Final Fantasy Dinner For Five

It has come to this, folks. I am starved for ideas to write stuff here so I have to seek inspiration elsewhere. This one's from the Writer's Digest Forum.

If you could invite any three people to dinner (dead or alive, famous, fictional, etc.), who would they be, why and what would the topic of conversation be?

I'm supposed to write it in less than 500 words tapi malas nak mengira.

There was a show on the Independent Film Channel called "Dinner for Five" where Jon Favreau will invite his actor, producer, director friends for dinner in a restaurant and they would film the conversations that take place. You can always tell the ones who will always dominate the conversation, the one who will pegang table, so to speak. Burt Reynolds was one, so was Dennis Farina and Brian Grazer. Usually the old school guys, the one with the most stories to tell would be the alpha-dog. There'd also be the ones who would just listen and interject only on occasion, those who'd rather sit back and let others talk.

For a good dinner conversation, you need the alpha dog types, the "here's a funny story" joker types (like my husband), the moderator types and the quiet but ask important question at the right time types. I think in the fantasy dinner conversation of my mind, I'd be in the last category. Since I'll be the host of this fantasy dinner, I'll also be the default moderator.

The alpha-dog in my fantasy dinner would be Terry Pratchett. I think he would have lots of stories to tell, interesting observations about people and places and he'd keep the conversation lively and rollicking. His voice, surprisingly, is a bit penyek and this would add a cartoonish quality to the funny stories he will share with us. He's travelled a lot, has a penchant for banana daquiris, has all sorts of fun and weird characters living in his head and has a wicked sense of humor. He'd be a wonderful dinner guest!

My second dinner guest is Kate Winslet. Actor types are fun people, but most have egos the size of Mount Vesuvius and want nothing more than to talk about what (or who) they've done, are doing, will be doing, want to do. Boo-ooring. Kate, however, (and I'm sure she'd insist you call her Kate at first meeting) seems friendly and fun. She seems like the girl you can go shoe-shopping with and gossip about that cute bus driver you saw yesterday, or how Eddie Vedder is the most wonderful and deep lyricist that ever lived. As evidenced by her guest role in HBO's Extras, she doesn't really take herself seriously, is not adverse to making fun of herself or others and has quite a dirty dirty mind. I think she'd be a fun dinner guest and both she and Pratchett can spar wits all night long. Plus she seems like a super-fun mommy and we can trade stories about our kids.

My third dinner guest will have to be someone who can cook me a fabulous meal. After all, it's dinner so we all need something delicious and exquisite to munch on while we laugh and make merry jokes. I've considered Nigella or the Naked Chef dude (his name escapes me at the mo')* but phhbt, I think they'd be boring and too self-involved a la actor types.

There's this dude on the Food Network who has a show called Good Eats. His name is Alton Brown and he used to be a cameraman. He's not a trained chef but is a self-professed foodie. His show melds classic recipes with food science (he'll tell you why arrow root is a better thickening agent than flour, something about molecules and air bubbles, also why it's called arrow root bla bla bla). He's a food geek and he's funny. I've always been partial to funny geeks (stop pointing at my husband!) so I think Alton Brown will be the prefect dinner guest/cook. He'll whip up something not too fancy, but perfectly made served at the precise temperature in the correct serving vessel (his words). He'll educate us on the dish's history and orgins, who made it first, why it's called what it's called and what to eat it with. Then Pratchett will include the dish in his new book and Winslet will make sure the caterers in her next film will make it.

Alton Brown is also the host of Iron Chef America and can tell us all about the great ego-clashes between Morimoto and Bobby Flay. Food Network is the MTV for people in their 30s.

So that's my fantasy dinner. A writer, an actor and a food geek. Good food, good stories, good guests. Perfect.

*Jamie Oliver. It finally came to me.