Added: 01/23/2006 |
Making 2006 New Year Plans (Already)Now wait, we've just had New Years. 2005 is just barely over, the corpse isn't even warm yet in the cold of January and I swear to The Big Guy that I'm still cleaning my apartment from the deluge of partying and debauchery. I believe that I have yet to flip the calendar page to January 2006, New Year or no. So you're telling me that the trendy among us are already planning for the 2006 New Year parties? Whoa, dude, I'm out of touch...
Although those outside major population centers may have to wait until, say, February (gasp - perish the thought!) for their 2006 New Year plans to solidify, cities such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Washington, D.C. and, of course, Las Vegas already have dozens of spots per advertising for that most grandiose of grandiose parties in December.
January 1st saw the online posting of "Metropolis New Year's Eve 2007," a party that seems to be metamorphizing into a holiday tradition. This, claims the promotional material, draws the single largest gay crowd in San Francisco on New Year's Eve, which should probably place it in the top five or so worldwide. And, would you believe, a twelve-hour dance marathon? (Which twelve hours is a good question...) Perhaps by that time, the boys will have ceased kvetching about the sartorial taste displayed by so-and-so at the New Year 2005 fete.
Here's a new-fashioned idea from an older world. About eighteen miles from San Diego sits the Jamul Indian Village. A tribal nation recognized by the federal government, the Jamul recently held a groundbreaking celebration at the construction site of... you guessed it, a new casino. At the concomitant press conference, leader Leon Acebedo specifically noted that reservations were available for New Year's Eve 2007, inviting everyone to enjoy Kumeyaay hospitality.
But, hey, why stop on one side of the ocean? Check out la Bella Citta, Rome, for some serious partying already on the drawing boards. Rome, which can probably be blamed for all subsequent partying taking place on a holiday built in response to their empire, somehow manages to party privately while still catering to the tourism business. There, on the eve of the new year (also known as "San Silvestre" to the local folks) will be the "Piazza del Quirinale," a classical music concert that always draws huge names in the field. It is guaranteed, though, that concerts will be everywhere in the city in addition to a long long torchlight procession through the winding streets. Though seemingly an old custom, the procession is actually a newfangled idea, an appeal for peace in troubled times like 2006. New Year sentiments have never been so sentimental.
Of course, it wouldn't be a twenty-first century celebration without some sort of mass media input. Enter R.B. Newberry, creator of the Canadian radio drama/television series "Archivillia." "Archivillia" is essentially a science-fiction story set some four centuries in the future. The kick of the show is that the main characters are students studying the twentieth century for history lessons. Spinning off from the show came Newberry's idea to gather history's greatest songs and have them played worldwide every New Year's Eve. Newberry is taking requests, as it were, with which to build his list. Do you suppose "Auld Lang Syne" will make it?
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