Fantasy Dinner Guests

[theclaud]

I meant Martin Luther, the man responsible for the reformation of the Roman Catholic church. I mean WOW, has anyone in the Western world had a bigger impact? I'd ask him how he came to his point of view and what gave him the courage to protest against the largest organisation, nay, set of beliefs ever to have been held in Western culture!* OK reading that back it might sound a bit naff, but he'd get a pew at my soiree anyway.

If he turned out to be dour then I'd be happy to swap him for MLK between courses

*I wait to be corrected

Not questioning his importance, but I'd be very surpised if he didn't turn out to be dour and distinctly unpleasant. Still, maybe he'll supress his nasty side, as there aren't any Jews or peasants at your dinner party.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I meant Martin Luther, the man responsible for the reformation of the Roman Catholic church. I mean WOW, has anyone in the Western world had a bigger impact? I'd ask him how he came to his point of view and what gave him the courage to protest against the largest organisation, nay, set of beliefs ever to have been held in Western culture!* OK reading that back it might sound a bit naff, but he'd get a pew at my soiree anyway.

If he turned out to be dour then I'd be happy to swap him for MLK between courses

*I wait to be corrected

Just checking! From all accounts, I would have to say rather you than me! Interesting I am sure, but I am guessing it would be rather like the dinner in that episode of Blackadder II, where Lord and Lady Whiteadder, his puritan relatives, come to visit!

 

[Fnaar]

Kenneth Williams
Groucho Marx
James Joyce and
Paul Weller

 

[mickle]

Lord Palmerston
Clive Sinclair
Eddie the Eagle
Damien the devil child from the omen films

I used to go out with his neice. He's a knob.

 

[Tetedelacourse]

Just checking! From all accounts, I would have to say rather you than me! Interesting I am sure, but I am guessing it would be rather like the dinner in that episode of Blackadder II, where Lord and Lady Whiteadder, his puritan relatives, come to visit!

ha ha yes I see what you mean

If I wanted a "nice" evening though I'd just invite my pals!

I suppose if you invited guests based on whether you thought you liked them or not, then there would be a danger that your heroes, or at least the people you admire, would be a big let down if they turned out to be horrors.

For example, most elite sportsmen and women that I can think of have not been well-known for their humility, warmth, open-mindedness etc etc. Any notable exceptions?

Or, more interestingly, what did you base your invitations on FM and Theclaud?

 

[Tetedelacourse]

Ending myself! Cross-posted with Mickle - although Sinclair isn't a sportsman, he fits what I was getting at

 

[theclaud]

Or, more interestingly, what did you base your invitations on FM and Theclaud?

Good question. I don't think I made a list yet, so let's go for:

Billy Strayhorn
Roger Casement
Henry Fielding
and Katharine Hepburn

Dunno really - I think I want people that are both interesting and nice. And who might appreciate a good dinner with plentiful wine...

 

[Tetedelacourse]

There has to be more to it than that - as otherwise your pals would surely fit the bill!

Although if Luther dissed my coq au vin I'd be less than interested in his ideas about reformation

 

[theclaud]

There has to be more to it than that - as otherwise your pals would surely fit the bill!

Although if Luther dissed my coq au vin I'd be less than interested in his ideas about reformation

Well, my pals are interesting, of course, but not too many of them are executed nineteenth-century anti-imperialists, under-rated musical geniuses, unique Oscar-winning movie stars or authors of the most splendid novel ever. I know - I must move in very dull circles .

 

[Tetedelacourse]

How do you know the people on your list are nice and appreciate good food and wine?

 

[theclaud]

How do you know the people on your list are nice and appreciate good food and wine?

I'm mostly guessing. But I know that Fielding was a bit of a party animal in an unruly kind of way, and that Strayhorn was fiercely intelligent and modest. Hepburn was a bit of a handful, but I don't like bland movie stars, and if Casement turns out to be an arse I'm confident that Fielding will put him in his place.

 

[marinyork]

I meant Martin Luther, the man responsible for the reformation of the Roman Catholic church. I mean WOW, has anyone in the Western world had a bigger impact? I'd ask him how he came to his point of view and what gave him the courage to protest against the largest organisation, nay, set of beliefs ever to have been held in Western culture!* OK reading that back it might sound a bit naff, but he'd get a pew at my soiree anyway.

If he turned out to be dour then I'd be happy to swap him for MLK between courses

*I wait to be corrected

I don't think Luther is crazy as a dinner guest at all. He probably wasn't a very pleasant bloke but it'd be interesting to see what his personality was like, what he really thought and how he managed to influence so many people. There are many others from the reformation and counter reformation that aspects of their personality is unknown or controversial. It's so hard looking back to the 16th and 17th centuries and thinking how on earth did all that happen?

As for whoever suggested Einstein. I think that would be interesting if you could somehow inject a bit of modern information into the dinner guests. See what he thought of modern cosmology, tell him that quantum mechanics is still arguing about the same sort of things than when he worked on it. Tell him about the particle zoo. Various physicists think that Einstein would find string theory fascinating and then be quite suspicious of it.

 

[Fnaar]

My first dinner went well, so I'm inviting new guests this time:

Paul Gascoigne
Arthur Lowe
Timmy Mallet and
Sophia Loren

 

[Tetedelacourse]

That one's doomed to failure unless your seducto-stare is working by then.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I think my criteria was people who are alive, and "as well as being clever were interesting and sociable"... I haven't done a list of the deceased or the historic yet. I'll have to think about it a bit more.