Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.
Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.
Skip that last part about going to bed, the grown-ups are having a dinner party! Tonight!
And you are the maker of the guest list!
You may have up to 12 people at the dinner, including any loved ones. You may invite anyone you want, famous or not. Artists or authors or writers or directors or actors or musicians or cinematographers or songwriters – anyone at all – living or not, as long as they are related to popular culture in some way.
How many loved ones will you have at the dinner? Will you invite any of the BJ peeps? Who are your other guests? Which two do you want to sit between and who would sit across from you? Will you be animated or tongue-tied? Will you do more talking or more listening? Will the dinner party be loud and raucous, or stately and intellectual? Will there be dancing? Singing? Smart conversation?
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! And happy Sunday-evening-dinner-party to all who don’t!
eclare
Wow twelve people is a lot, I have no idea. Strangely enough, years ago I asked my eighty year old dad who would be his ideal dinner guest. His response: Lady Gaga. I was surprised he knew who she was.
I think my response for my dinner guest was Barack. Or maybe Bill Clinton. But one of those two.
moonbat
Part of me wants a 2016 reunion. We lost so many brilliant, brilliant people that year: Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Muhammad Ali, Carrie Fischer, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen, Gary Shandling, and Jim Harrison and their plus ones. Then throw in my husband and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and myself.
The gathering would have it all. Conversation, music, storytelling, and once we got drunk enough, dancing. I’d get to ask all the questions I can no longer get answers to. It would be awesome.
NotMax
You wouldn’t believe how may revisions made on this end to knock it down to a final 12.
Richard Feynman
Benjamin Franklin
Mark Twain
Samuel Pepys
Gabriel García Márquez
George Westinghouse
.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Dorothy Parker
Josephine Baker
Abigail Adams
Sarah Bernhardt
Boadicea
.
Alternates to slide in for any of the above who fail to RSVP:
Anaximnader
Eric Hoffer
Adlai Stevenson
Steve Allen
Cyrus the Great
Tycho Brahe
.
Lucretia Mott
George Sand
Hedy Lamarr
Clara Schumann
Mary Anning
Hypatia
.
Scout211
Oh, good suggestion.
I’d add Barack and Michelle. I’m not sure what I would ask them because I’d probably not be able to speak because I’d be in awe. But I would hope I’d hear about their years in the White House and ask them what inspired them to go into public service.
Dolly Parton. Another guest that I would ask her about what inspired her. What inspired her to write and perform music and how she became to so brave and strong in an industry that was mostly controlled by men. I would then ask her to play me songs the rest of the night.
Nancy Pelosi. I would ask her all about what goes on behind closed doors in congress and hopefully, ask her about any gossip she could share.
12 is a lot. I’ll have to think some more.
ETA: Following WaterGirl’s instructions to describe how the meal would go and what we would talk about is a challenge, too.
piratedan
Johnny Cash, Joan Jett, Nick Lowe
Lois McMaster Bujold, Alexandra Petri, John Scalzi
Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansen, Joel Hodgson
Nicolas Tesla, James Burke (Connections/The Day The World Changed), Mary Jackson (Hidden Figures)
‘
NotMax
Typo above (dang it).
Anaximnader = Anaximander
Wyatt Salamanca
Fun exercise
Steve Allen
Elaine Stritch
Groucho Marx
James Baldwin
Toni Morrison
Oscar Wilde
Mark Twain
Oscar Levant
Dorothy Parker
Tallulah Bankhead
Virginia Woolf
Emily Dickinson
eclare
@Scout211:
Oh yes, Nancy!
And to get off politics, Cary Grant, I want to hear stories about The Philadelphia Story. So I’d invite Jimmy Stewart too. I would also ask him how it was to work with Hitchcock on Rope, a truly creepy movie, and Rear Window, a masterpiece. What was Grace Kelly like?
And I had a big crush on Nic Cage from the Valley Girl days. Moonstruck is my favorite movie of all time, so him too. I want to hear how he perfected the role of Ronny Cammareri, especially the “I ain’t no freakin’ monument to justice” speech.
MagdaInBlack
Mine is kind of dull, compared. I would have my friends, both living and dead, who will sit around my kitchen table and laugh, cry, tell stories, poke fun, play music, sing and just generally be silly. There’d be a few more than 12 tho.
Eta: Nobody famous, no pop culture figures, I broke the rules
Scout211
It would be really nice to hear why all those people are on your lists and what you would talk about around your dinner table. WaterGirl was asking for that.
Instructions are hard. 😉
WaterGirl
@Scout211: I think your description makes it so much more interesting than just naming people, though seeing who would invite whom is interesting, too!
Tehanu
Robert F. Kennedy (not his antivaxx idiot son)
William Tecumseh Sherman
Emma Goldman
J.R.R. Tolkien
Buckminster Fuller
Frank Zappa
Judy Garland
Daniel Abraham
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Joan Baez
Jean Gabin
Leonard Bernstein (OK, OK, I just saw the movie, but I did meet him once)
Geminid
I’d invite some of my favorite Democratic Congresswomen: Elise Slotkin, Sharice Davids, Abigail Spanberger, Chrissy Houlahan, Mikie Sherrill and Nikki Budzinski. Also Elaine Luria and Xochitl Torres Small, so they could hang out with their friends and former colleagues.
I’d invite WaterGirl and seat her next to Rep. Budzinski. I’d also try to get Marcy Kaptur to bring Kay, and I’d invite my friends Debbie and Joanie.
That’s a lot more people than I’m used to being around, so I’d probably take a long walk and let them yak away. They’d figure out a plan to win a trifecta in DC for the next 5 cycles, and then I’d come back for dessert.
BC in Illinois
A “Night Before Christmas” story.
When I was in High School (mid 1960s) there was a church youth group Christmas party at the house of one of the older kids. There were maybe 20 kids or so, I don’t know. Anyway, as the night went on, the hostess’s older (college aged) brother took each of us out of the main room, one by one, and had us read two verses of “The Night Before Christmas,” which he recorded on his reel-to-reel tape player.
Then, towards the end of the evening, he came with the completed tape, handed out papers, and had us number the pages from one to twenty-something. He then played the tape and we were supposed to write down the name of the reader. Harder than you might think — even for people who knew each other. [“Is that Carolyn? Susan? Evelyn? Andrea?”]
Until they came to me. On hearing my verses, the entire room looked at me and wrote down my name without hesitation.
Or at least, that’s how I remembered it.
piratedan
@piratedan: my list was comprised of people that have inspired and entertained me, thru words, song, performances and work. People who overcame challenges and modest beginnings and helped change the world.
eclare
@BC in Illinois:
That is an interesting game. I wonder how the hostess’ brother came up with it?
chrisanthemama
I dunno, but I want to come to *this* party: Bob Dylan – Must Be Santa (Official Video) (youtube.com)
zhena gogolia
@Tehanu: I’m about halfway through the movie, but it seems as if I’ve been watching it forever. Does anything ever happen?
Villago Delenda Est
Immediate family, three of which are late. That’s four.
Samuel Clemens and Molly Ivins. Because I want their takes on TFG.
John Lennon, so that he might play with autotune.
Maternal Grandfather, who like myself, served in Korea. As a diplomat. I’d love to hear his takes on today’s Korea. Bring maternal Grandmother along too.
Warren Zevon. To discuss “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” Because I was stationed in Honduras for six months.
Sir Elton. Just for fun!
And finally, Jesus of Nazareth. Just to show Him how fucked up his followers tend to be.
Jackie
In no particular order:
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Michelle and Barack Obama
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Nancy Pelosi
Dolly Pardon
FDR
Rep John Lewis
My dad
I’d sit back and mostly listen to my dad converse with them all! Especially FDR – my dad would like to thank him for founding the CCC’s – which changed his life and started him on his way to becoming a stanch Democrat – his last presidential election he voted for Hillary, and detested TIFG with all his being.
Alison Rose
Family: Mom and Dad – because my mom is my best friend and I miss my dad deeply, and we always had good conversations together
Authors: Shakespeare, Toni Morrison, Neil Gaiman – because all three of them were/are absolute geniuses but in very different ways, and I think each one would enrapture me by just talking about the damn weather
Musicians: Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Björk, Lil Nas X – the first two for very obvious reasons to anyone who has known me for more than 12 seconds, the latter two because I adore their work and think both of them would provide entertaining conversation
Others: Carl Sagan, Diane Nash, Cleopatra – Sagan was probably one of the most brilliant people to ever exist, and also seemed like a genuinely kind person; Nash was the Hardcore Bad-ass Queen of the Civil Rights Movement and is a personal hero of mine; Cleopatra was motherfuckin Cleopatra, and also maybe we could play dress-up if she happened to arrive from the beyond with a trunk of her clothes
Everyone would just have to be okay with a vegetarian meal and no booze. MY HOUSE MY RULES.
Barbara
John Keats and anybody he would care to invite. My understanding is that he was loved by everyone who knew him and his love of language and literature was so profound that I would be happy to soak up whatever he shared.
Timill
Mostly friends, just because…
Tim & Marcia I
Brian Ameringen & Caroline Mullan
Ben Yalow & Geri Sullivan
Scott & Jane Dennis
Terry & Lyn Pratchett
GRRM & Parris
Some of you will know some of them. To do IRL, I’d probably sub in Janice Gelb and Stephen Boucher for Terry and Lyn, and I’d probably find a decent Brazilian restaurant, like the one we frequent in Chattanooga.
SiubhanDuinne
Twelve is a much too restrictive number! I think I’ll have to hold a fortnightly “Siubhan’s Salon” (h/t Liminal Owl @ Zoom) to accommodate all the people I’d like to host and converse with.
One possible configuration:
José Andrés, chef and humanitarian
Jon Batiste, musician
David Carr, broadcaster (and my cousin)
Stephen Colbert, comedian and TV host
Amanda Gorman, poet
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress
Ernie Kovacs, comedian and television innovator
Dolly Parton, musician and humanitarian
Dorothy L. Sayers, writer
Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist
Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and activist
Victoria Claflin Woodhull, suffragist
I have another couple of dozen names tucked away for future gatherings.
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oooh, speaking of Stephen Colbert, I would add him and John Oliver to my dinner table. Nic Cage and those two, that would be wild.
Oh! Keith Morrison from Dateline. He has such a soothing voice, great for narration, and I bet he has some interesting stories. Maybe for his stories we’ll wait til everyone has finished eating.
stinger
@Jackie: That’s a really great list!
For myself, I can think of more than a dozen likely brilliant talkers — but would they play well together? So, in any configuration, I’d start with Mel Brooks — we need to laugh. Abraham Lincoln, too. If they weren’t available, James Thurber or Danny Kaye or Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough (their hearts were young and gay, and their retelling of their European adventure always makes me laugh out loud).
Are great writers also great conversationalists? If so, Anthony Trollope, Daphne du Maurier, Barbara Tuchman. Madeline Miller, whose 2018 book Circe is wonderful.
I have a lot of science questions I’d like answered, so Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson. Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell could talk, and then dance afterward. Maybe I should invite Julia Child and Jacques Pepin to make sure the meal was good!
I’d want to invite the four women who, over the course of my life, have each in turn been my “best friend”. Also my grandpa.
If I’ve exceeded my 12 -person limit, then maybe just Steve Allen or Thomas Jefferson.
Neal
@NotMax:
Outstanding list!
I would like to somehow, if a baker’s dozen were allowed, to slot in Christopher Hitchens.
Another Scott
My tentative list:
Frederick Douglass
Leonardo da Vinci
Shirley Chisholm
Marie Curie
Frank Zappa
Mark Twain
Steve Allen
Brad DeLong
Nancy Pelosi
William Tecumseh Sherman
Mom
Great Aunt Hazel
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
I’ve met some famous writers, and they aren’t much fun.
I think politicians would be more engaging.
But I’m too tired to make a list!
kalakal
I find it impossible to narrow it down to 12 but 2 I would definitely include would be Clement Freud and Peter Ustinov.
They both had full and interesting lives but they were the 2 best examples I can think of in my life of Wits. They were both supreme verbal storytellers and would make any dinner party a joy
RSA
For the first time ever, I noticed the phrasing below,
…and discovered that it’s the original wording. I would have sworn it was “settled down,” but that doesn’t scan properly for a poem in anapestic tetrameter (as I’ve read online)
ETA: Sorry for being off-topic. I know, one of my 12 would be a poet. Philip Larkin.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott:
I think they would be greatly pleased to be included.
WaterGirl
I love seeing what people came up with. At lot of people are tied up with Christmas Eve plans, so maybe we can run this one again next week?
Rand Careaga
I’m going to do a bit of self-promotion here, and post a bit of doggerel I composed at about this time eight years ago when then-Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore—I’m gratified to report that she has since failed downward, and is now Nye County Justice of the Peace for Pahrump Department B—sent out a Christmas card portraying her extended family with most of them, down to what looked like a six year-old, cradling between them enough firepower to take out an entire middle school. After a few cups of Folgers hi-test I was moved to put together these lines:
It pleases me to reflect that in the years since I wrote this Wayne LaPierre’s fortunes have eroded considerably, and the NRA’s somewhat.
eclare
@Rand Careaga:
That is impressive!
Paul in Jacksonville
My late parents.
Frank Zappa.
Keanu Reeves.
Sue Moore, the first girl who ever kissed me.
Jean-Michael Basquiat
Mohammed Salah
Hunter S. Thompson
Trish Ciarlone, the girl who got away.
John Cole
Marjorie, my ex wife
Kevin, my 14 year old son.
Some famous, some not. We would start the evening playing the “We’re Not Really Strangers” card game, and let the evening flow from there. My kid is there so that, by the end of the evening, he would have an appreciation for what is out there for him to discover.
eclare
@Paul in Jacksonville:
I was thinking of someone from the sports world, and my first thought was Mo.
Brachiator
Just one of a number of possible guest lists
Sally Hemings
Harriet Hemings, Sally’s daughter
Harriet Tubman
Sojourner Truth
Ida B Wells
Frederick Douglass
Richard Theodore Greener
Belle da Costa Greene
Malcolm X
George Herriman
WEB Du Bois
Patrice Lumumba
hitchhiker
Both of my grandfathers, neither of whom lived to see me born.
Gil Scott Heron and whoever he wanted to bring
My mother-in-law, who died before I met Mr Hitchhiker
All four Beatles
Alice Munro
Sasha and Malia Obama
That’s 12 already!
I would put my husband’s mom with Alice Munro, and Gil Scott Heron next to John Lennon. I’d sit between my grandfathers and across from my mother-in-law and Alice. It would be a party with insanely good food and just enough wine, and we would sing a lot. I would ask McCartney how it feels to share a birthday with me, and I would encourage the Obama daughters to tell as many stories as they wanted.
eclare
@hitchhiker:
You paint a beautiful picture.
hitchhiker
@eclare:
I’ve made myself a little sad; I really would like to spend an evening with my grandfathers. We have three toddler grandkids now, and both of us are wild about them. I only met one of my grandmothers one time, and the other wasn’t very interested in our family, so it’s something of a revelation to see firsthand what I missed.
Layer8Problem
George Takei
Henry Fielding
Aphra Behn
George Carlin
Mary Wollstonecraft
Will Rogers
James Joyce
Nikolai Gogol
Dave Grohl
Akira Kurosawa
Frederick Douglass
Artemisia Gentileschi
Three women are not enough, but I don’t want to toss anybody. Take three random men out and put in Jane Austen, Helen Mirren, and Abigail Adams.
Not terribly popular culture related, but I would love to hear from Sarah Churchill (the Duchess of Marlborough, not the actress)
And it’s gonna be conversation, weird silences, one-up-personship. And lasagna and lemon meringue pie.
eclare
@hitchhiker:
That is sad. I was lucky enough to have grandparents into my late 20’s. My maternal set were kind of messed up, but my dad’s parents were wonderful, and I have great memories.
I’m glad you are enjoying your grandkids, it’s so important.
Scamp Dog
I was on the Zoom and wasn’t able to compose a full list of 12, but I have come up with three musicians: Carl Stalling, the composer for Warner Brothers, David Bowie, and Brian Eno (who is still with us, am I allowed to invite him?). I’ll come up with another 9 names when we do this again. :)
NotMax
@WaterGirl
FWIW, a hearty yes to that. Also favor giving people a short teaser in, say, the Friday and the Saturday morning threads to get their listing juices aflow.
Tehanu
@zhena gogolia:
Not if you mean exciting action or suspenseful drama. It’s really a meditation on Lenny & Felicia’s relationship. We really enjoyed it, which, come to think of it, is kind of unusual for us; we normally like lots of plot.
Central Planning
Twas the night before Christmas
With a new Covid test
To check on the sounds
Coming from my wife’s chest…
Yeah, my wife just tested positive. I’m negative and our kids are negative too. She’ll isolate for 5 days. That also means no guests can visit this week (a total bonus from us!)
I’ll have to make the best of our uncomfortable couch :/
Another Scott
@Rand Careaga: A+ + +
Well done. :-)
Cheers,
Scott.
eclare
@Central Planning:
I hope your wife feels better. Enjoy the isolation from guests!
Cowgirl in the Sandi
Julia Child and Jacques Cousteau – a small but interesting party!
WaterGirl
Well, this certainly saved my Christmas!
HeleninEire
Test
SteveinPHX
@NotMax: I would recommend to your alternates list:
Samuel Johnson
Thomas Pynchon
and thank you so much for Dorothy Parker!
billcinsd
Dorothy Parker
Wendy Liebman
Janeane Garofalo
Terry Pratchett
Mike Connell (of the Connells band)
James Baldwin
Frederick Douglass
Abraham Lincoln
Nikola Tesla
AOC
Karen Armstrong (writer)
Maria McKee (of Lone Justice)
hitchhiker
@billcinsd:
Karen Armstrong! I’ve listened to her books enough times that I think I could actually carry on a conversation. Good call.
Denali5
David Bowie
Joan Baez
Margaret Atwood
Alexandra Petri
Tom Lehrer
Gretchen Whitmer
Vasily Kaminsky
Ilya Kaminsky
Bob Dylan
Leonard Bernstein
EmilyDickinson
Greta Thunberg
Mr. Bemused Senior
Yma Dream
narya
Wow–so many good choices! Of folks not mentioned so far, I’d add Springsteen, I think. I’d want my sister there for sure (today she would have turned 64, but she’s been gone for 40 years). Other than that, hell, I dunno. Colbert no matter what; Oliver if we were going for “funny.” I’d probably have to have a couple of lists, but we’ve just killed a bottle of champagne and “The Fellowship of the Ring”; my friend is about to start watching his Packers (game is being recorded). That is, much as I love this game, my brain doesn’t much want to play right now. Happy New Year, all you jackals; you make my life better and help keep me from going off the deep end.