Monday, November 2, 2009

Three Time Periods

I like conversational parlour games and questionnaires, like the so-called "Proust" questionnaire. They can be fun and revealing, allowing one to get to know people on a deeper level. Ideally, the best conversational parlour games lead to interesting discussions that exceed the original topic. One conversational game I learned of many years ago is called Three Time Periods. Here is the set-up:
You can travel back in time to visit three time periods. You will have twentry-four hours in each time period. Any time, anywhere. You will be given the correct clothing to blend in and enough money to buy what you need. Language is not an issue as you will magically be able to speak and understand whatever language you encounter. What three time periods will you choose and why?

Here are my answers.
1. That lovely time in between wars, about 1932-33. I would choose to be in New York City to see the culture then...attend a matinee, hang out by the offices of the New Yorker magazine and see if I could find Dorothy Parker or John dos Passos or Ring Lardner going in/coming out, perhaps go to a nightclub or two (the Cotton Club!), and just generally drink in the Edward Hopper-like tableaux. I am sure I would find more to do once I was there. Maybe I could get to meet Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant!

2. Impressionist Paris, late 1800s, when the Impressionists had their third exhibition at their own Salon des Refuses, being refused from exhibiting at the Academie des Beaux-Arts. By then the movement would have been past the birth stage and into the growth stage. I would try to find where Monet was painting--if in plein air (most likely), I would go there and sit and watch him. Same thing with Manet--especially were he to be at the frog pond!
And of course, for night life, I would have to go up to Montmartre and also to the Folies Bergeres.

3. I had to make a painful decision to skip ancient Greece (the Colossus of Rhodes would have been fantastic to see), ancient Rome, and even ancient Egypt (oh, how I would love to see the temple at Luxor, the temple at Karnak, and the temple of Abu-Simbal) and opt instead to visit India around 400 BCE-ish for an opportunity to see the Buddha, Siddartha Gautama, and to hear him teach.

What three time periods would you choose and why?

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