Your choice of supper guests.

[Shirley]

Shirlz: HFW might help cook, but would he help with the washing up?

Good point... maybe better slip Aggie and Kim in there too :lol

[Masco&Bongo]

Um....

Roald Dahl... once wrote to see if Jim could Fix It For Me to meet him, but sadly he died the following year

John Barrowman - you need to ask?

Terry Pratchett - great author

Tony Robinson - I just like him, ok??

Shakespeare - cos he was great...

Ok, so not a lot of "great" people there, no sages, scientists or philosophers, but still, should be a good party...

Would have to get my Nigella books out to cook something fairly swish though

[Matt]

I would have...

Me as an 20 year old - I was quite the raver back then so could bring some 'goodies' to the party for old times sake!

Me as a 40 year old to see if I can lose my Christmas belly over the next 5 years.

Me as a 50 year old to see if I'm still working in the same place or if I manage to get out of the rat race and find a nice quiet smallholding somewhere.

Me as a 70 year old to see if the grandkids will turn out OK.

And me as a 90 year old to tell us all how we should have done it!

Matt.

[PurpleDragon]

My family is from the same place Roald Dahl used to live and he was a regular sight in the village. Dad knew him and I have a signed book of his.

So - dinner party?

1 & 2 - my two best friends that I still love to death even though I have moved a 3+ hour drive away from them, because I don't get to see them as much as I would like

3 - my lifelong best friend who I haven't seen in 7 years, because she lives on the south coast and I live in north Scotland.

4 - My Dad, because he died in March without us saying some stuff that should have been said

5 - my sister, before she got sick, so that we could talk again

[The Chili Monster]

My dinner party:

1. Barbara Maclintock

2. Captain James Cook

3. William Hogarth

4. Thomas Hardy

5. Bob Marley

[Muddypause]

Oh dear. I keep making a list for this, but then change me mind. It's like choosing those eight records for the desert island - every day you change the eight.

But I have noticed that a great many other lists here feature at least one of my prospective guests, so if it's OK with you lot, I'll just invite myself along to all your bashes. Let me know when and where, OK?

There would still be a few others I'd want to talk to, though, so you can all come to my party (bring a bottle) which would include additional guests of

Tony Benn - veteran UK socialist politician
Paul McCartney - writer of the two greatest pop songs ever. And the two worst
Ani DiFranco - social politics and music in one vibrant package
Spike Milligan - whether he was in a manic or a depressed phase, we would laugh till we cried, or cry till we laughed
Joan Armatrading - whose first 3 albums (in the 70s) were all about me (how could she have known?) and with whom I had my first proper love affair (obviously she didn't know anything about that)

And then the following night I'd need help finishing off the leftovers with

Joni Mitchell - extraordinary muso, who's lyrics read like poetry
Bertrand Russell - philosopher, mathemetician, human rights and peace campaigner
George Monbiot - Environmentalist writer
Ayrton Senna - racing driver who, for all his achievements, Schumacher could never match in grace, beauty and passion. But oh how deadly that combination can be.
Pythagorus - not only did he figure out that the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the two other sides (right angle triangles only, of course), but worked out mathmatical relationships in music and other stuff, and became a bit of a cult leader in his day.

And then the following night I'd ... wha? Too many already?

[Kev]

I would have to go with:
1)Billy the Kid= Cause he was the fastest gun in the west. And would like to find out if Brushy Bill Roberts was telling the truth when he claimed to be the kid.
2)Buddy Holly= great singer,song writer. He could cap the night of with a few of his great songs.
3)Jamie Oliver= Great chef Could get some really good cooking tips. And just been watching his naked chef series and he comes across as a nice bloke to have a beer with after dinner.
4)David Duchovny: Im a bit of a x-files geek and it would be great to have Mulder at the dinner table.
5)Ray Mears= Im really into bushcraft and woodlore. So i could chat to the bloke who has inspired me so much.

Just picture the scene for a second. You would have Billy the Kid shooting up the house, Buddy Holly (RIP) singing his heart out. Jamie Oliver making wierd and wonderfull cocktails. David Duchovny well he would just be sitting there thinking what the hell. And as for Ray he would be lighting fires in the garden. Great party.

[Tay]

This is hard as I don't really want to meet anyone who is or has been famous/innovative etc. Of those that I wouldn't mind a chat with...

1. Michael Schumacher - in my opinion, a driver at least equal to Ayrton Senna. Plus a friend has met him (FIA) who said that he is a great bloke. He can't be as bad as people make out, having given away $10 million to tsunami relief.
2. Spike Milligan - his 'silly verse for kids' was inspirational. I didn't encounter it until I was an adult...
3. John Smith (Labour party leader who died a tad too early) - to find out how he would have changed things in the UK.
4. David Attenborough - he'd keep us all amused with his anecdotes of naugty penguins etc.
5. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - to try to understand how someone can compose such poignant pieces of music, and to find out whether he did actually commit suicide.

If there are any leftovers, or some guests are late;

6. Shane McGowan - to have someone at the table who drinks more than me.
7. Kurt Cobain - to lighten the mood with his tales of grumpy turtles.
8. Albert Einstein - to see if he truly believed in the theory of earth crust displacement.
9. Dominique de Villepin - to try to find out why he couldn't get backing for the CPE and to see if he is really a 'lizard'.
10. Homer Simpson - to clear up the leftovers.

[Altica]

Man, this is a toughy

I would have to go with....

1) Billy Connolly - gotta be good for a laugh

2) B F Skinner - behavioual psychologist, and one amazing dude

3) Kate Shepherd - Pushed NZ to become the first country in the world to allow women to vote

4) Marilyn Manson - have you seen "Bowling for Columbine"? He gave the best interview of all of them!! (Seriously!!)

5) This seat gets left for the unexpected guest

[Boots]

Connolly and Skinner? Mate - Can I book the last seat?

That would be hilarious.

[funkypixie]

I've been thinking about this blasted dinner party for days now

Who to invite though... and just as important, who to leave out...

I'm torn between people I know and people I don't but would like to talk to. Mmmmm, I don't know.

Here's a bit of a list - not definitive - and i reserve the right to throw someone out and replace them with someone else if they are too dull/obnoxious/overbearing/rude.

1) My Grandmother in her youth (we can travel time, right?). She left me with snippets of information about her early life but now is not here to fill in the gaps. I want to know the woman who went on a motorbike tour of Cornwall in the 30's with a boyfriend and who could mend motorbikes so well she considered doing it for a living.

2) The Dalai Lama. He always seem so calm and accepting and reasonable. His life fascinates me.

3) Rabbi Lionel Blue. He never fails to make me think and smile.

4) John Barrowman. Eye candy OK?! Also may be able to give me some hints on time travel or at least future plot lines.

5) Madame Blavatsky - Victorian paranormal advocate - just an interesting woman.

And that's the list for now.

[Paddy's mum]

Some really great suggestions there, although I apologise if my OP has given one or two people brainache.

However, some have missed an apparently minor but highly important point.

I'm bringing Jesus Christ so ....... just one more miracle Lord, if you please ... and bingo - no washing up to be done!!!

Now, that's my kind of supper party!!!!!


(Oh,oh ... just had a second thought. If the lassies don't need to adjourn to the kitchen to do the washing up and talk about the guys, then what? ...hhhmmmmm ... perhaps need to think that one through a little more!)

[Andy Hamilton]

Tough one here and again many of the same people who I would pick have gone already.

I think though (off the top of my head)

1. Shakespeare - not because I really admire his work, just to quiz him if HE actually wrote it all - after a few drinks I am sure he would be go through my edition of the complete works saying 'that one of mine.... never did know who wrote that'. Might be worth asking him to write something and autograph it, would not have to work again armed with that and imagine what we could eat at the next meal after selling that.

2. The scientist who weaves together all the theories of quantmum mechanics, string theory and Dark matter. - This is to make use of the time travel part I would go into the future to find this one.

3. Noel Fielding - Plays vince in the Mighty Boosh. Would be good for a laugh.

4. M Munroe - Not really sure what company she would be, but would be interesting to hear what she said about JFK and the mob and all those goings on in the 60's.

5. Socraties - Why not he seemed like a nice bloke in Bill and Teds excellent adventure.

Cheers for the invite as well Boots you never know might just show up on your doorstep one of these days

[Altica]

Connolly and Skinner? Mate - Can I book the last seat?

That would be hilarious.

Just imagine Conolly nad Skinner in the same room

[Milims]

Paddys Mum - don't forget JC also had a knack for changing water into wine at dinner parties!!!!