Now that the millenial fuss of the last two years has been dispensed with, 2002 comes in rather sheepishly and with only one meager aspect of numerical significance. It's a palindrome: a number, word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards.
Another example of a palindrome is "Bob," because spelled backwards or forwards it's still "Bob." Both "Bob" and 2002 are shorter and much more clearly apprehensible palindromes than "A Santa at NASA," "dumb mobs bomb mud" and many of the fine palindromes offered on the web site of The Palindromist magazine, like: "Eva, can I stack Rod's sad-ass, dork cats in a cave?" (Feel free to check these for yourself.)
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROLAND OF CHIFUNK
When it comes to calendars, palindromes are fairly rare. Anyone who's now over 11-years-old, in fact, can consider themselves lucky, because they are preparing to celebrate the second (and probably last) palindrome year of their lives. The last palindrome on the Gregorian calendar came in 1991, and the last one before that came in 1881. The next will be 2112.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAVE RADIO
So barring those people who've lived to be 110 and timed it right, no one has lived through two palindromes in around a thousand years. That's right. In these advanced millenia, it's only about once about every thousand years, around the turn of any millenium, that some lucky people get to live through two palindromes. Which is why they consider themselves fortunate and go mad with celebration at the beginning of the palindromic new year. Or maybe they just celebrate like most people, for the heck of it.
Either way, Taiwan will have plenty of distractions to offer next Monday night for New Year's Eve. In major cities, governments, radio stations and cable channels will put loads of pop stars on open air stages before the public. The nation's concert halls will ring with symphonies and show tunes. Major hotels will serve special dinners. Dance clubs will, on average, double their cover charges. And some bars that charge an entrance fee on no other day of the year will ask their regular patrons to pay for the sad privilege of being somewhere crowded.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAVE RADIO
So to help you decide where to spend your New Year's Eve, we've compiled a rough guide of what's going on. So have fun in 2002 -- ninu fe vahos!
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAVE RADIO
SPECIAL EVENTS
Hsimenting free concert, Taipei: Wave Radio, FM96.3, is sponsoring a free outdoor concert in the middle of Taipei's Hsimenting, bringing in the new year with stage performances from 7:30pm to 1am. The arrival of the new year will be signaled by the illumination of a column of light rings and the release of around 10,000 "wish balloons" bearing the wishes of spectators and performers alike. On stage, there will be at least 25 performing artists in all, including 30-minute sets by pop stars Winnie Hsin (
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAVE RADIO
Taichung will have its own cavalcade of stars, with Jolin Tsai (
PHOTO COURTESY OF GTV
Golden Plaza Department Store (
The 4th Metal Immortal Party at Zeitgeist (
Tomorrow, at 8:30, the same club will host "Chaos in Taiwan," pulling some of Taiwan's top non-mainstream bands, including the Clippers, Relax-One, Anarchy, A-fon from Groupie, Ellie from Ladybug and DJ@llenblow. Tickets are NT$399 at the door.
Cosma Asia Tour -- Space Odyssey 2002, Taoyuan: For ravers, Dreamfield is rigging one of its NT$400,000 sound systems and putting on a New Year's dance party in one of its favorite spots, the Kunlun Drug Touring Recreational Park in Taoyuan (
The Cactus (
Witch House (
ConcertsNew Year's Eve Concert -- New York, New York, Taipei: The National Symphony Orchestra, featuring conductor Amy Chang, soprano Deedee Lynn and tenor Welly Yang, will play selections from Broadway musicals and movie soundtracks at the National Concert Hall. The show starts at 7:30pm and tickets run from NT$300 to NT$1,200.
Taipei Philharmonic Woodwinds Quintet, Taipei: The woodwinds quintet will play selections from Verdi, Mussorgsky and Taiwanese folk songs at the Recital Hall at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. Tickets cost between NT$200 and NT$400.
Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra New Year's Concert: The Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra will ring in the new year with a performance of Beethoven's 3rd symphony, Eroica. The concert starts at 7:30pm in the Kaohsiung City Cultural Center's Chihte Hall. Tickets run between NT$200 and NT$500.
Taipei clubs with no or low cover charge:
DV8: no cover
Roxy 99: NT$300 cover
Roxy Vibe: NT$400 cover/NT$300 for members
Saints and Sinners: no cover, free champagne at midnight.
Tavern: NT$350 cover, including one beer, champagne at midnight, barbecue and finger food from 7pm to 11pm and a bowl of new year's goulash at 1am. Michel Blanc, the proprietor, says that the goulash is a European tradition and serves to fill up revelers with a hot soup before they set out back into the cold.
Underworld: NT$350 cover, no bands will be playing but LTK's Hsiao Ko will be one of the special guest DJs.
Watersheds: no cover
Clubs with a cover charge:
2nd Floor: NT$1,000
45: NT$500 after 8pm
Carnegie's: NT$1,000 after 9pm, including two drinks; set dinner special of fillet mignon or king prawns from 6pm to 8:30pm for NT$1,000.
Kiss La Bocca: NT$1,000, including two drinks.
Room 18: NT$1,500, including two drinks or a small bottle of Moet champagne and snack buffet.
Spin: Will decide on the day of, though Christmas Eve cover charge was NT$600. Special offerings will include a lucky draw and drink specials.
TU: Still undecided, though Christmas Eve cover charge was NT$600.
* Check inside listings for addresses and phone numbers
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