Let's say that you have a time machine. What places/periods would you visit? What would you want to see the most?
For me, I'm separating this into Historic and Pre-Historic periods
Jurassic: Dinosaurs at their largest on land, some truly magnificent icthyosaurs and pterosaurs
Pleistocene: A lot of things would be recognizable, including our ancestors, but you actually have some of the most magnificent, weird creatures ever, particularly in New Zealand and Australia; Megalania, the Giant Sloth, the American Lion, Haast's Eagle, the Moa, the Platybelodon, etc...
Neolithic: First real signs of civilization, in particular I'd be curious to see some of the earliest towns in Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent.
Carboniferous: Super-high oxygen content, huge insects, huge forests, near constant storms, a few of our weirdest, reptilian-looking ancestors. What's not to love, other than how fantastically dangerous it would be?
Historical:
Athens, about 450-300 BC. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Aristophanes, Herodotus, maybe Alexander the Great or Sophocles, etc....basically, what the Triassic is to land life, Classical Athens is to Intellectual Life.
Constantinople, any time from 350s-700, 900-1200 or 1500-1700. Center of the world.
Baghdad, 9th-12th Century. Wondering what the Islamic Golden Age would look like. Kind of hard to imagine the Arabs being great scientists and humanists. Almost a vanished civilization. Ctesiphon, almost the same area, would be equally interesting, though obviously a few centuries before.
Berlin/Vienna/Prague, 1917-1931. Interesting as fuck, most of my favorite artists (Klimt, Schiele, Grosz, Ernst, Kandinsky, Brecht, Kafka, iirc young Nabokov, etc..)
New York City, 1950s-1960s. One of the few to honestly be in living memory, but Kubrick, Pynchon, Robert Mitchum, young Bob Dylan, miniskirts and whatnot.....an interesting period, like the Pleistocene familiar enough to be recognizable but still pretty alien.
Paris 1789.
Shocking I know.
I suppose I would also like to visit Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914. That day would end up a bit differently.
Interesting, Spellus.
Prehistoric:
Hadean: I want to show up at the point when life begins and pee into the tidal pool it's evolving in, to see what happens. I guess if I start to fade away a la Marty McFly I will have screwed up. :(
Historic:
Constantinople, 1453: I want to go :nelson at Constantine XI and then welcome the Turks into the city. Hopefully I won't be taken into Mehmet's harem or baths. :(
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 12:58:57 PM
Constantinople, 1453: I want to go :nelson at Constantine XI and then welcome the Turks into the city. Hopefully I won't be taken into Mehmet's harem or baths. :(
YOU MONSTER!
Quote from: Valmy on May 13, 2009, 01:00:02 PMYOU MONSTER!
Sorry, but Turks > Greeks. :(
Would you really have it any other way? I mean, what if there was a modern Byzantine Emperor? Emperor Balki Bartokomous? :(
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 01:01:36 PM
Would you really have it any other way? I mean, what if there was a modern Byzantine Emperor? Emperor Balki Bartokomous? :(
Not really I just like Constantine XI :blush:
I guess you mean visit that time as an observer without the ability to affect or be affected right?
What would be the use to travel back in time to be killed by a prehistoric animal or a greek that does not like the out of place geek? ;)
If so, ancient greece sounds like a good place to start.
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 01:01:36 PM
Quote from: Valmy on May 13, 2009, 01:00:02 PMYOU MONSTER!
Sorry, but Turks > Greeks. :(
Would you really have it any other way? I mean, what if there was a modern Byzantine Emperor? Emperor Balki Bartokomous? :(
I'm a lot more interested in Turkey than Greece, but the Greeks did as much for civilization as any people in history. They deserve to be a bit more than a laughing stock, with more people speaking Serbo-Croat (!) than Greek.
While these days I tend to think that the Turks did Constantinople something of a favor, because it was in danger of becoming some kind of footnote after 1205 and the collapse of the Renewed Empire, I think it is fairly safe to say that the Byzantine Empire was a lot more impressive than the Ottoman. The Ottomans couldn't make buildings as complex as Hagia Sophia a thousand years later, for crying out loud.
The byzantines couldn't either, just a couple of centuries later.
I'd go back in time to Saudia Arabia and kill Mohamed. Then it's off to 2300AD Japan, to get some sexbots.
Quote from: PDH on May 13, 2009, 01:10:37 PM
The byzantines couldn't either, just a couple of centuries later.
Plague and four straight centuries of constant war, including the fantastically devastating final Byzantine-Persian war, can do that.
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on May 13, 2009, 01:11:12 PM
I'd go back in time to Saudia Arabia and kill Mohamed. Then it's off to 2300AD Japan, to get some sexbots.
:lmfao: :thumbsup:
I would go back to when they were building the pyramids and leave some graffiti of "FU Jaron" or something. :D
Quote from: lustindarkness on May 13, 2009, 01:14:53 PM
I would go back to when they were building the pyramids and leave some graffiti of "FU Jaron" or something. :D
That'd be kind of cool. Go into an Egyptian Tomb that won't be rediscovered until the early 1900s, write "FRANZ FERDINAND, STAY OUT OF BOSNIA, AND COMMUNISM DOESN'T WORK, AND DON'T VOTE FOR ARTISTS!
The problem with time travel is the lack of good books on idioms back in the day. How do you ask Socrates where the nearest Starbucks is. :(
Just make a few jokes about how stupid the Euboeans are. I hear those brought down the house in Ancient Athens.
Quote from: Queequeg on May 13, 2009, 12:52:30 PM
Let's say that you have a time machine. What places/periods would you visit? What would you want to see the most?
September 1986, to buy Microsoft. Or just two weeks ago, to buy a better lottery ticket.
Quote from: ulmont on May 13, 2009, 01:37:47 PM
Quote from: Queequeg on May 13, 2009, 12:52:30 PM
Let's say that you have a time machine. What places/periods would you visit? What would you want to see the most?
September 1986, to buy Microsoft. Or just two weeks ago, to buy a better lottery ticket.
What happened in 1986?
Quote from: The Brain on May 13, 2009, 01:39:49 PM
What happened in 1986?
January 19 – The first PC virus, Brain, starts to spread.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986
:lol:
Quote from: The Brain on May 13, 2009, 01:39:49 PM
What happened in 1986?
Microsoft became a public company in March. September was pretty much their lowest stock price ever.
Quote from: lustindarkness on May 13, 2009, 01:45:32 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 13, 2009, 01:39:49 PM
What happened in 1986?
January 19 – The first PC virus, Brain, starts to spread.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986
:lol:
:blush:
Quote from: ulmont on May 13, 2009, 01:45:39 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 13, 2009, 01:39:49 PM
What happened in 1986?
Microsoft became a public company in March. September was pretty much their lowest stock price ever.
Gotcha.
I'd go back and smother the entire Comnenus clan.
Also, I'd go back and introduce gangsta rap to the ancient Romans, because I think they'd come up with some amusing rhymes.
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:03:34 PM
Also, I'd go back and introduce gangsta rap to the ancient Romans, because I think they'd come up with some amusing rhymes.
:lol:
Somewhat funny, as I've always thought Romance languages made better sounding rap than Germanic languages. It flows nicely.
I'd also go back in time and break Spellus's computer, so this thread doesn't exist.
Quote from: Queequeg on May 13, 2009, 02:09:09 PM
Somewhat funny, as I've always thought Romance languages made better sounding rap than Germanic languages. It flows nicely.
When I was in college, we used to translate rock lyrics into Latin.
Proud Mary sounds quite good in Latin, IIRC. I couldn't begin to tell you exactly what we translated it into, though.
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:10:35 PM
I'd also go back in time and break Spellus's computer, so this thread doesn't exist.
:hug:
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:11:11 PM
When I was in college, we used to translate rock lyrics into Latin. Proud Mary sounds quite good in Latin, IIRC. I couldn't begin to tell you exactly what we translated it into, though.
Languish is dying!!! I'm pretty sure that you've said this before as well as the bit about the Aeroflot kid incident (our discussion of the last bit could scarcely have been more than a few months ago). :(
I'm gonna be one of those old guys at the nursing home who tells every story 600 times.
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:13:33 PM
I'm gonna be one of those old guys at the nursing home who tells every story 600 times.
Did I ever tell you about the guy who fucked his sister? And I walked in on it?
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:13:33 PM
I'm gonna be one of those old guys at the nursing home who tells every story 600 times.
Found it. March 31st we discussed Aeroflot.
edit: I can't believe we've been on the new board that long already.
I never told you guys about when I pooped in a can for days on end right?
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:15:55 PMDid I ever tell you about the guy who fucked his sister? And I walked in on it?
Wait, this was in Kentucky wasn't it :(
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:18:54 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:15:55 PMDid I ever tell you about the guy who fucked his sister? And I walked in on it?
Wait, this was in Kentucky wasn't it :(
OHIO
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:15:55 PM
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:13:33 PM
I'm gonna be one of those old guys at the nursing home who tells every story 600 times.
Did I ever tell you about the guy who fucked his sister? And I walked in on it?
In the nursing home, telling *that* sort of story earns a visit from Nurse Ratchet and her quiet-time pills. :(
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on May 13, 2009, 01:11:12 PM
I'd go back in time to Saudia Arabia and kill Mohamed. Then it's off to 2300AD Japan, to get some sexbots.
Get the sexbots first, killin Mohamed will change history so much the Japanese might not end up depraved technogeeks.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 13, 2009, 02:22:17 PM
Get the sexbots first, killin Mohamed will just history so much the Japanese might not end up depraved technogeeks.
I historied a lot last night! :perv:
FACT: Parts of Ohio are southern in both culture and accent. :smarty:
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:25:13 PM
Not insignificant, depending on the area of the state.
Both states fall under the heading "Shitty places to live." What more needs to be said? :unsure:
We are getting away from the purpose of this thread, when is to make fun of Spellus.
We already have that other thread for that. :smarty:
I thought that was all of languish's purpose.
:mad: This is a pretty good Spellus thread.
The rain had fallen, the Poet arose,
He passed by the town, and out of the street,
A light wind blew from the gates of the sun,
And waves of shadow went over the wheat,
And he set him down in a lonely place,
And chanted a melody loud and sweet,
That made the wild-swan pause in her cloud,
And the lark drop down at his feet.
The swallow stopt as he hunted the bee,
The snake slipt under a spray,
The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak
And stared, with his foot on the prey
And the nightingale thought, "I have sung many songs,
But never a one so gay,
For he sings of what the world will be
When the years have died away.
I'd like to see the Jurassic and the Cretaceous. I'd also like to observe the Pleistocene.
As for historical periods, I'd like to see Classical Greece, Republican Rome, the American Revolution and the American Civil War.
Quote from: The Brain on May 13, 2009, 02:42:12 PM
The rain had fallen, the Poet arose,
He passed by the town, and out of the street,
A light wind blew from the gates of the sun,
And waves of shadow went over the wheat,
And he set him down in a lonely place,
And chanted a melody loud and sweet,
That made the wild-swan pause in her cloud,
And the lark drop down at his feet.
The swallow stopt as he hunted the bee,
The snake slipt under a spray,
The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak
And stared, with his foot on the prey
And the nightingale thought, "I have sung many songs,
But never a one so gay,
For he sings of what the world will be
When the years have died away.
That's the worst gangster rap ever! :mad: :bleeding:
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 13, 2009, 02:44:26 PM
I'd also like to observe the Pleistocene.
Actually yeah it'd be cool to make a Cro-Magnon do a Neandertal chick to see what happened. :cool:
Quote from: katmai on May 13, 2009, 02:38:54 PM
I thought that was all of languish's purpose.
MP?
I'd go back and ejaculate into the primordial ooze.
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:45:47 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 13, 2009, 02:44:26 PM
I'd also like to observe the Pleistocene.
Actually yeah it'd be cool to make a Cro-Magnon do a Neandertal chick to see what happened. :cool:
Watched
Clan of the Cave Bear again?
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:46:52 PMWatched Clan of the Cave Bear again?
That's fantasy, yo. I'm talking reality here, hoss.
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:48:17 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on May 13, 2009, 02:46:52 PMWatched Clan of the Cave Bear again?
That's fantasy, yo. I'm talking reality here, hoss.
I'll talk reality. In reality, you'd take a spear to the groin back in time.
Quote from: Caliga on May 13, 2009, 02:45:47 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 13, 2009, 02:44:26 PM
I'd also like to observe the Pleistocene.
Actually yeah it'd be cool to make a Cro-Magnon do a Neandertal chick to see what happened. :cool:
Its called Quest for Fire, and it is
awesome.
Quote from: Queequeg on May 13, 2009, 04:13:30 PMIts called Quest for Fire, and it is awesome.
B.C.'s Quest for Tires > Quest for Fire.
with my home made protection from normal weapons spell and a supply of anti nausea herbs, I would like to eavesdrop on a significant medieval battle. at Agincourt for example, the heralds from the two sides stood together on the battlefield, and took score so to speak.
I'd go back to the mid 1990's and kick my self in the ass a few times.
Quote from: Razgovory on May 13, 2009, 04:41:30 PM
I'd go back to the mid 1990's and kick my self in the ass a few times.
We can take care of that here and now.