mmm Hot Dogs

Hey! I figured out how to do pictures!

All the way back to the first post (if you care to look) is my brothers game. He invited Stan the Man (Stan Lee) and the rest of us all invited artists.

Back on that night the entire golden family played the game, and JKY made some too. And so, without any further whatever-you-call-it, here is mine:

Cleopatra! Queen of Egypt. My fascination with the subject brought Cleo here to the front of my mind. She was believed to be the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess. When her husband (Mark Anthony) died, she committed suicide by asp bite, as was tradition.

Marcus Aurelius! He was the last of the "5 Good Emperors" of rome and was considered a very important Stoic philosopher. He wrote a book called "Meditations" which is still revered by many people.

Abraham Lincoln! You know, the guy with a top hat. Our 16th president, born in a log cabin in Illinois. He led us

through the civil war and put an end to slavery. Abe was assassinated while watching theatre. Actually, he was the

first president to be assassinated.

Ben Franklin! Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. And a founding father. So, you know, a bit of everything.

All this will be happening at: G&L!

No more slacking, we hope.

Dad was NOT posting enough so he turned the blog over to me. (Me is Ysabela, just in case you don't recognize my writing style, silly you.)

Of course this means all those nice videos and pictures that my dad puts with posts won't be here for a while if I have the same problem with this blog as I do on my own.

Anyway, we had my cousin Andrew over, and we played the AWESOME game that nobody else thinks is awesome. This is starting to be a tad insulting. But just a tad.

We have:

Will Smith! Successful actor, film producer, and rapper. He most likely got on this list for the rapper part, but just a guess. Not only has he been called the most powerful actor on the planet, he has been nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards, 2 Academy Awards, and has won several Grammy Awards.  John knew people who knew him way back in Philly, and they say he is entirely a self-made man.

Samuel Jackson! Television actor, film actor and producer. He was involved in the civil rights movement before moving into theater, and then films. He played Ray Arnolde in one of my favorite movies of all times, Jurassic Park.  The baddest Jedi, star of any number of movies, can play the bad guy, the good guy or the bad good guy.

Queen Latifah! (or Dana Owens) Rapper, actress, and singer. She has earned more awards and nominations than I care to count. Probably got in to this dinner for her part as Motormouth Maybelle in Hair Spray.

Robert Downey Jr! He actually started at age 5, in one of his dad's films. (Can you guess his dad's name? Hint: ends in Senior.) He has been in a lot of movies, but I am positive the reason he's

here is for his part as Tony Stark in Iron Man 1 and 2.

George Lopez! Has anybody not heard of this guy? I'm serious. He has 2 shows: George Lopez and Lopez Tonight. I don't know exactly what channels he's on, but I know he is on Nick at Night due to further experience.

All will be going to Olive Garden!  Due to language, this is probably a PG-13 dinner.

Do send us the results of any "Who's Coming For Dinner?" games you might play with family of friends.

Star-Studded Supper with Streep

Sorry!  We invitations for 4 dinners to get recorded here.  We're signing up some guest bloggers, and that should help with the backlog.

We had an evening with the Mattoxes where the adults and the kids came up with separate lists.  The adult list took on a very scientific bent.  The kid's list started, surprisingly, with the Prada wearing Devil...

Meryl Streep - obviously an amazing career, with more Oscar nominations than any other actor ever.  But it was the Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia that got her on this invitation list.  Oh, Mamma Mia...




Meryl Streep - Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia
Uploaded by gokhanh. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

So who would like to eat with Meryl?  The next choice was our family favorite, undoubtedly chosen for his singing as well as acting.
Started as a child star, went to broadway, became close friends with Stephen Sondheim, started a new art form of sing-along blog...












Neil Patrick Harris.

Who's joining Neil and Meryl?  The next guest was a classic surprise.  I don't even know for sure how he was known to them.  Described as a cool, funny actor that has been in a lot of movies that were liked, especially My Favorite Wife.  Please welcome, Cary Grant!















The last guest would have the paparazzi lining up around the block.  I'm pretty sure he got in on the strength of his pirate work, but definitely has some real acting chops besides.  Of course, this must be Johnny Depp.

The restaurant for this star-studded gala event might surprise you, but we hear the food is good with a wide variety of dishes.  Xo Asian Cuisine in Grand Rapids.












As always, if you have enjoyed playing this game, we'd love to hear about whom you invited to dinner!

Listen Up!

Aunt Liza was out for a visit last week, and at a dinner... we had to discuss

Who's Coming for Dinner?

the crazy new game that we seem to be the only ones playing.  Seriously, you guys, step it up and send in your lists!

Liza invited someone new to me:  Elisabeth Elliot, now actually Mrs. Gren.  Born in Belgium, moved to the US, became a missionary, and later an author and speaker on Christian life.  Check out her daily devotional!  One of the more interesting facts about her is that she spent two years as a missionary to indigenous people of Peru - after they had killed her first husband.

Next up is a woman who almost certainly has already had dinner with Ms. Elisabeth, Ruth Bell Graham.  Both she and the guest of honor attended Wheaton College and met their missionary husbands there.  Ruth Bell met Billy Graham.  Karen recommends Footprints of a Pilgrim, her memoir which is only one of many books she wrote.  One of her great accomplishments was keeping Billy Graham away from the temptations that would have taken him off his path, but she has many others.  One of the only couples to jointly receive a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Yet another Wheaton attendee - not a grad, as they kicked him out - is up next:  Phil Vischer.  One of the founding partners of Veggie Tales, our respect for him went through the roof when we heard him speak on what he learned by losing that company.  (To wait for and follow God's vision for you vs developing your own.)  Now he is running Jelly Telly and making a very cool series called What's in the Bible.  Funny and insightful - great dinner guest.

Our first non-Wheaton guest is Leslie Lombardo.  From the East Coast, she let a biologist sweep her off her feet to Michigan.  An artist by trade, she was called to be the children's education minister at our current church.  She is hugely imaginitive and loves kids and the Lord.  Good invitation.  But we need a picture!

The last place at the table is for Eugene Peterson.  A retired Presbyterian minister and prolific author, he's definitely one of our favorite writers about the faith walk.  His telling of the Bible (not a translation), the Message, is a great read.  We'd also recommend Eat This Book about how to read (really), Under the Undpredictable Plant about vocations and Jonah, and - well - basically anything he's written.  He seems funny and enlightening. 

The place for this dinner is the Carriage House at the Iroquois on the Beach on Mackinac Island.  Beautiful views out over the straights, the Cariage House gives a casual dress fine dining experience with high service, traditional fine cuisine and crazy prices.  (It is Mackinac.)   Definitely save room for the fudge ice cream puff, although the portion size makes this easy.

Who would you invite to this dinner?  Tell us in the comments!

Show of Shows

Andrea was over last night for a game night.  So, of course, we had to ask her...

Who's Coming for Dinner?

Does that work?  I was trying to sound all gameshowy.

It didn't take her long to come up with her first guest:
1)  Betty White!  The Empress of the Internet dominates WCFD in only our second post!  Is there no stopping her?  TV actress and onetime queen of the celebrity guest game show.  Quick witted and entertaining.

2) So who can meet Betty's high standards?  Maybe Bonnie Hunt.  Funny, can talk to anyone.  Had a great interview of Betty White recently.  Plus she might be free since her show was cancelled.  Put this together, I found out she interviewed my favorite speaker, Ken Robinson.  And she'd read his book.

3)  Carrie Fisher.  She was suggested as someone who can bridge generations.  Mother Debbie Reynolds and father Eddie Fisher are classic Hollywood, and Star Wars makes sure that Carrie's well known now.   Plus, she's really funny - her new show, from her own writing, is called Wishful Drinking.

4)  Are any men to join this crew?  Yes!  Danny Kaye is invited.  Charming, funny, talented, philanthropic... perfect man to bring.  Nobody sings like him.  Plus it looks like he has an appreciation for fine food.

5)  Finally, Bill Cosby.  Hilarious, TV giant, performer, jazz aficianado... great fit.  Even game show experience.  But we'd better go somewhere with a good chocolate cake.

So where do you take a crew like this?  Andrea wanted someplace bluesy, so House of the Blues, Chicago, it is. Looks like some good Nawlins cookery.

Who would you invite to this dinner?  Tell us in the comments!  And send me the results of when you played Who's Coming for Dinner with your family or friends!

Dinner Conversation

So at dinner tonight (pork chops, pesto, grilled veggies, vigonier for wine) we had a conversation go crazy.  Xavier asked about favorite foods, that led to favorite restaurants, and that led to with whom would you want to have dinner?  The game followed quickly after.

Players: small group or family.

• One person says whom they would invite to dinner.  Each other person gets to name another guest who would be good with the first.
• The original inviter says where they would go for dinner.
• We made a rule that you couldn't invite God (any person), and would probably treat the people of the Bible as a separate topic.

Pretty easy!  We'd love to post your family or group's picks.  Email them to me at goldenj at gvsu.edu and we'll put them up here.

Our first one:  Xavier invites

• Stan Lee.  Godfather of modern comics, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, Spider-man, Iron Man, Thor, the Avengers, etc.

We added:

• Jack Kirby, comic artist great and frequent collaborator and arguer with Stan the Man.
• Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance great, and someone we'd want to hear from what he thought about comics.
• Frida Kahlo, great modern artist and tortured soul.  She's definitely the wildcard here.  Also nice that today's her birthday!  103.
• Restaurant:  Smith and Wolensky

In the comments:  who would you have invited to this dinner.  Choose one, but you can say who you considered, of course.