The DM Show

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAxVdkBlry8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link View this post on Instagram 6 June 1993: #Illustration #calvin #billwatterson #cartoon #selfhelpbooks #calvinandhobbes #comics #funny A post shared by Calvin & Hobbes (@calvinhobbes2020) on May 29, 2020 at 4:55am P Calvin & Hobbes is just funny; I think Bill Watterson, the mysterious author who created it, is a comedian—an artist not devoted to any viewpoint but devoted, ultimately, to comedy. He uses his character, Calvin, to find what is funny. He occasionally also finds what is poignant and moving and profound, but he constantly returns to funny—it is like the True North that he re-orients himself to. I say this not having recently done any deep reading of Calvin & Hobbes; I’ve just been following some of these accounts that re-print old C&H comics. But as I do so, and as he makes me laugh, I find myself wondering what is behind the jokes—what is the viewpoint of this joke,...

So I previously stated this elsewhere and more forcefully--the whole "basketball is coming back" story kind of sucks and we'd all be better off if it weren't the case. On the other hand, "baseball is coming back" is a sensible story that hopefully will happen, although it might not. Let's review the differences. Basketball season goes from November to June. If not for Covid-19, they'd be finishing the Conference Finals this week, getting us set for the final, best-of-seven, championship series to be played next week. However, most everyone agrees that whomever returns to play needs a week-plus of training to get back into shape. So while the Finals normally end by June 15, this rescheduled end-of-basketball-season wouldn't start until July or August, which is usually the offseason. Meanwhile, baseball usually runs from April till late October. Thus, though we've missed the first half of the baseball season, it can start in July and it will be...

I'm glad I have my own show, because the tension between these hosts who work together is normally not good. I guess that I think Kornheiser and Wilbon do it as well as anybody--and I don't think they do that good. Here I have to remind myself that I'm talking about living people and not like ... historical or fictional characters. And that's because Kornheiser and Wilbon are victims of their own success. I'm saying, I guess, that Kornheiser and Wilbon are a little bit like The Simpsons . They were great for several years--let's round up and say they were good for a decade. They had personality, edge, charisma--the necessary components to being good. But to stay on the air for longer than a decade, a sports personality has to make compromises. The edge just can't be real for longer than a decade. (Maybe the same is true for an animated sitcom but I'm not sure--the analogy was more the number of years one can be good for.) The "chemistry" on PTI...

So I like positive thinking and so should you--I mean, if you want to succeed generally, you should probably think positive. But at the same time you need to be able to face reality, and if you're in an environment where there's so much positive thinking that most people are missing reality, then you will be able to make a name for yourself as a realist and a cynic. In other words, you will take what is generally a bad thing--cynicism--and make it a good thing. Your cynical, bitter words will be like water given to a man in the desert who's dying of thirst. That's Ray Ratto. Like, if I'm raising a kid and he's as cynical as Ray Ratto, I'm very concerned. I'd be on the line with a therapist, sending him regularly, trying to get him out of his deep, deep depression. But Ray's not a kid, and so his mental state is his own responsibility, and as far as his professional life goes, we all benefit from him being like the only guy in the room who keeps it re...