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

Sorry I didn't get back very quickly. I've been snowed under building the studio and having parties with friends who have to leave for Taif at very short notice.

I feel I do need to apologise to Alison, not because I treated her badly as I'm not that kind of person. I don't do acrimony or hate as it hurts you more than them and why would I want to hurt someone I love(d) anyway.
I want to apologise because I was the reason we didn't reach our full potential, I was the reason why it ended : because I wasn't emotionally mature enough.
I've learnt and grown over the last 11 years (yes, it has been in the back of my mind for that long !) and I've not repeated the same mistake. Made loads of new ones mind you but not that one.

I did try to find Dave several years ago and I got as far as a telephone number but I could never get an answer and there was no answering machine.
I'm going to try again when I leave here and get back to the real world.

Sorry for dumping this but I actually feel quite a bit better now.

Helio can you explain (of course, you don't have to) - "Back to the real world"?

LOL !! Sure Bill.
I'm working out in Saudi Arabia at the moment. In a town called Khamis Mushayt in the SW corner of the country near a city called Abha.
The whole place is a dump and it's full of idiots.
No, don't bother to attempt to question my viewpoint here as I have only one thing to say : live with them for almost 6 years and see how you feel.

I'm an electronic engineer and a drummer and I can't wait until I'm done so I can get out.
Done = having enough cash to sustain me.

Helio, I appreciate your elaboration. Interesting. I had a relationship that ended because I wasn't emotionally mature enough to deal with it. I think I did the right thing at the time, but now that I have the perspective of time and maturity, I wouldn't mind explaining to him now what I was feeling then.

Also, I second BillW. Get back to the real world?

As for theme parties, I'm waiting to see some guest lists. Music? I think we already have at least one of those. Novelists? Politicians? Philosophers? Painters? Scientists? Hmmm. I wouldn't mind getting a chance to talk to Isaac Newton.

What people do for money Thanks for the answer, question your view point? Why? You're the one there and your response sounds very likely to me. Glad your being paid well and hope you're home soon!

Roberta, explaining is the thing and an apology for wasting her time.
Ahhhhh, melencholia this way comes.

Bill, I'll be leaving fairly soon. Another 6 months and I'm done. I should be home in time for Christmas. WOO HOO !

Helio, I thank you for the explanation too. I don't doubt what you say for a second. If you're in remote, desert areas, watch out for those adders that bury themselves in the sand.

Hey, the snake thing is pretty heavy out here from time to time. We get Golden Cobras and all kinds of things.
One morning when I was coming in from a particularly heavy night there was one in the lobby of my block. It was almost completely torpid and it didn't seem to mind when I drunkenly shoved it out the door with my boots.
The worst ones though are the scorpions. They will hang in doorways and wait for you. Little black buggers they are and they run like hell !
Got a cool, blue lizard that comes and basks in the sun on my windowsill sometimes too. I try to catch locusts for him (?) to eat but they're too quick.

I've chosen only those who are alive now and they're almost all musicians. A strange mix, I know. I'd just want a nice dinner party with some after-dinner music. I've seen interviews and thought they were pleasant and funny or else somebody has told me they were. We really need a drummer... there was an a2k guy who said he was a drummer. We'll take him, too. (Guess that'd make it eleven!) I'd want to invite Letty and Squeedleboink, too.

Yo Yo Ma -- well, I like him. His Smile.
Lyle Lovett -- he needs to get out more. From Texas.
Leo Kottke -- wonder if his voice really sounds like goose farts. Nostalgia.
Joni Mitchell -- hope she'll sing some songs. Blue.
Dolly Parton -- she's funny & the guys will love her. Tits.
Bonnie Raitt -- we need another guitarist. I think she'd be friendly. Radio.
Hugh Masakela -- I dunno, I like him. He'd have a good time. Foreign.
Graham Norton -- he's really funny, will keep the party hopping. Brit.
Carlos Nakai -- I'm sure he'd like to play a little. Soloist.
Wynton Marsalis -- I'd like to hear him play Taps. Smart.
Maria Muldaur -- She's about my age & is into blues now. Cool.

How about cartoon characters? Wouldn't you just love to see Yogi Bear and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd and Wiley E. Coyote and the Road Runner all at the same table?

Oh, yes, MA, and Rocky and Bullwinkle and Spongebob and Cartman and I think there are some cartoon characters right here @ A2K, don't you? :wink:

Merry Andrew: I'm cracking a rib here.

But, seriously, Roberta, I've been thinking about this for some time. And I've decided to rent an auditorium for my guests. Guest list:

Enrico Caruso - Any aria from Verdi will do.

Isaac Stern -
Frederic Chopin- I would request they perform Chopin's Etude, Op. 10 and a few nocturnes together. (Time is limited, so I'm being very selective) Oh, and I want to ask Chopin a few questions about George Sand. I'd also request that Stern and Chopin play Clair De Lune (sentimental reasons).

Rudolph Nureyev - I will request Le Corsair (not the complete ballet, just the part where it looks like he's flying through the air <sigh>)

Giuseppe Verdi and
Giacomo Puccini - I want to hear them compare notes, elaborate on their favorite operas and give me their opinions on modern opera.

Laurence Olivier (as he was in Wuthering Heights) - I want him to say to me, and only to me, the words Heathcliffe spoke to Kathy. And, if we have time I'd like to hear some Hamlet, too.

Paul Robeson - )
Joan Baez - )
I want them to sing Joe Hill together. Actually, I have a very long list of songs for them to perform. Too many to mention here. And many personal questions to ask them.

And finally, I'd like my mother to be present.

Raggedyaggie, I'd love to come to your party! I would love to hear Paul Robeson sing solo--anything,

MA, didn't we see some of those characters at the table in Boston?

Hell, I was one 'em, Diane.

Hee, hee, which one? I had to leave too soon to see the morphing you must have gone through.

Yosemite Sam. That was I.

Helio, Golden cobras and scorpions! And a mere six months to go.

Piffka, Your music-oriented dinner party sounds like a great idea. I hope your guests don't mind that you expect them to perform on their day off.

Andy, Cartoon characters. At a party maybe. But a sit-down dinner party? I think you're headed for disaster. Will Elmer Fudd behave or try to shoot Bugs Bunny? Will Wile E. Coyote be able to resist the temptation to drop a thousand pound weight on the Road Runner? And I have a feeling that the conversation will be less than scintillating. Beep, Beep. But hey, it's your party.

Raggedy, This isn't a dinner party. It's a concert. And what a concert! And you won't have to worry about who's sitting next to whom and what to serve. Grab yourself a front-row seat and enjoy.

I know how any previous list happened, people just named, to name. Or, in many cases, named fast, because they had to. Each list is new, then. And the only one that matters is your own.




What?, she says, two years later. I guess I meant some people were fast riffing, as if they could have several dinner parties, and well they should.

I see I haven't given right thought for a guest list. Back in the morning, or the morning after.

Had a bit of an uncomfortable thought;

with such impressive guests coming to dinner, how would I justify my being there?