Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink'

[Space Spoons]

Hypothetical situation: Through a series of trades and favors, you are now the proud owner of the world's only functional time machine. The previous owner has assured you that it will function properly, a statement evidenced by his vast collection of stolen presidential socks dating back to the 1700's.

The machine can take you to any time prior to the current date, and will deposit you wherever you wish. However, due to a flaw in it's wiring, it is only good for one more time jump, which can only last 60 minutes before you must either return to the present or remain stuck in the past for the rest of your natural life.

The question is simple: If you could travel backwards to any time and place for one hour, where would you go, and what would you do? After the hour was up, would you chose to return to the present, or would you remain in the past?

With regards to the title of the thread: The machine goes 'boink' when you hit the 'go' button. A shiny new cookie is yours if you understand the reference.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

Calvin and Hobbes, Gimme that cookie.

 

[Space Spoons]

Calvin and hobbes

Cookies, all around.

 

[Labyrinth]

I would go to Pink Floyd's The Wall performance, then return. Naturally, I'd be front and centre barrier, staring raptly upwards as they blew my mind away.

 

[Space Spoons]

I would go to Pink Floyd's The Wall performance, then return. Naturally, I'd be front and centre barrier, staring raptly upwards as they blew my mind away.

Good call. Life changing experience, that.

 

[meatloaf231]

I would go to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. I would have loved to be there for the sheer exhilaration of freeing half a population. Plus, it's a bunch of people gleefully knocking down a barrier with various implements of destruction. Who would turn that down?

 

[Labyrinth]

Actually, I'd quite like to go from the fall of the Berlin Wall on, just keep living, go to all the gigs I've missed due to my age... and be there for the advent of Metal. It would win.

 

[Jamanticus]

I would go to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. I would have loved to be there for the sheer exhilaration of freeing half a population. Plus, it's a bunch of people gleefully knocking down a barrier with various implements of destruction. Who would turn that down?

Yep, me too.

Well, my reason, though, would be that Mstislav Rostropovich (insanely fantastic cellist who died just under 2 years ago) played Bach right next to that wall while everyone tore it down.......I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but Rostropovich, like so many people, was hounded (then exiled) by the Soviet regime for sheltering enemies of the state.....Plus, it's Bach.....

 

[ThePoodonkis]

Go back to the times of Jesus armed with a video camera. See if the things said in the bible really did happen.

 

[Jaythulhu]

I'd go back to the mid 70s, buy many options of the star wars ip, then return to the modern day.

 

[Magnetic2]

Id go meet Tesla and get copies of all his work before it met a fiery death.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

I always loved Calvin and Hobbes, I've read it since I was younger than Calvin.

I would go back in time to 1986 and give my Wii to Nintendo and my Ps3 to Sony, while they were hammering out their details. Then return here to see how fucking amazing games would be as a consequence.

Same here, have read C&H since I was 5.

 

[Agayek]

Change it from an hour to a week and I would be all over the fall of the Roman Empire.

With only an hour though, I'd probably just go back to when Microsoft had it's IPO and buy a metric ton of stock and bring it back with me to the modern day.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

With only an hour though, I'd probably just go back to when Microsoft had it's IPO and buy a metric ton of stock and bring it back with me to the modern day.

Now there's a good idea. I was going to say that I'd go back and sign my name on the Declaration of Independence, but fuck that.

 

[Isaac Dodgson]

This just screams to me that Dane Cook skit about time travel...

I'M YOUR SON FROM THE FUTURE! AAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ahem...anyway I'd go back and have my parents buy stock in google in my name and be sorta rich when i came back

EDIT: Tack Microsoft, Apple, and a few others on that list...and it seems someone already had the stock idea

 

[vede]

Wait, do you have to stay for a full hour? If so, then kill plans might get complicated. You would either have to kill the person at the end, which would require you to be able to be right up next to them for a full hour (probably not too easy with Mr. Hitler) or you would have to kill them then survive the onslaught of people seeking revenge.

That might be a pretty cool game idea. You've just traveled back in time, killed Hitler, but your time-watch-necklace-whatever is messed up, because history has been changed so much. There's a little processing bar on it (so it can change history and such) but it's going so slow because there's so much it has to change. So you have to try and survive the consequences of your actions, at least until your time machine gets down changing everything. There'd be different levels and such, too. You could take him down during a concentration camp inspection (or something like that, in a concentration camp), or during a parade, or during a speech (extremely hard), or inside his home. Since the watch is taking time to process, it might "lag" a bit, which gives you an excuse for random bullet-time moments. Because everyone loves bullet-time. And killing Nazis.

I'd probably go back and... well, my first thought would be to take down some very important religious icon, like Jesus or someone before him, but that's too bland. I would... I would go back, and make a shitload of money "magically appear" in TSR's money-place, so they wouldn't get bought out by WotC, and D&D would have stayed pure! Or something like that. It would involve TSR staying in business, though, that's for sure.

 

[Isaac Dodgson]

...I could go back in time and kill myself...so then i wouldn't be around to go back in time to kill myself, so i could go back in time to kill myself so i wouldn't be around to go back in time to kill myself...

You see where i'm going with this

 

[shadow_pirate22]

I would:
1.) Kill Hitler
2.) Make Sure Bush doesn't get elected
3.) Give myself the numbers to the lottery
4.) Kill Hitler again
5.) Go to the first System of a Down concert
6.) Show people the dangers of oil/nukes/opium
7.) Kill Hitler a third time

One of those.