If you had a Time Machine...

[Chaldfont]

...Where would you go? Every once in a while, my wife and I see a documentary about some event and say, "Add that to the Time Machine List." What we mean is, if we had a time machine, we would make up a big list of cool events to go witness. Interestingly enough, many of the things we add to our list are things that happened in the 20th century, usually concerts.

* A Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Concert
* The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show
* Eric Clapton playing some pub in the UK before he got famous
* Woodstock
* Bob Dylan playing in a coffee house in NY in the early 60s before he became famous
* The day The Wall between East and West Berlin came down, and the ensuing party after
* Star Wars, opening weekend in 1977 (I was 3 so I had to wait)
* Dinner and beer after with Ben Franklin in a public house
* Any speakeasy the day the 21st Amendment went into effect

Where and When would you go?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Where and When would you go?

I would use it for profit and personal gain. I'm a horrible human being. Once I had my millions, only then would I go back in time to seek illumination.

Optinoally, I might use it to go back to 1975 and have a long, stern talk with a Mr. Gygax about contract law.

 

[GlassJaw]

I would use it for profit and personal gain. I'm a horrible human being. Once I had my millions, only then would I go back in time to seek illumination.

I'd have to agree. Having a time machine is just too tempting.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Well, I would found an empire among the savages of the Pleistocene, with myself as Emperor-God. My faithful pet sabertooth and my queen (who looks amazingly like Caroline Munro) would begin a dynasty and change history forever.

*gotta stop reading so much Edgar Rice Burroughs....gotta stop reading so much Edgar Rice Burroughs....gotta stop reading so much Edgar Rice Burroughs....gotta stop reading so much Edgar Rice Burroughs....gotta stop reading so much Edgar Rice Burroughs....*

 

[Crothian]

I would go to every Super Bowl, and many of the classic OSU games. I'd find out the great secrets of the world like the true orgin of SCript Ohio.

And I'd make a crapload of money.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I'd do the money thing...and I'd also be very selfish and change a few things that didn't go my way.

There's a reason Time Machines would be bad.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Not to get into all the time issues, being able to change anything, but...

See how they built the pyramids
See the ancient wonders of the world
See the great plains of America before man came
See Hawaii before it's conquest
See if dinos had feathers

 

[JimAde]

I tell you one thing: I'd be prepared. Kevlar body armor, a nice selection of useful gadgets (one of those shake-to-charge flashlights, for example) and a boy scout survival manual, to start.

Or I'd just go back to the 50's, make a quiet killing in Las Vegas betting on sporting events, and invest in IBM.

 

[Umbran]

I would use it for profit and personal gain. I'm a horrible human being. Once I had my millions, only then would I go back in time to seek illumination.

Well, if you're the only one with the machine, this can probably be accomplished in a single trip - all it requires is a couple winning lottery tickets, after all. Then, with your mundane home-time comfort as secure as it can be (given that you're about to be mucking with the timestream), you're free to go and see the world.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Can I travel forward? I want to go into the future, take the thesis that I'm supposed to be writing from myself, and come back to the present so that I don't have to do any of the work. I can just hand it in tomorrow and never go to school again.