As you all know by now, it's September and that obviously means one thing. As Nowhere Girl already discovered - IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! Woooo!!!!
Yes, unfortunately we don't even get to celebrate the equinox anymore* before the start of the yuletide assault. In another sign that the apocalypseason is upon us, Mattel yesterday unveiled what is sure to be the Tickle-Me-Elmo of 2006: Tickle-Me Elmo TMX! Allegedly, the "X" stands for X-streme. Frankly, I think this is a sign that the word "extreme" has officially become over-used, and property of marketing/advertising agencies. I, for one, will never use it again...the word is dead to me.
The sad thing is that the "big new toy" of the year is the same friggin doll that it was when I was in college. But this time around he not only giggles when you tickle him, he proceeds to go through several stages of laughter: first just giggling, then slapping his knee while laughing, and finally the big finish of rolling onto his stomach and pounding on the floor with his little fist.
Given that it's been ten years since the first doll, it shouldn't surprise me how the technology has become ever-more complex. And it shouldn't worry me when Mattel gives its latest iteration a moniker not unlike something found in a Terminator movie...but it does. Am I the only one who thinks it is just a bit weird to picture a four-year-old toddling into the living room saying "Oh boy mommy I love my Tickle-Me Elmo TMX!"? No doubt the technology inside the dolls is now so advanced that the TMXes will achieve self-awareness by next summer, rendering them capable of running around the house, saying "Elmo looking for Sarah Conner! Hee hee hee!".
Yeah, that *would* be pretty X-treme all right...
* Giving the Wicca just as much of a reason to hate retailers as those of us who adore Thanksgiving, Ramadan, Halloween, and Boxing Day. Welcome, pagan brothers and sisters!
Yes, unfortunately we don't even get to celebrate the equinox anymore* before the start of the yuletide assault. In another sign that the apocalypseason is upon us, Mattel yesterday unveiled what is sure to be the Tickle-Me-Elmo of 2006: Tickle-Me Elmo TMX! Allegedly, the "X" stands for X-streme. Frankly, I think this is a sign that the word "extreme" has officially become over-used, and property of marketing/advertising agencies. I, for one, will never use it again...the word is dead to me.
The sad thing is that the "big new toy" of the year is the same friggin doll that it was when I was in college. But this time around he not only giggles when you tickle him, he proceeds to go through several stages of laughter: first just giggling, then slapping his knee while laughing, and finally the big finish of rolling onto his stomach and pounding on the floor with his little fist.
Given that it's been ten years since the first doll, it shouldn't surprise me how the technology has become ever-more complex. And it shouldn't worry me when Mattel gives its latest iteration a moniker not unlike something found in a Terminator movie...but it does. Am I the only one who thinks it is just a bit weird to picture a four-year-old toddling into the living room saying "Oh boy mommy I love my Tickle-Me Elmo TMX!"? No doubt the technology inside the dolls is now so advanced that the TMXes will achieve self-awareness by next summer, rendering them capable of running around the house, saying "Elmo looking for Sarah Conner! Hee hee hee!".Yeah, that *would* be pretty X-treme all right...
* Giving the Wicca just as much of a reason to hate retailers as those of us who adore Thanksgiving, Ramadan, Halloween, and Boxing Day. Welcome, pagan brothers and sisters!
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