If you could punch a hole in the fabric of time...

~
www.fabulousmother.co.uk

New Orleans (and everybody in it) Spike Milligan My enthusiasm

Wed, 2006-09-13 12:24

#3

meremortal

The ballot papers that voted for bush...or perhaps more interestingly the ones that didn't before the count.

Wed, 2006-09-13 12:27

#4

2Lou

Tempted to rescue the Titanic and all the people on it. That way we wouldn't have to listen to that bloody song ever again. A friend Another friend My liver aged 15. ~ www.fabulousmother.com

Wed, 2006-09-13 12:53

#5

ivoryfishbone

my liitle yellow tape recorder and all the cassettes - i recorded a massive long space adventure saga in whispers under the covers ...

Wed, 2006-09-13 12:55

#6

fergal

My mum That R2D2 that went missing in the garden circa 1983 - just to see where exactly it had been. A Wagon Wheel from the sixties to see if they really were as big as everyone said they were. Jesus or Buddha, so I could say, 'And you think they had problems in YOUR day. What the blazes are we meant to do with THIS?' My hairdresser from age 11-16. I would cut HIS hair into the shape of an orange cabbage, then call him out for a dual.

Wed, 2006-09-13 15:38

#7

yan

Good topic. I would expect most people to grab a dearly departed loved one. I'd bring back my grandad but he was pretty past it when he died (and I know my gran wouldn't be too chuffed) so I'd bring back a mate who was murdered. He needs to have that life he'll never get. And I know my grandad would agree with that ;) There's nothing more mind-teasing than the incomprehensible eagerly avowed - Dennet

There's nothing more mind-teasing than the incomprehensible eagerly avowed -
Dennett

Wed, 2006-09-13 16:34

#8

hox

I would love to bring my grandparents back, but they had their time, so best to leave them as memories. The copy of Sgt Pepper which I bought the week it was released, then got nicked at a party. The bastard who nicked it. Dobbin, the stuffed toy horse which I pushed around when I was four or five, and who was cruelly dumped in a skip while still alive! Sister Mary Ursula, the sociopathic head nun at my primary school. A dark room, handcuffs, and a set of knuckledusters, to be used on said nun.

Wed, 2006-09-13 16:40

#9

My youth. My hearing. The girl who sent me a valentine when I was 18, (I never knew who she was). The opportunities I didn't take. The WTC. I'd give back Hox' Sgt Pepper album.

Wed, 2006-09-13 17:09

#10

hox

I always had my suspicions, but I could never prove it.....

Wed, 2006-09-13 17:17

#11

Foster

Thanks for that, Dan. And my parents thank you, and many relatives and friends. If only it could be done.

Wed, 2006-09-13 19:27

#12

It was purely selfish Foster, I never got to visit.

Wed, 2006-09-13 19:31

#13

I should have listed New Orleans as well. Unlike Dan, I went there several times, and it is in fact my favourite city. I spent the happiest days of my life at the Lamothe House Hotel on Esplanade Avenue.

Wed, 2006-09-13 19:41

#14

Radio Denver

My father. Visit me http://www.radiodenver.org/

Share your state secrets at...
http://www.amerileaks.org

Wed, 2006-09-13 20:18

#15

Foster

Regardless of your motivation, Dan, the result would be the same. AND, it's not too late! In fact, you could stay at the Lamothe House, which is alive and well. I love the back side of the quarter - George, did you eat at Port-Of-Call? http://www.lamothehouse.com/

Wed, 2006-09-13 23:33

#16

I guess I must have at some point. I've eaten in most of the decent places at one time or another and a lot of the tourist places, but I can't remember all of them. Antoine's I went to several times (and had to borrow a tie every time). Mike Anderson's was another I went back to, though the food there wasn't exactly consistent, and of course everyone has to eat on the patio at Pat O'Brien's at least once, after dark when the gas fountain looks great. My most recent visit was in October 2004.

Thu, 2006-09-14 09:34

#17

what's a gas fountain? *googles* *none the wiser*

Thu, 2006-09-14 09:53

#18

poetjude

Mark asks us to choose one but we all draw up a shortlist. My shortlist; -The woods I used to play in as a child (a housing development and a school stand there now) -Brown Teddy -3 (now deceased) friends - My boyfriend as things were 4 years ago On reflection, if the first one existed again, I am too old to play. Of my deceased friends, I'm used to two of them not being around and the third one killed himself so probably wouldn't be happy if I pulled him back. Fixing things with the fella anyway. so it has to be Brown Teddy. jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

Thu, 2006-09-14 10:33

#19

OK, they call it the 'Flaming Fountain', Dan. It's a fountain in the middle of the patio that has a huge flame in the middle, a bit like a raging volcano. It's only alight after dark, but combined with the palm trees and elaborate lights along with the atmosphere of the French Quarter it's quite entrancing. The food is just average though. They cater for the FQ tourists. There's a photo of part of the patio with the fountain at this site; http://www.patobriens.com/thepatio.html

Thu, 2006-09-14 10:35

#20

hox

O.K. Jude, if the rule is one from the list, it has to be the nun. The knuckledusters are superfluous anyway, I can take her on barefisted.

Thu, 2006-09-14 10:41

#21

Just one? It's gotta be my youth. Perhaps I could get it right second time around. Sorry Hox, you're gonna have to learn to live without Sgt. Pepper, (I always thought it was grossly over-rated anyway). I have at least 50 other albums I'd put above it. Trouble is I had to buy those!

Thu, 2006-09-14 11:01

#22

that's a cool fountain If I could punch a hole in time I'm not sure that I would, it sounds like the sort of thing that might have terrible and unforseen consequences.

Thu, 2006-09-14 11:03

#23

To get a little philosophical here, I tend to believe that people and things come and go as they should, and if one had the means to â€œturn back timeâ€ or bring things â€œback to the future,â€ I donâ€™t necessarily think that it would be right to do so. There are things and people that I miss, but they are/were of their time. This line of thought depends, though, if one believes in some sort of a notion of fate, which I kind of do. That said, Iâ€™ve just watched the film â€œEnigmaâ€ and it made me think that Iâ€™d like to bring one of those chaps to 2006, show them a microchip and say, â€œyou know that enormous machine you have taking up that room there? This can do the work of a thousand (Million? Billion?) of those!â€ ~PEPS~ â€œUnderlay is overrated."

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Thu, 2006-09-14 11:13

#24

markbrown

Dan, a good point. What do you think the consequences might be, apart from the ending of our universe, rips in the space time continuum and the like? Pepsoid points out an interesting aspect of the question, I reckon. If you did bring something back, would it muck stuff up? If you took a thing from the past, it couldn't still be there, meaning that there would be a gap in the past where it once was. So as well as what thing would you bring through the hole you've punched in the fabric of time, what do you think the repercussions would be and would you be prepared to pay the costs in return for the thing that you pulled through? Cheers, Mark

Thu, 2006-09-14 11:21

#25

I was worried about exactly that. If Jude brought back brown teddy would she grow up a sulky untrusting damaged person because one night in her formative years a strange hand punched through time and grabbed her teddy. Or, assuming she grabbed it (he or she?) the moment after she last saw it, would it have otherwise gone on to delight some other child, perhaps one who needed it more. If we grabbed a person it could be bad for them. If I grabbed my grandma would she have to suffer through lukemia all over again? If pepsoid grabbed Alan Turing he would find himself reduced from an a genius to an idiot simply because his fields of expertise have advanced so far. He might not appreciate it. Quite apart from that there is the problem that the hole may not close up again, or that whilst I'm reachin through it my digital watch may fall off causing untold complications in the past.

Thu, 2006-09-14 11:45

#26

poetjude

Brown Teddy was given to me when I was 3 by my grandfather. I lost him 4 Christmases ago when he fell out of my bag, so I'd only have to go back four and a half years and retrieve him from my adult self. jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

Thu, 2006-09-14 12:15

#27

~
www.fabulousmother.co.uk

Or perhaps he didn't fall out of his bag, but your future self came along and stole him, but the memory of such was so traumatic, you created a false memory to cover up the more paradoxical and unacceptable truth? Where's Philip K Dick when you need him! ~PEPS~ â€œUnderlay is overrated."

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Thu, 2006-09-14 12:23

#28

styx

Youth.

Thu, 2006-09-14 12:38

#29

2Lou

I didn't read it, but didn't Stephen Fry's, Making History, argue along similar lines? They went back in time and got rid of Hitler but then the rise in anti-semitism continued anyway and all sorts of nasty stuff happened - something like that. (This wouldn't cause any trouble - I'd bring back my little wooden painted purse with a flip up lid. I bought it from a flea market when I was 6. It was smooth and pretty and made a soft, satisfying click when I flipped the lid. I think my sister swapped it for something to do with actionman. ~ www.fabulousmother.com

Thu, 2006-09-14 13:51

#30

markbrown

Pepsoid, if Philip K Dick was involved, I think that the plot of the book would go something like this: Jude would discover that it was she who was living in the divergent timeline, in that it was her punching the hole in time and taking the teddy that caused a branch of the flow of time. Her other self, in a version of the world where the teddy wasn't taken has a significantly different life, a possibly a much better one. This other Jude becomes aware of the attempt to remove the teddy from her timeline, and is on the look out for the Jude of the divergent timeline's attempt to claim it. Jude therefore, appears at various stages in her own life attempting to reclaim the teddy, only to be resisted by herself, realising afterward that she had already experienced each strange occurrence that her future, divergent self perpetrated to try and bring the teddy into the future. At certain points, each Jude loses track of which one she is, becoming confused as to whether she is trying to protect the teddy or to claim it! It would probably involve some drugs. And some philosophy. Cheers, Mark

Thu, 2006-09-14 14:15

#31

It wouldn't be just any bear, it would be a bear with mind altering psychotropic powers and the reader would never be sure if there really were two seperate timelines or Jude was just confused by the druggy effects of the bear. If it was written by Kurt Vonnegut it would be written from the point of view of brown teddy, arbitrarily plucked from timeline to timeline by a girl or woman with an inteligence he cannot comprehend yet who loves him. The bear would have a tremendous wang, incidentally. You never know wholl get one.

Thu, 2006-09-14 15:21

#32

MB: â€œIt would probably involve some drugs. And some philosophy.â€ â€¦ as does all good sci-fi! If it was written by Douglas Adams, the teddy would be a galactic warlord, who has lots his grip on reality due to too many Pan-Galactic Gargleblasters. ~PEPS~ â€œUnderlay is overrated."

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Thu, 2006-09-14 15:46

#33

archergirl

What a great thread! I'm not quite sure what I'd bring back, if anything. Like Missi and Styx I'd consider 'youth' as one of the options, but it would have to have the caveat that I could bring my *current* experience with me. If I just had to do it all over again without the hind/foresight I have now, I'd most likely do it exactly the same way I did it the first time, which was to squander it on bad choices and poor self-esteem. So maybe I'll just keep things as they are...

Thu, 2006-09-14 15:56

#34

Dr Jekyll

I'd bring back River Phoenix.

Sat, 2006-09-16 17:41

#35