Pa Rock's Fantasy Dinner Party

by Pa Rock

Party Planner

There was a bit of buzz in the blogosphere this week about a fantasy dinner party that Barbra Streisand and Piers Morgan spontaneously planned on his show one evening.  The object was to come up with a list of individuals, living or dead, whom Ms. Streisand would like to have at a dinner party.  Her guests included founding fathers and American Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, physicist Albert Einstein, artists Gustav Klimt and Edward Hopper, and entertainer Fannie Brice.  While I thought Jefferson and Ms. Brice (whom Streisand played in the movie Funny Girl) would have been interesting dinner companions, none of Barbra’s list would have landed in my own stack of embossed invitations.

(Actually Babs, your party sounds like a big old yawn!)

Who would I have invited?  Please read on.

I am inviting eight guests to my soiree who will be carefully assigned into four couples, as well as a ninth young lady who will be my date for the evening.

Seated at Table One will be Michelle Obama and Abraham Lincoln.  I’m sure that these powerful social activists will have much to discuss in the far-reaching field of equality.  Poor Abe will probably be shocked at how far we have come in areas such as gender equality and sexual orientation, and as for racial equality, well, the presence of Mrs. Obama in a non-servant role will speak to that quite nicely.

Table Two will be the fun table.  Benjamin Franklin will be pitting his charming colonial wit against the bawdy repartee of Mae West – and Poore Richard’s Almanack will never be the same!  Something tells me that Dr. Franklin will enjoy the evening immensely and may well come up and see Miss West again  - and again!

The older twosome at Table Three will be Dame Agatha Christie and Ho Chi Minh.    It is unlikely that these contemporaries ever met in life, but I suspect that they would have been pleasantly cordial to one another.  Both were crafty strategists who, like the best of chess masters, could plot many moves ahead.  At some point during the evening I would slip over to their table and engage Uncle Ho in conversation about his passion for feeding the fish in the lake by his little house in Hanoi.  I suspect he might enjoy hearing about my love of feeding the birds.

I also want to make a personal swing by Table Four where Rachel Maddow will be dining with Jesus Christ – because I want some personal assurance that the vile and vindictive Christ that has been foisted on the world by fundamentalist Christians has no basis in historical fact.  Then I will go back to my own table and and let Rachel get to the bottom of that resurrection story.

In fact, I will be in a hurry to get back to my table – and you would be too if you were sitting across from Cher!  And if she can’t make it or backs out at the last minute, Tina Turner will be waiting in the wings!

That, Babs, is how you plan a fantasy dinner party! 

Gustav Klimt, indeed!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a menu to prepare.