And the fireworks are very noisy!
Yes they are. I’m getting too old for this kind of thing.
Some New Year trivia: in just under three hours’ time around 25% of the world’s population will begin 2015 as the clocks tick over midnight in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Western Australia.
I think you guys jumped the gun a bit…new year’s isn’t for another 16 hours.
I don’t know what this “rest of the world” you’re talking about, but in America it’s still 2014.
Get with the program…jeez…
That is your punishment.
On this side of the globe, the sun is up on the last day of 2014. It’s a sub-freezing morning in my little part of the east coast of the US. We will greet the new year as we have for the last couple of decades - we’ll watch some TV tonight, then go to bed early.
We are most definitely not party animals in this house. 
Interesting display here of illegal fireworks. Hope to hell they have not caused any fires (apparently we are heading into severe fire danger)
Are fireworks common for New Year’s in many places? It’s too cold here usually for people to want to be out watching them. I don’t recall ever seeing fireworks at New Year.
This is from last year, but it makes the point clearly.
Here in Kansas you’ll hear a few, but it’s not like the 4th of July. They aren’t sold now, but folks will save a few from summer purchases.
Now, NYE of 1999, it was a war zone. I was at my sister’s and it’s all residential, normally very quiet. Whoa! There wasn’t hardly a house that wasn’t lit up. Even we set of a long string of firecrackers.
Well, it’s now 2015 here in China.
新年快乐！
They’re very common in Australia where it’s summer. New Zealand too.
And, in Shanghai, it’s not a happy one.
La Crosse has had fireworks for many years
Happy 2015 (UTC)!
Brian
We were promised flying cars. 
Damn straight.
I don’t mind fireworks, but here in Dixie, some pinheads celebrate by going outside and shooting off a few rounds. At nothing.
Here too. Every few minutes there is a huge boom out front that cannot be a gun, probably a cannon!
2015 has arrived on the East Coast of North America (and a good chunk of the Midwest as well), and this part of it’s pretty damn noisy right now. It’ll die down after awhile.
Just think: this year is the ‘future’ of the second Back to the Future movie.
Whee.
Going to bed now…