Sunday, September 06, 2009

metro espresso - now and then


for those of you recent peeks,
if you
look in the Nov 23, 2007 archive post,
you will see more about our
4 yrs of running
a small coffeehouse.

After
us, a hot dog stand and another coffee shop,
both lasting about a year each
tried this location.

I stopped by, although I knew I shouldn't,
and this short clip is how it looks now.

Those colors were not ours,
nor the
picture still hanging,
although the
blackboard signs were ours.

19 comments:

Lisa Ursu said...

That song, what more can I say than I love it. I remember going through my childhood home a few years ago. It was nothing like I remembered.

mum said...

that's always a strange experience, isn't it, going back to a place. Like two realities superimposed in one picture; but some of the books in the foreground at the 1:00 mark look like they might be interesting. Don't mind me, just keep me away from second hand bookstores is all I'm saying :-)

great song; the little kids in the collage look really sweet.

cheers, cm.

Anne said...

wow... serendipitous! we watched fahrenheit 451 last night!

tony said...

I dont know what your thoughts on Expresso Coffee, but after my most recent trip to Italy Ive really got into the stuff.Yesterday i bought a machine for brewing [DeLonghi pump coffee machine].Yours In Coffee.
T.

Coffee Messiah said...

liza: As they say: you can never go back. Hence, my hesitation, but I gave in ; (

mum: The space used to be part of the bookstore. It's overflow once again. It appears the owner sold one of the brass chandeliers also and put a ceiling fan in, ugh ; ( The cover is from a kids book called: do you know about the stars, circa 1970.

annie: Never saw the film. All these old books seem timely now a days, don't they....

tony: Espresso machines are like everything else, you get what you pay for. There's a learning curve in packing the coffee in the group head, too tight, no water comes through the grounds, too loose and too much water. Needs to be packed with about 30 lbs of pressure, which you learn how to do very quickly. Before the busy-ness we had an inexpensive espresso machine, but quickly let it go. The shots were always nasty ; ( Good Luck with yours!

Dakota Bear said...

I believe it was Thomas Wolfe who wrote "you can never go home".

Its amazing how places we once cherished and whole fondly in our memories as points of grounding change.

All those books. Is the place going to be a bookstore or a reading room?

Never heard that song before, but it is interesting. The song said a White man with a black soul, what happens to the Black man with a white soul? I wonder if they could ever be harmonious. I just know it is tough to be an oreo, you just don't fit an anyones world.

Tom said...

the chandeliers and ceiling..wow. So that's Humble Pie... really good, need to add them to my short list.

e said...

Love the song. Sad about your coffeehouse. It sounds like it was successful, no?

All those books as overflow for a bookstore make me want to go poking around...

Celeste Maia said...

Great song! Going back to a place that meant a lot is always very difficult. However, your coffee house seems to be now a book store and that is a lovely ending for it. The space and feeling are still there, even if the walls are painted differently.

Coffee Messiah said...

db: Yes, it was TW! It's always interesting to see/hear how others interpret what they see/read/hear ; )

t: The original ceiling tiles, before we moved in were hanging down and falling apart. We purchased replacements from Canada and painted the ceiling ourselves.

e: That bookstore used to have this space before we took it over and looked about as bad. Interestingly, the man who started the bookstore many, many years ago was well liked and knew his books. We ran into him at another store of his and he has since closed that also. He's fondly remembered all over the state.

cm: Sadly, I thought after these years, the store might have taken on a more interesting life. It seems that it's haphazard at best. So much potential, so little energy expended to make it better, if you know what I mean.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

but there must be some small comfort to see the space filled with books!

I guess this time thomas wolfe had it correct, you can't go home again...

:(

mouse (aka kimy) said...

ps I just read the comments....seems as if dakota bear and I had the same literary allusion...

Anonymous said...

Ah, child-like wonderment and coffee. I actually remember my first taste. It was at my grandparents house during some holiday. They made it in this huge urn thingy. I had to try it like an adult. One of those yuck it's good moments!

Aloha to Metro past present and future!

Coffee Messiah said...

kimy: What I'm always amazed at here, is how so much can be done to make a bookstore be an experience, yet, no effort seems to be expended here anymore. It's tragic. Especially compared to our favorites in Ft Wayne. Besides, that space is overflow with no way to know what you're looking for.

hR9: as they say: C'est la vie ; )

Anonymous said...

I had to run in, switchon the 'pooter and let you know how much I am LOVING that quirky,
eclectic,
cool,
mad
coffee mix you sent me.
As a former complication person, this CD rocks!

I was bopping along to the tiki tunes with the hound, and doing air slide guitsar with the 12 bars...
thankyou!

P11 said...

I like the place, I can imagine it with costumers around there and you an L back in the counter :)

ratatouille's archives said...

Hi! C.M.,
Nice coffeehouse,
Nice bookstore,
Nice quote,
Nice graphics,
Nice sounds.

Thomas Wolfe, I 'am not quite sure, but I think that he was responsible for the quote...that Dakota Bear,mentioned when she said,
"I believe it was Thomas Wolfe who wrote "you can never go home."

To be quite honest with you I was only familiar with his name, but
I decided to do a little research and this is what I discovered...
WolfeLegacy
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee

tut-tut said...

What a beautiful space. It's hard to see what others do to what was your sactuary. I saw my quite functional western Mass. kitchen turned into, well, not where I'd want to put up pickles and jam.

Coffee Messiah said...

gd: Hey, glad it made it.

cafeP: Thanks 4 that!

dd: Oh, you must read at least one of his books ; )

tt: Yes, that's always the way of things.