Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Jake’s question
If you could talk to one person who has died, whom would you choose and why?
I chose Gilda Radner and Philip K. Dick — Gilda because I miss her, PKD because I suspect that conversation would have to be memorable.
D.
W T F?!!! So THAT’S why you never saw them together!
I choose George W. Because that would mean that he was dead. 😉
You mean he isn’t? Have you heard the man speak?
I guess brain dead doesn’t count . . .
We’re on vacation in northern Maine. Can you recommend your favorite Philip K. Dick novels for my reading pleasure?
Modern era, or all-time? And, are you talking about people other than family? I think Joseph Campbell would be an interesting conversationalist. But, if we go all-time, I’ll pick Thomas Jefferson.
Most folks regard The Man in the High Castle as his best work. I think a lot of it, too, but I’m also partial to his Valis trilogy, for its ultra-weird meld of SF with Gnostic Christianity. Dick took a — what? Hallucination, dream, psychotic break — and turned it into a strange and memorable contemplation of God and Creation and man’s place in the universe and all those good things SF is supposed to be obsessed with.
Dan, any time at all. My wife decided she wanted to talk to a dinosaur, whereupon my son pointed out, “He’d probably just eat you.”
Henry Tudor, also known as Henry VIII.
Guatama Buddha.
“Henry Tudor, also known as Henry VIII.”
He’d prolly just eat you too.
Depends on the type of dinosaur, wouldn’t it? Most were vegetarians.
And, I’d bet that none of them spoke English. Of course, if you believe that dinosaurs evolved into a humanoid species comparable to our own but that was wiped out long ago, I suppose they might be able to learn English.
Lady Hester (or Esther) Stanhope, mostly because she seems sort of crazy, and I’d like to figure out if she *was* crazy or just a woman who was born into the wrong century. Wiki has some information here
(Ooh. Look, there’s a new book out about her, Star of the Morning. Hmm.)
Or I’d like to talk to Madison or Jefferson or Hamilton. Or John Adams. Or maybe just to Madison. One of those guys. I’d need a few weeks to figure out which one I’d pick, depending upon how long I’d have to sit down with him. (Once again, there goes Suisan, clearly overthinking the problem.) Madison was well known for brokering consensus amongst politicians who disagreed. I’d love to figure out it politics really *was* different back then, and if people really did genuinely respect those they disagreed with, or whether bickering is just part of politics. (I think it really was different, judging from letters I’ve read, but I’m not quite sure.)
Ben Franklin would be good too!
My Dad. He passed away when I was nine years old (I’m now 44).
He was a computer specialist for Air Traffic Control, and wrote programs when a computer filled an entire room.
I wanna show him my iPod.