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“never gonna happen” dinner

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my friend paul posted about his “never gonna happen” dinner picks. according to his rules:

…invite 6 people (alive or dead) who i have no real chance of dinning with, who would they be?

paul’s interesting choice of 6 are: his grandma, joan of arc, tom waits, mike yaconelli, desmond tutu, and helen mirren. wow, that would be an interesting dinner conversation!

i’m gonna add a few rules, just to clarify:
– the person has to either be a) dead, or b) alive, but no way you’ll ever have a chance to have dinner with them.
– real people only. no fictional characters.
– it’s not 6 individual dinners. it’s a dinner party with 6 people (plus you). think of the mix.
– assume no language barriers. in other words, it doesn’t matter if they speak or spoke another language than you and your other guests. you have magic instant translation technology.
– jesus doesn’t count. it’s a dinner party. therefore, 2 or more are gathered. therefore, jesus is already there.

i thought it was a fun enough idea to play along. and, since i’d have one overlap, i’ll start there, then add 5 more:

mike yaconelli: sure do miss him. and any diverse dinner conversation like this would have a level of surprise and humor and depth added to it by mike’s presence.

bono: sure, this might be a bit cliche. but the guy just absolutely fascinates me.

ghandi or mother teresa, whichever RSVP’d first: dude (or dudette), bring the spiritual wisdom!

saint francis: likely a bit of a trippy dinner guest, chatting it up with the dog and all. but i’d still love to plumb his mind and heart a bit.

speaking of saints, let’s invite saint patrick: dude’s been something of a hero of mine. plus, he’ll make sure there aren’t any snakes at the dinner.

ooh, i only get one more. let’s go with angelina jolie! no, i’m kidding. she’s on a different list. for this last seat at the dinner table, i will invite… (dang, this is hard!)… ok, hold on. i have to think about the mix here. and i’ve got a bunch of really serious people so far. so, for a truly killer-memorable evening, i should probably mix it up a bit — bring in a real character, like a winston churchill, or a comedian, like robin williams, or even a fiesty headcase like bill mahar. OH! i’ve got it: john stewart. smart enough to hang with the others, but snarky enough to add a bit of flava.

i realize, now that i’ve completed my place cards, that i didn’t even think of inviting a bible character, like peter (that would be cool!) or ruth (rar) or any one of a hundred others who would be fascinating to sit down with. but we’ll leave it at that.

i tag anyone who wants to play along. let me know if you post — i’d love to read your list.

[update]
bloggers who have posted their own “never gonna happen” dinner invite list (these are fun to read!):
heidi renee at redemption junkie
john o’hara at oharaville
dave kurt
gordon (myspace blog)
beth
jenn roogles
noel heikkinen
jeff moulton
steph
amanda mae (myspace blog)
wakebird (eric wakeling)
bob carlton
amy at alathea
chad farrand

19 thoughts on ““never gonna happen” dinner”

  3. gordon and beth — thanks for playing along so quickly! i love it. gordon, i couldn’t go with your hitler choice (even in churchill was there to take him down). my hunch is he’d be a horrible dinner guest — the guy was an absolutely megalomaniac. he wouldn’t dialogue, that’s for sure.

  4. Marko, Here’s my list:

    Noah, I have a lot of antediluvian issues to clear up.
    Saul of Tarsus, he would certainly ratchet up the intensity level.
    Archimedes, although I suspect he would head for a corner and just invent stuff, I think he and Noah would make for a great discussion.
    Solomon, wisdom is cool, I just hope he doesn’t drag the party down with excessive introspection.
    Dennis Miller, it would be fun to see if he could keep up in the conversation or just be totally blown away by the other guests. He would help keep some humor in the group.
    Count Nicholas Zinzendorf is my final choice. I am torn here among a few others, but the Count can mix with anyone, and his intensity would fit the group.

  5. bob — interesting, if not a bit testosterone-heavy. and, nice word choice — i had to look up antediluvian. would love to listen to dennis miller mix it up with solomon, saul and noah. don’t have a clue who your last dude is.

  6. My Uncle Bill – he could talk to anyone and had enough bizarre facts to keep things lively.
    Warren Buffett – I’m fascinated by how he lives his life, how he makes decisions, how he runs his companies and how he spends and gives away his money. I’ve got somewhat of a man crush on him.
    King David – He’s a hero of mine. He’s passionate, a great leader, makes big mistakes and deals with them.
    Zach Braff – I dig the show Scrubs, and my hope would be that he’d be exactly like his character JD.
    Mother Teresa – She’s the epitome in my opinion, of what it looks like to lose your life to find it. It’d be interesting to hear Warren Buffett talk to her about how he’s giving his $50Billion to help the poor.
    Tiger Woods – His work ethic is amazing. He seems very humble and the best at what he does. It’d be interesting to pick his brain and see what makes him tick.

  7. jay bakker – feel a kindred spirit there

    Thom Yorke – radiohead fame. the boy can dance.

    tony campolo – that dude makes me laugh. great dinner conversation too.

    rob thomas – matchbox 20 fame – his lyrics move me. maybe too melancholy though.

    i would like to say Derek Webb but i did have dinner with him already. how is that for name dropping. lol.

    Shaine Claiborne – it would round off my band of misfits well and i think we could all find something to talk about without throwing down.

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  14. 1.) Mike Yaconelli, and i’m not just saying it because everyone else did.
    2.) Esther, cause i have some questions for her.
    3.) Greg Mortenson–someone who is doing something great even though it’s not easy.
    4.) Eugene Peterson — to counteract Mike Y’s antics
    5.) Anne Lamott — how cool would it be to talk to her?
    6.) Paris Hilton — i think all these others would wrap their arms around her

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  17. okay after much thought….here is my list.
    1. Amy Carmichael–missionary to India, and overall amazing human
    2. Oprah Winfrey–cause she is so interesting
    3. Anne Lamott–just cause she is
    4. Will Ferrell–he would make it all worth while
    5. Shane Claiborne–he and oprah would have good discussion!
    6. and finally……..Francesca Lia Block–author of many amazing books including the Weetzie Bat Series

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