Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for May 11, 2019

See it as an opportunity for a mural.

Calvin’s Saturday mornings have been ruined forever!

Time to introduce old time radio!

Calvin, what do you think Hobbes is for? Friends entertain friends when there is nothing to do.

These days, people look at the computer whether it’s YouTube or any other website.

I see he’s back to his old self!!

Imagine nowadays with Calvin suffering with no internet

No TV plus Calvin is not even grounded equals quite a shock.

Back when Ipods were new, an Australian I knew had his stolen. He bought a new one and proceeded to live on bread and marge for the rest of the month to make up for it. To him, it was worth it; couldn’t be without his music.

Maybe just buy a NEW ONE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go outside…..?

Mom and dad are hoping the police bring back the old tv.

Calvin, just get a cardboard box. You can make anything out of it. It would make a stupendous hyperspace megawarp battlecraft for spaceman spiff.

Stop and think everyone, if Calvin went and found something else to do, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy being annoyed and angry

Calvin’s adventures don’t generally include a tv set. He’s usually too busy getting up to mischief with Hobbes.

You would have thought that Calvin would be having TV withdrawal symptoms by now!

So how was that asparagus, Calvin?

Where is Soupy Sales when you need him? I bet Hobbs misses White Fang.

A blank wall? Time to get the old Kenner Give-A-Show projector.

Calvin sounds like a lot of the under-30s I work with.

It’s a good time for Dad to get a plasma TV and surprise the family.

This looks like a job for STUPENDOUS MAN!!!!!!!!!

White wall? Good place to show home movies – if anyone still has a projector and films or slides.

I might suggest the family could just talk to each other, but knowing my own family I would not wish that on anyone.

L-i-b-r-a-r-y!

And, this was in the pre-Netflix era …

Board games? Maybe Dad could read out loud. I hear The Hobbit is still a good option.

Obviously this was before Iphones and tablets where all you need to do is download shows from the internet.

One the other hand – where does it say we, as parents, are required to “entertain” a kid?My Dad used to say, " … use your imagination."“No, do not do that.”Reckon he knew us too well.

I remember reading Lord of the Rings to my kids when they were, like, 10 and 8. Talk about wide-eyed attention!!! And groans when it was time to stop for bed. Now it would have to be those guys like Spidey, Hulk, Thor…Captain Marvel, etc. No imagination, no wondering about the plot, just passive watching of random violence. The “magic” was special then. Now, it’s just everyone can do everything, and destroy an entire city while they fight their battles. There’s no thinking anymore. No real plot. Just repetitive violence. And I’m a curmudgeon, I know. Not ashamed though.

These comments remind me of a few decades ago when there was lamentation that television and comic books meant children weren’t reading books. And then the first Harry Potter came out and suddenly reading that rather lengthy novel with a complex story was the thing to do and every sequel was a big event. So when the right book comes along, it’s amazing how children suddenly want to read.

Reminds me of the Far Side episode “What people did before TV,” showing a family staring at a blank wall!

Hate a blank white wall!

I had my Calvin moments without a tv when I was probably around his age in the mid 1970’s. We had a massive thunderstorm and despite being told to disconnect the tv from the antenna I hadn’t and was watching it when lightening hit the antenna which caused the tv to blow up. We were fairly poor so we went about a week without a tv until my dad found a deal on an old tv with tubes. You had to turn it on 5 minutes before you wanted to watch something so the picture tube would warm up and could only watch for a couple hours until you had to turn it off so the tubes didn’t overheat. I learned to choose carefully what programs were worth watching due to that problem.

Oh the burdens we bear…….

The wall could be beige. I’d rather look at white.