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~ Drinking tea and writing stories in cafés

Café culture addict

Category Archives: Caffeine

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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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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…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

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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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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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