Ditch the stupid party hats. Forget those annoying noise-makers.
And save the cheap champagne for another night. New Year’s
Eve doesn’t have to be all about sitting in front of
television watching a three-hour-old tape delay of the ball
dropping in Times Square. So step aside, Dick Clark, because trying
something new is one resolution that’s a lot easier to keep
than you might think.
15th Annual “Welcome in the New Year Hike &
Festival”
Cost: $9
How a New Year’s celebration centered around a nighttime
hike could survive for one year, let alone 15, is beyond us, but
that must be a sign that there’s more here than meets the
eye. Formerly sponsored by both the Sierra Club and UCLA, the event
leads hikers on a short, nine-block trek up to a celebration
viewpoint near Pacific Palisades, where people bring food and
drinks to share. Leave it to people from Los Angeles to consider
nine blocks a “hike,” but the focus seems to be more on
the festival celebration that follows than the walk itself anyway.
Now that sounds more like Los Angeles. Call (310) 479-5717 for more
information.
The Queen Mary
Cost: $99
One of the perennial southern California parties on New
Year’s Eve, the Queen Mary’s annual bash offers you,
along with about 6,000 other people, the chance to bring in Jan. 1
in one of eight separate parties happening on the boat in Long
Beach. Your ticket price will let you in to any party on the boat
and provide you with food, but drinks are an additional charge, and
you must be at least 21 to attend. Still, it’s bound to be
one of the classier celebrations around, as the hats and
noisemakers given out, combined with the fireworks set off at 12:20
a.m. and the setting of the boat itself, remind you of an era and
style of celebration long forgotten by many. Visit
www.queenmary.com for more information.
Rose Parade
Cost: Free
Spending the night on the streets of Pasadena isn’t just
for the homeless, at least not on New Year’s Eve. The parade
might not be until the next morning, but if you want a good seat,
you’re going to have to get there early. Really early. So
grab your sleeping bag and join the hundreds of eager
parade-aficionados by ringing in the new year under the stars and
ahead of the morning rush. With all those people and families
desperate to stay warm, it’s bound to get a little crazy.
Even better, when you wake up you’ll have a front row seat to
one of the biggest parades on the West Coast. Check out
www.tournamentofroses.com for more information.
The Groundlings’ Alumni Show
Cost: $75
Sure, the ticket price seems a little steep, but the potential
for some quality comedy may make it worth it if you’ve got
the cash to spend. The Groundlings are the most famous comedy
troupe in Los Angeles, and many of their alumni have gone on to
shows like “Saturday Night Live.” Will Ferrell, Chris
Kattan, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer and many others are potential
performers for the surprise lineup show, running from 9 p.m. until
midnight. There’s also a party that follows the performance,
making the ticket price a little less steep if the performers stick
around and hang out, even if it’s only for the free drinks.
Check out www.groundlings.com for more information, including box
office availability.
“Twilight Zone” marathon
Cost: Free
Maybe it’s just us, but it seems like parents conveniently
“forget” that we’re responsible, mature college
students, and give us curfews around 11 p.m., which doesn’t
bode well for a midnight New Year’s bash. If you’re
staying at home too, at least you won’t be lonely.
You’ll have Rod Serling and the Sci-Fi Channel’s annual
“Twilight Zone” marathon to keep you company. Sure, you
could watch JT and Ashton on MTV’s “Punk’d”
marathon, but if you’re looking for some real surprises
you’ll do better with Rod. Take the classic Episode No. 42,
“Eye Of The Beholder.” A female in bandages, hideous by
society’s standards and cared for by unseen doctors, is
having an operation done to make her look “normal.”
“The Swan” has nothing on the episode’s killer
twist ending, which will make you think twice about watching
reality television. Sci-Fi always picks the best episodes (like
“To Serve Man” and “Nightmare at 20,000
Feet,” which stars William Shatner), and you’ll have no
trouble forgetting the festivities you’re missing as you are
drawn into the mysterious world of the Twilight Zone.
Baby-sitting
Cost: They pay you!
If you find yourself too broke even to buy your own cheap
champagne, you may want to consider deferring your celebration
until next year, and devoting this Dec. 31 to making sure next
year’s will be grand. Anyone looking to hire a baby sitter on
the night nobody wants to baby-sit will be willing to pay through
the roof for your services, so ask around and you could walk away
with some big cash. Plus, you’ll finally have some time to
read “The Da Vinci Code” or whatever you’ve been
wanting to read after you put the kids to bed at 9:30 p.m. And
while there’s no single person to contact about finding a
gig, just ask your parents to ask their friends and soon enough,
your phone will be ringing nonstop with offers.
Ye Olde King’s Head Bar/Pub
Cost: Varies
If you can’t wait until it gets dark to start your New
Year’s Eve festivities, head over to Ye Olde King’s
Head Bar/Pub in Santa Monica. There you can celebrate the new year
in British Time, which is 4 p.m. in Los Angeles. Surrounded by
other Anglophiles, or people who just enjoy lots of pints of
Newcastle and Guinness, your late afternoon binge drinking is
certainly more than justified as a tribute to the motherland. And
if you haven’t passed out from too much ale by the time it
actually does get dark, the fun starts all over again at midnight
to ring in 2005 with the rest of California. As a reward to the
heavyweight drinkers for making it through this marathon
celebration, there’s a traditional English breakfast and
recovery with Bloody Marys on New Year’s Day to help out with
that hangover you’ll be sleeping off. For more information,
visit www.yeoldekingshead.com.
Complied by David Greenwald, Jess Rodgers, Justin Scott and
Jake Tracer.