Recreating your youth can be a very costly business. First of all you have to lose a bit of weight and get fit - right there, that's a £300 gym-joining fee plus another £400 a year for your subscription.
Then you face the daunting task of finding a replacement for that grotty Parka jacket. You can expect to pay top euro for that too.
When you're finally in shape and correctly attired, you and your buddies must trawl around town looking for someone to exchange a small lump of dark brown substance - that may, or may not, be dope - for your £15. You must then spend a further £20 on cider or vodka.
Only then can the actual recreation of your youth begin, with the visit to a damp field and the ritual gorging on alcohol and mild narcotics.
But wait! Now there's a far easier and cheaper way to bring back the past, or have you blanked out just how much time you spent playing those cretinous video games?
Simply plug a Super TV Boy III into the back of your television, and choose from 127 classic-era games.
There's Space Invaders, Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Tank Commander, and all the rest. You just play the games until 2 a.m., then watch MTV until you nod off to sleep, just like the old days!
Super TV Boy III, £30 sterling (#48), is available from www.firebox.com
Got a Gizmo? Contact smaccarthaigh@irish-times.ie
