#47 Christmas Day with the Boys

0:00Shh. It's Christmas time. I'm sleeping. There's no need to be afraid. There's lots of reasons to be afraid. But today, there's no reasons. Today, it's nice and quiet. I wonder now, who is listening to this? They're either hiding in the bed from the family. Maybe they're hiding under the covers. And they have us inside under the covers with them. I'd say it's just the three of us now, whoever it is. Someone might have us up on the TV with the fire roaring. Oh yeah. You never know. Yeah. Anyway, you're going to be spending Christmas with me and Mark T. Cox. Hello. We're very cozy. We've got our Christmas hats on.

0:41We have the chestnuts roasting on the fire. Yeah. The whole job. But it's actually technically now, at the moment, we're going to go into Christmas Eve. Okay. We're going to set the scene for them. So Mark, 20 years ago, what's Mark T. Cox doing? 20 years ago I was 15 Yeah So we probably go back more You can lie about your age as well Though it doesn't even matter 20 years ago I was 3 You're 3 3 years old Christmas Eve now I would say Christmas Day Is actually fairly Kind of relaxed It's the Christmas Eve Is all action Because You have to remember I was very famous As a child Oh shoot the big gig I had the big job.

1:31Christmas Eve and Easter Saturday were the highlights of my year because I was playing the organ in the church. So nothing else mattered. It was all about me. And it was all about me getting ready. Choir practice, I'd say for six weeks. What about Jesus and Santa Claus? Would you have been bigger than them and Ennis? Yeah Yeah It was all about me And All the time Christmas Eve Day I was counting down And watching the clock I love fussing Mass was at 9 o 'clock Christmas Eve And I would be Tearing my hair out Panicked That we're going to be late Because I had to get there At about 7 To set up And Tune the organ Fiddle my My stops From what age were you?

2:21From about 7 or 8 up to 17. Can you remember your first big Christmas gig? Oh my God. Because you have O Holy Night. Have I told you this before? No. And O Holy Night and there was a child who sings O Holy Night and if that went well they'd all cry. And who was the child? I won't say the name. Why? Say the name? They might have moved away from that lifestyle. I don't know. Say their first name. I can't. But there was a whole family of them and each year a different one from the family would sing Oh Holy Night no one else was allowed to touch it little bit of a mafia we had that as well we had that we had a couple of people like there'd only be one drama teacher their kids would get the main spots there'd only be one person in the choir they'd get the main sings so we'd well we'd get up we'd go to town Michael Cox has to get the turkey the turkey is ordered in town and you have to go into town and collect the turkey and the ham and then run around and get a few bits and then Ennis was all action there'd be a lot of people going into town just to kind of walk around and be frantic and kind of bumping into each other and bags going so that'd be fun there'd be a lot of going and then myself and my father might do that and then my mother would be at home doing jobs and wrapping presents because she decided 365 days in the year she decided Christmas Eve at about 6 o 'clock was the best time to start visiting everyone she's ever met and give them presents.

3:53And I'm watching the clock and said, we're going to be late for mass. Oh. So very tight. I should be washing the hair. I should be getting ready. I should be doing jobs and wrapping presents. And then she has to go to visit my aunt and visit my granny. And there could be a few more houses. And you're absolutely sweating in the back of the car. I'm sweating in the back of the car. I can't go. It's all about me. My mother at six o 'clock every Christmas Eve would go, I've nothing got. Oh, into the shops? Nothing got. Yeah, she's going to do her big Christmas run. she'd already be after buying everything absolutely everything up until that point and then she'd go in she'd go I've nothing got and she'd go in and buy 50 packets of shower gel for her Just in case Just in case Because the shops are closed Christmas day Yeah they are yeah So you really have to stock up Yeah except for the odd petrol station that we sell in batteries Yeah So Christmas Eve you head down So we're flying around we have to visit all those people and then you might go I might go to my granny's house and then you'd be just about to leave and then someone else would land in and there'd be more tea and we'd have to stay for another 20 minutes.

4:47God forbid you'd shame them by telling them you want to go. I have to go. I have to go. I have to get to the mass. So I was just anxious for the whole day and panicked and yeah, very bothered. But then we'd go and then I'd tune up my organ and the choir would arrive and... Wait, say it again. What age were you when you did this first? I could be seven, eight. Seven. So you're tuning up the organ and all the choir is filing in going, how are you, Mark? Oh, yeah. While you're in charge of the biggest instrument in there. Running the show. Hello, this is just a little reminder. If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure to click follow on Spotify or you can leave a little review on Apple Podcasts.

5:29Thanks so much. And they'd all come in and then we sing the songs. We might start with Oh Come All Ye Faithful. That'd be nice. Were you any good? Were you actually good? Oh yeah, I was good. But you know what I mean? People said I was the best. They said I was the best. Some people said I was the best. Your mother must have been walking around there like cock of the walk. Beaming new coat. Yeah. Up the aisle. Yeah. And where did your family sit then? They'd be scattered around. Okay. They wouldn't be up the front though. They're not in the choir. Right. No, it was just me. And how did you get the gig?

6:00I got the gig because someone retired. Oh, you actually mentioned this before. And then they wanted to get someone in young. Yeah. So I'd stay for a while. Yeah. So they got 10 years out of me. And you're still there now? They sent me to school. They sent me to music school and everything. Oh, wow. So we might start with Oh come all ye faithful Up the aisle Here comes the priest Lights are off Candles Oh I love A midnight mass Very giddy I love a midnight mass And did you have a candle And it would have A little paper Kind of A paper coaster on it Yes To stop the wax Stop the drips Yeah yeah And everyone would light their candle Do you know what That was That was actually a bit I think that was a bit cringe Lighting Do you think Lighting You know You pass you pass the flame to the neighbour or something yeah is that Easter everyone lights the flame no no oh oh I think that's Easter the pascal candle the pascal candle and you pass the light of Jesus but there was definitely there was definitely midnight mass at Christmas they have candles as well yeah oh my god I forgot you have the crib outside the light and you have some farmer with loads of donkeys wait you'd have you'd have a live action crib with live action crib donkeys and there might be a sheep or something and a few children singing and then do you know another anxiety for me was the choir would be outside singing at the gate yeah with the pig and the donkeys and i'd be inside on my own and i'm thinking the priest is going to start coming up the aisle i have no choir so i'd be banging on the window like he's about to come up and then you hear the little jingle and half the choir be still outside on the road oh come all you faithful half and like we'd rehearsed it for weeks how long was mass an hour it'll be an hour and a half and how many songs well you've overcome all your faithful and then you have the Gloria and you have something else before that and then you have in between the readings what's that three Vengabuzz Vengabuzz and then you have an Alleluia that's five because you do all the bits of the Mass so all the bits that are usually said you sing them so you're watching and did you sing a little bit while you were playing the organ no no no I was busy and then you'll have an Amen and you'll have a Lamb of God and you'll have Did you provide any bed music you know for The Ophitry For The Ophitry and then you might have a bit of a away in a manger kind of a play thrown in and you'll have a few children bringing up a Jesus I bet you were looking on them were you you thought they were crap Well that was a bit of theatre so I was like you know the acting was shocking sometimes you know and then you'd have communion and it's a full church it could be six, seven hundred people so you might And would you You'd head straight home then afterwards.

8:35You wouldn't want any of the adulation or anything, would you? When I got a bit older, we'd go home because I'd like to de-stress and step out of the public eye. Did you ever start hating it like as a teenager? No, I loved it. You loved every minute of it? Yeah, of course. And then we might go to the pub and then, oh, because I'd arrive in late, soak up all the praise. There'd be a lot of old women who were in the choir and then you'd see them drunk and that was funny. Yeah. And when you're saying old women, you're talking about women who are 32 probably. Yeah, 40. probably yeah not old at all but I was young yeah so it was a big day it was a big day it was work for me and what about Santee then were you looking forward to Santee coming or were you just thinking about Santee yeah like did you have the letter sent and all that yeah yeah I don't know if those two things overlapped totally a little I'd say by the time what were you were you worried about getting home like you know getting into bed no we were well Santee always came very late to our house yeah she wrote the west like maybe two o 'clock three o 'clock so I think we were fine the pub would close around 12 so we'd be home around 2 and we'd walk home because pitch dark yeah up the hill sliding up the hill what about you Christmas Eve would you go to that mass Christmas you see we couldn't go to Christmas Eve mass we'd want to go there but we'd be made you could end up going to two masses like if you weren't careful so you could try and scarper down for the Christmas Eve mass get a quick one in like 6 o 'clock or something but then you could be made go to Christmas Day Mass as well with all the family.

10:03You're getting up going Christmas Day. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so we weren't much of a Christmas Eve family. We were into bed like, you know, you want to be gone. And then you'd wake up in the morning and... What did you feed Santi? I'd say a can of Guinness. A can of Guinness? And a few biscuits. Tell you that, Santa Claus must have been fucking wrecked up on that sleigh. Yeah. He was getting whiskey inside my place. He got milk inside another place. Yeah. And a few carrots. Yeah a few carrots as well Yeah And a cookie or something Right what time are you getting up? So I would be up very early Disgustingly early I'd be up at 6 o 'clock 6am Banging pots and pans Yeah Gone mad What age are you now?

10:44Just five 22 I absolutely loved Christmas Day Where are you? You're the baby? Baby yeah Okay By a long shot How old? So like More At least ten years Okay so no one else cares No but I was But it also was I suppose fun for them because I was you know well I mean I was a very hyperactive child Oh you're right little baba Yeah I was a right little bastard I'd say But I was running around absolutely loved it And my mother would be up before me Yeah Because she'd put the turkey in at about 3 o 'clock in the morning to make sure that it's absolutely cremated Burnt God forbid there'd be any bit of moisture left in the turkey at all Big one When you'd eat the turkey at home you'd just be tasting her mouth Like that's it I remember one year I decided that I would cook the turkey.

11:31And sure, God Almighty, there was nearly a revolt. But I was putting in the turkey at, I don't know, 10 a.m., something like that. Yeah. She thought I'd ruin Christmas. Well, the day's over. They thought I had ruined Christmas. They were talking to food poisoning and everything at 2 p.m. It's the nicest turkey we ever had. Mam be up then and she'd put in the turkey that she probably forgot to get and then got it the evening before and was only able to get then, you know, like a 20 kg turkey or something. Or an old breast. Yeah, it'd be bait into the oven. Yeah. and she'd have to flame throw it then for hours on end.

12:03And then a big Christmas tradition we had was a man would crash the car. That was a big one she had. Where's she going? She'd be heading out usually to see anyone else. That'd be her usual thing. She wouldn't really stick around. Christmas Day? Christmas Day, yeah. After the dinner? No, no, it'd be straight away in the morning. So you'd get up, you'd have about, I don't know, I suppose you'd have an hour of fun maybe. Yeah. And then the whole day would come crashing down because she'd crash into the wall outside. and the slipping and the ice no no no she'd she just like I'm not joking I know people are saying like oh she did this every year she did this at least four Christmases reversed into the into the pillar she'd be excited maybe and then she'd burst in the door so mam would leave then she'd burst in the door crying usually yeah and you'd think she was after killing someone or something then she'd be after crashing into the pillar so the pillar got crashed into every Christmas that was one of our favourite traditions nice yeah You missed that Yeah But it was Yeah it was It was lovely It opened up my little Do you know my Actually do you know what I just remembered something Do you know the barrels In roses The barrels chocolate Go back Do you know Do you know roses chocolate You know you get a tin of roses At Christmas right Big tradition right Yeah quality street You get roses Half a barrel Yeah half a barrel Caramel Do you know my dad told me They were strawberry Oh He told me they were strawberry For years Brown strawberries Yeah and I hate I hate strawberry Like flavoured sweets And whatever they were caramel barrels I didn't find that out until I was about 21 what would your favourite be?

13:31ooh I'd say my favourite no would have to be probably caramel barrels yeah but I didn't find it out for two decades we thought they were strawberries they're lovely and he'd gather up all little barrels like a little pirate but um yeah we'd do that so she crashed a car and then she'd come back in she crashed a car she'd come in crying what time is the dinner? the dinner then the torque would be burnt around one I suppose lovely yeah and um then what we'd have as well is we'd have a random man would have Christmas with us as well. Just a random man. Go on. Like a neighbour? No. No. Just a random man.

14:10Different man. Yeah, could be. Someone who didn't have anyone? Kind of. Kind of not. Like, I mean, look, I know it was charitable, but I don't mind saying is wrecked Christmas. Changes the mood. So weird. That could be you someday. So strange. You might need a house. No, no, but, but, but, I know I'm sounding like a great cheer, right? But if someone came in and they were really happy to spend Christmas with you, totally different. This person was not happy to spend Christmas with us. Like, not even in a sad way, it was just kind of like, it's not really going to talk to you. Oh, no. So you'd be sitting down, how many of us was it?

14:50The six of us. And a man. And a man. just sitting down like an old local farmer or something yeah what was my producer telling me oh my hat is is my hat I like to touch my head a little bit it's lovely do you know one Christmas there's all these memories coming back one Christmas did I tell you the story of Bling no no I haven't told you the story of Bling I don't think so do you know the story of Bling no one Christmas we were sitting down the six of us and the man and very awkward and then my sister Siobhan said that she got jewellery for Christmas from her husband and she said that she got bling yeah right which is just another name kind of funny name for jewellery or rings and things yeah and my mother completely misunderstood what that was as she does with most things that are slang and in the middle of the most awkward Christmas dinner in the world she elbowed my dad and goes I got bling for Christmas as well oh what do you think it was what do you think it was I have no idea she got him what she got the ride oh at the table at the table Mark with the random man oh that's hilarious that's the deal yeah I know good for them good for them but we didn't need anyone else at Christmas so that'll be that'll be more of the things so the dinner's over so what happens then is there a crowd coming in no there'll be no one there'll be no one calling in there'll be no one calling in the random man then would leave yeah he'd head off no goodbye thanks for anything just head away off no we'd sit down then and we might play we might play Trivial Pursuit big fight yes but we play Trivial Pursuit but it would be 25 years old yeah so any of the questions would completely predate me yeah yeah So I couldn't answer any of them.

16:52Yeah. And we'd play that then. And then we would move on to an easier game of Ludo, which I brought up before. And then it'd be absolute World War III. Everyone start fighting. Well, you have to play with your new toys as well. And someone will follow. Well, that's what I'd be dying to do, you see. Yeah. Be dying to do that. Playing with some Lego or something. So you'd know all cousins coming in or like. No. Crowd. No, we never, we never went anywhere. You didn't visit anyone? No. What? Oh there's no crowds When are the visitors? Stephen's Day Next day Tomorrow No they just kind of call around Like there'd be a battalion of them Call around There's a funny Some houses are very like Christmas is To see everyone It's all about gathering And like being together And then sometimes it goes the other way Where it's like Oh we'll leave them alone They're having their Christmas Yeah We won't intrude We'll leave them to have their Christmas But people don't want to travel They don't want to be the host travelling But even the neighbours, I noticed like, there's some houses you'd go into, you could walk in on Christmas Day, and there's others you wouldn't dare.

17:58You'd be barricaded. Yeah, and it's like they're having their private Christmas, and then you might arrange to visit them on the 29th. Yeah, yeah. Not New Year's Day, New Year's Eve. No. 28th, 29th. No. That's your window of socialising. But my mother would just, my mother would go into the neighbours for the whole day. Yeah. Be gone. But she wouldn't bring the crowd She'd go on her own She'd be gone like The potatoes would be boiling Into mush But she'd be gone out the door Because you've a load of houses Beside you maybe We've loads of houses yeah We'd have to Ours is a bit more There's a few houses But there's a bit more driving Yeah See with the dinner And then you have the thing What about Are you watching telly Tonight?

18:38We'd sit down then And we'd watch We'd watch a movie Would you watch What's On? Would you watch First City? No we wouldn't watch any of that stuff Oh really? No we wouldn't watch anything kind of current I mean nothing that we'd be watching that was you know like we'd watch a movie we'd probably watch something probably watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Willy Wonka yeah and then your father said that's all Willy Wonka on again yeah and then we'd make the same jokes we made for the last 17 years yeah I don't know I think for me it's the run up to Christmas that's really the most enjoyable bit yeah I think that Christmas Day like one of the things that we used to love on Christmas Day was the fire just love the fire everyone remarks how much they liked the fire and then the next Christmas came along and my mother got rid of the fire Would you not have it normal every day?

19:26No no no it would just be a Christmas so it was like a treat Oh a townhouse It was a lovely town We'd have a fire every night Yeah but she'd be mad she'd be burning coal and turf Where would you put your rubbish? Oh yeah into the fire Yeah all of it Melting Yeah plastic What would you do on Christmas Day? Would you do a bit of visiting? All action everyone comes to our house so ours is a busy house so I'd often wake up Christmas morning there'd be bodies all over the house there'd be people asleep on the floor because when we got a bit older then like we'd all go to the pub and like a lot of houses are very dry and very miserable but our house was kind of fun and like my brother or my sister or me eventually would have friends and we'd come back so there was a lot of a bit of drinking goes on in my house and a bit of partying and there'd be people then would forget to go home so you could wake up and find some fella down the road who's missed Christmas hello would you go home that was fun and then Christmas day we'd be ourselves but then Christmas day night the annual visit of Granny she'd arrive and this was like the Queen coming at my wasn't it a big it was a big kind of ceremony as well to go get her and stuff I bet oh yeah yeah yeah And my granny is very, you know, the new president, Catherine Connolly.

20:49She's exactly the same. She's a very strong, hardy woman, let's say. I don't know. She's about 95 or something. And she's been the same for about 40 years. So she'd arrive. She just hasn't aged. She got to about 60 and she's been the same ever since. She's great. So she'd arrive and that would be very exciting. But then some of my friends Started to come to my house And there was a little tradition That we'd all sit around the table In the dining room And have our little party And then granny And then maybe Some of the neighbours from next door Would come in And they'd have a little grown up thing In the front room And there'd be about There'd be a ten minute kind of Polite bit Where we would go into the front room And just kind of present ourselves To the grown ups Have a bit of a laugh Have a little chat and then go out and close the door and then we'll be talking about our own stuff.

21:46Is this Christmas Day? It's Christmas Day night. Tonight. Oh, alright. And so where did, the lads have just come from their homes and stuff. Yeah, yeah. The shares was the party bus. Yeah, they've had their dinner and they've had their time with their families and they'd come to us then for it. Which is funny to leave your family. One thing I used to love doing, I used to love to get like a computer game or something at Christmas. Yeah. And then at about like five o 'clock just slip away. Oh, up the stairs? just going like into a room where we had it like but you'd barely get away with it then someone would come in crowing away at you yeah no we were there was a big crowd in our house now and there'd be Bajis what?

22:19my mother would get like an Indian mix Bajis? there'd be Bajis there'd be little Valavants she'd always get Indian Valavants because she was trying to like cater to the young people they loved that so she'd have loads of beige bits that you put in the oven maybe a Bombay mix so it was always South Asian I don't know when she decided that's what we wanted and then she'd she'd be in and out then because to get to the kitchen she'd have to come through the dining room from where the grown ups were so she'd be passing through so we'd be talking about dirty things and we'd have to stop shut up and then she'd be fussing and then she'd go and we'd pick up the chat again but yeah it was great and then they'd all go but sometimes if I had if I was a bit younger and if I had got good presents I wish they'd all fuck off.

23:12Yeah, 100%. And then there was a while and this stopped but there was a while there was another crowd used to come like aunties and uncles and cousins and people that you wouldn't see all year and I'm like I want to play with my pottery wheel. And they'd say to you why don't you Mark go in and show Yeah. You know, Sheila your pottery wheel and you're like I don't want Sheila's hands anywhere near this pottery wheel. Yeah, break it. Yeah? I used to do the same thing. Like I was like I'm giving out a little bit there obviously but it's all true but I I don't think I've ever been as happy as Christmas Eve Christmas Day as a kid yeah like you know whatever that age is like 7, 8 yeah getting like a little Lego set or something seeing it under a tree yeah ooooh like absolutely amazing yeah and then you'd be building around with it for the whole day building it and time would just stop yeah because you'd know where to go yeah it was amazing what are you eating?

24:07what are we having now in the evening now tonight after the dinner? Oh, it's just chocolate. Yeah. Like I was, we used to, actually, we used to do this thing. We used to go to Cork. We used to go to Ballyvalan. Oh. We weren't in, so there's a tradition, I don't know if it's still there or not. He'd probably do the same thing. Do you go for, all the country people go do their Christmas shopping on the 8th of December into the city? Oh yes, down to Limerick. Down to Limerick, right? So same thing, they'd go up to Cork or wherever. They'd come down from the hills and they'd go into the shopping places.

24:34But we used to do something kind of similar we just wouldn't do it on the 8th but we'd go up and we'd just go up and buy sweets and chocolate go up into Ballyvillea was that Dunn's I wonder I went in there and we'd get a trolley and we'd fill it up with chocolate and sweets that was pretty cool and would you be allowed to have the sweets? no we'd pack them all away wouldn't be able to eat them until Christmas Eve I'd say and get the big boxes of Tato's but what started happening then though is the way that the box of Tato's are kind of put together is you can kind of into the bottom of them. You know what I mean?

25:09Slip one out. You kind of, the only way I can say this is you can kind of fist the box open and then you can pull out. Slip one out. Pull out. So like, there'd be a pack of 20 and when they'd actually open the top of it, there'd be two inside. Cut loose. Gone. She'd call up duns. Yeah. So we'd be kind of, everyone would be kind of pilfering a few fruit pastilles. You know the tubes of fruit pastilles? Yeah. Yeah, you'd pop a couple of them every now and then. But you couldn't, it couldn't get too low. And drink. Drink we wouldn't get We wouldn't get drinking Are you drinking at house? No Not really We used to have a drinks cabinet At one point But It got smaller and smaller and smaller That was my mother's doing She'd keep kind of putting books And stuff into it So you know Wouldn't be able to bring anything into it No we wouldn't We wouldn't really drink Oh we had a big Bloody Container outside in the garden Go for it Like There could be 200 cans of drink Like Bottles and bottles You see we couldn't We couldn't be doing that Because like move on no no look it doesn't matter right because everyone's doing this Christmas thing where everyone's like we'll get a few drinks yeah we'll get a few drinks it'll be great right and then we have a few drinks and then my dad starts playing like he's a huge like Bob Marley fan and then you hear Bob Marley come on and then you're just like oh dear god here we go like you know and then yeah it's no like it's fine but like you just there's only so many times you can hear a man from Borboi sing no woman not cry you know it's like it's if you just hear that well up and you're just like oh please no off to bed and my brother's just a mini version right so he's then singing it as well the two of them inside they're like oh I couldn't be doing it I just wanted to be playing The Sims that's all I wanted to do God I think that's all oh we didn't do the shopping we used to get the hamper the hamper there was a while Well, in the 90s, that housewives were told, if you pay£10 a week all year long, which amounts to£500, you get this big box of stuff like two weeks before Christmas and you've spread the cost of Christmas over the year.

27:21So the hamper with a wife... A wife. When with a wife?

27:28Why did I throw it? No. Stop it. That happens sometimes. I feel like that was a thing I had and I got rid of it. Comes out when I'm excited. Don't do it again.

27:43Lamper would arrive very clearly. Full of bits. But you'd be, it went in under a table in the hall. And would it be mostly wicker and hay? And you've realised that you've actually spent like£500 on marmalade. No, it's not a glamour. it's a very functional is this is this the super value hamper yeah it's very practical things it's like yes orange juice tea bags like cornflakes ah yeah yeah it's like a week's worth of shopping and you could you could select you could select kind of what you wanted out of a couple of different hampers yeah and was it stamps there might be something like that I don't know where the money went or who you paid or I don't know how it worked yeah maybe it was the supermarket I don't know but it was all very practical kind of stuff and then be there'd be a few oil crackers I just miss I miss that kind of excitement of stuff that was big excitement do you know what I mean and then the magazine at school they used to give us like a little colouring in book Nullig or something it was called Sunnis Nullig I don't know oh no what was the name of that someone will tell us someone will scream at us oh my god and you fill in your little things and you do your Christmas quiz and you'd get half a day off school to sit and colour and it's not Sunnis it's something like that Something like that.

29:03It's probably something to do with Christmas or whatever. I think we better go now. Cook the turkey. I got your little nibble. The turkey's ready. What are these? Fun little snowballs. These little snowy lads. What's this? That in your mouth. Is this a... Little Christmas. Oh, yeah. I got them. Awful. I got them in. Oh, okay. Marks and Spencer. Are they nice? Yeah, not bad. What's your favourite Christmas treat? oh I love an after eight oh yes you are so I could see you six years old inside in the room biting the corner off an after eight after playing the organ I love an after eight I bet you thought you were it I love mint chocolate and I love I'd go through the whole box and you take them out of the little sleeve and you and then they kind of crack they're very fancy and they're not it's so interesting the branding of certain things they're made feel luxurious there's nothing luxurious about it it's just the box is a nice colour and the font is nice and the ads but if you if you brought someone a box of after eights before they'd go oh my god Michael's after bringing up a box of after eights there's money in this house there'd literally be big jokes and like they're only two or three pounds but they're I mean they're presented it in a little sleeve.

30:31You know? Oh my God. And the little indent on them. Yeah. You know, you can get your finger in and pull it out. Do you know what my dad used to do at Christmas sweets? He had a bureau, like, I guess that's what it's called. It's like a locked cupboard, right? Like an office bureau. And he'd, if someone bought him a box of after eights, he'd put it into the bureau, lock it, share it with no one. And then he'd, every time he'd open it, he'd take out an after eight and eat it. He'd be eating them until August of that year. Yeah. Loving it like. One a day. Tasty it because we can't have them. If you're not watching on the YouTube, we're having here snowballs.

31:09Is that what you call them? Marshmallows wrapped up in some shite and coconuts. Yeah. Do you like them? They're okay. They're missing a little bite or something. It's too much coconut for me. You don't like coconuts? I'm more of a Scots clan, man. You are really eating that Do you ever have Scotsland? No Really? Oh No, it's just There's like toffees But they're kind of You get two different flavours Two slightly different flavours No? Scotsland, great Okay, we better let people To their Christmas day Off to bed Happy Christmas Merry Christmas See you Oh, is next one New Year's Day? Next one will be New Year's Day, yeah We're going to be telling you all about Our resolutions and revolutions Oh, don't