Christmas Started Tonight In Ireland

When I was a kid, the first sign of Christmas was the Late Late Toy Show. The Late Late Show is a long running late night chat show that most of Ireland watched throughout the 60’s, 70’s 80’s and 90’s. It still runs today, and is the second longest running late night talk show in the world. To this day, it is broadcast live in from of a studio audience (except in current pandemic restrictions).

The Late Late Toy Show is an annual special episode in late November where all the good little children of Ireland are let stay up long past their bedtimes to see what the hot toys, games and books of the year are. It always has special guests, children presenting toys, musical pieces and other novelties to entertain. As a kid, it was magical. 

Recent years have been less than awe-inspiring. There was just something missing ever since Gay Byrne retired in 1999. All subsequent hosts just didn’t have the same skills and screen presence, and the Toy Show became a 2 hour advertisment for the toys companies that could afford to promote their stuff. While I was in college it was a joke, and in the last decade or two, I haven’t bothered with it. 

While browsing twitter earlier today I was alerted to the fact the this years show had just begun! Purely out of nostalgia, and expecting absolutely nothing, I fired up the RTÉ Player on my iPad and started watching, streamed live from Ireland, with my kids. 

And it. 

Was.

✨✨MAGICAL!✨✨

The musical numbers were utterly beautiful, and there were lots to enjoy. The show opened with the host and a bunch of kids in an elaborate set piece, and they later did an encore with Singing In The Rain. But by far the two most magical moments were the beautiful rendition of Rule The World dedicated to all those who can’t come home this Christmas and... well... it’s better not to spoil it, but this cover of a song by an Irish artist, called Giants. Seriously, if you ignore all other links in this post, don’t skip that one. It’s...special. 

And the kids! Every one of them was a character, a joy to see on screen. They could banter away and gave as good as they got with jokes and friendly insults! After each one, I thought they couldn’t top that, and then the next kid would appear and I’d have to grab my tissues again and try not to sob too loudly. The surprise guest for a little boy with brittle bone disease (the Late Late Toy Show always made bringing sick children a little extra joy a priority) was possibly the sweetest moment I’ve witnessed all year. 

The positive buzz online during and after the show was deafening! People all over th eWorld were live Tweeting it, myself included, and individual guest names were trending in Ireland, much to one 7 year old girl’s delight! Everyone was enjoying the love and heart that was on display throughout. In a year where a lot of families are feeling the pinch, it was very nice to see them take the focus off the toys and land it squarely on the children. 

All this and they raised €5.2 MILLION in about two hours for children’s hospitals across the country! Ireland has a population of about 5 million, and given that the donation drive remains open after the show, I can only imagine what it’s up to now! 

This year’s Late Late Toy Show was breathtaking, and my love and congratulations goes out to everyone involved. I’m so delighted I got to share it, live, with my kids this year. We will absolutely be tuning in again next year, and until then, we’ll be rewatching the hightlights on the RTÉ YouTube channel for some time to come. 

Oh! And the host, Ryan, said “Fuck” on live Irish television in front of a seven year old girl and absolutely everyone watching lost it, and we will all love him for it forever.  

Resolutions

Hi.

It’s been almost a year since I blogged. My one and only post in 2019 was in January. This isn’t a post to excuse that or explain away why that was so, instead it is about 2020. The future. Now.

I’ve never been one for resolutions. I think they fail too often and make you feel bad about not succeeding at yet another thing in life. But then I saw a video that explained a lot to me. Veritasium’s, one of my favourite educational YouTube channels did a video about the science behind resolutions and tips on how to keep them, and it really resonated with me. Watch it below, then read on.

A few points stood out. Resolutions made for January 1st actually are statistically more likely to be met than ones made at any other time of the year. Don’t make big, sweeping changes, but instead small alterations that will grow to much more as you develop them into a new, ongoing habit. Honestly, the video covers everything, so if you’re reading this and you still haven’t watched, then go back and do that now. It’ll explain why my resolutions seem so inconsequential.

I’ve come up with four resolutions that I want to keep to. That seems like a lot in itself, but I honestly think they small enough to be manageable, but smart enough to grow into a life changing routine if I can just keep doing them. They are:

1. Drink one glass of water every day.

I drink a lot of fluids every day, but mostly in coffee, tea and the carbonated water drink Bubly. I’m not overly concerned about not getting fluids, but I do want to drink more water by itself. So one glass every day. I aim to try to get this done right at the start of each day, drinking it while the kettle boils for my morning coffee. Genius! Resolution 1.5 is to try to maintain a full water jug in the fridge, as it’s much easier choose that over a can of Bubly when I open the door and it’s there.

2. Draw a box every day.

I want to draw more, but instead of setting a goal to draw a full character or even a face, I’m just going to make sure I draw at least a box every day. And a 2D box, or “square”, counts, as long as it’s done with the intention of meeting this resolution. Obviously, I hope to commonly draw more, but I should be able to commit to and do something as simple as this, and once the routine is there, drawing more should come.

3. Write one sentence every day.

It doesn’t have to be poetry, it doesn’t have to be fancy, but I want to write more, and like the drawing one, this is how I’ll start. To accomplish both 2. and 3., I’ve pulled an unused notebook off my shelf and I’m going to keep it near me. I can draw and write in it at any time, but, along with the water, I hope to do it first thing in the morning. My mornings usually involve watching the night’s uploads on YouTube, so I’m confident I can take five minutes to draw and write one thing while I drink a glass of water. Also, blog posts count, so, no promises, but you might see more of me back here in 2020.

4. Read one book with the kids every week.

This is an odd one. I do read a lot with both my kids. I love when we read together, and I love how much they both enjoy books. This isn’t some huge change, as if before now I never read books with them, but I also know that too often, life can zip on by and it’s been a couple of weeks since I sat down and read something with them without any other distractions. I’m honestly hoping that this one evolves into “Read one new book with the kids every week”. But for now, I’m keeping it very simple.

So there we are. My resolutions. Purposefully very basic. I’ll update if I fail. I’ll update in a year if I succeed. But to kick things off, I’ve already drank a glass of water today, we read four books together on the couch this afternoon and I wrote this post this evening. As soon as I publish this, I’m off to christen that notebook with the first drawing, but also to note that I blogged, drank and read. I think I’ll use it to track my progress, though noting that will not count itself toward writing one sentence.

But while I have it open...