STORY:
Matt's Millennium Stew

Today's Millennium Stew --------
First TV Ad, Ice Sculptures, Auctions & Don't Spend..Invest!

by Matt Markovich
Everything2000 Stewmaster

----The first television commercial of the 21st century will make its debut in the most unlikely place. At 12:00:01 AM on Jan. 1, 2000, the local television station in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, will air a ninety second spot created by Euro RSCG Worldwide, the fifth largest agency network in the world. The Chatham Islands is the first inhabited locale that will experience the new millennium, but it has a population of only 800.

----Starting Sunday morning, December 26, ice sculptors will begin carving an incredible 34 ton ice sculpture for First Night Boston, the city's annual New Year's Eve celebration on December 31.� The carved relief sculpture, entitled "New Worlds," will be a fantasy piece depicting the solar system.� The point of view will be from one of Saturn's moons taken from recent Viking Explorer II photographs that were sent back to earth.� The sculpture will be located on the Tremont Street side of the Boston Common.

A staff of 20 will work non-stop for six days to complete the spectacular sculpture in time for the event.� They will carve 250 blocks of ice into a huge sculpture that will be 62 feet long and will soar to 28 feet in height.� The 34 tons of ice, delivered and set in place by a fork lift, will first be shaped by Y2K compliant chainsaws.�

----New Year's Eve's Auctions Galore! It seems everywhere you go...there is an online auction and New Year's Eve events are no exception. VH1.com is auctioning a concert package to Jimmy Buffett's New Year's Eve show at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, CA.

The auction package, with an estimated value of more than $1,000, includes two concert tickets, two backstage passes, two Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville hooded suede jackets and autographed CDs. Proceeds from the auction will go to VH1's "Save the Music" Foundation. Fans can submit bids for the concert package at VH1.com through December 21st.

And in a bold move, the convivial New York restaurateur Emilio Barletta is auctioning New Year's Eve reservations at his three New York City restaurants, Trattoria Dopo Teatro, Zanzibar and Osteria Fiorentina, with the largest, the landmark Trattoria Dopo Teatro, is an oasis in Times Square.� Bidders ran secure reservations for $225/person (plus gratuity) on Amazon.com.�

----And how would it all add up if the big bucks being spent to ring in the new millennium were saved instead? SunAmerica Inc., a retirement savings company, has used the price tags of some millennium celebrations and calculated what the money could be worth in 20 years if it were saved for retirement instead.� Here's how it all adds up ( assuming you get 8% compounded annually)

Nine day excursion down the Amazon:
Now....$4,845�
����������Potential Value $22,582

Two premium tickets to Barbra Streisand's� New Year's Eve concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas:
Now....$5,000������
�����Potential Value $23,305

Times Square 2000: Includes two round-trip�air fares, four nights at a four-star�hotel on Times Square, New Year's Eve�party and a VIP Tour of New York���������
Now.....$7,700�
���������Potential Value $35,889

Around the World Millennium Expedition:� �����Travel by private jet to Easter Island,��Samoa, New Guinea, Nepal, the Taj Mahal,�The Serengeti Plain, Tanzania, Timbuktu,� Mali, Istanbul, London and New York�����
Now....$44,950�
��������Potential Value$209,510

DATE: 12/20/99

Click for previous Millennium Stews

Marketplace
Books
Collectibles
Celebration Supplies
General Merchandise
Travel Packages