The fall of the toyshow

When I was a child the Late late toy show marked the beginning of Christmas. It was where you got your ideas for your Santa letter because God forbid you sent your letter and then saw the best toy ever on the show. If you did not grow up with the the toy show as a part of every Christmas then you might be a little confused about this entire blog post so I'll take a quick moment to explain in case some non Irish native has gotten lost and finds themselves on my blog by mistake. The Late late show is an Irish chat show we all grew up on as many of us got by with two tv channels for many years and it didn't give you a whole lot of choices about what to watch. Now Ireland is not completely backward, Sky tv did become available in Ireland when I was growing up but my father didn't watch a lot of tv and by that reasoning we did without and I suffered through primary school hearing secondhand information about tv I never got to watch. Every year, the first Friday in December (or Last one in November this year) the late late show would dedicate a full show to toys .Hence the name. The late late toy show of my youth featured demo's of all the must have toys, reviews of the books everyone wanted to read and entertainment from the only children's dance group in the country (at the time- Billy Barry kids anyone). The toy show was the reason that I asked Santa for Zuppy (the dog puppet from the den) and the idea of it still makes me feel rather Christmassy.

 Over the years many things have changed. I have grown up and would not sit through the Late late show without some form of coercion. I have access to more channels and a whole host of other forms of entertainment thanks to the miracle that is the internet. The man who hosted the Late late show for what seemed like forever (Gay Byrne) has long since retired and been replaced by Ryan Tubridy, a man best described as being tall and skinny with a face for radio. The toys have gotten fancier and more exciting and there's more than once dance group competing for the lime light on the Toyshow now but it feels to me like some of the magic has been lost. I am aware this is largely because as a grown up I am not going to get the same level of excitement about Christmas (despite repeatedly being teased by my family for being a big child when it comes to Christmas) but I found myself cringing as I watched Stick man Tubridy stumble his way through a show that hardly bore any resemblance to the toyshow I remember. His awkward manner with kids hovers uncomfortably on the edge of every interaction as he struggles to make conversation and hurries through each demonstration. Giving off the distinct impression this is the last conversation he will have with a small child until this time next year. It seemed to me that a lot of what they were pushing was the kind of tat I couldn't imagine getting excited about as a child and disappointingly they rushed through the book segment perhaps reflecting our overall attitude to books as a Christmas gift. Now perhaps I just need to rediscover the shadow of my younger self but I found myself feeling disillusioned.  I may have been looking for a more innocent version of myself and last night I didn't find it 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The darker side of romance

Image
  For some reason I felt compelled to write about a corner of my past that hasn't been part of my blog before. a heads up to anyone who might be upset by this topic I will be delving into emotional abuse so feel free to stop reading now if you don't feel able to carry on. When I was in my late 20's I met a guy on a night out. He was a few years younger than me and honestly looking back threw up a couple of red flags early but I didn't trust my own intuition plus I was only a few months away from finishing college and planned to move to Edinburgh in a few months so it wasn't like it was going to be anything more than a brief fling. However as time went on I became more infatuated with him, there was an intensity there and he seemed sweet but damaged. Like a perfect modern fairytale I thought I would be the one to fix him. somehow plans changed and he was going to follow me over to Edinburgh, get a job there and we were going to live happily ever after. at this point
Read more

Help, I think I'm autistic

Image
 So I, at the age of 41, have come to the realization that I am autistic.  Growing up I always had a feeling something about me was a little bit off. I never quite fit in and I wasn't sure why. It was like everyone had been given a book of rules of how to exist in society but no one had thought to hand me a copy. Looking back with hindsight the signs were there. I was a super sensitive kid, a sensitivity I have not lost in adulthood, I cried very easily and felt every emotion very deeply. I was a picky eater and very particular about the textures of different food. I was very sensitive to light and noise and the feel of different fabrics. I was never a hugger. all of these things are as true about me now as they were when I was younger. I am socially awkward, I don't make friends that easily and will joke I am an acquired taste. Eye contact is something I have to actively work on and small talk feels like torture.  I thrive on alone time, I am incredibly sensitive to the moods
Read more

Sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out ..

Image
I have been told on more than one occasion that I'm sarcastic. Often that I'm too sarcastic (as though there could be such a thing) and I have retort up my sleeve for such occasions which is if you think I'm sarcastic you should meet my mother. No, really you should because my sarcasm is but a pale imitation of hers. Every so often though I come out without something that makes my friends or other family members pause because sometimes when I open my mouth, my mother comes out.  It's funny how people always take the words you are turning into your mother as such an insult because the reality of the matter is it's a both a good and bad thing. Obviously there are certain qualities I am perfectly happy to emulate and others not so much and on the whole I am not entirely sure how much control I have over it. It's not quite a pick and mix counter here. I think there are some habits you are not even aware you have picked up until someone else kindly points it out.
Read more