Guess who's coming to dinner?

I'm planning down the track to do a list of the top 5 people I'd like to have over to a dinner party but I've been unable to settle on a final list. For now I'm just going to settle on the 1st guest for now. I'd been mulling over a few ideas in my head lately trying to create a good dynamic amongst the guests. Some people got put in and then later taken out and some are in and that's it. Noam Chomsky is in. He is my number 1. I would have normally have had Muhammad Ali here as the 1st because I am a huge fan of Ali but I just can't get myself to put him on the list. Ali would have dominated the night. His personality is just too great and respect for him too universal. I don't care who your other guests are, all eyes are on Ali. Plus, the temptation to serve Jello for the dessert is just too great.

Noam on the other hand, I imagine, would be a quiet,respectful guest and after dinner when the table was cleared would start to tell his story and everyone would be quiet and listen with the respect he deserves. Then again I could be wrong, he might come in , drink all my booze, get all mouthy, insult a few people and challenge me to go outside to see who's got the bigger brain (he'd win).

I think that it is the force of his intellect that is most well known. He is actually a linguist but he is more well known as a critic of US government policy. I first saw him in a documentary about himself and it was his ability to convey his massive intellect into words that I would never be able to that I loved. It's always one of those things to have a discussion with someone and then afterwards to think "shit, I wish I had said that". I don't think Noam ever has one of those moments.

A while after that I came across a YouTube video of a debate (you can see Part I and Part II here) between Noam and William F. Buckley where ,well basically, Chomsky hands Buckley his ass on a platter. It's one of those old-fashioned debates that we don't see any more and I don't mean the smoking in the studio. Remember that Buckley is the more renowned intellectual in this period and this is his show (Firing Line) that Chomsky is invited to. Buckley was a thinking man's Rush Limbaugh, a republican intellectual (there aren't many these days!) but even here these ideals are all to easily exposed by Chomsky and it was(is?) a problem for republicans then and even more so now. What I love the most about it is how the visible smugness gets wiped off of Buckley's face quite quickly and he struggles from there on to recover. I also wonder what Freud would have to say about his use of his pencil, 'cause it ain't for writing. Anyway, Noam is invited. I'll sit down and have a think about the other four and get back to you.

If all of that was a bit too much for your brain, enjoy this mother of all beatdowns by Jamie Foxx on some poor dude at a roast for Emmitt Smith. Ouch!