Happy New Year from Mad Minerva

I'll be offline for the rest of today and for most of tomorrow. It's time for welcoming 2008 with friends and family -- lots of food and fun and games.

In fact, I'm wearing green velvet as I'm typing; I'm waiting for the Cinema-Mad Sibling to fetch me so we can go meet some friends for dinner, then a little dance party organized by another friend (and by "little" he meant 90+ people are invited), and then coffee and snacks and games until midnight.

Tomorrow will be sleeping late, then meeting more friends for more fun. One -- the infamous Il Barista -- has challenged the Sibling and me to Wii (!) tomorrow night.

So, Happy New Year as I log off! I give you some gorgeous eye-candy from the awesome Aussies, who -- as one of the first nations to see midnight -- lit up Sydney harbor with a galaxy of fireworks plus fun party music.

Happy 2008 with Asian-Pacific flair!

And also of course from the celebrations in Taiwan -- check out Taipei 101's vertical fireworks!