This New Year's Eve you can watch the drop of the "Waterford Crystal New Year's Eve Ball" (which will now become a year-round attraction hovering above Times Square). Not interested? How about watching the dropping of a drag queen, a pirate wench, pickles and sausages (among other things) while ringing in the New Year? [more inside]
posted by ericb on Dec 30, 2008 - 18 comments

Times Square: Crossroads of the World is the official website of Times Square in New York City. An estimated 1 million people from all over the world are in Times Square tonight, celebrating New Year's Eve and the 100th anniversary of the ball drop (with a new eco-friendly, LED-lighted ball). Also on the site: A History of New Year's Eve in Times Square, a Then and Now interactive timeline, a Signs of the Times gallery, and much more. The FAQ is also interesting.
posted by amyms on Dec 31, 2007 - 35 comments

In America, some rang in 2007 by watching (a propped-up) Dick Clark rockin' the Eve away alongside Ryan Seacrest & his crush (yeah, right), Christina Aguilera. Ho hum. Japanese television on the other hand? Well, my friends... television viewers in Tokyo enjoyed this little extravaganza (It's SFW, they're wearing bodysuits.) Yokatta koto!
posted by miss lynnster on Jan 1, 2007 - 58 comments

AAA of Northern California will give you a ride home, and tow your car for free tonight. Good in Norcal, Utah and Nevada. Have a safe one all.
posted by bitdamaged on Dec 31, 2005 - 20 comments

Did you sing it last night? If so, do you know what it means? Burns didn't orginally write it, but he certainly made sure we'll never forget it.
posted by alumshubby on Jan 1, 2005 - 7 comments

Fake bongs for conspiracists with time on their hands... But can square-jawed MeFites figure out what happened here? Remember, Captain Scarlet is indestructible...
posted by klaatu on Jan 5, 2004 - 23 comments

Can't make it to Times Square to see the crystal ball drop? Well, in Atlanta, they're dropping a peach. In Raleigh, an acorn. In Miami, an orange. In Mount Olive, NC, a three-foot lighted pickle. My favorite? In Lebanon, PA, they're dropping a six-foot-long bologna....and in nearby Cleona, they're dropping a two-foot-wide pretzel. (The state capital, Harrisburg, is dropping a cow painted to look like a strawberry.) But they really pull out the drops in Key West, where there are not one, not two, but three drops: a pirate "wench", a conch shell, and a drag queen named Sushi, who will descend in an eight-foot-long red high-heeled shoe.
posted by Vidiot on Dec 31, 2003 - 12 comments

Hogmanay ya Bass! wishing everyone a guid New year : )
posted by sgt.serenity on Dec 31, 2002 - 6 comments

Porn and pizza keep inmates happy over New Year's. Typically New Year's Eve is a somewhat rowdy event at this prison with inmates starting fires and refusing to go back to their cells. So this year, some employees struck a deal with the inmates to show porn and have pizza at New Year's provided they don't cause any trouble.

Now that word has got out to higher authorities and an investigation is in place. And heads will roll...
posted by PWA_BadBoy on Jan 17, 2002 - 23 comments

coming to the stark realization that i will probably be sitting in front of a terminal when the new year arrives i was wondering how any other socially maladjusted people will be spending new year's eve. of course, you can always watch everyone else have a good time over at earthcam but if there's something more exciting i can point my browser and beer at, please enlighten the group.
posted by boogah on Dec 31, 2001 - 37 comments

Tonight is Silvesterabend, the last night of the year. While some feel that champagne and huge, rollicking parties are in order, others feel that quieter times with family and friends are the way to go. Of course, you must also have your pork and sauerkraut for good luck (my mother always asks to make sure I have) and a little Bleigiessen, or fortune telling by pouring molten lead into a liquid, for entertainment. Personally I think champagne tastes like ass so I'll be drinking bottled Gluhwein from my friend's winery.
posted by RevGreg on Dec 31, 2001 - 18 comments

The Night They Invented Champagne... Tonight's the night for Champagne. Meaning French. No other is as appropriate or necessary. If you know nothing - or a lot - about this most pleasant and aphrodisiac of all wines, you should still get more serious about it. The Champagne Growers' Association has an excellent website where you can learn how to chill, open, serve and properly taste Champagne. They'll even send you four free, attractive little notebooks to keep in your cocktail cabinet. The green roll-down menus are all enlightening and to the point. But don't think the French have all the experts. There's this amazing American website, called IntoWine, put up by the M2 Communications Wine Education Center, which is just as wise and, typically, more complete and snobbish. Their Champagne section is faultless. Compare cultures by noting how they serve Champagne. Check out their full list of Champagne houses and related movies. Happy New Year, MetaFilter!
posted by MiguelCardoso on Dec 31, 2001 - 28 comments