March 7, 2025 @ Flower Cat

Philosophy + Art

I have often wondered about the art cafes of Paris and New York from Montmartre of 18th century to the 1920 dada where art and philosohpy were soaked in by literarty figures like fine aged wine, emerging from the intellectual intricacies of that time motivated by the industrial developments and geopological shifts - and the wine naturally went with it. What's new? Here we are. Flower Cat Cafe in Brooklym - This little special place definitely had the vibes which have echoed through the centuries to this day.

We were invited by a firend from our philosophy group who knows one of the musicians - C. wrote "...It turns out that Diego, the lead guitarist is a major reader of Plato and the Bhagavad Gita and has interesting ideas about the ontology of music, and the other guys are interested in philo as well. Art and philosophy meet!" [sic]

Long Day

After a long day of work I rode a train from Long Island to Jamaica station, then the subway with changing at Court Sq-23 St. and another 10 minute walk brought me to a little place in Greenpoint on Noble street. I picked in, it was packed, I proceeded to add my body to the space, like a pickle to a jar. Hungry and thirsty, I ordered an earl grey tea with milk and an appitizer. The waitress made a delicious set of skewers with sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives and fresh mozarella. In the company of familiar faces, I curled up in a little space behind the coat rack to address the demands of my stomach. Ah, it was so good. Then, focusing on the music me and a friend who just came in discussed the little statuettes which were part of the decor of the place. A little cat was gently held in a cradle by a golden rabbit, reminded us on nativity scene.

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The Hand

A young woman came in, she was part of the philosophy discussion group but seemed like she was new. Dario introduced himself "I'm Dario, nice to meet you. Where are you from?", she said she was from Iran, the name Dario had an exciting effect on her as she shared insights about the famous King Darius of Persia. I proceeded to google Darius the day after. We learn so much from each other. I didn't get a photo of this young woman as she was fully egaged in conversations throughout the evening and her enthusiasm was obvious as she exchanged her opinions with the others. I did catch a hand of her's mid-flight. And there we all were, talking, listening to the musicians fiery gypsy jazz renditions, improvisations, chansons. I got a glimpse into those art cafes of days long gone with love of art and thought, curiosity and creativity all crammed into a tiny nook of a Brooklyn cafe in 2025.