The Ultimate Dinner Party

Over at FoodRiot I wrote about a question friends and I often like to ponder: Who (living or dead, fiction or non-fiction, real or imaginary) would you invite to your ultimate dinner party?  As I said, I most often focus on what to serve this cast of characters and planning the whole shindig than the actual guest list.  But rest assured I do have my own list.  Since it's a wild and crazy topic eliciting all kinds of opinions, lists often get quite long so this is my abbreviated list. (For the record, I don't have a hard copy of this list that some friends carry around with them to intermittently add to and subtract from...just saying)

1. My family members, here and gone, are no brainers.
2. Shakespeare if only to verify that he wrote the works that he's credited with.  I'm a little too invested in this literary mystery.
3. Julia Child, though I think I'd also want her to cater the event.
4. George Clooney, Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant: Who wouldn't want to look at them all evening? Serious eye candy...
5. Albert Einstein: From what I hear, he was a pretty cool guy to share a drink with, and there's a rumor that he was quite intelligent so I'm sure dinner conversation would never lull.
6. J.K. Rowling: Anyone who can write a series of books beloved the entire world over and get kids to want to read, can't be a bad person to share a meal with. Oh and she can bring Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore with her.
7. Stephen Fry: He can provide entertainment.  His mind is positively stuffed with all sorts of interesting, fun facts to know and tell and of course, he's hilarious!
8. Dr. Seuss and JRR Tolkien, who would have to bring Frodo, Bilbo, Yertle and Horton with them.
9. Phil Mickelson: I just love the guy, plain and simple.
10. King Arthur, Lancelot, Captain Malcolm Reynolds and The 10th Doctor: Mostly because I have to let the geek flag fly a bit.
11. Jim Henson and every one of his characters including the ones from the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth because seriously?  How could any dinner party not be made better with the addition of furry little monsters?

There you have it.  As you can see, I've spent far too much time thinking about this and hopefully, you will too.