# Millenial triple-header **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 3, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178 "2001-01-03T01:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/1 "2001-01-03T01:59:02Z")
So what are those li’l red icons beside the three columns? teeny little firecrackers? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/2 "2001-01-03T16:14:44Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/3 "2001-01-05T11:39:02Z")
why? ---
**Author:** ![bungie\_us](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bungie\_us](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bungie_us)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/4 "2001-01-05T14:44:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Why? Might have something to do with the explosions out in the street that woke me up on Sunday eve about midnight. (I was still so exhausted from last years New Year’s Eve celebration that I dozed off a little early. . .) cheers, b ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/5 "2001-01-05T18:02:05Z")
explosions? am I missing something? what explosions? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/6 "2001-01-05T23:31:59Z")
:cough: fireworks :cough: As in New Year’s Celebration. As in “big party”. No, the world didn’t come to an end. This time either. Who’s on for next year? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/7 "2001-01-05T23:37:35Z")
jti, I think that firecrackers might have come to be associated with New Year’s Eve because it is a chinese custom to set off firecrackers at New Year celebrations, and in the USA, especially on the west coast, the Chinese cultural influence is noticeable. I have heard that Chinese firecrackers were traditionally used to scare away evil spirits. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/8 "2001-01-07T03:41:00Z")
learn something new every day - I’ve never associated fireworks or firecrackers with New Year’s. But if you guys say so… ---
**Author:** ![bungie\_us](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bungie\_us](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bungie_us)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2001, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/9 "2001-01-07T14:55:46Z")
I meant real explosions. Grenades. Bazookas. People running in terror. Oh, the humanity. That sort of thing. Doesn’t that happen everywhere? Okay. Just kidding. But there you go. I thought fireworks were everywhere. You’re not the only one to learn something new, JTI. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2001, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/10 "2001-01-07T17:28:11Z")
maybe it’s because where I live, it’s generally not comfortable being outside at midnight. This New Year’s Eve wasn’t too bad, around -20° Celsius, but we’d just come off a cold snap of -35° Celsius at nights for the ten days before Christmas. I’d rather stay in and watch the ball drop on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/11 "2001-01-08T17:14:08Z")
Hey jti, if you were watching the ball drop on TV, didn’t they show the fireworks celebration with it? New York supposedly had a big display. Not that I would know, I wasn’t watching. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millenial-triple-header/48178/12 "2001-01-09T06:36:13Z")
well, you see, my New Year’s usually goes like this: 6:00 to 11:30 - go to friends’ house with the Beloved; supper with friends; visit with friends. 11:31 to 11:54 - drink champers with the Beloved and friends. 11:55 - someone says, “We should turn on the TV and see the ball drop.” 11:55 to 11:58 - turn on TV; frantically surf Canadian and American channels, looking for the Dick Clark and the ball. 11:59 - find channel with ball. 12:00 midnight - watch ball drop; say “Happy New Year;” kiss the Beloved. 12:01 - comment that there’s nothing on now but a bunch of drunken New Yorkers in Times Square - they look cold. Turn off TV. 12:02 - 1:00 - Drink more champers; driven home by the Beloved. So even if there are fireworks after the ball drops, I’m not likely to see (or remember).