Poke Me In The Eye

In honor of a camping trip the Crawford and I took over the weekend I came up with this weeks question(s). Sitting around a campfire you get to choose three people. One of these people would be there to entertain you with music. Another would be there to make you laugh and the final would just be someone to talk to. These people can either be dead or alive, you can assume that they would be forthcoming with any questions you would have for them, etc.

Moe’s Answers

I am going to start with the musician. My first choice when I thought about this question was Roger Waters, I then considered Johnny Cash, I then thought Bob Marley and I thought for sure I had come up with my answer. But then I made up my mind and chose John Lennon. I can’t even imagine how amazing it would be to hear a solo acoustic set by John Lennon while sitting around a campfire. Hours of Beatles music and of course some of John’s solo work would make me a very very happy man.

When it came time to choose someone to make me laugh I found this choice to be the easiest, Robin Williams. The man is insanely funny, can improv on anything and is just highly entertaining. If you have ever seen his appearance on Inside The Actors Studio you would get a good idea of why I think he would be highly entertaining to hang out with around a campfire.

My hardest choice was someone to just talk to. I first considered someone like Albert Einstein or Socrates but then I faced a sad fact. They are both far far smarter than I can ever imagine to be and I think they would just end up confusing me. I then considered some people from history such as one of the Egyptian kings, Patton, Ghandi or Alexander the Great but when I sat down and thought about it I figured it would be incredibly interesting to talk to these people for a short amount of time but I think it would get old kind of fast. I then came down to three people who I highly considered. Quentin Tarantino, George Lucas or Kevin Smith. Choosing between these three was actually quite hard. I feel that Tarantino would be incredibly interesting to talk to with his encyclopedic knowledge of film and I love to talk movies. But then I considered some of the interviews I have seen with him and sometimes he just doesn’t know when to shut the hell up. I can’t even begin to fathom how fun it would be to pick Lucas’ brain about the Star Wars universe but outside of Star Wars I don’t know how much I could relate to him. Which brings me to my decision, Kevin Smith. If you have ever seen the “An Evening With Kevin Smith” DVD then you may have a good idea why I think he would be a fun guy to talk with. Lots of really funny stories, he seems really down to earth, we are in the same general age range. So while Kevin Smith may be a lowbrow choice I think it would make for a very fun evening.

Crawford’s Answers

Musician: When I think of a musician my first thought goes to an acoustic artist like Ben Harper or Dave Mathews. But there have been some fantastic acoustic performances by rockers (Nirvana comes to mind instantly). That really makes this choice hard. Weird Al is intriguing…but we’ve already got a “funny person” on the list. So I would have to choose Stevie Ray Vaughn. I think some rocking blues guitar would fit the campfire setting perfectly.

Comedian: There are a lot of really funny people out there that I’m sure would be extremely entertaining. Mitch Hedburg, Will Farrell, Adam Sandler, and Steven Wright all come to mind. But my choice would be Robin Williams. He’s been around long enough that he’d have some hilarious stories to tell and every interview I’ve seen with him he’s been outrageous. I’m sure he’d be intensely entertaining…perhaps a bit overwhelming but he would be a blast around the campfire.

Talker: This one is a bit harder to imagine. My first thought was Steven Hawking…that brilliant mind would have such mind blowing information to share…but at the same time would I be too far below his level to understand everything he talks about? I’d want someone with worldly knowledge and experience. I’d want someone who was around to see major world events happening before their eyes and been a player in that theater. So my choice would be Sir Winston Churchill. Not only was he heavily involved in WWI he lead the British Empire during its most dire time. He was a gifted orator and the thought of sitting by a campfire, him smoking a cigar and telling me about the Blitz…it practically sends shivers down my spine. Bill Clinton would probably be a blast, and Boutros Boutros-Ghali (and Egyptian diplomat who became Secretary-General of the UN) would be intense…and my final runner up has to be Aristotle who would completely blow my mind.