Yesterday would have been Jack Kerouac’s 84th birthday. This past weekend, six of us Zoners met in San Francisco to celebrate. We saw the On The Road scroll, went to City Lights Bookstore, had coffee at Vesuvio (a Beat hangout) and to The Beat Museum, which was going to celebrate his birthday with a party last night at 7:00 p.m. Neal Cassady’s son, John, was scheduled to be there to talk. Unfortunately, all of the Depp Divas had to head out of Frisco by 5:00 p.m. I will be taking you on a tour this week of these places, beginning tonight with Vesuvio. http://johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=411124#411124

I have a number of questions tonight to cover in the Monday Night Thread. Some you will be able to answer, some not. Participate where you can. Happy Monday, Noodlemantras!

Did your town do anything to celebrate Jack’s birthday?

Have you read On the Road or any other Beat books? What did you think of it/them?

Have you seen the scroll or do you plan on it?

Have you had or are you planning on having any Zoner meet-ups or road trips. Tell us about them.

To the best of my knowledge, people in my part of the world didn't know it was Jack's birthday. Must confess, I didn't know that myself until I read the question. And no, I haven't seen the scroll, I don't think it is going to be shown anywhere near here.

I was on board for the On The Road discussion here. It was interesting, though to be honest, the book was not my cup of tea. But there were some fabulously beautiful descriptive passages and I learned a great deal about the history and a little bit about the man who has been an influence on our Johnny.....so not all was lost!

Road trip? Shall we announce it, person I hope to see in a few days????? or shall we wait until it is over and tell it when the meeting actually has taken place?

Nebraska, inquiring minds want to know. But I won't tell.

My guess is that a large majority of people in my town have never even heard of Jack Kerouac. And we're right in the middle of rodeo season, so that pretty much consumes everything.

No to all those questions. But at least I have heard of the scroll -- I read about it somewhere.


WooHoo, one I can answer! I have had a Zoner meetup. Larkwoodgirl and I went to Austin to meet DITHOT and go see Del Castillo and Robert Rodriguez in concert. It was great to meet up with fellow Zoners! (And the concert was pretty darn good, too.)

The scroll will be in Austin in October of 2008 at the University of Texas. There are also quite a few pieces of Kerouac memorabilia already housed at the Harry Ransom Museum on campus. Since I didn't make the Depp Diva Tour this weekend I will just have to wait... (we need a tapping foot impatiently emoticon... )

nebraska, I think we should announce it! We will be meeting up in a little less than two weeks time! Having been virtual friends since the beginning days of ONBC it is really exciting to be able to finally meet! I have had meet ups with other Zoners and have never been disappointed. I have made some life long friends that I will always treasure. We are a pretty great bunch!

Congrats to both Nebraska & DITHOT that they finally get to meet up.

Gosh, "since the beginning days" .... I think we have both been here at ONBC since the first book! I have been envious of all DITHOT's meetings up with other Zoners, this will be my first; and it isn't specifically a Depp trip, I am going to go see my favorite drummer in my Indian band in Texas.....well, I am going with friends to see the whole band, but let's be frank here , the drummer is the draw......and fortunately, it isn't very far from DITHOT's home!

BTW, mentioning since the beginning of ONBC, just a mention here that I love this place!!!!!!!

theresa, that was indeed a very fun evening and a great concert! (some chairs would have been nice though... ) I hope we have some more visits to look forward to!

Nebraska, I love this place too and everyone who participates or visits!

And what nebraska didn't mention is that drummer is

Happy Monday nite back atcha!

Wow! I think it's so cool that you guys met up in San Fran. I have spent a lot of time there. I would love to see the scroll, but I doubt that's going to happen. And I haven't met anyone from here on a road trip, but that would be very cool. Maybe someday.
I went up to Lowell for some kind of ceremony in the early 1980s and unfortunately, my frame of mind was such that I don't remember a lot of what happened on that trip except personal stuff.
I first went to City Lights in the mid-70s. Lawrence Ferlinghetti was a real trip and he recommended books, so I bought a few. DH and I went and visited again in 1986 on our honeymoon, and that time he recommended a lot of books and we had to ship them home because we bought so many. So I have a lot of Kerouac, Burroughs, poetry by everyone, Kesey, Ginsburg, Carl Sandberg, Gregory Corso, Ferlinghetti signed editions. I also bought a bunch of Herman Hesse there. And I have had coffee at Vesuvio, but they have moved twice I believe since then.

Oh really! That's I have been by City Lights 3 times in the last 2 years and have yet to see Ferlinghetti, although I hear he is there quite often. I'm always prepared with my questions, but for not.

Blame my faulty memory, but DH says it's the pizza joint that moved twice and not Vesuvio.

I mostly asked Ferlinghetti about literary stuff, influences, some chonology, etc. DH had an in-depth conversation with him about substances and mutual acquaintences. I think he spent a lot of time behind the counter at the times we were there. Like most of his time. I don't know about now. Most of my friends have left San Francisco and I haven't visited in quite a while, especially since Jerry died. I think it's been 10 years, no nine years! Time passes really quickly when you get older.