New Year S Eve

For one last night, the cafes of Paris were filled with cigarette smoke. Summer Olympics organizers played host to dancing and music in Beijing. And rare celebrations resounded in war-torn Baghdad. Across the globe, people gathered for parties, shot off fireworks and held out hopes for a peaceful and prosperous 2008. But reminders of violence were apparent as security was tightened in many nations.

On New Year's Eve, the Las Vegas Strip will once again be transformed into a giant block party. About 300,000 people are expected. Revelers, however, will need to be strategically positioned to see the aerial display. Instead of being shot from the rooftops of various resorts the fireworks will be launched from atop parking garages. "These fireworks are going to be 300 feet closer to people on the Strip," says Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events.

This New Year's Eve, you can bid farewell to $200-a-ticket bashes and gauche table service and tip your top hat hello to economical cocktail parties, bar ragers with no cover and rambunctious street parties. Some of the best and lowest-cost happenings are taking place in Southern California's restaurants and un-Hollywood bars, with many offering discounts to draw in customers and give them a bigger bang for the buck.

Amid all the economic turmoil of 2008, there is at least one place where hope springs eternal: in the minds of New Year's Eve party promoters. In their planned scenarios, top-name musical talents will play into the early morning. Champagne will flow. And packed crowds will say goodbye to yesterday's troubles by tossing around hundreds of dollars like there's no tomorrow. But how will reality play out?

The beat is slowing on the Sunset Strip, muffled by a less-than-festive economy. For the first time in years, clubs in this night-life mecca on Sunset Boulevard and nearby will be ringing in 2009 on Wednesday by slashing cover charges or offering special incentives, such as open bars and free hors d'oeuvres. A night out on New Year's Eve will still cost a premium, of course, but many club operators say they are purposely keeping a lid on prices even though they might be able to charge more.

Top Los Angeles law enforcement officials and leaders told residents Monday not to fire any weapons to celebrate the new year, warning revelers that they will make every effort to track down shooters. The appeal for safety has become an annual tradition. "We do this every year," Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said at a news conference in Lynwood attended by Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton and County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Four years after a stroke, Dick Clark is relishing the prospect of another New Year's Eve celebration tonight, determined to appear for his 36th year in Times Square. Clark, who turned 79 last month and has been in front of the cameras for 61 years, said in a recent interview by e-mail that his appearance on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2009," diminished though it may be, is a labor of love and "not really a job."

A series of coordinated bombings stunned this capital Sunday as it prepared to ring in 2007, leaving three people dead and canceling festivities for thousands of revelers. The nine bombs that exploded across Bangkok on New Year's Eve and early today also wounded 38 people, at least six of them foreigners, including an American. The bombings capped a year of unrest in Thailand, including a military coup in September and an increasingly violent Muslim insurgency in the south.

A year after rain prompted the last-minute cancellation of two major celebrations, disappointing thousands of fans, New Year's Eve concerts and parties across the Southland got underway Sunday without reports of problems. Event promoters, eager to avoid the troubles of 2006, planned this year's gatherings with wet-weather backup arrangements, including tents and indoor alternatives. But by 9 p.m.

WHERE in the world was Carmen Electra? She was supposed to host the big New Year's Eve bash at Paramount Studios, including introducing the Killers and enumerating the all-important countdown to 2007. But after traipsing the red carpet, she was nowhere to be found. It was later revealed that Electra was too busy partying inside with her friends to fulfill her hosting duties. Not cool, Carmen. Also AWOL: the promised Dom Perignon bar in the VVIP area (that's Very \o7Very\f7 Important Person).