Yesterday’s commenters were unanimous so I don’t have much of a choice. Manuel’s contribution is not bad:
Are we going to let pass our opportunity to be heroes, even just for one seminar? Sorry, Blade, but I don’t mind at all that Bowie can’t jump.
And then this from Jonathan:
A lot of these contests are contests about clever ways to characterize the combatants, with a winner tag attached for some reason. David Bowie is one of the few who I actually think would have interesting things to say that aren’t just stories from his biography.
So, a sincere vote for Bowie.
Fair enough. We haven’t had many sincere votes, so let’s do that here.
Today’s matchup
Larry Hagman is fourth-seeded in the “People known by initials” category, and, as for John Paul Jones, I’m not sure if he’s the Zep alum who shares a name with the famous captain of the Bonhomme Richard, or if he’s the captain of the Bonhomme Richard who shares a name with the famous Zep alum.
So it’s Who Shot J. R. vs. either a British dude or someone who shot at British dudes. Ahoy!
So are we voting on John Paul I or John Paul II? Wait, those are both recent Popes. What about Pope Larry? According to Google, he’s known as “the Father of East Coast Surf Photography”. It’s not entirely clear whether he’s a full Pope or just a Father, but either way he sounds like an interesting dude. I vote for Larry Hagman.
Besides, that’ll set up an interesting 70s culture faceoff with Bowie.
John:
Sorry, neither of those popes is a Jones. And in this competition, you have to keep up with the Joneses.
Well, having actually encountered Larry Hagman in a quasi-seminar context (he led some acting workshops in my dorm at Caltech back in the day), I’ll have to say he’d probably give a pretty good talk – plus be able to direct the attendees in various improvisation and related exercises. Could be a lot of fun!
A quantum superposition of the captain and the rocker could make for an entertaining seminar.
John Paul Jones was not born with that surname but assumed it as a young man. After losing Bonhomme Richard/John Bonham while in the role for which he is best known, John Paul/John Richard went on to pursue a series of other commands/solo projects. I vote for JPJ simply to find out which one will show up.
I really want to vote for Larry Hagman. I was a huge J.R. fan back then, Larry himself was usually interesting in interviews, and I’m all in for giving seminars with a Stetson on your head (not on mine, though).
But I didn’t know about the “other” John Paul Jones, I just knew the Zep musician and was not very much interested in him. Then I realized that their initials are a palindrome, so one can be JPJ read forward and the other JPJ read backwards, and now I am so curious about them that I can’t stop wondering how come they are unseeded.
I’ll give the nod (not particularly sincerely) to whomever can tell better stories about his mother. Not knowin anything about wither JPJ mother, beyond knwing that neither was a member of the Mothers of Invention, I’ll go with Hagman.
John Paul Jones I’s Wikipedia page notes that he’s the “Father of the American Navy” (a nickname he shares with John Barry and John Adams[3]).” Therefore John Paul Jones, John Paul Jones, John Adams, and John Adams all share the same name, which should count for something.