1. If you could travel back through time and live another life, when and where would you choose to live?
This is actually a very tricky question. In fact, so tricky that I put the question to the tribe at dinner for feedback. The Last Amazon immediately thought the golden age of ancient Sparta. She has this bizarre idea I would fit right in – what with women having multiple husbands and child-bearing mandates. Furthermore, she really could not see how managing a few hundred Helots would pose any special problems to my unique talents considering how well I manage modern day slaves (she is on kitchen mess duty).
Montana immediately suggested being part of the Viking horde which raided and invaded the shores of Britain. The upside is that I get to fight in a shield wall and kill lots of Saxons…he’s currently reading his way through Bernard Cornwell’s the Last Kingdom series and I suspect he has taken it too much to heart.
I also discovered how relative the concept of “ancient” was to a 12 year old mind. Isaiah Sender’s choice was to go “really far back in time” and take part in the original Apollo missions to the moon. I decided not to comment on having watched the original Apollo landing on television as a child.
The problem is there are just so many interesting periods and places…where to choose? Off the top of my head I thought I wouldn’t mind being a patrician Roman under Gaius Marius but before the break came under Sulla. I am a really big fan of running water and regular baths….then I thought, oh no, how could I miss my chance to sail around the world when Britannia ruled the waves????
Don’t ask me why but sailing made me think of the Russian Steppes and I asked myself; how could I miss one chance of being a real bronze age Amazon? Possessing nothing more than my horses, weapons and furs. Doing nothing better than spending each day raiding in the steppes and terrorizing the locals into submission. Living my entire life free and under an endless sky? Okay, maybe the smell might put me off.
Then I came up with the ultimate time and place to be alive. Being at the Sinai and hearing the voice of G-d with one’s own ears. Think about it; you have lived through the miraculous, all doubts are laid to rest and your time in bondage is over.
2. What are your three favorite movies and 3 favorite books?
The problem with having three favourite movies is I rarely manage to stay awake long enough to watch a whole movie from beginning to end in one sitting. Also I rarely choose to watch a movie more than once so it is hard to play flavourites. Though I did watch Conan the Barbarian five times in the movie theatres when it was first released. I swear the impression the men in that movie made on me were initially responsible for my attraction to one of my husbands. Can’t say I harbour any burning desire to watch the movie again.
The closest I come to having a favourite movie would be Master & Commander and for the life of me I can’t understand why Hollywood never made any sequels. The second and third place for favourite movies; aren’t even movies but television series. I adore Horatio Hornblower and own the DVD collection. Once a year, Montana, and I hunker down for a HH fest. Then there is the BBC produced series of Robert Graves’ "I, Claudius". I don’t own the DVD but I do have a birthday coming up and I have high hopes.
Books - how can I pick? There are just so many great ones to choose. Besides it really depends on my mood, but there is one book which stands out clearly from the literally thousands of books I have read. It’s called Chantilly Lace. It's out of print and rightly so. It wasn’t a particular well written book or a book with any redeeming qualities but it was the book I learned to read from.
3. What song is associated with your happiest memory?
Erotic City by Prince. It’s not the greatest song or even my favourite song, but I did fall madly in love for the first time dancing with a man when that song was playing.
4. Sunrise - Sunset. Which do you prefer and why?
Twenty years ago, I would have said sunsets because I loved watching the sun go down over the ocean and the stars flicker into existence in the night sky. It reminded me of how small I was and how the large the world was. Sunset represented a time filled with endless possibilities in which to dream in. Now I would say Sunrise because it reminds me that every day is both a great blessing and a promise of a new beginning.
5. Who are the five people, living or dead you'd invite to a dinner party.
Two points of about this dinner party. I have yet to give a dinner party where only 5 attended. Even my small dinner parties don’t stay small by the time the table is set. I have a strange habit of attracting stray guests and even my strays seem to bring strays. I am not sure why that is, but there you have it.
One of my major rules of motherhood is literally everything can be turned into a life lesson. So in keeping that in that vein here’s my guest list:
Ehud Olmert, the current Israeli Prime Minister, because he’s an idiot for escalating a military offfensive which he had no intention of winning. Plus, there is a good chance he will be still Prime Minister this summer, and if the winds of war blow (as it is widely rumoured), I figure he needs all the help he can get.
Menachem Begin. I like feisty little Poles with nerve, and at heart I believe Begin was a simple man. Everyone one needs at least one relatively humble man at a table. Besides, I would get real pleasure listening and watching Olmert explain his adventures in Lebanon to Begin. After dessert, I could take bets on how long it takes Begin to thump Olmert into the floor.
Carl von Clausewitz because he’s one of my favourite Prussians and is the great-grandfather of modern war theory. He would also look pretty snazzy in his uniform sitting at my table.
US Air Force Colonel John R. Boyd because he is the Daddy of OODA loop and I think he think would be able to get inside Clausewitz’s centre of gravity and keep him intellectually engaged. I know I would be, and it is my party.
Sun Tzu, author of the ancient Chinese bible of military strategy. And if he was resurrected from the dead to sit at my table; it would finally put an end to all those exceedingly tiresome debates revolving around his existence.
Julius Caesar. He made tremendous strategic mistakes but he had a habit of landing on his feet - at least until the very end. He was rumoured to be literate, cultivated and charming. Besides it’s always fun to have a man to flirt with over dinner and I would be curious to hear what he thought about modern war theory.
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson because I am a big fan - even if he wasn’t particularly known for his conversational brilliance at the dinning table. And the uniform is to die for.
Chris Taylor. If Chris learned I had a dinner party and brought Nelson back from the dead and never invited him (and of course–the lovely Wanda) to my table, I might never be safe walking down the street again – let alone get another bottle of wine. Besides, I would rather defer to Chris and let him be the one to explain to Nelson just how low Britannia has sunk.
I am not big on arbitrarily passing around a meme (which is also why I liked this one) and I am going to paste in Ocean Guy’s directives and call it my own. If you want to participate in this meme do the following:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will send you an email asking my five questions. My choice and don’t say you weren’t warned that I can be; petty, vengeful and mean.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
8 comments:
Olmert? I think I am a better candidate, besides I do not have ulcers, not being a politician and am always grateful when being fed.
Always have room for strays, but Snoopy you don't need a formal invitation - just come whenever you get around to visiting Canada.
I even think I still have a bottle of no-label Russian vodka under the sink gathering dust.
I wonder if vodka goes bad? We could give it to Olmert and watch what happens next.
Hornblower! I devoured that whole series of novels as a boy and young man, enjoyed the TV but, as for most things the screen version was not as good as my imagined version... Still, I loved them. And I'm with you on Master and Commander too.
Interesting dinner guest list.
I'll bite, since no one else has:
Interview Me.
Michael, you get the quasi-Zionist edition:
1. You were a citizen by birth of one of the wealthiest nations on earth so what was your motivations for exchanging a relatively safe and comfy existence in the US for possibly an uncertain life in Israel?
2. What has been your greatest pleasure in your life in Israel and your biggest disappointment.
3. What are the three gifts you would like to pass on to your daughters and why.
4. What are your three favourite books and movies and why?
5. I like the dinner parties - probably because I have this urge to feed people on a regular basis. So it’s your turn to play host; who would you invite living or dead to share your table and why?
Ocean Guy, I have to admit I came via television to Hornblower. I use to have to pick-up my daughter from her cadet corp at 10pm so I was always struggling to stay awake. I turned on the TV one night and there is was. I got hooked, and then, I decided to read all the books. I was surprised at how well those stories stand up. Too bad they didn't make more Hornblower - much better than another season of Big Brother or Survivor.
Hey, thanks! You're right, I would never pass up an opportunity to meet Lord Nelson. And would probably be bitter should such a once-in-a-lifetime chance arrive and pass without a shot at attending. =)
I'll go for it, interview me.
I had to think hard about some of those. =) They're all posted now.
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