Café Postal in St. Boniface

Along busy boulevard Provencher, and just over the pedestrian bridge that connects Winnipeg with St. Boniface, is a delightful coffee shop called Café Postal.















It's small, en français of course (about ten percent of Winnipeg's 750,000 people speak French), and it serves Pilot Coffee. The beans are ground and weighed for every espresso drink.




Friendly and inviting, Café Postal gives off a gentle feel-good vibe. There's indoor or outdoor seating, which makes this is great spot to stop and regroup after visiting the Museum of Human Rights across the river. And after a visit to that place (the story of human rights is one of misery on a grand scale) a good strong coffee is just what you need.









The coffee is excellent.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.

MAKE Coffee + Stuff ~ in Winnipeg

MAKE is a small coffee shop on Corydon in Winnipeg. It is quiet and minimalist, and best suited to those drinking coffee by themselves. Alone.
















Seating is uncomfortable at best, but there are many electrical outlets for laptops and other devices.

It was opened with the desire to offer an espresso bar plus a venue for design exhibition and retail. "MAKE seeks to provide an opportunity for the public to engage with the profession of design."










So it's not a place to meet as a group. It is a quiet, unadorned space in which to work, and to enjoy coffee and tea. And in that it succeeds nicely.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.

After the debate... John Steinbeck has the perfect comment

After enduring the painful presidential debate last night between the two most unpopular candidates to run for America's highest office since polling began...  and thinking: Is this what passes for democracy in the Excited States? Is this the result of the bold experiment promised by John Kennedy, the goal of democracy for all the world's peoples? Donald Trump? Really?






I was reminded of a quote found in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row:

"It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second."

When money becomes everything in politics, when celebrity becomes something to emulate in our society, and when both are rewarded generously, should we be surprised by what is happening in America today?

Steinbeck was the author of 27 books, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and five collections of short stories. His books include Cannery Row (1945), East of Eden (1952), Of Mice and Men (1937) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939).

Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.