Different Ways People Around the World Celebrate New Year's Eve

Happy New Year's Eve! Thanks for taking time to click by on this busy day. Coffee's hot and...the virtual treats are waiting for you...last chance to get one this year! A brief survey...

Are you:

a) Going out partying tonight? 

b) Staying home and partying? 

c) Like Nong and I, will you be in bed long before the midnight hour?

Many of you will celebrate with champagne, dancing, and kissing your loved ones when the clock strikes midnight. But what about the rest of the world?

January 1st may be the de facto beginning of the New Year in the Western hemisphere thanks to the Gregorian calendar, but some cultures believe the New Year takes place at a different time altogether.

The Chinese New Year is in late January or early February. 

The Thai New Year, Sonkran, is in mid-April.

Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year— is in autumn, and some cultures follow the Julian lunar calendar and celebrate in mid-January.

How people start off a brand new year varies regionally from country to country — though most do tend to have the standard fireworks display.

In Spain, they eat 12 grapes for luck.

bernt rostad via flickr

Spaniards eat a grape with each of the twelve chimes of the midnight countdown while making a wish. The tradition dates back to 1895 when some savvy vine farmers realized they had a surplus of grapes and started the tradition to get more customers.

Many then celebrate with a late-night family dinner before heading out to Spanish nightclubs after midnight until 6 AM.

In Belgium, children write New Year's letters to their parents.

CuriousDaniel via Flickr

In Belgium, New Year's Eve is called Sint Sylvester Vooranvond. Besides toasting with the customary champagne, Belgian children write New Year's letters to their parents or godparents on New Year's day.

They decorate the cards with fancy paper complete with cherubs, angels, and coloured roses and then read them aloud.

In Greece, people hang an onion on their doors.

Instagram/stbach

It's believed that hanging an onion, or "kremmida" on your door on New Year's eve as a symbol of rebirth in the coming year. The following morning, parents traditionally tap their children on the head with the kremmida to wake them up before church.

Greeks also commonly break a pomegranate on their doorstep before entering their houses on New Year's Day, another symbol of prosperity and good luck.

In Denmark, people eat a really huge cake...and throw dishes.

Wikimedia Commons

Kransekage

People in Denmark prepare an evening meal that ends with a special dessert known as Kransekage, a steep-sloped cone-shaped cake decorated with fire crackers and flags.

Also, it is thought that throwing dishes on someone's doorstep on January 1st assures they will have many friends in the year ahead.

In Japan, it is believed the God of the New Year comes down to Earth.

James Trosh via Flickr

On New Year's Eve in Japan, Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times to welcome Toshigami, the New Year's God.

The Japanese also clean their homes and send thank-you cards called nengajo that wish a Happy New Year and give thanks to friends and relatives.

(Note that the image shown with this article depicts Thai buddha statues in front of a Thai mural...not Japanese).

In Estonia, they eat up to 12 meals that night.

moonlightbulb via flickr Creative Commons

Some people in Estonia believe that they should eat seven, nine, or twelve meals on New Year's Eve. With each meal consumed, it is believed that the person gains the strength of that many men the following year.

You don't eat the entire meal, however — part of the meal is left unfinished for the spirits or ancestors who visit the house on New Year's Eve.

In Finland, people tell one another's fortunes with melted "tin."

YouTube

A Finnish new year tradition is called molybdomancy, which is the act of telling New Year's fortunes by melting "tin" (actually lead) in a tiny pan on the stove and then quickly throwing it into a bucket of cold water.

The blob of metal is then analyzed in the candlelight to see what fate will befall the person in the New Year.

In Ireland, women put mistletoe leaves under their pillows to find husbands.

Shutterstock

Single women of Ireland place sprigs of mistletoe under their pillows on New Year's night in the hope that it will bring them better luck and a future husband.

Also according to Irish superstition, be wary of who enters your home after the 31st — if the visitor is a tall, dark handsome man, your year will bring good fortune. If it's a red-headed woman, she will bring a lot of trouble.

In Germany, they eat pigs made of marzipan and watch TV.

Wikipedia

The German people eat jam-filled doughnuts made with or without liquor fillings on New Year's Eve, as well as a tiny marzipan pig as a token of good luck.

The entire country also loves to watch the 1920s British Cabaret play Dinner For One that is broadcast on German television stations in black and white each year.

In Macedonia, people celebrate New Year's Eve twice.

Flickr

In Macedonia, New Year's Eve is celebrated both on December 31st as well as on January 14 according to the Macedonian Orthodox (also known as the Julian or Lunar) Calendar.

Fireworks happen throughout the day on the 31st, and Macedonian children receive gifts from relatives on the 14th.

In Argentina, people eat beans on New Year's Eve for good luck in the year ahead.

cookbookman17/Flickr

In Argentina, people believe that eating beans before the clock strikes midnight means they will have good luck in their careers in the year ahead. 

Some also believe that if they carry a suitcase around their house, they will travel more in the year to come.

In the Czech Republic, fireworks displays light up the sky.

Explore Europe Travel/Fireworks

In Prague, visitors can watch an incredible fireworks display on the world famous Charles Bridge after the clock strikes midnight. 

Much like in the U.S., Canada and other countries, people congregate to celebrate the New Year in parties, pubs, clubs, and city squares to drink and celebrate across the country.

Different strokes for different folks, eh! As mentioned in an earlier post, Thais celebrate three New Years... the western one, Chinese New Year usually in February and the Thai one...Sonkran around April 13-15.

However you plan to celebrate (or snooze), enjoy it!

See ya next year, eh!

Bob

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-years-rituals-around-the-world-2013-12?op=1 (with a few adjustments made)

One-man Arsenal

Hey y'all! How y'all doin'? Get yerself a mug of Joe, a virtual muffin or doughnut and set yerself down at this here VIP table. Yeehaw! Have I got a doosie for y'all today...

According to the flabbergasted sheriff of rural Chesterfield County, South Carolina, "This has completely changed our definition of (what constitutes) an 'ass-load' of guns." Brent Nicholson, 51, had been storing more than 7,000 firearms (most of them likely stolen) in his home and a storage building on his property. 

Every room of the house was stacked with weapons, and it took four tractor-trailer trips to haul everything away, with help of 100 law-enforcement officers. 

Nicholson also had 500 chainsaws, at least 250 taxidermied deer, elk, and alligator heads, and more. 

No motive was obvious to deputies. (Nicholson would still be living in the shadows today if he hadn't run that stop sign on Oct. 21 with bogus license plates on his truck.) 



Source: [WSOC-TV (Charlotte, N.C.), 11-11-2015] [Headlines & Global News (New York), 12-5-2015]

Sounds as though ol' Brent had enough firepower to equip a small army. I wonder whose it might have been?

See y'all, eh!

Bob

Who is that masked man?

Hi ya! How're life treating you so far today? Here it is brutal! We got a major dump of snow and it is likely to continue through the day. Welcome to winter, eh. Pour a mugful of coffee and massage a virtual doughnut or muffin onto your plate, why don't'cha?

So who is that masked man? Not to worry. It is neither a terrorist nor a bank robber...no, it is just me getting ready to go out and face the weather this morning. The 'mask' is actually a fleece hood with a piece that you can pull over your nose and mouth and keep the cold away. Nong and I were at a Women's Day event last summer and a vendor was selling the hoods. When I saw them, I immediately recognized the possible benefit for me. I tend to get neuralgia in my teeth and gums if I have my mouth open when it is very cold. Well, I bought it and have been waiting to use it since. Got my chance today, I'll tell you... I got to test it out and it performed very well.

Nong has a scheduled start of 6:00 AM which meant that we are up at 4:45 except that today we were greeted by -11C with a -21C wind chill and blowing, drifting snow. It had obviously been snowing all night; was still snowing and blowing and showing no signs of letting up. The garage door wouldn't open because of snow piled against the bottom. There was a 12" drift a few feet from the garage door and the driveway from the front of the house to the road...maybe 20 feet... had about 8-10 inches of snow on it. I'll get the snowblower out later (don't like to wake up the neighbours at 5:00 in the morning!) so Nong and I just pushed enough of the white stuff aside so I could get the car out onto the unplowed road. Putting winter tires on was another good idea we had in late fall.

By 5:35, the main roads were ploughed so we made it to Tim's and I made it back safely. I am not supposed to do any heavy lifting, which is why we got the snowblower. Fortunately, it was fairly light snow...but it felt as though it was turning to freezing rain...a wonderful natural phenomenon that encourages you  to fall on your butt in creative ways, slipping and sliding along. Not a good day to be a mail carrier, eh!

Ah well, we don't have to go out of the city until Friday when sunshine and a slightly warmer temperature is forecast.

Take your time getting wherever you are going today!

See ya, eh!

Bob

PS: Here's what it looked like out our front window a few minutes ago...

This Japanese Bookstore Only Stocks One Book at a Time

Konichi wa! Great to see you! Coffee is ready and there is a tray of virtual treats next to the coffeepot (though you may be treated out by now, huh). Help yourself. We are off back home this morning after a super Christmas and Boxing Day/weekend in which we bought out the stores. We have to leave much of the loot at here for spring pick-up because we cannot take it all on the train. We have to be minimalist in our thinking. Speaking of minimalism...

Japanese bookseller Yoshiyuki Morioka has come up with a highly unusual concept for a bookstore – he sells one book at a time in a tiny shop located in Ginza, Tokyo’s luxury shopping district. Ever since he launched the store in May, he has stocked multiple copies of only one title per week. 

You might argue that it’s hardly a bookstore if you can’t go in and spend at least a few hours browsing through hundreds of volumes, but Morioka never intended to create a classic bookstore. It’s like a weekly ‘suggested reading’ service – you just go in and pick up the book chosen for the week, relieving yourself of the burden of choice. Morioka said he came up with the idea a store that solely focused on one book at a time after organising several book-launch events at his old bookstore.

“Before opening this bookstore in Ginza, I had been running another one in Kayabacho for 10 years,” Morioka told The Guardian. “There, I had around 200 books as stock, and used to organise several book launches per year. During such events, a lot of people visited the store for the sake of a single book. As I experienced this for some time, I started to believe that perhaps with only one book, a bookstore could be managed.” To finance the store, Morioka sold his huge collection of Japanese wartime propaganda, famous for the quirky, strong graphics.

The store itself is minimal, with concrete walls and ceiling barely covered in a thin coat of white paint, and the raw concrete floor left as is. A vintage chest of drawers doubles as a counter, while a flimsy table in the center displays the title of the week. 

According to Morioka, his concept has a distinct advantage – the bookstore can serve as an exhibition for the book and its world, making the story come alive for customers. “For instance, when selling a book on flowers, in the store could be exhibited a flower that actually appears in the book,” he said. “Also, I ask the authors and editors to be at the bookstore for as much time as possible. This is an attempt to make the two-dimensional book into three-dimensional ambience and experience. I believe that the customers, or readers, should feel as though they are entering ‘inside a book.’

Some of the books that have been featured in the store include The True Deceiver by Finnish author Tove Jansson, and Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. A few Japanese titles have made the list as well, like Tsukiyo To (Moon Night and Glasses) by Mimei Ogawa, and Karachi No Moto (Source of Form) by Akito Akagi. The first title on next year’s list is Fish-Man, a photo anthology by Maseru Tatsuki. 

It isn’t clear how Morioka goes about choosing which books to display and sell, but his concept has been quite well received – he claims to have sold over 2,000 books since May. “The concept of this bookstore seems to have gained the sympathy of a lot of people, and I receive a number of guests from all over the globe,” he said.

Morioka is one of the old-school folks who strongly believe that books will never go out of style, despite the infiltration of ebooks in the market. “A book is a physical object with special attraction that has been, is, and will always be the same,” he insists. “Many will continue to utilise physical books, especially as a communication tool.”

An interesting concept that may work in Japan though in the Western world, I am not so sure it would fly.

See ya, eh!

Bob 


Source: http://www.odditycentral.com/art/this-japanese-bookstore-only-stocks-one-book-at-a-time.html#more-49722

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! Have an extra virtual treat with your coffee today, okay. There are no calories allowed on Christmas... in fact right through until January 6th...not only the 12th day of Christmas and the Epiphany but yours truly will turn 39 again (plus tax, shipping and handling of course).

So you're good to go crazy until then... and that's when the four letter word that begins with 'd' and ends with 't' with a couple vowels in between will kick in. In that spirit, I made some maple butter tarts yesterday morning so now I have shortbreads, mince tarts and butter tarts to add to our Christmas dins celebration. Can I upload a couple for you?



Check out this video from the Bangkok Post daily English newspaper of some great Christmas lighting at Central World in the centre of Bangkok:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/vdo/thailand/805480/bangkok-christmas-lighting

Nong and I wish you the best Christmas ever...and if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Festivus!

See ya, eh! 

Bob

Elephants Bring Christmas Cheer in Thailand

Sawatdee! Good to see you. I hope by now all your shopping is done. If anything, perhaps a little baking still to be done but it's time you took a break. Grab your mug. Wander over to the coffeepot. Pour yourself a mugful. Grab a muffin, doughnut or Christmas pastry then bring them over to the VIP table. I want to tell you how Thailand celebrates Christmas in a BIG BIG way...

Christmas holiday cheers have taken a creative form in Thailand. Elephants dressed in Santa costumes hand out Christmas treats to children.

Santa Claus has come to town, but this time as a gentle giant.

Elephants in a resort province in Bangkok were dressed up in Santa costumes as they joined a Christmas parade that made its way to a school.

Six elephants with red covers danced and performed acrobatic stunts in front of 3,000 elementary school students.

Children screamed in delight and scrambled as the elephant Santas threw snacks, balloons, dolls, and pencil boxes.

Some tourists who joined the event also handed out gifts to the children.

Click here to watch the YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0espSVfY-9w

Julia Lamont from the Australian Tourist office in Thailand said: "I think people are very busy at home, you know, rushing around at the last minute. But this is nice to see children at school, enjoying themselves at this time. So It's lovely."

In return for the treats, the children and teachers handed out bananas to these friendly elephants.

Suphanon Pornsri, Elementary School Teacher, said: "Elephants and children are two things that really go together. So, the children really like this treat."

Thai elephants are an endangered species, and a national symbol in Thailand.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, with Christians making up only about 0.7% of the population. However, you will see Christmas decorations throughout the country - especially in the major cities. Gift-giving happens in Thailand to celebrate the New Year but stores love to get into the spirit of Christmas. Apart from the obvious appeal to buyers, Thais generally love any excuse to party. That is why, for one thing, they celebrate New Years three times during the year ...the Western one on January 1st; Chinese New Year in late January or early February and then the Thai New Year (Sonkran) in mid-April. Party! Party! Party!

Get to bed early tonight. Santa's coming... but I don't think he's coming by elephant.

See ya, eh!

Bob

Fruit-Scented Plastic Cup Makes Drinking Water More Enjoyable

Hey! Hey! Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your Christmas shopping is done. If not, get out there and 'Get 'er done!' Today is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year with an anticipated $1 billion to be spent in Canada alone. Can you believe it? But before you do that, pour some java juice into your mug and munch your way through a virtual treat or two, why don't'cha as I tell you about the latest diet innovation...flavoured cups. Huh? 

The ‘Right Cup’ is a new weight loss device designed to trick dieters into enjoying a drink of plain water. The cup has a scented inner lining that emanates the aroma of sugary fruit, satiating cravings for flavoured drinks like juice or soda without having to consume the calories.

The cup works on the basic premise that 80 percent of the flavor and experience of food comes from its smell. The material of the cup is BPA-free and has a proprietary Encapsulated Aroma Release technology on the inside, so when users tilt the cup towards their face to take a sip, the aroma floods the senses, making them forget that they’re actually drinking bland water.

The makers of The Right Cup insist that the more the cup is used, the more pronounced its flavors will be, because the brain builds up on the experience. Each cup maintains its full aroma for about six months before the flavors start to fade. Storing the cup upside down can help lock in the aroma and extend its life for a while longer.

Isaac Lavi, the brains behind the cup, suffers from diabetes himself. “My doctors advised me to stay away from sugary beverages and to drink only plain water,” he told Mashable. “This was very hard because I hated the taste, or actually the lack of taste.” So he decided to use his own knowledge as an expert in the field of scent marketing, and came up with the special cup after six years of research and development. He now hopes it will help people avoid excess sugar and preservatives generally found in store-bought drinks.

“Personally speaking, I grew up as a chubby boy, and unfortunately these days I see more and more chubby kids, and I know exactly how they feel and what they go through,” Lavi said. “The Right Cup offers a great way to reduce consumption of sugary beverages which are known to play a key role in obesity and diabetes among children. This is my way to help their daily struggle.”

Drinking flavoured water may work for some people but for most of us the real problem (especially at this time of the year) is overeating. We eat far more than our body needs to survive so the food we don't need is partly excreted and partly turned into fat. Tell me about it!

Got to go. I made some shortbread cookies yesterday...still have mince tarts and,,,??? to go by tomorrow.

See ya, eh...the diet starts January 1... oops, my birthday is January 6 so maybe I'll start on the 7th.

Bob

Source: http://www.odditycentral.com/news/fruit-scented-plastic-cup-makes-drinking-water-more-enjoyable-helps-you-lose-weight.html#more-49655

The “Walking Trees” of Ecuador

Buenas Dias! How're you doing? Got time for a refreshing mug of coffee and a virtual treat to sweeten you day? Of course you do! Hey... have you ever heard of  'walking' trees? Me neither but walk over here to the VIP table and I'll tell you all about the root of the mystery...

The Socratea exorrhiza is perhaps the world’s only mobile tree. They say its complicated system of roots also serves as legs, helping the tree to constantly move towards sunlight as the seasons change. Walking trees can apparently move up to 2-3 cm per day, or 20 meters per year. That may not sound like much, but it’s pretty much a marathon by tree-standards.

Rainforest guides in Latin American countries like Ecuador have been telling tourists about the amazing walking trees for decades now. The most common version of the story is that the tree slowly ‘walks’ in search of the sun by growing new roots towards the light and allowing its old roots to die. The unusual roots, split from the trunk a few feet above the ground, add to the illusion of the tree having legs.

“As the soil erodes, the tree grows new, long roots that find new and more solid ground, sometimes up to 20m,” explained Peter Vrsansky, a palaeobiologist from the Slovak Academy of Sciences who lived for a few months in the Unesco Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, about a day’s journey from Ecuador’s capital Quito.

“Then, slowly, as the roots settle in the new soil and the tree bends patiently towards the new roots, the old roots slowly lift into the air. The whole process for the tree to relocate to a new place with better sunlight and more solid ground can take a couple of years.”

According to Wikipedia, “John H. Bodley suggested in 1980 that they in fact allow the palm to “walk” away from the point of germination if another tree falls on the seedling and knocks it over. If such an event occurs then the palm produces new vertical stilt roots and can then right itself, the original roots rotting away.

Unsurprisingly, most scientists don’t believe that the walking trees can actually relocate. According to a Live Science article from 2012: “A tree that walks in search of the sun is a fascinating, bizarre story. Alas, it’s not true; the tree is real enough, but it doesn’t walk. It sits where it sprouted, not moving except under the force of wind (or an axe).”

Gerardo Avalos, a biologist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies in Costa Rica, happens to be one of the world’s top experts on the Socratea exorrhiza species. And he agrees that the walking tree can’t really walk, based on extensive analysis he conducted in 2005. “My paper proves that the belief of the walking palm is just a myth,” he told Life’s Little Mysteries.

Remind me not to plant any of those, okay? I'd have to chase them around the yard. And what if they wandered over to a neighbours yard? Hmmm...

See ya, eh!

Bob
 

The Shortest Day of the Year

Hey! Hey! Welcome to winter...here in the Northern Hemisphere...Summer in the Southern one. Glad you could make it on this auspicious day. For us here in the surprisingly not-so-frozen north, it is the shortest day of the year...which means that we are down to just just over nine hours of daylight. I remember it being even less than that when I lived in Calgary. Dark when I went to worl at 8:00 Am and dark again when I got off around 4:00. The good news is that beginning tomorrow and every day from then until June 21st, each day will be about 3 minutes or so longer. Yea! Pour yourself a rousing mug of coffee, grab a virtual treat or two and bring them over here to the VIP table so I can expound on the Winter Solstice...

“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night,” quipped Steve Martin – and indeed, even a day with less sunshine can feel a bit dark. Our world depends on the light radiating from that big star we traipse around, and when it's in short supply, we feel it. But if you count yourself amongst those who don’t love waking up before the sun rises and getting off work after it has set, things are about to lighten up. Hello, winter solstice!

Although winter is really just beginning, we can at least say goodbye to these short little days we’ve been suffering (and don’t let the door hit you on the way out). With that in mind, here’s a collection of curious facts to celebrate the long-awaited return to longer days.

1. There are actually two winter solstices every year


It’s sometimes easy to be hemisphere-o-centric, but the other side of the planet gets a winter solstice too. With the planet’s orbit tilted on its axis, Earth’s hemispheres swap who gets direct sun over the course of a year. Even though the Northern Hemisphere is closer to the sun during the winter, it’s the tilt away from the sun that causes cold temperatures and less light — which is when the Southern Hemisphere is toasty. So while our winter solstice is on Dec. 21 or 22, the Southern Hemisphere celebrates the same on June 21 or 22.

Here's how that looks from space (kind of):

2. The winter solstice happens in the blink of an eye


Although the solstice is marked by a whole day on the calendar, it's actually just the brief moment when the sun is exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn that the event occurs.

3. Which is why it happens on different days in the same year

What? Yes! In 2015, the solstice happens on Dec. 22, at 04:49 on the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time clock, the time standard that the world regulates its hours by. Which means any location that is at least five hours behind UTC should break out the party hats on Dec. 21. For example, in the United States the winter solstice happens on Dec. 21 at 11:49 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The rest of the time zones can welcome longer days beginning on the 22nd.

4. It’s the first day of winter … or it’s not, depending on whom you ask

Meteorologists consider the first day of winter to be Dec. 1, but ask an astronomer — or just about anyone else — and they’ll likely answer that the winter solstice marks the start of the season. There are two ways to look at it: meteorological seasons and astronomical seasons. Meteorological seasons are based on the annual temperature cycle, explains NOAA, while astronomical seasons are based on the position of the Earth in relation to the sun.

5. It’s a time of gloriously long shadows

Shadows are at their playful best on the solstice. (Photo: Mike Page/flickr)

If you’re inclined to take pleasure in the little things, like shadows that seem cast from a funhouse mirror, then the winter solstice is the time for you. It's now that the sun is at its lowest arc across the sky and thus, shadows from its light are at their longest. (Imagine a flashlight directly above your head and one hitting you from the side, and picture the respective shadows.) And in fact, your noontime shadow on the solstice is the longest it will be all year. Relish those long legs while you can.

6. Full solstice moons are rarer than blue ones

Since 1793, the full moon has only occurred on the winter solstice 10 times, according to the Farmer's Almanac. The last one was in 2010, which was also a lunar eclipse! The next full moon on a winter solstice won’t be until 2094.

7. There’s a Christmas connection

Since Christ wasn’t issued a birth certificate, there's no record of the date when he was supposed to have been born. Meanwhile, humans have been celebrating the winter solstice throughout history — the Romans had their feast of Saturnalia, early German and Nordic pagans had their Yuletide celebrations. Even Stonehenge has connections to the solstice. But eventually Christian leaders, endeavouring to attract pagans to their faith, added Christian meaning to these traditional festivals. Many Christmas customs, like the Christmas tree, can be directly traced to solstice celebrations.

8. It’s a reminder to thank Copernicus

Will the real Saint Nick please step forward? (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The word "solstice" comes from the Latin solstitium, meaning "point at which the sun stands still.” Since when has the sun ever moved?! Of course, before Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (aka "super smartypants") came up with the ‘ol heliocentric model, we all figured that everything revolved around the Earth, sun included. Our continued use of the word "solstice" is a beautiful reminder of just how far we’ve come and provides a nice opportunity to give a tip of the hat to great thinkers who challenged the status quo.

And now go have some hot cocoa. Happy winter! For our friends in Australia and New Zealand, Happy Summer. Throw another shrimp on the Barbie...just don't throw them my way because I'm allergic, mate!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Justin Bieber Fan Legally Takes His Name

Well, hi there! How're you faring? Thanks for clicking by today. Weather update: +4 this morning...all the snow is gone and a forecast high for Thursday of 18C. Can you believe it? This is almost the end of December already! Not that I'm complaining, mind you. As far as I'm concerned, it can stay this way till March and then start to warm up. I am definitely not obsessed with snow, ice, blizzards, scraping ice off the windshield, snow down my boots, etc. Speaking of obsession, why don't you pour yourself a big mug of coffee and latch onto a virtual treat or two why I tell you about a Justin Bieber fan who is just a little obsessed with this Canadian singer...

Gabrielle Newton-Bieber is possibly the world’s biggest Justin Bieber fan – she has five Bieber-tattoos, a wardrobe filled with Bieber clothes, and all of his records and merchandise. She also likes to pretend that she’s married to the Canadian singer so she has legally taken his last name and sleeps with a life-size Bieber cardboard cutout.

“I always call Justin my husband when I talk to people,” the 22-year-old supermarket worker said. “I say ‘I’ve got to go, my husband is on TV. They find it a bit weird because we’re not really married – if only we were. Just maybe, one day.”

Gabrielle has been obsessed with Justin Bieber since the very beginning, when his debut single ‘One Time’ released in 2009. “Justin released his first single ‘One Time’ when I was aged 16 and straight away I was obsessed,” the young woman said. “He was so cute with his floppy hair and riding his skateboard. I fell for him instantly. He makes us all so happy – Justin Bieber is my world.”

In fact, Gabrielle is so faithful to Bieber that she’s never dated anyone else. “I think Justin Bieber is the only man for me,” she said. “I wouldn’t literally go out with anybody else except Bieber unless he had an identical twin or lookalike. I like him even more now than I did as a teenager. He has got very sexy with age – such great abs.”

Gabrielle believes that Bieber’s “sexiest moment” was when he appeared in a Calvin Klien ad wearing nothing but boxers. “I wouldn’t change anything about him,” she added. “He has made mistakes and I think he needs to learn from them and I wouldn’t copy his bad boy antics but I wouldn’t want to change him.”

It looks like Gabrielle doesn’t intend to forget Bieber in this lifetime – she’s got five permanent tattoos representing her obsession. She has ‘Bieber’ tattooed on one side of her ribs and ‘Believe’ on the other. ‘Belieber’ is inscribed underneath one of her breasts, while a drawing of the key he wears around his neck is inked on her shoulder with ‘Never Say Never’ written below it.

“Next year I plan to get ‘Purpose’ tattooed under the other breast, but I wouldn’t go as far as getting his face tattooed on me unless it was somewhere like on my bum,” she admitted.

The name change was a birthday present from her mother, who was initially against the idea. “My mum was like ‘no way’ and told me to wait for a few years before changing it,” Gabrielle said. But she begged so much that her mother eventually relented and ended up paying for the entire process.

But the one thing that cements Gabrielle’s love for Bieber is the fact that keeps a life size cardboard cutout of Bieber in her room. She admits to talking to it, and even sleeping with it at times. “I just tried it out once just to see what it was like but it would have been better if it was the real thing,” she said. “Sometimes I will talk to him and ask him to move if he is in the way, but I haven’t had dinner with him or anything like that yet – perhaps I will bring him down so he can have Christmas dinner with us this year.”

Gabrielle admitted that she went public with her Bieber obsession in the hope that she might get the chance to meet him in person. “I’ve had a lot of dreams about him and about what I would do if I met him for real, one dream he’d get me on stage and sing ‘One Left Lonely Girl’ to me and then I’d get to meet him backstage afterwards. It would be so cool if I was his ‘One Left Lonely Girl.’”

“But honestly, if I met him, I would probably just burst into tears. ”

“To meet him would literally mean the world to me, it is my dream.” Gabrielle said. “I want to thank him for all he has done for the Beliebers. “Whenever anything bad happens in the life or anyone gives me stick for anything, I just think to myself, what would Justin Bieber do? Then I shrug it off.”

Well, ah...okay... Do you think she is functioning under an obsession or what?

See ya, eh!

Bob