The Daily Dose/December 31, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
Editor’s Note: Today’s Leading Off segment features our usual New Year’s Eve column. It’s rewritten somewhat every year to keep it fresh, but rest assured it’s as dull as ever.
2020 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024: ON IT!: As you read this the planet has been ringing in the new year for several hours already, having started at 3 am Mountain Standard Time (MST) almost due south of Hawaii with festivities in the Christmas Islands and Kiribati, despite the fact these places should be east of the International Date Line and amongst the last to leave the old year.
Dry, Technical Matter: 15 minutes later the Chatham Islands celebrated and at 6 am MST New Year celebrations began in much of Australia.
And You Wonder Why You Don’t Get Invited To More (Any) Parties: The International Date Line is an imaginary line of demarcation more or less at 180 degrees longitude, directly opposite the Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude). It veers east and west though, to accommodate assorted international borders.
And You Wonder Why You Don’t Get Invited To More (Any) Parties II: Time and how its kept – not to mention civil lines of demarcation – have always thrilled us (a lot) more than they probably should, so when the New Year starts around the world tends to interest us.
Dry, Technical Matter II: Kiribati changed its position vis-a-vis the International Date Line in the 1990s after it acquired territory that caused it to straddle the International Date Line. So, in accordance with international convention, it moved the dateline east so it was completely west of it, placing it in the first group of jurisdictions to mark the New Year.
Yay For More Dry, Technical Matter: The International Date Line is so jury-rigged Samoa is one of the first to ring in a New Year while American Samoa, a mere 100 or miles to the east of Samoa, is the last inhabited place on the planet to ring in 2024.
Oh, Jesus H: Both Baker Island and Howland Island, uninhabited US possessions near the equator, are the last places to enter a New Year, doing so Sunday morning at 5 am Mountain Standard Time.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: Due to the bastardizing of the International Date Line, it now takes 26 hours for a planet theoretically divided into 24 time zones to have everyone ring in the New Year.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter II: Technically, if you’re at the South Pole you can ring in 2024 whenever the hell you want. There are 24 time zones there because all of them converge at Amundson-Scott Station, but because virtually all access to the South Pole is from New Zealand, they keep New Zealand time.
The Bottom Line: As long as New Year’s Eve remains the last day of the year, we will continue to trot this column out. Thank you for reading.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow provides further proof he will whine about anything. Today’s Diary.
…we are whining about having overslept today (see Sleep Log below).
———
Click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.
Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device.
———
On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1992 – The country of Czechoslovakia is dissolved becoming the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The split was spurred by the overthrow of the Communists in 1989 and the split was so peaceful History sometimes refers to it as the Velvet Divorce. Czechoslovakia had formed at the end of World War I when Austria-Hungary dissolved with the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy.
In 1954 – The Fort Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers establish a new NBA record for most free throws attempted in a regulation game in a 103-91 Lakers victory. The teams combined to shoot 127 free throws, to break the record of 119 established by the Lakers and the Boston Celtics on November 24 and the record still stands. The teams combined for 74 personal fouls and made 52 free throws (44%).
In 1977 – The Bee Gees are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second of three consecutive weeks with How Deep Is Your Love. The song went to #1 in five other countries, including Brazil and Finland, peaked at #3 in Great Britain, was Billboard’s 6th-biggest song of 1978, and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Group. It was the fourth of nine #1 songs for the group and spent 33 weeks on the Hot 100, including 17 weeks in the Top 10 and nine weeks in the Top 3
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
When the hour of the great man has struck he rises to leadership; but before his time has come he is hampered in all that he attempts.
Lao Tzu
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Margaret Court has won the most women’s Australian Open singles titles with eleven between 1960 and 1973.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Which teams hold the NBA record for most free throws attempted in an overtime game? – Answer next time!
