Happy New Year!

"I grow old, I grow old; I shall wear my trousers rolled" - or something like that. Woken up by loud bangs and flashes overhead at midnight, I was overcome with ennui and even forgot to wish Jane a happy 2013. "What a peculiar way for a cash-strapped world to mark a non-event!" I thought. After all, it happens every year; it's only one more click on the digital clock, or one more tick on an analogue dial.

Sydney, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Moscow, Dubai, London, Edinburgh, New York and many more cities round the globe all seem vie with each other in producing the most spectacular 15 minutes of sound and fury signifying... what? Even in Pyongyang and Rangoon they've adopted the fizz-bang marking of the year's transition. Symbolically, Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire saw 60 killed and 200 injured in a stampede at  a fireworks display last night. What a waste of life in a country struggling to recover from a civil war in 2011! Altogether what a night of wasted resources - all for a transitory feel-good factor, leaving behind a few photos and many hang-overs! I know, I grow old.

Don't get me wrong! I like celebrations. I approve of them. I think they should be lavish. After all, the waiting Father killed the fatted calf for his waster of a returning son. I just wonder what the New Year extravaganza is all about. That's all. But it doesn't stop me modestly wishing you a peace-filled 2013.