April 2, 2019
Hello spring-flingers! Guessing you’ve been so busy with all the getting ready for the changing of the seasons that you may have missed a few of my latest pieces from the magnificent Seattle magazine (by the way, I know you – yes, you – haven’t probably missed any pieces, but a few others may have, so, you know). But don’t worry if you have – I’m here to help! Below are easy to click on hyperlinks for you to catch up (and while some may be seasonal for seasons past, they still contain delicious drinks).
February 26, 2019
As I chatted with you about in our previous Fletcher Flora Cocktail Talk posts that were up here recently, I’ve been reading a three-pack book (meaning, it contains three novels) from this sadly lesser-known pulp/pocketbook star, and in the second book, Let Me Kill You, Sweetheart, you can really see what set him apart, as it has a level of creativity in how it approaches what should be a straightforward murder, with multiple narrators (including the killer, though we don’t know who it is until the last sentence, and the murder victim) and backstories. It’s pretty neat. And, it has a nice hotel bar where a fair amount of action – or in-action – takes place, including the drinking of Miller High Life! Now, way before the MHLife renaissance, my pals and I were big, big fans of the American beer, because it’s nice on a hot day, because it was a sort-of outsiders beer (and we were sort-of outsiders), because it didn’t cost a ton of $$ (and we didn’t have a ton of $$), and, well once we started, why stop? So, seeing a MHLife quote in a book from Fletcher Flora from 1958 was neat. And love that they call it Miller’s High Life. Read it, and you’ll agree:
An hour later, at eleven-thirty, the taproom of the Division Hotel was almost deserted. The only persons present were Bernie Juggins, the bartender, and Purvy Stubbs. Purvy sat on a stool and stared moodily into half a glass of Miller’s High Life that was going flat. He hadn’t drunk from the glass for quite a long time, and it looked like he sure as hell was never going to drink from it again, and for all Bernie could tell from looking at him, the fat bastard might be dead.
–Fletcher Flora, Let Me Kill You, Sweetheart
February 19, 2019
Well, when I posted an earlier Leave Her to Hell Cocktail Talk, I should have mentioned (or at least alluded to) that there might be more, but I wasn’t sure. However, in hindsight, why would I only want one, when there are multiple swell drinking scene in this book (which, as you learned when you read the earlier post, which you did read, right? but whichin you learned I’m reading via a you-should-own-it collection of three Fletcher Flora novels, said collection put out by Stark House). Heck, I’m guessing now that I’ll have even more from Kansas-born Mr. Fletcher (sadly gone from us a few years now), so you have that to look forward to (and if you need even more, see past Fletcher Flora Cocktail Talks, too). However, with that said, and with my admiration for said writer, I can’t completely agree with his final assertion in the below quote, which has three classic drinks in it. Three! Though, with novelists, you never know that the protagonist’s point of view is the authors, so really, maybe Mr. Flora loves an Alexander, and is having one right now at whatever afterworld bar he’s hanging at. Here’s hoping!
I looked right. A cocktail lounge was over that way, beyond a wide entrance and down a step. A number of people were drinking cocktails. There was no music. I recognized a Martini, which was all right, a Manhattan, which was better, and an Alexander, which you can have. Everything was very elegant, very sedate. Maybe someone saw me, maybe not.
–Fletcher Flora, Leave Her to Hell
February 5, 2019
A new year has started, and that means it’s time for me to provide you with a new chance to catch up on some of the goodness I’ve been able to write about for the always-good
Seattle magazine (anyone who has read everything I’ve written already, well,
you’re my favorites). Check out the below to catch up.
December 11, 2018
Hello dancing friends! Recently, I went down with some pals to a rad bar in Seattle called the Dynasty Room (interestingly, it’s in a building set to be demolished, so get there while you can), and had a drink called Watch Me Nay Nay, a drink created by bar manager Michael Chu and Morgan Marchant. It was delish (and had things like mescal and rose’), and then I got to write about it for the sweet Seattle magazine. And now you can read about it! Everyone wins when you check out my Watch Me Nay Nay article now.
December 4, 2018
Baby, it’s cold outside. But my recent pieces on the
Seattle magazine blog will warm you right up – because they’re about bars, and drinks, and spirits, and such, all of which are the warming-est things in the world, outside of a good dog, that is. So, what are you waiting for? Warm up with these:
Tags: Bars, Cocktail News, digestifs, Distillery, Seattle Bars, Seattle Magazine, Seattle Magazine Cocktail Catch-Up, Seattle's Best Bloody Marys, Washington distillery
Posted in: Bars, Cocktail News, Seattle Magazine
November 20, 2018
Wow, I haven’t had a lot of David Goodis on here (I think just
one Goodis post) – which is a shame, cause I love his work. Maybe it’s just too downbeat? Maybe when they drink it feels almost, oh, the opposite of the jolly drinking I tend to applaud? Maybe it’s just bad timing? – nearly all of his characters have a lot of bad timing. But he (though not as revered here in the U.S. as he should be, or maybe not as
well-known is a better way to put it, as his devotees are devoted, and I say U.S. cause he’s bigger in France, where most of his books have been made into movies, and where the only scant biography of him has been published) is a subtle master of pacing and language, and an obvious master of writing about the down and out and the nowhere to go and the last chance has already faded into the past, the back alleys and longshores and shabby bars that become nearly family for those who inhabit their shady, scruffy, barstools to nowhere.
Shoot The Piano Player may be his best-known book, or at least one with
Dark Passage the other, as it was made into a movie by François Truffaut, and it’s a worthy read unless you’re looking for some sort-of peppy ending. Lots of it centers around a bar, Harriet’s Hut. Not the nicest place, but a popular joint, as the below description tells us.
At the bar the Friday night crowd was jammed three-and-four-deep. Most of the drinkers wore work pants and heavy-soled work shoes. Some were very old, sitting in groups at the tables, their hair white and their faces wrinkled. But their hands didn’t tremble as they lifted beer mugs and shot glasses. They could still lift a drink as well as any Hut regular, and they held their alcohol with a certain straight-seated dignity that gave them the appearance of venerable elders at a town meeting.
—Shoot the Piano Player, David Goodis
November 6, 2018
Recently (in the full scope of time) got to go down to a newish bar in Seattle, called Black Cat, and I loved it, with its amazing metal-album-cover mural, friendly staff, fun and tasty drinks, and owner Dustin Haarstad, who makes a swell cocktail and is a darn friendly fellow himself. While there, I had a fantastic Calvados-based cocktail called A Rose in the Fall, and then (because I have a nice guardian angel) I got to write about the drink and the spot for the smiley Seattle magazine. You should go read all about A Rose in the Fall, and visit Black Cat, too. You’ll be happy, I’ll be happy, they’ll be happy, and the world needs more happy.
Tags: A Rose in the Fall, Bars, Black Cat, calvados, Cocktail News, cocktail recipe, Seattle Bars, Seattle Magazine
Posted in: Bars, Cocktail News, Cocktail Recipes, Seattle Magazine
