Dinner Party Guest List--Any Ten People Who Ever Lived

What a gracious invitation, viva. I'd love to come. Not sure what I could contribute to such a gathering, but I'm not one to turn down a free meal.

0 Replies

My pleasure

0 Replies

This thread ran a long time ago and was a lot of fun. There are people here now who weren't here then. I'd love to see their responses, which is why I'm reviving it. Following is a copy of the first page, edited slightly to make it current.

I used to tutor immigrants in English, and sometimes getting them to talk was a challenge. So I ask them whom they would invite to a dinner party. They can pick any ten people who ever lived. Just to keep things civil, guests arrive alive and are all able to speak the same language. Students must not only tell me whom they'd invite, but why they chose each person.

I've gotten lots of interesting answers. I've learned about great artists and heroic figures from around the world. And I gained a lot of insight into my students' psyches by seeing their guest lists.

Okay, a2kers. You're having a dinner party. You can invite ten people from any time, any place in the history of the planet. So who's on your guest list, and why do you want to meet these people?

0 Replies

JFK
Marilyn Monroe
Jesus
Judas
Pontius
My Father
My Mother
Cain
Abel
Anna Nicole

0 Replies

Thanks, Bear. Glad to hear from you. And an interesting mix if there ever was one. Just one thing. You left out the why.

0 Replies

JFK and Marilyn to find out what really happened to them.

Jesus for many reasons.
Pontius and Judas to find out if they felt like they had been involved in something major or if it was just dirty tricks politics as usual.

My Mother and Father to ask them what the f*ck they were thinking of and if in death and the preceding passage of time they had come to an understanding of the ripple effect of ones actions.... and to slap them both around a little....

Abel to tell his brother how he felt at the moment of his betrayal and Cain to ask him if it was worth it and did he learn anything and for him to face his actions..... maybe that would help me to make a decision on whether we , any of us ever learn anything.

Anna Nicole on the off chance she might be willing to succumb to me and my every sexual fantasy that she's been part of.

0 Replies

Thanks for clearing that up. Interesting about your parents. Never would have occurred to me to include mine--for information purposes. I guess I assume that they don't necessarily know more now than they did then.

Cain and Abel--tres interesting. I think you're the only one who ever suggested them. I would really like to hear what Abel had to say.

0 Replies

you probably wouldn't have thought of it because you have an emotional attachment to either your parents or their memory. I am not bound by that.

0 Replies

from history

king tut - find out the real scoop on the pyramids
lewis and clark - pretty interesting journey
amelia aerhart - what exactly did happen
hitler and churchill - the two of them should get a chance to meet

from the arts

dorothy parker and groucho marx - to comment on the other guests
mark twain - to tell after dinner tales
mozart - because every party needs a crazy musician

0 Replies

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

My Mother and Father to ask them what the f*ck they were thinking of and if in death and the preceding passage of time they had come to an understanding of the ripple effect of ones actions.... and to slap them both around a little....

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

you probably wouldn't have thought of it because you have an emotional attachment to either your parents or their memory. I am not bound by that.

I detect a bit of an emotional attachment on your part. Just not a good one. I have wonderful fond memories of my father. My feelings about my mother are, at best, mixed.

0 Replies

not really... I would slap them around the same way I would slap any historical figure around that I felt needed it... without attachment....I'm wired that way.

0 Replies

My List:
1. Jesus (no show)
2. Santa Clause (no show)
3. Tooth fairy (no show)
4. Snow White (no show)
5. Mickey Mouse (no show)
6. My father
7. Einstein
8. Charles Darwin
9. Ghandi
10. Martin Luther King Jr

0 Replies

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

not really... I would slap them around the same way I would slap any historical figure around that I felt needed it... without attachment....I'm wired that way.

We're wired how we're wired. I'd have to be in a rage to hit somebody. Especially at dinner.

dj, Didn't recognize you--again. New month, new avatar. Great idea to ask Amelia Earhart! Never thought of that. We'd finally find out what happened to her. Is Tut the guy to ask about the pyramids? He wasn't around very long. But hey, it's your guest list. Love all the wits--Parker, Marx, and Twain.

You're not the first to invite Hitler. You're right that it would be interesting to have him meet Churchill. Not sure I'd want to sit down to dinner with the guy though.

0 Replies

Perhaps a tray of poisoned canapes...

0 Replies

cicerone imposter wrote:

My List:
1. Jesus (no show)
2. Santa Clause (no show)
3. Tooth fairy (no show)
4. Snow White (no show)
5. Mickey Mouse (no show)
6. My father
7. Einstein
8. Charles Darwin
9. Ghandi
10. Martin Luther King Jr

C.I., Why invite a bunch of no shows? In fact, you didn't say why you invited anybody. Please tell us.

0 Replies

Roberta wrote:

dj, Didn't recognize you--again. New month, new avatar. Great idea to ask Amelia Earhart! Never thought of that. We'd finally find out what happened to her. Is Tut the guy to ask about the pyramids? He wasn't around very long. But hey, it's your guest list. Love all the wits--Parker, Marx, and Twain.

You're not the first to invite Hitler. You're right that it would be interesting to have him meet Churchill. Not sure I'd want to sit down to dinner with the guy though.

tut was the first egyptian king i could think of, figured he'd have some idea how they built the suckers

i think i'd have parker and marx at any party i gave, the running commentary would be priceless

0 Replies

1. Julius Caesar - did he truly enjoyed watching gladiators?
2. Nostradamus - I'd like to find out how he came up with his predictions
3. Dante Alighieri -his poetry from his own mouth would be devine
4. Edward III - how did he feel about igniting the 100 years' war'
5. Rasputin - was he really the holy devil - what about the Romanovs?
6. Leonardo da Vinci - I would just like to watch him paint
7. Martin Luther - did he realize what his reformation would entail?
8. Napoleon - lets talk about exile in Elba or Helena
9. Marie Curie - how did she manage in a mens world?
10. Hillary Clinton - her husband's infidelities exposed?

0 Replies

Roberta wrote:

cicerone imposter wrote:
My List:
1. Jesus (no show)
2. Santa Clause (no show)
3. Tooth fairy (no show)
4. Snow White (no show)
5. Mickey Mouse (no show)
6. My father
7. Einstein
8. Charles Darwin
9. Ghandi
10. Martin Luther King Jr

C.I., Why invite a bunch of no shows? In fact, you didn't say why you invited anybody. Please tell us.

I want quality, not quantity.
My father, because I never knew him. He died when I was two years old.
Einstein, because he's one of the most brilliant humans that walked this planet.
Charles Darwin, because he changed the thinking from creationism to evolution.
Ghandi, because he democratized his country through non-violence, and won over the occupiers.
Martin Luther King Jr, because he's one of the key reformers of American discrimination during my lifetime.

0 Replies

osso, What good would poisoned canapes be? The guy is already dead. Still double-dead has its appeal.

dj, You're right. Parker and Marx would be great at any party, especially if they got into a little duel of wits. And you're right. I'm sure that Tut would know enough about the pyramids to answer any questions.

Interesting list, Jane. I'd be interested in hearing from Nostradamus and Rasputin too.

C.I., It's your party. If it's five you want, then it's five you'll have. I'd love to eavesdrop on a conversation between Ghandi and King. Einstein was on my list too.

0 Replies

Roberta, I would like to amend my list please.

scratch my parents and replace them with

1. Elvis. I want to ask him why he allowed himself to be transformed from a charismatic rockstar to a fat addled joke and why those absolutely shitty movies and did he blame himslef u,timately for being weak or did he blame Col Tom or was he past blame period, and to let him know that after seeing him at the age of 7, my complicated life path was completely set in stone from it.

2. Ken Kesey....because every party needs a Merry Prankster and I can't handle the job alone so I'd like to have the original and best one there. I'd also like to ask him if he secretly wanted to do Big Nurse because I think he had sexual feelings for her.

After thinking about it I decided my parents just weren't enough of an influence on me and there were others that were.

0 Replies

Dinner Party Guest List--Any Ten People Who Ever Lived

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know