Casparian Memories

Winter's Sleep

2011-01-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

She looked like a reader, the girl who came in one blizzardblown night last week. She had that look. And - as she sat down and tiredly ordered a gin and tonic she clearly didn't want or need - it was a lifestyle she was trying to get out of. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was no use so I made her drink, heavy on the tonic, and handed it to her on a paper coaster."Thanks."Her voice was

The Dog

2009-11-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Mase came in looking like a plateful of slow-fallen molasses, and sat at the bar instead of his usual table. He looked bookish and blank, as if he'd recently awoken from a nap at the library."Maserati," I said, "get out of my bar. What time do you think it is? The salon doesn't start for six hours, you oughta be at home eatin' spaghetti out of a blue-and-white china plate with a big carafe of

Fear

2008-08-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

The salon had been shut down a couple weeks from the big flood they had after that frigging incident with the idiot private eye and his voodoo friend, but we were back up and running now and the smell of spilled highballs was thankfully beginning to overpower the faint stench of mould. Wallace hadn’t bought

The Mark Inside

2008-06-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

A sick, long lull got into the salon tonight. You couldn't even call it a lull with a straight face. It'd be like calling a blackout a swoon. The silence held and held while the instigator stared stubbornly down at the sticky table and drank his beer. He sounded like my dog tryin' to get the last scraps

Not So

2008-05-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ron paid me back for the glasses on Friday, as sweet as pie, then snapped one meaty hand over the counter and grabbed my shirt not hard but so sudden I could hear stitches rip. "You fucked up, Andrews," he goes, "with 'Paradise Lost.' Pretend to update it and kill the verse? You fucked up.""I hear you, Ron.""Oh you hear me. You hear me. I like that."He lets me go and stomps off, and I start

Lost

2008-05-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Anyway, that guy never did come back to claim his self-help book from the other day. I'm guessing he's beyond help now, self or otherwise. Which is a real shame because one of our bartenders invented this cocktail this morning that'll cure what ails ya in ten seconds flat, whether it be syphilis or claustrophobia. It does give you hallucinations, exploding head syndrome, and spasming sphincter

Dirty Laundry

2008-04-28T21:50:00.001-07:00

A bar like this collects the lowest life of the city like we were a dip in the pavement. They flow down here, seeking the lowest point - seeking also large cheap drinks, buxom girls, seeking talent for their next job, seeking a friendly ear for the last job.Shrinks we don't got. And the bartenders have a strict 'no sympathizing' policy after that idiot went home last year and jumped off the

Traditional Welcome

2008-04-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

I bid you a suspicious welcome to my seedy corner of the web.The traditional welcome at the Strip is to overcharge you for your first and last drinks, insist you add pricey extras to your mediocre meal, convince you to give the girls ludicrous tips, and add a couple of bucks on your bill as a 'band fee' even when there's no band.But since it's your first time here, I shall be lenient.Here at the