What are we in the west shown on New Year’s Eve day? We are fed a diet of videos showing Sydney or Asia or New Zealand whooping it up with fireworks and partying in their earlier day and thus first New Year. It’s sad but some of us have to work in North America while seeing these images. It probably wouldn’t be that bad if it weren’t the same iconic landmarks shown every time.
Sydney, I hate you. I hate your smug harbour bridge. I hate your iconic shell opera house. I know exactly what your harbour looks like when lit up by fireworks. And I must tell the rest of the world’s press that we wouldn’t know the difference if they used New Year fireworks from, say, 2009 and didn’t bother buying new footage of Sydney next year. We’re all trying to cut back, after all.
But why the ire at this time of year? It was daytime here when I watched footage for tonight’s Earth Hour on North American television. And they were showing Asia and New Zealand and, of course, Sydney powering down for Earth Hour. Because they are first once again. So I am shown a familiar harbour in Australia. But instead of extra lights, the night scene shows the harbour bridge being unlit. It shows the shell opera house being unlit and disappearing.
One event a year I might handle. But two such events make me go off the deep end. Drop dead, far east, I might say, but you know they’re never going to do it. So we are left with the ridiculous things that I might say when angry.
This time I say we should move the International Dateline to the mid Atlantic.
Firstly this would enhance trade in the Pacific Rim area we hear so much about. In the Pacific you wouldn’t be confused about what day it is. And why not there? The biggest Ocean in the world should have perhaps the biggest deference paid to it.
Then the rest of the world could watch the Eastern Seaboard of North America hail the New Year first. Even Eastern Standard areas could be used. So the closest world wide landmarks I know of: the CN Tower and Toronto’s skyline could show fireworks first in the new year. We could also watch it darken first to show Earth Hour participation.
But we’d have to get the world to switch to this new International Dateline. And Japan has a vested interest. They are known as the land of the Rising Sun and indeed their flag shows a red rising sun on a field of white.
Maybe we can say that the Japanese are under a red Sun like Krypton. Thus they are all super men and super women. And then they can keep their flag.
A good public relations marketing scheme might get the whole world to change that International Dateline. Then the whole world will know Eastern North America as being first. How do you like them apples, Sydney? Suck it up and watch us every New Year and Earth Hour.
