends and usually seeks to please me in every way, cool and subtle in summertime or warm and spicy when cold winds swirl around my shivering shoulders.

I am never bored in his company and he can reach my most inner thoughts and nodd silently like an old trusted friend.

Although his great old  fame grants him access to the table of the most influential people ;  although he is praised all over the world, with  thousands of people working for him, he never becomes pretentious nor patronizing.

He is humble, and when correctly handled, can bring out the best of you, by giving you the best of him. His scent is unmistakable.

 


Whether ready to use or in need of a little preparation, he is surely bound to give you his best. Just brew it.

 

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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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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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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

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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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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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Here we go, coffee addicts…

06 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Floreva in Cafés, Caffeine, Movies, Places, TV Series

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Absolutely Fabulous, after McCallum, Bones, CIS Las Vegas, Coffee, Dexter..., Doc Martin, Downton Abbey, Dream On, Falty Towers, Homeland, Inspector Lewis, Jekyll, Law and Order, Lie to Me, Life, Mad Men, MI-5, Midsommer, Monarch of the Glen, n Magnum, Nurse Jackie, NYPD Blue, Tea, the Avengers, the Mentalist, The Prisoner, the Tudors, Twilight ZOne

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