As the family-friendly, pre-midnight fireworks show illuminated Australia's largest city, preparations were under way across the world for pyrotechnics, parties and prayers in the final countdown to herald the end of the period dubbed "the Noughties."
The mood of celebrations was tempered in some places by the effects of the financial downturn, which bit hard in 2009, sending economies into recession, causing millions to lose their jobs and home foreclosures to rise dramatically in some countries.
Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve.
Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.
The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.
A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.
"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.
Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"'Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a 'hunter's moon' or a 'harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.
Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.
In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm out celebrating, I'll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."
___
Alicia Chang of The Associated Press wrote this report.
Welcoming the New Year
The Rome production of Persephone is directed by Beppe Menegattiwho earlier created a version for Palermo in the 1970's with Carla Fracci in the lead. Fracci, now Artistic Director of the Rome company, is in the new production, this time as Demeter. The myth is rich and complex with a feast of characters including Eumolpus (a narrator and scene setter), Demeter (Persephone's Mother who gives her name to a cult), Persephone (in this production split into two - an actress/narrator and dancer); in the underworld there are Pluto and Mercury and many others too. Narcissus flowers, corn and pomegranates all play their part in a fantastical tale with an appropriate ending in which, for once, no one dies. In short form: the beautiful Persephone is lured from earth to the underworld full of "People without hope, pale, unquiet and sorrowful" whose king is Pluto and who ravishes her. But Mercury helps Persephone see the earth she has left - cold and unhappy, as her mother searches for her, and she returns in triumph and marries only to be drawn back to the underworld each winter to ease the lot of its sad souls. She's a good-natured girl at heart and nowadays would do charity work rather than go on a fun-loving gap year I suspect.
Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve.
Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.
The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.
A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.
"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.
Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"'Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a 'hunter's moon' or a 'harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.
Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.
In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm out celebrating, I'll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."
___
Alicia Chang of The Associated Press wrote this report.
Welcoming the New Year
Families typically gather on New Year’s Eve to renew ties, welcome the new year together and partake in a number of traditions all having to do with good fortune, health/longevity and prosperity for a new stage of life.
In addition to a dinner of lamb or roast pork with an extra place set for Ag. Vassili at the table, everyone plays cards or other games of chance to not only pass the time until midnight, but also because it is considered a lucky night whether you win or lose. Many use euro cents to keep the game friendly.
Why a pomegranate? The pomegranate is a fruit with a history going back to ancient times and figures prominently in mythology. It is widely revered as a symbol of regeneration, fertility, prosperity and the inseparable marriage of life and death.
Duality of the pomegranate is best illustrated in the myth about Persephone, who was both daughter of Demeter (goddess of grain, harvest, seasons and fertility) and Demeter’s younger self. Hades, god of the underworld, abducted Persephone and would not let her return to Earth, thus leaving it barren and infertile in Demeter’s depression. When Zeus sent Hermes to retrieve Persephone, she had already eaten six pomegranate seeds, which committed her to return to the underworld for six months each year. The seasons of spring, summer and fall represent the six months when Persephone is happily reunited with Demeter on Earth
.
The Rome production of Persephone is directed by Beppe Menegattiwho earlier created a version for Palermo in the 1970's with Carla Fracci in the lead. Fracci, now Artistic Director of the Rome company, is in the new production, this time as Demeter. The myth is rich and complex with a feast of characters including Eumolpus (a narrator and scene setter), Demeter (Persephone's Mother who gives her name to a cult), Persephone (in this production split into two - an actress/narrator and dancer); in the underworld there are Pluto and Mercury and many others too. Narcissus flowers, corn and pomegranates all play their part in a fantastical tale with an appropriate ending in which, for once, no one dies. In short form: the beautiful Persephone is lured from earth to the underworld full of "People without hope, pale, unquiet and sorrowful" whose king is Pluto and who ravishes her. But Mercury helps Persephone see the earth she has left - cold and unhappy, as her mother searches for her, and she returns in triumph and marries only to be drawn back to the underworld each winter to ease the lot of its sad souls. She's a good-natured girl at heart and nowadays would do charity work rather than go on a fun-loving gap year I suspect.
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The Vasilopeta can either be a cake or bread. In our household, we make the cake version. This is a passed down recipe and there's nothing spectacular about this cake. It's a simple cake with a pound cake like texture. In the Greek household, however, this cake is more about tradition mingled with religious symbolism than a dessert.
This cake is usually made on the last day of the year and served right after the stroke of midnight or during New Year's Day. The head of the household lightly passes a knife, three times, in a cross formation, without scoring or cutting the cake, while saying a prayer of thanks for all that has been received in the past year and all that will come in the New Year.
The Vasilopeta is then cut into servings. The first three pieces are offered to: St. Basil, Christ (also known as: "The Zityano" - The Beggar) and The Virgin Mary. The order may vary, depending on the background and origin of the family, but they always come first. The following servings are cut for "The House" (the family's household) and then the immediate family members living in it, beginning with the oldest member and ending with the youngest. Then come the spouses of the children. Some of us also cut a few crumbs for our pets; we really shouldn't, but we do.
As for the coin, it's said that the person who finds it will be the lucky one for the rest of the year. This is superstition; though, it does make for a great scavenger hunt, especially when no one has found the coin and someone pops up and says: "Did you forget to stick the coin into the peta?" Or, even better, the most anxious family member will lift up the peta off the platter and look underneath to see if they can spot the coin. Then of course, everyone turns to the remaining cake to search for it. In our family, as with most Greek families, the Vasilopeta isn't about the cake and coin. It's about stopping, appreciating, as well as being thankful, for what we have: our health and prosperity. Anything else is secondary. Happy New Year.!!
This cake is usually made on the last day of the year and served right after the stroke of midnight or during New Year's Day. The head of the household lightly passes a knife, three times, in a cross formation, without scoring or cutting the cake, while saying a prayer of thanks for all that has been received in the past year and all that will come in the New Year.
The Vasilopeta is then cut into servings. The first three pieces are offered to: St. Basil, Christ (also known as: "The Zityano" - The Beggar) and The Virgin Mary. The order may vary, depending on the background and origin of the family, but they always come first. The following servings are cut for "The House" (the family's household) and then the immediate family members living in it, beginning with the oldest member and ending with the youngest. Then come the spouses of the children. Some of us also cut a few crumbs for our pets; we really shouldn't, but we do.
As for the coin, it's said that the person who finds it will be the lucky one for the rest of the year. This is superstition; though, it does make for a great scavenger hunt, especially when no one has found the coin and someone pops up and says: "Did you forget to stick the coin into the peta?" Or, even better, the most anxious family member will lift up the peta off the platter and look underneath to see if they can spot the coin. Then of course, everyone turns to the remaining cake to search for it. In our family, as with most Greek families, the Vasilopeta isn't about the cake and coin. It's about stopping, appreciating, as well as being thankful, for what we have: our health and prosperity. Anything else is secondary. Happy New Year.!!
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