Wouldn't you know it: I ridiculed all that Princess Diana hysteria, and it came back and bit me in the arse when John Peel died and I discovered I was just as capable of mourning a sleb I'd never met and completely imagined I knew. Poetic justice and that.
Via the joyful chaos of the intertubes, I stumbled on this transcript quite by accident this morning and even though it was hurting my eyes to read it, it wasn't the migrainous white-on-black text that made me cry.
Coincidentally, my marvellous friend Kelly asked me this morning to choose three people (in time-honoured fashion, they can be living or dead) who I'd invite to dinner, and all I could think of was that last time I had a stranger at my dinner table I practically had a nervous breakdown,* but when I made myself get into the spirit of the thing, I decided on Patti Smith, John Peel and Justin Bond, with John Cooper Clarke** stopping by later.***
You?
*I'm not sure what I would cook. I think I'd be entitled to order a take-away on this occasion. John Peel famously enjoyed a curry.
**Kelly posed the question but then felt free to invite four people, so rather than sticking to the rules like the nitpicker-crybaby I am, I opted for four guests too. Even though that's breaking the rules.
***He doesn't look like he eats.
****I love an asterisk.
Posts
Local woman finishes last summer dress of 2024
2 months ago
.jpg)
Sad about John Peel. How old was he? I am glad you like my dinner guest question. My answer was Marcel Duchamp, JK Huysmans and Felix Gonzalez-Torres with Roz Russell stopping in for dessert.
ReplyDeleteMy alternate answer would be Justin Bond, Roland Barthes and Emil Zola with maybe Kaiser Wilhelm II stopping in for dessert.
My friend N_____ and 2 of her friends in from out of town, spent the whole morning discussing this question. Happy to have provoked some discussion.
PS You are marvellous too my dearest!!!
ReplyDeleteJohn Peel died in 2004. He was 65.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought, but will you need to invite (a) translator(s) to your dinner? Or will there be some variation on the Babel fish?
speaking of which, i think douglas adams would have to be the guest of honour. and then...well, i hate to be shallow and all but how could i not invite george clooney? i mean, really? especially since i'd be planning to eat the dessert off his stomach and all... as for the third? hm, how to counteract my lack of philosophical and/or intellectual depth? perhaps i could invite the now deceased ryszard kapuscinski, one of the world's best reporters. or perhaps robertson davis, one of my favourite canadian writers (also deceased).
ReplyDeletei'd serve them roast pork loin, because i always do.