Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
I once saw a mental exercise where you imagine that you are hosting a dinner party, and you can invite any 10 people, living or dead. I decided to try this, setting down a few rules in advance:
· Each guest must have a reasonable idea who the person is. For example, you could have said Deep Throat before we knew who he was, but you can’t say “the leader of the alien civilization nearest the Earth.”
· All guests must have some basis in reality. While you can invite King Arthur because the legends may have been based on an actual person, you can’t invite wholly fictitious people such Tom Sawyer or Rambo.
· At least one person should be a “wild card.” This is someone who is not one of the usual suspects who would expect to be found on most people’s lists. People who are not famous are ideal.
· All guests are guests ONLY -- IOW, no cheating to get an extra person. You can invite Emeril Legasse, but you can't have him as the chef!
· Language is assumed not to be an issue.
So with that in mind, here is my list, with explanations (feel free to post your own list or a link to it on your own blog):
1) Jesus Christ – perhaps the most obvious, even on a list made up by a non-Christian. Lots of questions to ask him, such as “What did you really mean by _____,” or “Were you offended by what John Lennon said,” but I include him for one simple reason: I want to see the look on his face as he exclaims, “THEY SAID I WANTED THEM TO DO WHAT??????” (Ditto for Mohammed.)
2) Leonardo da Vinci – he made his mark in almost every field of endeavor; in fact, he is the original Renaissance Man.
3) Benjamin Franklin – like da Vinci, he did it all He’s one of the few who could hold his own with every other guest. Plus I want to watch him try to score with the waitress.
4) Isaac Asimov – yet another guy with broad range of credits. Not only a scientist, but also a fiction writer and humorist. I predict he will hit it off with da Vinci and Franklin.
5) Buddha – I want to see if he “gets” Zen humor.
6) Alexander Hamilton – the guy was a prodigy and a genius, not to mention famously arrogant. Let’s see how highly he thinks of himself in this room.
7) Desmond Tutu – very humble, like Buddha. I think the two of them break off on their own as well. I saw Tutu on The Daily Show, and he’s surprisingly funny!
WILD CARDS:
8) Little Richard – not only will he be the life of the party, but in view of his occasional forays into preaching, hearing him talk religion with Jesus and Buddha would be priceless.
9) George Carlin – I figure he’s always an interesting dinner guest, but just hearing him tell about the dinner during his act earns him a place at the table.
10) Mrs. Gorskie – Unless you are my parents, you are probably asking, “Who the hell is Mrs. Gorskie?” Before we moved to Florida (I was 8), she was my babysitter. She was a retired pharmacist, and during the 1920s, which I would guess is about the time she would have been in college, women just didn’t go into such fields. By the time I remember her, she was probably in her late sixties – widowed and living alone, and quite feisty and independent. If the weather was good, she walked – slowly and with a cane – to our house, which was maybe a half-mile away. She also read the newspaper from front to back every day, so if Mom was getting ready for her a date, the poor guys were being entertained by a precocious, smartass kid and an old lady who would talk to them about literally any subject, from the space program to politics to how the Giants were going to do this year. Apparently some of them were intimidated. But Mrs. Gorskie wouldn’t have been, even at this table.
· Each guest must have a reasonable idea who the person is. For example, you could have said Deep Throat before we knew who he was, but you can’t say “the leader of the alien civilization nearest the Earth.”
· All guests must have some basis in reality. While you can invite King Arthur because the legends may have been based on an actual person, you can’t invite wholly fictitious people such Tom Sawyer or Rambo.
· At least one person should be a “wild card.” This is someone who is not one of the usual suspects who would expect to be found on most people’s lists. People who are not famous are ideal.
· All guests are guests ONLY -- IOW, no cheating to get an extra person. You can invite Emeril Legasse, but you can't have him as the chef!
· Language is assumed not to be an issue.
So with that in mind, here is my list, with explanations (feel free to post your own list or a link to it on your own blog):
1) Jesus Christ – perhaps the most obvious, even on a list made up by a non-Christian. Lots of questions to ask him, such as “What did you really mean by _____,” or “Were you offended by what John Lennon said,” but I include him for one simple reason: I want to see the look on his face as he exclaims, “THEY SAID I WANTED THEM TO DO WHAT??????” (Ditto for Mohammed.)
2) Leonardo da Vinci – he made his mark in almost every field of endeavor; in fact, he is the original Renaissance Man.
3) Benjamin Franklin – like da Vinci, he did it all He’s one of the few who could hold his own with every other guest. Plus I want to watch him try to score with the waitress.
4) Isaac Asimov – yet another guy with broad range of credits. Not only a scientist, but also a fiction writer and humorist. I predict he will hit it off with da Vinci and Franklin.
5) Buddha – I want to see if he “gets” Zen humor.
6) Alexander Hamilton – the guy was a prodigy and a genius, not to mention famously arrogant. Let’s see how highly he thinks of himself in this room.
7) Desmond Tutu – very humble, like Buddha. I think the two of them break off on their own as well. I saw Tutu on The Daily Show, and he’s surprisingly funny!
WILD CARDS:
8) Little Richard – not only will he be the life of the party, but in view of his occasional forays into preaching, hearing him talk religion with Jesus and Buddha would be priceless.
9) George Carlin – I figure he’s always an interesting dinner guest, but just hearing him tell about the dinner during his act earns him a place at the table.
10) Mrs. Gorskie – Unless you are my parents, you are probably asking, “Who the hell is Mrs. Gorskie?” Before we moved to Florida (I was 8), she was my babysitter. She was a retired pharmacist, and during the 1920s, which I would guess is about the time she would have been in college, women just didn’t go into such fields. By the time I remember her, she was probably in her late sixties – widowed and living alone, and quite feisty and independent. If the weather was good, she walked – slowly and with a cane – to our house, which was maybe a half-mile away. She also read the newspaper from front to back every day, so if Mom was getting ready for her a date, the poor guys were being entertained by a precocious, smartass kid and an old lady who would talk to them about literally any subject, from the space program to politics to how the Giants were going to do this year. Apparently some of them were intimidated. But Mrs. Gorskie wouldn’t have been, even at this table.
Comments:
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Well, let's discount Little Richard right off. Yes, he's an ordained minister, but that's certainly not the reason he's here. Tutu also is clergy, but he's generally more known for his political efforts, and having actually seen him on television, I can also give him points for his personality. So that only leaves two religious figures. (Da Vinci Code be damned, I'm not counting Leonardo as a religious figure.) And regardless of whether one subscribes to the respective religions, Jesus and Buddha are definitely interesting people, both of whose lives have a certain mystery to them.
Keep in mind that when I made the list, I didn't only consider my interest in the people, but also how they might interact with each other. Picture Jesus being introduced to both Little Richard AND Tutu as clergymen in the church.
Keep in mind that when I made the list, I didn't only consider my interest in the people, but also how they might interact with each other. Picture Jesus being introduced to both Little Richard AND Tutu as clergymen in the church.
That is an interesting list. You said you can't invite fictional people. Could I invite someone like Henry Winkler and tell him to "dress" like the Fonz? I have low standards. :-)
Really though, it is a good list you made of invites. Jesus Christ would probably be tops on my list also....followed by the Fonz.
Really though, it is a good list you made of invites. Jesus Christ would probably be tops on my list also....followed by the Fonz.
# posted by 
: 5:41 PM
: 5:41 PM
Mike, of course you can invite Henry Winkler. Whether or not he shows up in character is pretty much up to him, though. And I'd suggest you not have any sharks around.
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