Dinner at the Ritz

The hotel in town called the Ritz has seen better days. I imagine it was built in the 40's. I can see men in zoot suits, and ladies wearing elbow length gloves and smoking cigarettes from those long holders. Light me, Harry. Cough cough. Dinner at the Ritz was once a big occasion. All kinds of tasties on the menu. Like with fractal art these days. Wondering when that was going to be sneaked in? Taste this eclaire, it's not too stale ;-) The other biggie in town from days gone by was the movie palace, the Rialto. Known colloquially as the Rat Hole, long torn down. They could be negligent about sweeping out the popcorn and softdrinks spilled and dumped on the floor. This of course brought the rats in, which we kids swore we could feel brushing by our ankles while we were trying to watch the westerns.

Dinner at the Ritz is the name of an album by City Boy I picked up from a delete bin back in '79. I was introduced to it in my student days when I was renting a room in a basement. The landlords had gone away for the weekend, and their son, a plumber by day and Hell's Angel by night, decided to hold a party and crank it full blast at 2:00 am. The more the merrier. Try some of this, it's not too stale :-0. Shockingly good music. The band went defunct in '82.

Dinner at the Ritz is a David Niven movie. If you want to read a funny book, try his Bring on the Empty Horses, about the actors, movers, and shakers he knew. His autobiographical The Moon's a Balloon is also good.

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