Here's another glaring example of the Y2K disconnect effect. The latest plans for the millennium bash on the DC mall are being formulated by the White House and Hollywood, yet there is no mention of A) Y2K, the dozens of "warming centers" the cops will be manning, and the locomotive sized generators the DC government has rented; B) The dire straits that DC is going to be in before, during and after this period due to its admitted failed remediation; or C) the fact that more and more events and performers are canceling due to uncertainty over the New Year's rollover.

Maybe we're trying to outdo Italy...

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-09/29/065r-092999-idx.html

Will Smith To Ring In New Year On Mall Multimillion-Dollar Events Announced

By Susan Levine Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 29, 1999; Page A01

Actor Will Smith will host Washington's ultimate party of '99, the multimillion-dollar New Year's Eve celebration on the Mall, for which a who's who of rock music will sing backup, organizers announced yesterday.

"Just imagine for a moment," first lady Hillary Clinton began at a news conference that was provided few new specifics of the free, morning-to-midnight event but much lyrical description of its atmosphere and purpose -- "the music of our century rocking and rolling, swinging and soaring."

Some of those tunes will be belted out by Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry and B.B. King, who will perform during festivities that will stretch down the Mall and also for several blocks along Constitution Avenue.

Come evening, the spotlight will shift to the Lincoln Memorial, where Smith will lead a show to be produced by Quincy Jones and George Stevens Jr. And in the century's final hour, as composer John Williams conducts an original orchestral score, an 18-minute film by Steven Spielberg will highlight major events of the last 100 years before a high-tech sound and light display punctuates the first minute of 2000.

"It will be in the sky and it will be inspiring," Stevens said yesterday.

"America's Millennium," as the family-friendly extravaganza is billed, is being organized by the White House Millennium Council, Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service and National Park Foundation. The city of Washington, which will mark its bicentennial as the nation's capital in 2000, is a partner in the planning.

The initial projection is for a turnout of 600,000 people. Only two gatherings on the Mall have been bigger: President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 inauguration and the 1976 bicentennial fireworks.

Already, the price tag has grown to $12.5 million from initial estimates of $10 million. The total includes the lectures, demonstrations and performances that the Smithsonian will present from Dec. 31 through Jan. 2, but does not account for the city's companion block party along Constitution Avenue -- a "Main Street Millennium" expected to resemble a winter carnival of minstrels, magicians, acrobats and food tents.

The entire celebration will be privately funded, organizers reiterated yesterday, saying that with 95 days to go, half of the $12.5 million has been raised. Democratic Party fund-raiser magnate Terry McAuliffe, who recently offered $1.3 million from his own accounts to guarantee a New York house mortgage for the first lady and President Clinton, is leading the money effort.

Despite some private concerns that the ambitious and time-pressed plans may exceed funds -- the Smithsonian, for instance, has yet to receive a budget for its role -- organizers were enthusiastic yesterday. One of the guests they introduced was their first million-dollar contributor, Omaha business executive Vinod Gupta. No other individual or corporate donors were identified.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to unite our nation, to capture an extraordinary moment in mankind and human history," said Hillary Clinton, who was joined at the news conference by Stevens and D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).

With congressional dignitaries and local residents participating, the weekend's opening ceremony will take place near the Capitol as a time capsule is sealed with the thoughts of national leaders in varied fields, Clinton said. Throughout the day on Dec. 31, the Smithsonian will offer a "digital time capsule," to which visitors can add their wishes for future generations.

Producer Stevens, the man behind the annual Kennedy Center honors program and founder of the American Film Institute, gave no timetable for releasing a full schedule of performers. For the moment, the publicity boasts of bands, choirs and military marching units. Stevens acknowledged that many celebrities were booked long ago but said it was not too late to get commitments from others.

"It's a historic opportunity. You can perform in Las Vegas any night of the year," he laughed.

One lure would be the likely worldwide audience. Organizers said CBS will broadcast live from 10 p.m. through midnight, and arrangements to carry the show around the globe are pending. Spielberg's movie, "The Unfinished Journey," will be shown on two giant digital screens to be positioned on either side of the Lincoln Memorial.

Although the Mall will return to normal Jan. 3, the city's bicentennial commemoration will just be starting. James V. Kimsey, chairman emeritus of America Online, is leading the steering committee of city and regional leaders that will plan a year of programs and festivities and raise the private funds to pay for them.

Williams's special assistant Sandy McCall said the calendar of events will not be publicized until January. Kimsey's committee members, however, will be announced by early November.

"When [others] see this new board," McCall predicted, "they'll see there's been an immense vote of confidence in this new mayor and the renaissance of this city."

-- a (a@a.a), September 29, 1999

Answers

maybe the new years "party" will be taped weeks earlier in Hollywood* with washington scenes and then played during rollover. "see, washington is just fine!" (*in style of the fake men to the moon shots)

-- dw (y2k2@outhere.com), September 29, 1999.

These people do not believe in MURPHY'S LAW !!!

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 29, 1999.

Thanks for the downer.

Sincerely, Not far enough away from the impending dead man's party

-- Stan Faryna (faryna@groupmail.com), September 29, 1999.

Am I the only one who thinks this place runs a close second to New York as the favorite target for kooks on new years eve? What are they thinking?

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), September 29, 1999.

''it will be in the sky'and it will be inspiring'' hm[double] hm?

-- strange-sightings. (dogs@zianet.com), September 29, 1999.

I'm not goin'.Stayin' home with my own "fireworks."

-- Betty Alice (Barn266@aol.com), September 29, 1999.

strange sightings,"it will be in the sky" Maybe it will be a gigantic hologram depicting God, and His thunderous voice will tell us to unite under the U.N. for world religion and peace in all nations.

-- Betty Alice (Barn266@aol.com), September 29, 1999.

Anyone familiar with the "Mall" and the area around it will verify that there is little or no parking available. People traveling to this area most often take the "Metro" - the subway system.

Last fall when I was able to visit WDC for 10 days, I daily used the Metro and kept thinking that that was the absolute last place I would want to be when TSHTF.

Has anyone heard what their plans for transporting these folks to the 'party' are? I mean the 'common' folk. I would NOT want to be stuck on a train or in a station!

:::shudder:::

-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), September 29, 1999.

I feel that this party is just a reason to round up the party crowd ( potential trouble makers ) and get them downtown in case something has to be done about them.

-- Think (Think about it @D.C..com), September 29, 1999.

Wilferd, they have been encouraging the use of the Metro, and the Metro rep who spoke at Fairfax County's last Y2K meeting INSISTED that Metro would be working then...right! Then did you all hear Mayor Williams on last evening's news saying, with a supposedly reassuring, "Ah, there, now" tone, "There will be lights..." and trailing off! I wanted to shout, "Sure, with all those generators, there will be some light somewhere, but not everywhere!" Hillary looked so benign on camera.

We in the DC suburbs have been horrified at this for months, and I called the White House complaint line to express my horror when the word first came out. Lots of luck!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), September 29, 1999.