I’ve got a little list… No, not that kind–really! No, this is a list of people now living that I’d like to meet and visit with, some to just have an enjoyable conversation and some to figuratively box their ears.
So, in no particular order of importance, today’s Top Ten People I’d Like to Meet and Have a Sit-Down With:
Jerry Pournelle: a very, very interesting guy. Smart, too. Well-informed and a decent conversationalist, from what I’ve seen of him on old Tom Snyder clips, etc.
Freeman Dyson: Gives “smart” a new level of meaning, beggars the word “genius”. A sit down with him would just be me asking questions and listening to whatever he might want to impart.
Here’s one I could actually manage: my Uncle Milton. Smart guy, very smart. Not a “Dyson”, but easily a “Pournelle-class” smart guy. Engaging conversationalist and all around Good Guy. OK, so I’ve already “met” him. He’s worth more than one meeting.
Barry Hussein Obama-Soetoro: a sitdown with this guy would entail me asking, “WTF? Who the HELL do you think you are, dumbass?” in various ways until I’d reduced him to vacuously (and disingenuously) whining about my racism or whatever. I’d spend most of the time figuratively beating him about the head and shoulders with the words and deeds of the Founders. What a maroon.
Sarah Palin: I’d really like to set her straight on a few things while encouraging her in other areas. In particular, I’d encourage her to become much more familiar with the Founders, because her conservatism seems to be mostly a social construct that’s mushy on fundamentals. Needs seasoning.
Nancy Pelosi: She’s not a particularly interesting person, but she definitely Needs A Spanking. Badly. Verbally or physically (no, wait, she might enjoy the latter, as she appears to be kinda kinky).
Paul Krugman: Well, not really. Now that Milton Friedman’s no longer around (d. 2006) to (verbally) take him to task for his vacuous economist pronouncements, it’d be hard to get him in a round-robin conversation with Friedman and enjoy watching him be demolished. Fatuous ass. Maybe just taking him out behind the woodshed would do…
Placido Domingo: It’s not just that I love his instrument and the way he uses it (much more than any other contemporary tenor) but that I truly enjoy watching him perform. I get the feeling I’d enjoy just visiting with him and, if he’d allow me, singing a simple duet just for fun.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Simply, IMO, one of the two most magnificent voices of the 20th Century–number 1 in my book on some days, barely edged to number 2 on others. A visit with him would include–in my dreams–at least a brief session of vocal coaching.
Fred Thompson: I’d like to box his ears for raising my hopes in 2008 and then dashing them so precipitously.
There, that’s my Top Ten People I’d Like to Meet and Have a Sit-Down With (again, in no particular order). There are others I might include on different days for different reasons (including one that’s “above” this mundane list), but those will do for now.
No, I’m not linking to all of these folks. You can google (almost) any of them you’re unfamiliar wit yourself easily enough. 🙂