Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for November 23, 2011

The 1812 Overture is pretty exciting.

I guess Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture is so incredibly dramatic, that the audience is simply blown away.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone, and please remember to support your local food pantries. Some of them are totally empty this year, and so many families with children are really suffering from hunger in these economic times.Personally, I am extremely thankful to be able to spend some of my time pursuing humor in its various forms, attending dramatic performances such as Calvin describes today, exercising creativity, exercising period, or doing a host of other things, rather than simply having to struggle for survival.Then again, this darned computer is awfully slow at times…..:>)

Who’s going to burst Calvin’s bubble this time?

“Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.” – Yogi Berra

RE: Slow Response Time on GoComicsThanks to everyone who responded yesterday regarding slow page-loading on GoComics. Today GoComics told me that they haven’t seen the problem yet, but they are trying to replicate it on multiple computers and networks.I asked GoComics to read your comments at Calvin and Hobbes from yesterday and today on this issue. Unfortunately, there was no obvious trend in your comments yesterday, and Firefox is clearly not the solution for everyone. But your comments will make it clear to GoComics that the problem is occurring for a lot of people, with various Web browsers and operating systems.My posting yesterday only asked about Firefox users, so if anyone else would like to comment here on the slow page-loading issue so that GoComics can read your comment, please do so today, and mention whether or not the problem has been a lot worse in the past week or two. Also indicate which Web browser you use (Internet Explorer, Firerox, Chrome, etc.) and what operating system you use (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac, etc.)Please cut this off at the end of today. Also, please keep in mind that if you are trying to load a long list of comments (like 200 or more in one day on Luann), it is normal that it may take a long time.Thanks for your help. Hopefully, all of your comments will help GoComics to help improve things for all of us. It is too ironic if the process of trying to load comic strips continues to cause many of us to lose our sense of humor. :>)

Maybe you should try a classical music concert, Calvin – I’m suure you’d like it.

I use Internet Explorer and Windows XP and I have experienced slow page-loading times in the past couple of weeks. I have also experienced a problem with downloading Cul de Sac; I get a blank page or an error mesage but when I go to my profile page and click on the Cul de Sac icon there, I don’t have a problem. Also the problem seems to be the same no matter what time of the day or night it is.

I’ve noticed the slow loading in the last couple of weeks.

@somebodyshort: If your guess regarding ISP throttling is correct, then my guess is that Dogsniff is about to throttle his ISP.(ISP = Internet Service Provider)@Dogsniff: Was your grandma a good Provider, or just an outdated Browser? (You don’t have to answer that…….) If she got loaded too often, she probably needed a lot of Cache.

Unlike most classifcal music, the 1812 overture was a real blast.

I have Firefox and Linux Mint, and I have not noticed any slow down at all

Wasn’t the 1812 Overture the theme song for The Lone Ranger?

I wish I could have been there, but I was told the Philadelphia Orchestra once performed the 1812 Overture with percussionists firing shotguns into oil drums stuffed with old mattresses.

Another interesting military piece is Beethoven’s “Wellington’s Victory” (no, not THAT victory, a different one, in Spain) which includes carefully written musket fire not synchronized with the music.

As for fireworks, for years I’ve wanted to write the famous John Williams and tell him that if he wants to be remembered long after movies such as “Star Wars” and “Jaws” are forgotten, he should write some all-American Fourth of July music to replace a piece that commemorates a war between France and Russia.

I’m new here but I am using Google Chrome and am seeing no slowness…just saying!

a child six year talks about [ story ] the music understands with , nice nice !!!!!

Where do you think the musical term “canon” came from? :)

If you would like to see th1812 Overture complete with cannonfire and fireworks, go to West Point for the end of summer concert at the outdoor amphitheater.Seen it several times, its awesome.

That’s a big CD case Hobbes is holding… :-) I like Hobbes’ taste in music. Classical music is great stuff!

bwha hahahaha…

shotguns with blanks works. back in the day my high school band did.

@finkd….thanks! I knew it was some overture!

I saw the Pittsburgh Symphony perform the 1812 at Three Rivers Stadium years ago complete with artillery battalion and marching band. When the cannons started firing, the entire stadium shook. Loved every second of it.

I use windows 7 and internet explorer and I have several that load very slow and 1-3 each day that go straight to a page that says come back later. That most commonly happens on Ink Pen, Red & Rover, and Drabble, today so far it has been Boondocks and one other and I am only about 1/3 of the way through my favorites.

Most orchestras use shotguns loaded with blanks. Maybe not as awesome as cannons, but still a decent bang.

I have real trouble getting to Gocomics. The only way I can get there without getting a window that says, “Try later…” is to go through Google, gocomics and the punching up one of their “favorites.” Then I can scroll through them all. Ha

I think you might like.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgOlrUNzLN8

Hobbes yesterday, I had no problems at all. Today is another story. I am having problems on, both, my Windows Vista with IE 8 and my iPad with Safari. Usually when I have problems with one, the other works fine. But today all kinds of problems from slow loading to server errors to please try again. Of course, refresh will eventually bring up the page, but it is painfully slow in doing so.

This brings back memories of me playing 1812 Overture in concert band in high school either my sophomore or my junior year; I can’t remember which, but I do remember we used a bunch of bass drums for cannons & they were amplified at the concert.

I’ve been having problems for quite a while now. Firefox with XP Sometimes just (very) slow loading and sometimes that “try again later” page.

1812 Overture! Ah, the memories. We performed this as part of one of our half-time shows back in 1967. We had a 16 year old kid that was into explosives create the “booms” for us behind our castle backdrop and fake cannons. (We, including the teacher/director, called him our “pyrotechnics” expert.) This worked well for us until Randy made up a charge that was a bit to large and blew a 3 foot hole in Center Field at Anaheim Stadium. Needless to say, we never did it again. (Although the following year, they tried to burn the drill team leader at the stake as Joan of Arc. Silly girl didn’t fire-proof her costume. She was not hurt badly, but after that, the fire was yellow and orange crepe paper.) Boy did we have fun in band!

Well, I wasn’t having any problems until today —

Thanks, guys, for causing them! ;) —

but this morning it ate two comments entirely, and a few pages have not loaded.

++++

Can we have Calvin turn the 1812 canons in the direction of Gocomics?

Classical Music is really nice..

It sends me to sleep.

LOL xxx

Come to Boston 7/4 and hear the Boston Pops and the National Guard play it. Fireworks also at the end.

Every year at the River Festival, the last night is a big concert on the banks of the Arkansas River. It always ends with the 1812 Overture with real live cannon fire by a local guard unit at the proper tempo from atop a bridge nearby. Unbelievable goose bumps!!!

will someone,ANYone please give your opinion on the strip “frazz” if no one else sees the similarities then my dad was right when he said “boy if you dont quit smoking that s..t you are going to regret it one day”

@Grog…thanks for the info about your iPad . I thought there was something wrong with mine, but sounds like we are having similar issues.

I thought I had lost access too—but if you go one day back (using the arrow key atop the comic), the prior day’s page loads with access to the whole shebang. The calendar may take a bit longer to load, but it does eventually. (extra 15-30 sec???)

During Taylorsville days out here, the Utah Symphony plays the 1812 with real cannons (small handmade ones but seriously loud with black powder) and fireworks to boot. If Calvin had his way the cannons would be pointed AT the audience…..

I once read that Tchaikovsky came to regard 1812 as a noisy piece of trash. I think he felt that way because its popularity overshadowed what he considered his better works.

Hobbes, I have Safari on my MacBook and I have not experienced a slow download time for GoComics.

Another good one! How do you do it day after day?!?!?

 

;-)

Calvin’s crazy-eyed expression in the 4th panel is starting to scare me a little bit. Wonder what’s going on in that little brain of his right now?!?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope it’s a really great one! Try not to eat too much . . . it’s not good for you in more ways than one!!!!!

 

;-)

@Dogsniff: It’s as though, in each situation, you doggedly keep at it until you manage to sniff out the best wording for the humor.

Hi Phapada BobtheBandGuy was joking, because there is a kind of music called the “canon,” spelled c-a-n-o-n, but it is a totally different thing from firing a “cannon,” spelled c-a-n-n-o-n. Here is an explanation of the musical canon, from Wikipedia:Click here: Musical CanonHis comment was funny because Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture is not a musical canon, but it is music that uses cannons.

Funny, I read this strip while listening to Dimitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Op. 96, performed by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. Five and half minutes of the fastest moving ride I’ve probably ever heard. I highly recommend it if you’re sleepy and need to wake up. Crank it up, too.

@Number 6: No, it’s Canon in D for “Darned good question from someone who is just beginning to learn English and doing Darned well at trying.”Technically, it’s Canon in D for two sharps in the key signature, but we won’t go into that…… :>)

@Keith Hocker: I agree that Shostakovich’s Festive Overture is a great piece. It was originally written for string orchestra, but I think it’s also a lot of fun to listen to the wind ensemble version, especially if it’s played fast, because the woodwind players’ fingers really have to fly in order to play what were originally the string parts. You can download a live performance of it by the Eastman Wind Ensemble on iTunes, from the CD “Live in Osaka.” They manage to finish in 5 minutes 53 seconds, if you subtract off the applause at the end.

Back in the 80s I had a friend who was a frustrated audiophile. I say frustrated because Elwood had this premo stereo system with a high powered Ampzilla amplifier and these huge Klipschorn speakers. His favorite musical work was the 1812 Overture. As long as he kept the volume down there was no problem. But as the day/night would get longer and more recreational substances would be consumed, the volume level would creep up. Invariably 1812 would go on the turntable and the volume knob went up to max and the house would be vibrating. When it would reach the cannonade, the speakers would go BAH and then silence. No BOOM. The internal fuses in the amp would blow every time. Have you ever driven all over Cincinnati at 2:00 AM trying to find the right fuse? I have.

BOOM…fewer people get out of the concert than go in!

Not that kind.