Pie and a Pint

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Very simple. If you could have a pie and a pint with anyone in history, who would it be and why?

 

For me, it would be Louis Armstrong. Lived a hard, but colourful life, met and worked with fascinating people, and had a wicked sense of humour; the stories he could tell. I cannot imagine a more entertaining way to spend a few hours... 

[Dagworth]

IKB, just so I could suggest not bothering with 7' 0 1/4" (oh and to wish him Happy Birthday)

 

Andi

[rockershovel]

My late father.

 

He died when I was quite small, from the long term effects of his war injuries. He shaped much of my life by his passing, but I have very little idea what he was really like. He seems to have lived an unremarkable life until he was despatched to spend several years fighting people he knew little about and cared less: by various guarded accounts from his relatives in later years, he became deeply embittered by what the politicians made of the country he gave so much to defend.

 

I can't imagine that he would be remotely impressed by events since the 1960s. I'd like to think that he might have regarded the undoubted social mobility and relative prosperity of his grandchildren as some sort of recompense for his efforts and sufferings.

 

But there's no way of knowing.

[APOLLO]

Pie and a pint ??.

 

First things first. A steak pie hot out of the oven from Maybury's bakery, a small long gone terraced shop in Whelley Wigan (near the L&NWR Whelley loop line). Best pies this side of Alpha Centauri !!

 

Secondly a pint of Walkers Falstaff bitter, a winter ale brewed in Warrington. Both ale and brewery are now a distant memory.

 

Third, the companion. David Bowie. Quite simply his music got me safely  through my adolescence. 

 

Brit15

[jjb1970]

Nobody, because I don't drink beer (or alcohol in general). However I'd have a pie and a chat with Werner Heisenburg and attempt to make use of the opportunity to probe one of the fathers of quantum mechanics. There are few scientific ideas of such profundity as quantum mechanics and which offer such possibilities.

[NorthBrit]

In 2001 I was speaking to a writer colleague who said that it's not my children who are interested in the story of my life, but my grandchildren or great grandchildren. Therefore, to write my life story and hand it down to my grandchildren.

 

Turning back to the question in hand, when my great grandmother was alive I never asked about her life. Now how I wished I did. She was born 1848 and died 1960. The things she would have witnessed. The stories I would have loved to hear.

 

Whether she would have a pie and a pint as well ----------?

[Horsetan]

This reminds me of a story about a pub which offered "A Pie, A Pint and a Friendly Word". A man goes in and orders the pie and the pint. When these are served, he asks the landlord "What's the friendly word?" The landlord replies: "Don't eat the pie."

[russ p]

At the moment i would love to have a pint with Trump and Putin and sit at the opposite side of the table to them and hope to see red laser dots on both of their heads or chests

And then down a pint of something really nice and toast their deaths!

[Enterprisingwestern]

At the moment i would love to have a pint with Trump and Putin and sit at the opposite side of the table to them and hope to see red laser dots on both of their heads or chests

And then down a pint of something really nice and toast their deaths!

 

, and the start of world war 3.

 

Mike.

[F-UnitMad]

Turning back to the question in hand, when my great grandmother was alive I never asked about her life. Now how I wished I did. She was born 1848 and died 1960. The things she would have witnessed. The stories I would have loved to hear.

I can relate to that; I met my great-grandmother (born 1880) in the early 1970s when I was very young and couldn't really appreciate it, but my abiding memories of her was her impenetrable Black Country accent - much stronger than my grandparents - and the fact she only used sterilised milk, which I didn't like drinking!!

A few years back I found an old (c. 1920s apparently) photo of her sitting on a motorbike. Now I would love to have asked her about that!!

[wollastonblue]

I'd love a pint and a pie with Air Vice Marshal Jame "Johnny" Johnson and General Adolf Galland, 2 fight aces from the Second World War. The stories they's have to tell would be fascinating.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

It's a lovely conceit isn't it? Could I get Isaac Newton to talk to me about whether he came up with the concept of deficit financing while master of the mint? (It would probably be advisable first to speak to his niece to discover just what 'pie and pint' would prove acceptable, as he had a reputation as a picky eater.)

 

 

IKB, just so I could suggest not bothering with 7' 0 1/4" ...

... and the atmospheric system, and designing locomotives himself.

 

 I so want to be a fly on the wall to this one, to hear what his answer might be. (I suspect a vigorous rebuttal, that his genius demanded original work and a rejection of tame copy work of the art of Stephenson and his followers.)

[rockershovel]

It's a lovely conceit isn't it? Could I get Isaac Newton to talk to me about whether he came up with the concept of deficit financing while master of the mint? (It would probably be advisable first to speak to his niece to discover just what 'pie and pint' would prove acceptable, as he had a reputation as a picky eater.)

 

 

 

... and the atmospheric system, and designing locomotives himself.

 

 I so want to be a fly on the wall to this one, to hear what his answer might be. (I suspect a vigorous rebuttal, that his genius demanded original work and a rejection of tame copy work of the art of Stephenson and his followers.)

Newton certainly instituted the transformation to the Gold Standard, I thought Deficit Finance was a 1930s idea?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

A certain John Maynard Keynes purchased a large collection of Newton's unpublished material, following the Sotheby sale of 1936 of the 'Portsmouth Papers'. He had missed or overlooked the announcement of the auction, but then went into overdrive to acquire as much as he could of the 'alchemical' material of this collection. What on earth would an economist want with this? It was of some importance to him, because he continued the effort even during the war; when he was a little busy on the national project of somehow keeping UK PLC afloat financially.

 

Some suspect that he had built his own work on foundations provided by Newton, and wished to obscure this fact by a little judicious editing. Newton's unpublished material was a complete mess in little to no apparent order, and ranged over the wide variety of topics in which he was interested, and that included economics. We will probably never know...

[Huw Griffiths]

At the moment i would love to have a pint with Trump and Putin and sit at the opposite side of the table to them and hope to see red laser dots on both of their heads or chests

And then down a pint of something really nice and toast their deaths!

 

I suspect that some people might also wish to see a certain 51 year old Syrian (who had previously trained as a doctor, then as an ophthalmologist) receiving similar treatment.

 

Obviously, as a civilised human being, I could not possibly condone such violence (although him being required to give a "command performance", in front of a tribunal dealing with "crimes against humanity", might well be in order).

 

 

, and the start of world war 3.

 

I'm also concerned exactly where these "gentlemen" might lead the World.

 

Saying that, I wonder exactly what Basher al Assad and his regime might have done next if "el presidente" "Donald Duck" "the Donald" hadn't ordered some sort of military response.

 

After all, with Russia being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, I doubt if there would have been much chance of a prompt UNSC resolution calling for effective action against those responsible for the atrocity which provoked the recent missile strike.

 

As for "Rasputin" Putin and Trump sitting next to each other for meaningful talks, who knows - and would it be "jaw-jaw" or "war-war"? To quote Sir Winston Churchill:

 

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."

[rockershovel]

A certain John Maynard Keynes purchased a large collection of Newton's unpublished material, following the Sotheby sale of 1936 of the 'Portsmouth Papers'. He had missed or overlooked the announcement of the auction, but then went into overdrive to acquire as much as he could of the 'alchemical' material of this collection. What on earth would an economist want with this? It was of some importance to him, because he continued the effort even during the war; when he was a little busy on the national project of somehow keeping UK PLC afloat financially.

 

Some suspect that he had built his own work on foundations provided by Newton, and wished to obscure this fact by a little judicious editing. Newton's unpublished material was a complete mess in little to no apparent order, and ranged over the wide variety of topics in which he was interested, and that included economics. We will probably never know...

Somehow, I don't find it particularly surprising that there might be a link between deficit finance and alchemy.... Newton suffered a nervous breakdown of sorts, which ended his scientific researches and was followed by his roles at the Royal Mint.

[Horsetan]

....As for "Rasputin" Putin and Trump sitting next to each other for meaningful talks, who knows - and would it be "jaw-jaw" or "war-war"? To quote Sir Winston Churchill:

 

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."

 

The Russians' main policy appears to be the destabilisation of others. They're pretty good at it, too.

[Joseph_Pestell]

 

 

 

 

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."

The world has moved on a bit since Churchill's time. For all the faults of many of its previous leaders, they had not made themselves massively wealthy. So is it Russia's national interest that matters now or Putin's?

[Horsetan]

.....For all the faults of many of its previous leaders, they had not made themselves massively wealthy. So is it Russia's national interest that matters now or Putin's?

 

OT, but as an aside to the mention of wealth, it is interesting - and a constant source of enquiry - that Putin appears not to have enriched himself despite his position, though many of his acolytes have.

[roundhouse]

No pie for me but with my other half and a pint

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Somehow, I don't find it particularly surprising that there might be a link between deficit finance and alchemy.... Newton suffered a nervous breakdown of sorts, which ended his scientific researches and was followed by his roles at the Royal Mint.

 Not least of the fun in the prospect of a conversation with Newton would be how best to manage the meeting so that one didn't unwittingly offend, leading him to clam up. He was not an 'easy' character at the stage of life when the matters I would enjoy hearing about were active subjects of his investigations!

[teaky]

OT, but as an aside to the mention of wealth, it is interesting - and a constant source of enquiry - that Putin appears not to have enriched himself despite his position, though many of his acolytes have.

Perhaps he's just hidden it better?

[APOLLO]

It's a lovely conceit isn't it? Could I get Isaac Newton to talk to me about whether he came up with the concept of deficit financing while master of the mint? (It would probably be advisable first to speak to his niece to discover just what 'pie and pint' would prove acceptable, as he had a reputation as a picky eater.)

 

Apple pie and a pint of Cider !!

 

Brit15

[Horsetan]

Perhaps he's just hidden it better?

Or that he has people who are skilled at doing this for him.

[rockershovel]

Or that he has people who are skilled at doing this for him.

Putin is a unique figure, though. I wouldn't care to live in Putin's Russia, but his achievements there are enormous, and there are no other serious alternative candidates. Putin's Russia isn't a democracy as we understand it, but Russia has never been a democracy; it's also a place where the distinction between personal and state assets is elastic. He may, or may not be enormously wealthy but he maintains that position by his own achievements and unlike the Soviets, there is no ideological reason why he should not be.

 

So I wouldn't care to have a pint and a pie with him; my Russian isn't up to it, and the old adage about "needing a long spoon" applies, but I'd certainly be interested in hearing anything he had to say.