Yet another year comes fizzling to the end. Another waits full of hope and some promises to be discovered. Disheveled leftover decorations hang everywhere, half forgotten and half taken down. No need to keep them tidy as Christmas has past. You’re too cold or too busy to take them all down right away. That’s okay not everyone takes them down, after all it is still the season. New years eve isn’t an official thing anyway, but it’s no doubt the most celebrated time of the year. More people celebrate New Years Eve than any official holiday. You might not believe me but deep down you know it’s true. There are various few places that do not celebrate new years eve when or as we do, but they still celebrate the new year; mostly on a different date. While that’s still a formidable number of people, you have to remember the total population. Oh, sure you’re going to argue that what about those people that don’t even know what year it is, what about those that just know days go by and time passes without ever knowing of such things. My answer to that is; how many do you think that is, a million or two over the planet total? So of the just over eight billion people thought or known to be on the planet you want me to believe that one or two million is your argument? Do we, or you know even if these one or two million people are even counted in the total population. After all they are most probably not counted especially if they keep themselves far away from the world. Now you can point to places where it was banned outright but still you are falling very short of more that don’t than do. Even in countries that don’t celebrate the end of our calendar year, they do have a new year according to the calendar they use. Not going to do all your research for you. However one thing I will say about my research is that everyone seems hung up on the idea that new year is some sort of western culture kind of thing and the only time to have a new year celebration has to be on the first day of January of the Gregorian calendar, ugh, whatever. My point still stands no matter when or how the new year is observed, more people celebrate this quasi holiday than any other given holiday. Don’t get me started on the origins of holiday to prove that it is a true, here in the United States, holiday. There are in fact roughly three quasi holidays here in the United States, yeah don’t get me on those right now either.
Whenever this time of year comes skittering along I always try not hard to remind myself of of my bar tending past. I wish I could say it never happens, because it does. It’s not that I miss being buried behind the bar not being able to think long enough to remember my own name. Not that I was hard when you have people using it to try to get your attention long enough to order in between the line waiting to order from the walk up part of the bar. You have to take your pick between which line to take care of first and work your way through both I had some amazing co workers over those years and more than one great owner as well. To be sure I also had the reverse. I am not here to call any of either out, they know who they are and if they are reading, well they are reading this. Because I am not here about that. I am also reminded of my times not bar tending. Times of sitting alone in some motel, apartment, or a sleeper somewhere wondering how is it that I found myself in that situation and not with friends. Those times are probably the most disturbing of them all, okay maybe not. Don’t get me wrong I don’t regret or hate my days or nights behind a bar watching the fun more than being part of it; lord knows that I also spent too many nights having the fun too or at least thinking I was having fun. Seems I am once again rambling on about things you don’t care about, yeah me neither. Let’s get on with it then shall we?
I heard somewhere that it is only recently that many parts of the world celebrated New Years Eve like the Americans, with fireworks and the like; really? Ugh, I guess some semi educated or lack of research person wasn’t paying attention. They obviously forgot who invented fireworks, in a way it is the western culture that has adopted the Chinese new year way of celebrating. That’s right they were using fireworks on new years as far back as the seventh century to chase the monster Nain that would come and damage villages and kill villagers on new years. I would guess that is also why there are dragons in the streets as part of their celebration as well. In reality it is the eastern society or culture that introduced fireworks into it all. I suppose you could argue that early fireworks were more just bangs and flashes than they are today. Yeah you could, but why. It wasn’t until 1904 when the upstanding New York Times Newspaper relocated to Longacre Square and what I am guessing would become the famous Times Square would fireworks become a staple of the western celebration of new years. Makes sense then that we started it right? What the hell. I give up! Let’s see, the Chinese had been using fireworks on new years for nearly thirteen hundred years before what would be the supposed official western society celebration; but every other place that decided to same were not getting the tradition from China they were getting it from western society. Yeah right; okay sure let’s just call bull crap. Oh, yes I get it your argument is that well they don’t celebrate the same New Year. I have an answer for that too. What the hell difference does that make? I can refer you back to Christmas where if you remember not everyone celebrates the same day of Christmas, but it’s still flippin’ Christmas. No, no you’re right I’ll settle down. Ugh, some peoples children. Let’s be honest I think there were many places that used fireworks to ‘ring’ in the new year over the centuries. Just don’t let’s not remind everyone that it isn’t a western society invention.
What you can say, is that western society came up with arguably the most famous new year song ever to have slipped in the bathtub. Huh, what does a bathtub have to do with it? Think about it. Don’t get it? Oh, my goodness, where do billions of people sing? In the tub or shower obviously. There you have it, singing the only thing everyone does that not everyone can do well. Don’t let that stop you, if you do that is. Because not everyone is; that singer you like, but you do enjoy yourself as you belt it out. There I go down a rabbit hole again. I would think you’d stop me before I get too far. Yeah, that’s right too, you are reading this most probably at least a few days after I have gone that far. Makes sense now doesn’t it, no you don’t ave to answer that. With hat in hand I try harder next time to stay on topic. Now where was I? Didn’t I leave you back at the movie theater on State street, or was it back in the driveway on Park street? So we know the best ever song for new year’s eve, but what about the best movie? There have been so many movies that start, center around or end on new year’s eve, you could spend all of new year’s eve naming them. My favorites, like most of my movie watching were all made long before I was born. Those include After the Thin Man, Holiday, Holiday Affair, The Apartment, there are more I am sure of that but I don’t want to go down yet another round about thingy that goes no where but in. Admittedly Holiday Affair is more a Christmas movie but how many of those carry over because the ending is on new year’s eve? Well this is one of those, still a great movie with all of the early Hollywood fun and happy endings. One of them you can even find Jimmy Stewart in his first big movie role, he even plays; if you want to know what role he plays, you’ll have to watch it yourself. I am going to have to reread this thing just to see where I was going when I started, nah. Just as long as I’m not rambling and ranting about noisy party nights as a bar tender am I right? Then again, nah.
Somewhere in all this mess of an essay, that is if you have gotten this far into it with out stopping reading, is my original thought. As soon as I find it, I’ll let you know or maybe you can tell me just in case. Because right now I might be as lost as you are. Last I remember we turned on to Broadway and head towards, that’s right Times Square. How could I have forgotten that? While this year will mark the one hundred and fourteen time the ball will drop on times square since it first dropped in nineteen hundred and seven. What’s that, you just did the math, it doesn’t add up? You’re right, it doesn’t there were two years in there that it didn’t’ drop. What does the ball drop have to do with using fireworks to celebrate new year’s eve? I am getting there I promise. Fireworks if you remember, if I actually put in here already, if I didn’t I promise to fix that using my WABAC machine, were used officially in New York to mark the new year as far back as nineteen hundred and four in New York city. But you know how big brother gets sometimes. They get all, oh someone is going to get blowed up or some such thing as that, you know big brother being big brother and all. Okay that may not the real reason that they banned fireworks in nineteen hundred and seven, but it’s more fun my way. See where that ball thing comes in now? Thought you would. Now you would think that the person that wrote that article about fireworks and the western civilization’s use of said things to celebrate new year’s eve would be wrong as you know now. In reality they should be using that big stupid ball drop thingy. That was a long way to go for that wasn’t it? Now if I had went there without going anywhere, you wouldn’t have had any fun along the way and this would have been much shorter. Again where’s the fun in that.
So to you my friends and family and family of friends I give New Year’s Eve, in all it’s glory, songs, movies, fireworks and big giant ball drops. Enjoy it no matter how you decide to celebrate or not celebrate the night before the first day of the Gregorian Calendar. Just remember to be smart about how much you drink, always making sure you don’t drive. Yes that means that the designated driver does have the right to interrupt the driver while they are drinking. If only long enough to make sure they stop driving. We may not like you very much but that doesn’t mean we don’t want you around in the new year to keep us properly irritated. With that said I give to you New Year’s Eve in her glory, yes ‘her’ glory if it wasn’t a her we wouldn’t need to drink as much to figure her out, you know why that is.
From The Strange Mind of Me 