# People who you would like to meet



## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

So who are the known/famous people who you would like to meet.

One of mine is definitely The Terminator, Governator aka Arnold Schwarzenegger.









Arnold has the rare gift to talk with Confidence,passion and warmth at the same time.
He has an iron will , and perfect confidence aka believes that he can achieve anything he wants and that no one can stop him. Also he doesn't take himself too seriously.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

'Like' the idea for the thread, :tiphat: Jani, but not your particular choice. I don't like 'iron wills' and 'perfect confidence' - shades of Napoleon et al - and I don't like Arnie's marital history either. But horses for courses.

Of those alive today, who would I like to meet? Our Queen (Elizabeth II) for one - she is a woman of conscience & perseverance & love of her community, all of which qualities I value highly.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

jani said:


> Arnold has the rare gift to talk with Confidence,passion and warmth at the same time.
> He has an iron will , and perfect confidence aka believes that he can achieve anything he wants and that no one can stop him. Also he doesn't take himself too seriously.


And those are only his bad sides! :devil:

I'd love to host an informal dinner party with these five, possibly seated around my Blüthner grand:

Gustav Mahler
Aksel Schiøtz
Kerstin Thorborg
Leopold Godowsky
Jasha Horenstein

/ptr


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Of those musicians alive today, I would like to meet Andrew Manze and Elizabeth Wallfisch, those marvellous baroque violinists. We would have tea together, and I'd ask questions about their favourite pieces and their musical lives. Heaven - especially if it were Assam tea and gluten-free scones and butter.


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2014)

I wouldn't like to 'meet' anyone - if, by 'meet', you mean to engage in conversation with some celebrity. From a purely selfish point of view, I'd be too worried that they wouldn't want to 'meet' with me. Once over that hurdle, I think I might enjoy the company of Eno and Robert Wyatt - but as I can do that through their music, that's probably enough.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Lets imagine what would happen if i would meet the greatest composer ever Ludwig Van Beethoven, he would probably try to beat me and yell me about my mediocrity... Oh maybe that's little too much but he would probably look down on me and tell me that i have no moral values at all if he would hear about my partying etc...


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

I think he is one helluva guy! I've only listened and watched him in movies and TV programs but from what i have seen he is down to earth calm and yet an brilliant writer and magician of words...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I would love to sit down over lunch with former president of the US, George W Bush.
He always was on time to his press conferences, unlike the present occupant of the White House.
I respect that.
He loves to exercise and keep himself in shape.
I respect that too!


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Sounds like a dream dinner


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Would like to meet Kissinger, Brzezinski, Kennedy...


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

From Composers, Mozart, Vivaldi, Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

My dream dinner would be with Beethoven, Schubert, and Kanye West. After Kanye picked up the bill, we'd beat him mercilessly in the parking lot.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Just watch this, Arnold is ******* great.
At the moment he is running a big campaign to race money for after school programs.
One of the donors get to spend a day with him and ride with him in his TANK!


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

I can't think of a single famous person I'd like to meet. And, lowest on my list of people I'd want to meet would be anyone of a political bent


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

Sergei Rachmaninov,Frédéric Chopin, Alexander Scriabin, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,Sergei Prokofiev, Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Dimitry Shostakovich, Emilie Autumn, Paul McCartney, Syd Barret, George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Maurice Ravel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jim Morrison, Fiona Apple, Danny Elfman, Howard Shore, Leonard Bernstein, Valery Gergiev, Alan Lee (though I kind off have met him at a festival and even had a small conversation, though Id wish to see him a bit longer), Gerald Gardner, Kerry Minnear, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Giliam, Eric Idle, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Jean Sibelius, Gustav Mahler....for a start I guess


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

Vesteralen said:


> And, lowest on my list of people I'd want to meet would be anyone of a political bent


ssssame  here


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## Fortinbras Armstrong (Dec 29, 2013)

Back when he was a Cardinal, I met Pope Benedict XVI. He speaks very good English, but it was spoilt for me in that he sounds exactly like Henry Kissinger. Our conversation was limited to a discussion of a rather obscure point in St. Augustine's theology.

When I was at Harvard, I took a class in history of science from Stephen Jay Gould, who shared my love of Gilbert and Sullivan.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Stephen Fry. Not as "important" as many others, but I feel like it would be a great conversation.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

_Living _person I would love to meet: _Emmanuel Pahud._


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Tenzin Gyatso would be the "living" person I would most like to meet
I would think Aleister Crowley, John Coltrane and Dimitri Shostakovich would be an interesting dinner party


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Well, I have met a few semi-famous people. Science fiction writers mostly with a couple of actors thrown in, and I have on occasion even had dinner with two or three. It's usually a wonderful experience, maybe because they are "on" at the time.

Living musicians I'd love to meet are Ian Anderson, Chris Squire, and a bunch of other prog rockers, but maybe not Robert Fripp. I've seen interviews with him and I think he would be intellectually way beyond my ability interact at all. Scientists Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, and maybe Richard Dawson if his stunning and equally eloquent wife, The Honourable Lalla Ward of Dr. Who fame, could join him. Another scientist, perhaps less of a household name I'd love to meet is Seth Shostack of the SETI Institute, an incredibly witty and erudite fellow if his podcasts are any indication.

Of people no longer with us, the sky is not even the limit! They are legion. Among the first I would like to meet are Carl Sagan, Ludwig van Beethoven, Jimi Hendrix, Henry David Thoreau, Oscar Wilde, Sir Arthur C. Clarke . . . I am leaving out hundreds.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Looking through the posts, I see several dinner guests that I'd pay serious money to avoid!
:angel: But they shall remain nameless...


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> Looking through the posts, I see several dinner guests that I'd pay serious money to avoid!
> :angel: But they shall remain nameless...


Im a bit curious though if I may, I have send a whole list so Im guessing theres at least one or a few in it you are referring to? Btw it doesn't have to be a dinner party for me, meeting someone can be in many ways


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Arnold is also one of the few real manly man rolemodels for men on the mainstream media at least so thats also one of the reasons why admire him.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

At the top of my list are Wagner and Tolkien (I would really love to be present at one of the meetings of the Inklings club that he and his literary friends were part of). Those are my heroes, the ones I strongly identify with. Some others are Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (they were quite a fascinating couple), Thomas Jefferson and Astrid Lindgren. 

And also any more or less intelligent and educated German man or woman who has made it all the way through the 30es, the 40es and the 50es who would not be reluctant to tell a full and true story of their experiences, because no matter how high a mountain of books has been published about that part of history, a first-hand account is just not the same.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

lupinix said:


> Sergei Rachmaninov,Frédéric Chopin, Alexander Scriabin, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,Sergei Prokofiev, Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Dimitry Shostakovich, Emilie Autumn, Paul McCartney, Syd Barret, George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Maurice Ravel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jim Morrison, Fiona Apple, Danny Elfman, Howard Shore, Leonard Bernstein, Valery Gergiev, Alan Lee (though I kind off have met him at a festival and even had a small conversation, though Id wish to see him a bit longer), Gerald Gardner, Kerry Minnear, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Giliam, Eric Idle, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Jean Sibelius, Gustav Mahler....for a start I guess


Kerry Minnear! Undoubtedly. Most of the rest of your list too though I might pass on Tchaikovsky.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Fortinbras Armstrong said:


> Back when he was a Cardinal, I met Pope Benedict XVI. He speaks very good English, but it was spoilt for me in that he sounds exactly like Henry Kissinger. Our conversation was limited to a discussion of a rather obscure point in St. Augustine's theology.


He's the one I'd love to meet! Or the current Pope.

Of celebrities and famous folk, Rafa Nadal, Bob Dylan or Mozart (who lives still - I can hear him even as I type this)...


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Kieran said:


> Mozart (who lives still - I can hear him even as I type this)...


you've no excuse to keep putting off unlocking the attic and saying hi to the chap.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

deggial said:


> you've no excuse to keep putting off unlocking the attic and saying hi to the chap.


You've kept him waiting long enough! At least give him a bit of food or beer or something.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> At least give him a bit of food or beer or something.


music sheets! make him earn his dinner.


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## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

I'd like to meet a few people who were reputed to be, in some way, better speakers than writers..: Coleridge, Huneker, Wilde. I'd like to hear Emerson and Twain lecture, and I'd like to get a glimpse of the famed ancient orators. Perhaps I'd also like to join a dinner party with Hunt, Hazlitt, Landor and co. Being an innocent bystander during a conversation between De Quincey or Hazlitt and the Lake Poets would be great too. Maybe watch Milton dictate Paradise Lost to one of his daughters to finish of the day?


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Mahlerian said:


> You've kept him waiting long enough! At least give him a bit of food or beer or something.


I hose him down every week and leave some water and grub in a bowl, don't want the chap to grow lazy!


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Not the most complete or well thought out list, here's what I came up with in a few minutes

Living: The Queen, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Maxim Vengerov, Rachel Maddow, Yo Yo Ma, David Jason (actor, Sir Del-Boy). I can't think of any politicians.

Dead: Einstein, Heifetz, John Lennon, Jack Layton, Sibelius, Pavarotti.


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

Weston said:


> Kerry Minnear! Undoubtedly. Most of the rest of your list too though I might pass on Tchaikovsky.


yay! we should meet the others together  I can live without having met Tchaikovsky


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

lupinix said:


> I can live without having met Tchaikovsky


apparently so can us all


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Mozart comes first, but from people still living I chose John Nash


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

I would love to meet Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, Napoleon Bonaparte, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei and Nikola Tesla. But all of them are are dead.  And living, mmm.... no one.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Ian Anderson...............


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

deggial said:


> apparently so can us all


Are you sure? May I remind you:

Members
18,463
Active Members
1,710


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> apparently so can us all





> Are you sure? May I remind you:
> 
> Members
> 18,463
> ...


Yes, but the point is that none of those members, neither active nor otherwise, are likely to be over 121 years old and are therefore compelled to live without meeting Tchaikovsky.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

On the other hand (and in keeping with the fun of the thread), I would dearly like to be able to meet and have a natter with the following for a variety of reasons:
Stephen Fry, Gustav Mahler, Dimitri Shostakovich, Jesus Christ, Rick Wakeman, Salvador Dali, Leonardo daVinci, Rusty Lee, Marin Alsop, Steve Hackett, Kenneth Williams, Tutankhamun, Dame Maggie Smith, Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker, Tom Daley.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I appreciate the pity-like for my last post, DrKilroy. Pretty lame joke, I'll admit.


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

Lame jokes are kind of my favourite, as I often make them myself. :tiphat:

Best regards, Dr


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## Vinyl (Jan 22, 2014)

Kurt Vonnegut. And his uncle.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

When I was in college, I met a lot of the musicians I admired: Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Don Menza, and others. I found that in their presence, my tongue would stick to my mouth and I'd just end up nodding my head with an air of appreciation. Though I'd like to shake Phil Woods' hand and say, "You're awesome." But he already knows that.

I'd like to meet NT Wright. He's an accomplished Biblical scholar, but he seems very approachable. And shucks, the things he knows.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

David Duchovny, even though I feel he would be far less gentle than Fox Mulder.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

I'd like to have met Louis Armstrong, the cinematographer Gregg Toland, and the 1950s era Gina Lollobrigida.


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## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

I always wanted to meet Astrid Varnay, and one day in 1998, one of my pupils arrived for her golf lesson, and knowing me to be an opera nut asked if I had ever heard of Astrid Varnay? It turns out that my pupil's husband was involved in publishing the German version of Varnay's autobiography. so I was invited to the book launch and to the lunch afterwards where I was flabbergasted to find that I would be sitting on her right. I'm afraid that I bored everyone else stiff! but Ms Varnay and I remained engrossed in conversation for over two hours! first in German, in deference to the rest of the company present, and then having inadvertently slipped into English, remained so for the rest of the conversation. we talked about everything imaginable, and then she scolded me for calling myself an ex-musician, as I was then a golf pro, having retired from a playing career. she stated that one remains a musician all one's life, no matter what one goes on to do later in life. 
I had revered her as an artist all my life and was lucky to see her on stage a couple of times! later in her career.
One of the greatest experiences of my life.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

-Pavel Datsyuk and Steve Yzerman: My two favorite hockey players of all time!
-Mother Teresa (if she were still alive)
-Patch Adams
-Thich Naht Hahn. A Vietnames Buddhist monk who authors many books on mindfulness in modern day living. I've only read one of his books, but he just writes so beautifully and compassionately. I have three more of his books, and look forward to getting started on the next one soon!.


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## Levanda (Feb 3, 2014)

I would like to meet all of forum members. It would be interesting conversation.


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## Berlioznestpasmort (Jan 24, 2014)

I used often to think about this and whom I should like to meet. The list has diminished over the years - I think because I fear my heroes will disappoint in some way. I no longer feel the compulsion to chat with Baudelaire for example, or Proust. Jean Marie Maurice Scherer (aka Erik Rohmer, French film director) hangs in there along with Cocteau. But more than anyone I'd like to have lunch with Walt Whitman, or Henri-Alban Fournier. Dinner with Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker Movement and Emma Goldman. Delius would certainly be one of the composers, but somehow I don't think it will go well. Bax might be better company (btw, his autobiography is _well worth _the read). Add: also, how could I forget him?, Jean Vigo, director of _L'Atalante_, "maybe the greatest film ever made," raved Georgia Brown of the _Village Voice_. It is certainly the most delightful, raves Berlioznestpasmort.


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