if i could travel backwards in time

[ashevillecabbie]

There's a novel, Replay by Ken Grimwood (IIRC) wherein the protagonist has a heart attack and somehow wakes from it as his much younger self, "back in the day" when he was in college. He "remembers" the future, ditches college, and flies out to Vegas to bet on the Kentucky Derby because he "remembers" the winning horse.

 

So, okay, if that happened to me tonight (God forbid) and I woke up as my 19 year old 1972 hippie-dippie self, it would be one heck of a shock.

 

I was a cab driver in Tallahassee FL that year. But I have fond memories of that time, and if I were actually able to revisit it that would be awesome.

 

Now, I know this is pure fantasy but I suppose if that really happened I would invest heavily in Microsoft and Cisco Systems as soon as I could, and, I dunno, maybe start out by writing my own version of Jaws and beat Peter Benchley to the marketplace (that would be worth some serious coin!).

 

I would then be in a position to buy a Synclavier and a Kurzweil K250 as soon as they came out, throw in a Fairlight and an Emulator II.

 

Man, that would really be cool.

 

[Michael W]

I get your point, but Cisco Systems was formed in 1984 and went public in 1990.

 

Microsoft was founded in 1975 and went public in 1986.

 

So you'd have to wait a bit for those two.

 

And of course, you'd want to remember to sell MSFT and CSCO sometime around 1998, or maybe 1999.

 

I have no idea what would be the best-performing stocks from 1972 until now. Warren Buffet would probably know.

 

[ashevillecabbie]

So what were the big sporting events of 1972? Hey, if I were to wait for the election of 1976, could I have won anything betting on Carter?

[yannis D]

I would have stayed in Paris, France, and try to study more, not only in the classical field but in other fields too. More jazz, more academical studies, more gigs... And i would try to make a living there. There is nothing like being in Paris

[marino]

Same for me: I would have left Italy as soon as I could. I had several chances to move to the UK or the USA in the course of my life, but I never did it for a bunch of reasons, thinking that I could make a decent living here anyway. Now, facing the economic/cultural/social disaster we're floating in, plus a few things that went wrong with my personal life history and surrounding, I see not having trying my fortune abroad as a substantial regret.

 

The rest, I would have done more or less the same than I did. Anyway, I was so drawn to music that I didn't have much choice really.

 

 

 

 

[hurricane hugo]

If I went back in time to visit 19-year-old-me, I'd give him a list of names and tell him, "Don't get involved with these people."

[George88]

If I went back in time to visit 19-year-old-me, I'd give him a list of names and tell him, "Don't get involved with these people."

 

1+

[Doerfler]

I would have stayed in Paris, France,

There is nothing like being in Paris

+1

during 1991 I was there for 6 months then they kicked me out

since I had a USA passport I couldn't get a work visa

[allan_evett]

If I went back in time to visit 19-year-old-me, I'd give him a list of names and tell him, "Don't get involved with these people."

 

 

Yeah... I can think of a couple of folks I would've either avoided altogether, or put on the periphery

 

Meanwhile, from age 19 on: Up until about age 25, I would've stayed on about the same path: road band in '79-'80, finishing up school in 1983. Had some fun, a little pain, and no small amount of challenge (especially with Bill Russo kicking my arse at Columbia College ); but it was all leading somewhere. One thing I would've done differently was my approach to technology: From 1979 to 1985, I was scared to fall on my face, look 'stupid', etc.. Wish I'd just dived in to computers, sound, etc., and asked a lot more questions... And, I would've started buying up Apple stock, early on.

 

The main diversion I would've taken was getting my butt out to a major music center right after college, and just plunging in - for better or worse. The journey, instead, has been rather convoluted. I read a quote by Kenny Loggins, several years back, that went something like this: ' I was focusing 90% on what I would do if music didn't pan out, and 10% on music. When I reversed those numbers, things started to happen'. Wish I'd had that quote - on a billboard above my house - when I was 27..

 

[MAJUSCULE]

That's a real good quote, Allan. If I went back to being 19... I think I'd do everything the same. There isn't much for me to change.

[OB Dave]

There's an awful lot I would have done differently, but quite a few things that I would do the same. And Yannis and Dave are right, there IS no place even remotely like Paris. It's still a fantasy of mine to live there for a year or two.

[Synthoid]

I would then be in a position to buy a Synclavier and a Kurzweil K250 as soon as they came out, throw in a Fairlight and an Emulator II.

 

+1 Indeed.

 

Here's a time machine for ya:

 

http://www.colemanzone.com/images(4)/Jason%20Gares/1966%20Time%20Machine%20Studio%20Prop%20Reproduction%2026.jpg

 

 

 

[Brettymike]

No , here's the real one , the most expensive prop ever made > http://www.usedtimemachines.co.uk/communities/6/004/008/292/686/images/4537509781.jpg

 

Brett

[yannis D]

during 1991 I was there for 6 months then they kicked me out

since I had a USA passport I couldn't get a work visa

 

Wow, wow, wow... Kicked out from France cause you had an american passport. I thought it was the other way around What did you do there? Music or other studies? I left back home in August 1991 after i finished my degree in the Ecole Normale de Musique.

[Baldwin Funster]

If I could go back in time: I'd take strat and marshall back 1990 years to a certain Mideastern Jew. And a generator. And some kerosene. And....

[ashevillecabbie]

If I could go back in time: I'd take strat and marshall back 1990 years to a certain Mideastern Jew. And a generator. And some kerosene. And....

 

Wow. Intriguing answer. What would you hope to accomplish?

[Baldwin Funster]

I want to see if someone could top Jimi Hendrix.

[Joe Muscara]

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AldUzWWq8iQ

[ashevillecabbie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Time_Machine_Classics_Illustrated_133.jpg

[JeffLearman]

Hindsight investing is easy.

In the late 50's through 70's, Digital Electronic Corp. Sell 1988.

In 80's Wall-Mart. Sell just after Y2K

90's, Cisco, Uniphase. Sell just after Y2K

After the dust settles from the tech bubble, Apple. Sell 2012.

 

For a short fun ride, buy KIDE (4-kids entertainment, who owned the Pokemon label in the US), buy as early as possible (1997? 1998?) and sell just before the Pokemon movie comes out, for a 400-1 gain in under 2 years, IIRC.

 

Another short fun ride, and recent: buy bitcoins at $1 each in April 2012, sell them when they hit $1200 (less than 2 years later). $1 gets you $1000. Hope you got a lot of them!

 

And of course, those two lists of women: ones to avoid, and ones NOT to avoid!

 

If I could return prior to 1965, I'd patent the windsurfer, and avoid the mess that Hoyle Schweitzer caused. I'd be sure to toss Jim Drake his $36K, as the inventor (and that's what he got from it). I'd license it very low and use the funds (small for a business but big for a kid) to buy a few instruments and the above-mentioned stocks.

[Mogut]

I'd use one of these to put my 15 yr old self back to 1958 in liverpool and join a band

 

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2010/1/26/1264520456153/The-tub-in-Hot-Tub-Time-M-001.jpg

[Steve Nathan]

I was gonna say, I'd go back if I could play on this record again

Snippet

 

But I can't find the whole song anywhere

 

Oh well,

[Steve Nathan]

I did find this though, which is my favorite cut from that record

 

[Daniel Heslop]

Hindsight and regret are funny things.

People often say "you regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did" but I think the only reason for this is that we tend to fondly imagine if we had done those things, it would have all worked out fantastic, which is almost certainly not true.

That said, I wish I had more confidence when I was young, to travel and pursue music with every fibre of my being. Probably I still would never have been a famous rock star or whatever, but my life would have been richer in other ways.

 

I wish I hung onto a fair number of synths and other keyboards, and had purchased a few when analog was uncool and dirt cheap.

And yes I wish I'd messed around more when I was young. Shyness sucks.

I too would have made some different choices regarding people I got involved with, and some I didn't get involved with.

 

However sometimes with regrets, I think of a quote (I think maybe the Dali Lama but I could be wrong) "The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. But the second best time is today". Age and circumstances are real and do place some limitations, but the last couple of my 51 years have been spent with a passion for playing which surpasses what I had in my youth.

 

I will admit I used to have the time travel fantasy where I would write all the Beatles songs!

[JeffLearman]

Right, Shokotu, plus we have an amazing ability to forget the stupid stuff we regret doing!

[MonksDream]

If I could go back I'd probably make different mistakes for the same reasons! That said, I'd have gone to Paris instead of getting involved with my ex. And I would have taken piano seriously a lot earlier. I would also imagine having a memory of the intervening years would make me impatient for it all to happen so I could take advantage.