It’s a new year and what’s new? New bands and a new way to ring in the new year, with a kiss (and some — new — well-placed fog machine ambiance)

What did you think of the NYE rock bands Ponzi Scheme and Heartless? Did it beat that new years kiss?
— This was said, by a longtime regular, (now on-again, off-again since she’s older, but hey everybody is out on new years), of the Hudson-North Hudson scene, on the band Ponzi Scheme at the Village Inn: “They are a great band. Very tight. I just love them.”
— And when it came to the cover band Heartless at Ziggy’s, their vocals were dead-on just like those of the Wilson sisters with that famous twist of partial twang, and the intro chording to the classic Barracuda was also spot on, with a bit of extra guitar fills thrown into the riffs for good measure.
— Pity the man who doesn’t make it to Dick’s on time to ring in the new year. I was almost that guy, but the one I was kissing and I pulled up at 11:58 and decided to do it outside, to the sounds of the radio. I got out and went to the passenger side and its open window to get closer, leaning over to check the clock on the dashboard. When the time came, it was whamo! Then we entered Dick’s only to find that the people there were still kissing, as we had jumped the gun by about 25 seconds!
— In the next room over, where there was a deejay, there was the appearance as seen from afar of fog filling the dance floor. And I found out later that yes, there was a fog machine doing its thing here and there, an added New Year’s Eve treat.
— Once inside Dick’s, it was full to the gills. Said the doorman: “It’s really packed in here. But nothing like at The Moose, where its shoulder to shoulder.” And I thought it was S to S at Dick’s itself, and how to you get more people in then that? Does this break fire code?
— Going around the horseshoe at Dick’s, I saw a woman whose look stood out for two reasons: (1) her bare arms were covered with a long string of tattoos, and (2) her low cleavage had the look of being basically bare itself.
— This has got to be right in there for any story about new years. A Lindsay Lohan look-alike was seen out and about, and of course, by shortly after midnight with plenty of partying time left, she was too trashed to walk.
— Upon exiting Dick’s, with Ziggy’s the next stop, this phone conversation was overheard: “I can just buy a camera and we can get a room.” And a week earlier: Twas the night before Christmas, a friend of mine who lives in low-income housing lamented, and “someone” came knocking at the door of the low-life across the hall. Jingle bells attached? Hmm…
— At Ziggy’s two outfits stood out: One especially, was a woman decked out in burlesque style, complete with lots of cuts to her outfit to reveal even more skin, and (2) another woman wore a white sweater that put the fuzz back in fuzzy, and her date had his hand fixated firmly on her butt, dangerously close to her, ahem.
— But the best two looks, as judged by the beauty of those who wore them, had the same characteristics: very short skirt, pale hosiery, and high clunky heels.
— And a last note from a place over in the Cities, where unlike or until Wisconsin you could only stay open until 2 a.m. (Small time!) The place planned because of the leeway that gave to reopen the following morning at 8 a.m. rather than the 11 a.m. norm. And at the bar was a guy sporting a No. 23 jersey of a former Chicago Bear by the name of Hester. Might want to lay low with that one, considering what his alma mater just did in dismantling the Vikings playoff hopes.