Pooh Bear wrote:
Signal wrote:

"Pooh Bear" emitted :

Magazines are not *responsible* for a decline in interest in D.I.Y.

If we're talking about youngsters taking an interest in the subject ( as I
did many yrs ago ) I think the main issue is that it's not 'kewl' to have
hobbies any more.

Was it *ever* "kewl" to stay indoors and build electronics projects?

Nobody ever 'dissed' me for doing it.


You just hang out with your gangsta friends - that's 'kewl' !

True, but you can't really blame them can you. It's just youthful
rebellion (rockers, mods, skins etc.) but taken to the next cultural
progression. The thing that gets my blood boiling is parents making
excuses like.. "Give Johnny a break... he smashes windows because
there's nothing for him to do where he lives."

Well... my hobby was sound engineering - which meant I went on to do sound
for bands which meant I met more girls.....

Mmmmm, girls.

Fine by me ! :-)

And yes - the parents today are to blame. Too many stick their kids in front of
the TV and expect it to act like parents for them 'cos they can't be bothered.

My "Johnny" has zero interest in TV, but quite a bit in girls. I hope
he learns to fix up amps before I get too old to play guitar. He's a
great kid, with better taste in music than most adults. His favorite
since he was only months old was Neil Young. He loves Cream, The
Clash, Classical & Baroque (Tchaikofsky, Bach, etc.), The Stones, and
way more Beatles than I care to hear, but hey, he's a child, and most
of that McCartney and Harrison stuff really is children's music.
We might wake to him playing Steely Dan or the Velvet Underground,
Bowie, John Lennon, The Stooges, NY Dolls or Beethoven.
Johnny (his legal name) is 3-1/2, and can already kind of read, and can
certainly do simple addition and subtraction. I'm not bragging about
good genes here, but saying keep your kids, grandkids, nieces and
nephews away from that idiot box. Get them dolls, erector sets, Lego
blocks. Let them play with mud and sticks. TV and video games cause
weakened brains and weakened bodies.
Books, playgrounds and non-electronic toys do the opposite.

Graham

--Bryan