Five For ...

Everyone's heard of the freebie list: a short list of celebrities you are allowed to do if the opportunity <cough> arises, with no fear of consequences from your significant other.

(For the record, my top 5 list includes:

1. Charlize Theron
2. Brooke Burke
3. Laetitia Casta
4. Keira Knightley
5. Salma Hayek -- or maybe Michelle Yeoh)

But it's easy to pick a list of fantasy shags. They just have to look hot and be sexy. I mean -- look at the list above -- do I really need to explain the reasons for the five (six) women I chose? But what about lists of people you might like to share other expriences with?

For instance, here's the top five people I'd like have dinner with. Obviously, I've excluded people I actually know, since I actually can have dinner with them.

1. Anthony Bourdain The infamous chef and author of "Kitchen Confidential," Bourdain has since made a career of living my fantasy life: traveling the world and trying anything that has even the remotest chance of being great. And getting paid for it! I figure any meal with Tony has got to be great -- especially if I let him choose the place. This is a man who loves food of all sorts -- from the exotic to the comfortable, from haute cuisine to a simple burger or fresh boiled crab. Plus, he's profane, hard-drinking and absolutely hilarious.
2. Calvin Trillin Not a professional chef, yet one of the most enthusiastic eaters I've heard of -- while definitely an enthusiast of classic "chef" cooking, Trillin is better known for championing regional American specialties and ethnic delicacies at a time when everyone else thought the end-all be-all of great cooking began and ended within 10 miles of the Eiffel Tower. Things like Cajun crawfish boil, New England clambake, Southern fried chicken, true slow-smoked barbecue or funnel cake -- these are things that only locals and Trillin appreciated at the time. Trillin obsesses over food as much as I do, and he's a devotee of all that is artery clogging and wonderful.
3. Charlize Theron Forget the fact that she's hot. If her talk-show/interview persona is to be believed, this is a very cool woman with a wicked sense of humor and a penchant for large thick steaks, accompanied by proper martinis and followed by a fine cigar afterward. What better dinner companion could there be?
4. Jerome Bettis This might be a temporary pick. But it's "The Bus's" last season in the NFL, with the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers, and it's playoff season. He seems like a great guy, and you know a guy doesn't get that big in the midst of a career in a contact sport without knowing what to eat -- and being able to eat a lot. So that's a guy who's got to be a fun guy to share a meal with, as much for the company as for the enthusiasm I bet he brings to a well-set table.
5. Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa Pumping Iron If you've seen this movie, you've marveled at how much protein competitive bodybuilders eat in order to get all that muscle mass. I'm not into bodybuilding -- or even lifting weights -- but it'd be fun to see if I could keep up with them. Plus, Ah-nold and his training buddies seemed to be a group of fun guys.

And of course, another thing I like is having a drink or three. And while I'm not averse to drinking alone, the proper way to destroy your liver is as part of a team. My top picks for drinking are generally musicians and artistic types. Yes, porn is an art form.

1. Frank Sinatra. Ol' Blue Eyes. Not only a great and knowledgable singer and actor but a legendary favorite of beautiful women (even the man who gets his overflow would be a lucky man), Frank was also legendary for his all-night benders. He often threw parties and told his guests to bring their sunglasses, and many were the livers that were brought low in the company of the Chairman. Yes, Frank loved his Jack Daniels, and he knew how to drink it.
2. Dorothy Parker. A writer whose wit only sharpened with the addition with alcohol, Parker was known to deliver stinging one-liners such as: "Brevity is the soul of lingerie," "I've been too fucking busy, and vice versa," "Another drink and I'll be under the host." Excellent.
3. Kid Rock. First, you've got to realize that this man knows music. And one the best things to do when you're drinking is to listen to good music and talk about it, so right there, Kid Rock makes my list. Plus -- have you seen this man's music videos? Strippers, brawls, and lots of booze make for a good time, and from what I've heard, life does imitate art -- at least in this case.
4. Lao Tzu. The writer of the Tao Teh Ching, the seminal work of the Taoist philosophy, must surely have lots to say during a day and night of drinking, and Taoist sages are known for their habit of retiring from courtly life for a life in the forest drinking and writing poetry. Nice.
5. Jenna Jameson. Porn star extraordinaire. Now, mind you, though I'm not saying I don't think she's hot, the appeal here is her brassy, sex-obsessed persona. She's brash, funny, and earthy, and she chose a professional name due to her love for a certain Irish whiskey. Ideally, if I get a chance to get bombed with her, it'll be in a church so that we can have a good time not just by drinking and talking, but also by shocking the hell out of the pious and devout.

Finally, as a lifelong martial arts student, here's a list of five people I'd like to train with, if even for just a day:

1. Ip Man I'm primarily a wing chun stylist, and any wing chun practitioner knows that Ip Man is the father of modern-day wing chun. Wing chun is a compact martial art that stresses centerline attack and defense, economy of motion and proper positioning. Wing chun fighters develop contact reflexes that allow them to instantly perceive (through touch) their opponent's intended attack and to neutralize and aggressively counter it. In practice, wing chun is simple, direct and aggressive. The list of great fighters that he produced is huge, including such luminaries as Wong Shun Leung, Bruce Lee, and his son Ip Ching. So Ip Man has to go on this list.
2. Guo Yunshen Guo is one of the most famous documented masters of the Chinese martial art of Xingyiquan -- roughly translated as Form and Intention Fist. Xingyi is one of three major Chinese internal martial arts, and it is the oldest. All the internal arts focus on power generation through proper alignment of the body, with power coming simultaneously from the entire body; with internal arts, even muscles and tendons that most people never train to consciously control contribute to the issuing of power. Xingyi's usage of internal power is the most direct and aggressive; similar to a wing chun philosophy, xingyi fighters respond to an attack simply by choosing a different angle and driving in, attacking their opponents in shockingly jarring strikes until the job is done. Among Xingyi fighters, Guo Yunshen, was one of the most famous. He worked as a bounty hunter and a caravan guarder, and it was said that he could beat "all under heaven" with a single technique -- bengquan, the "crushing fist." (In truth, there were at least two fighters he failed to defeat, but he still had an impressive record!) Though a hot-headed fighter in his youth, in old age he mellowed and became known as a xingyi master with a deep understanding of the art.
3. Yin Fu The sister art of Xingyiquan is Baguazhang. It is also an internal art, but where Xingyi is direct and aggressive, Baguazhang practitioners believe in evasiveness used for disorientation; where Xingyi fighters prefer a straight-line attack, Bagua fighters prefer to evade and disorient an attacker, and then counterattack -- brutally. Yin Fu studied his art directly from its founder, and due to his previous training in striking styles, his interpretation naturally focused on strikes (my preference as well). Yin Fu's bagua is one of two major schools of Baguazhang, with the other being that of Cheng Tinghua, whose interpretation reflects the grappling and wrestling background from which he arose. Yin Fu was most famous as the imperial bodyguard of the Empress Dowager and a noted fighter.
4. Rolls Gracie. Today, the Gracies have proclaimed that Rickson Gracie is finest practitioner of the family art, also known as Brazilian jujitsu. Though I doubt his claim that he has never been defeated, but to watch Rickson in a match is to see power, fluidity, smoothness, flexibility and sensitivity in action. Yet, those who have seen Rickson, supposedly the best practicing today, generally agree that as good as he is, he's nothing compared to his teacher Rolls, whose understanding of his art led to many innovations and developments in BJJ. It can be said that Rolls invented half of what is taught as Gracie jujitsu today. Alas, Rolls died young in a hanggliding accident.
5. Angelo Dundee. This is the guy who trained Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Need I say more? OK, here's more: when George Foreman -- who had lost to a Dundee-coached Ali in the "Rumble in the Jungle" came out of retirement, guess who he asked to train him?

So those are my top five lists. What about you?