Going Places

"Damn these glasses!" Steve Martin: "OK, sir. [to the glasses] I damn thee!"--THE JERK

Today was the latest ROLT Meetup, titled Going Places and concerning travel writing.  There were six people there.  Jane read the beginning of Graham Greene's TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT, and Jim read a story he'd written about a unique house in London, England. (Moira said he should try to publish it.)

I read a funny selection from John Steinbeck's TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY where he talked about Texas, including a bit about seeing rich Texans at a Thanksgiving feast which reminded him of his hired man saying, "You have to be rich to dress that bad." (And Kim Kardashian's mother is from Texas...) I also read an equally bit from Bill Bryson's NEITHER HERE NOR THERE where he talked about visiting the tiny nation of Liechtenstein, and a couple of pages from Charles Dickens AMERICAN NOTES where he talks about Toronto, then gives his general impression of Canada.  I ordered French toast instead of the usual scrambled eggs and sausage.

In the evening I saw Carl Reiner's comedy THE JERK at the Yonge & Dundas Event Screen (for the third time).  The picaresque, hit & miss script is just an excuse for Steve Martin to act goofy for an hour and a half.  It's definitely on the vulgar side (the sort of movie where his dog is called Shithead and he goes to the bathroom in one scene) but it made me laugh a lot when I was a teenager.  Bernadette Peters does a lot for the movie as his romantic interest, and Jackie Mason turns up in a supporting role.