Oolite Bulletins

Name any influential or controversial or otherwise interesting person? (Anyone who is not a professional entertainer/celebrity.) Just share the name of anyone you think we should know of who they are in case we ever find ourselves sitting beside them on a train... Offer as much or as little justification for why you think them interesting as you care to. I'll try to get the ball rolling with some obvious ones...

Richard Dawkins
Elon Musk
Bernie Sanders
Nicola Sturgeon

Emma Goldman.


(Or are we limited to people who are still alive?)

Diziet Sma wrote:

Emma Goldman.


(Or are we limited to people who are still alive?)

Just a conversation starter. I'm curious to see if the (as of now hypothetical) conversation gravitates towards any particular category... politicians, scientists, young, old, deceased...

TBC.

Diziet Sma wrote:

Emma Goldman.
(Or are we limited to people who are still alive?)

Wildeblood wrote:

...in case we ever find ourselves sitting beside them on a train...

I think alive might be better

Gerhard Hauptmann (wrote "Biedermann und die Brandstifter" [the fire raisers]) -> obviously political
Huxley, Goethe (for his interest in science like lore of colour), Armstrong (the spaceman

Armstrong the spaceman had a long career in parliament (congress) after he retired from the air force, but did he ever do anything notable there or was he just making up the numbers?

Who is this Jeremy Corbyn fella I keep seeing mentioned recently? Did he really just appear out of nowhere?

I know, who is on the banknotes in your country? (Don't say HM QEII) And what's their claim to fame? Do you know off the top of your head or do you have to check? I used to know who was on all the money when I was a lad, but it's been 25 years since we changed to plastic banknotes here and I've never bothered to learn who this new lot of notable Aussies are.

Yeah, there's no purpose to this topic. The Wizard of OZ is on TV, so it's pester you guys or insult randoms on Twitter. Might get out the Tequila if you lot aren't chatty.

Wildeblood wrote:

Armstrong the spaceman had a long career in parliament (congress) after he retired from the air force, but did he ever do anything notable there or was he just making up the numbers?

Errmm.. Neil Armstrong never ran for office.. in fact, he refused to do so. Are you sure you're not thinking of John Glenn?

Currently no faces on our bank notes in old Europe. Just fictional buildings. There were iirc pictures by Albrecht Dürer on some of our outdated local bank notes. From the artistical point of view a regression, imho.

Thinking a bit longer... i might be wrong, but there were also portraits of Carl-Friedrich Gauß, Annette Droste-Hüllshoff or Clara Schumann.

Hommer Simpson
How many people over the years have you heard say "Doh!" Bet you even know how to stress it.

Terry Pratchett
Makes me laugh at the universe

Alex wrote:

Hommer Simpson
How many people over the years have you heard say "Doh!" Bet you even know how to stress it.

Terry Pratchett
Makes me laugh at the universe

I don't quite know how to break this to you, Alex, but... Homer Simpson is a fic. char.
I'm sorry, mate. But if there's anything you need, we're all here for you.

douglas adams

Asimov

spud42 wrote:

Asimov

For his fictional works, or his science popularization efforts?

Wildeblood wrote:

Alex wrote:

Hommer Simpson
How many people over the years have you heard say "Doh!" Bet you even know how to stress it.

Terry Pratchett
Makes me laugh at the universe

I don't quite know how to break this to you, Alex, but... Homer Simpson is a fic. char.
I'm sorry, mate. But if there's anything you need, we're all here for you.

Thanks for that.

Hommer may be fictional but a lot more real than a lot of the 'live' characters I've met over the years.
Though must admit I'd be a little more than shocked to find him sitting next to me on the train.

<forum mode turned on>
Giles, Jens, cim, another_commander & co (i.e. "the devs"). The Oolite (eco/oo)system is so nicely represented in all the works:
- a great game, really pushing the original target beyond the expectations
- a great documentation delivered with the game (seriously!)
- a great fan site - the wiki
- a greatly behaved forum site

I'm glad we are together at least in this (metaphoric) "train" which is the forum, and I know who you are
<forum mode turned off>

Frank Herbert

The holy trinity:
Richard M. Stallman
Eric S. Raymond
Linus Torvalds