new year's eve was crazy and brilliant. the four of us went to amsterdam the day before, and out of amazing luck, managed to snag the last four beds in the entire city, at the super cool hostel 'the flying pig' right on the main street, a 5 minute walk to dam square, where the biggest new year's eve countdown in the entire country was taking place (unknown to us). the pig must have had some upgrades since the last time i was there, because i remember it as a pretty sleezy, dirty place where you walk in the front door and look to your left (there's a big lounge area with cushions) and there always used to be dozens of backpackers tripped out on something or other, passed out, smoking joints and drinking beer. i remember the rooms as dirty,dark places where there would be beer spilled on the floor, and vomit in the bathrooms. no lockers and very worrisome for getting your valuables stolen. but this time, however, my room was fantastically clean, the whole place must have had a fresh coat of paint and a makeover...because it was actually rather nice and comfortable (though f-in expensive...about 30 euros each a night!). we wandered down to the square and got tangled in the mosh pit craziness. some guy grabbed mj's hat and she grabbed it back. a couple of us were carried through the crowd for a few metres before one of us would grab them back. firecrackers everywhere, lights, music...soooo much fun. on the way back to the hostel we saw a crowd of people gathered around someone, all with their cameras out. i thought it was a celebrity or something and made my way to the front. it was in front of a coffeeshop which should have tipped me off, and when i got to the front i got the best video of a guy smoking a 2-foot long, 5-cm wide joint. i sent the video out to a few people, i'll try to upload it on this site. anyway, fun times for all this evening!