Here in the south this is a New Years' Tradition, best served with greens and grits...

Use ham hocks or hog jowl in this basic black eyed pea recipe, also known as Hoppin' John.

Ingredients:

2 pounds dried black-eyed peas

8 ounces hog jowl or 2 small to medium ham hocks

6 cups water

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar

salt, to taste

Preparation:

Pick over the peas and rinse well, then soak in cold water overnight. Place ham hocks or hog jowl in large kettle with water, bring to boil, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Drain peas and add to the hog jowl. Add whole onion, crushed red pepper, sugar, and salt. Add more water if needed to cover peas. Cover tightly and simmer slowly 2 hours or until peas are tender. Serve with hot cooked rice and cornbread. Serves 6-8.

Some of us will overdo the party tonight so here are some tips from the folks at Wired.com, some of them may even work ...

Hangovers are one of life's big mysteries. Not their origin, that's obvious enough, but rather why we still have to deal with them.

We have been to the moon and split the atom, but a true cure or foolproof preventative measure for the hangover remains elusive. It's just not fair.

Most doctors will tell you there is no way to cure a hangover, save waiting for your body to metabolize and get rid of the alcohol. While that may be true, there are number of things you can do to speed things up.

Here's our guide to preventing a hangover and, failing that, speeding its departure.

Prevent a hangover

Obviously, refraining from drinking any alcohol would be the best option. For those of you not planning to embrace a neo-temperance movement, here are some guidelines to minimizing the lingering effects of too much alcohol.

• Don't drink on an empty stomach. Have a big dinner or, if you consider yourself a professional, have a big breakfast. Even a snack is better than nothing. There's a reason bars have snacks: The more you eat, the slower alcohol will affect you, and the more you can drink. Eat before you drink and, if you can, eat afterwards too. Fatty foods are better, because they slow the absorption of alcohol. So go for a pizza or a cheesesteak or some smoked salmon, if you want healthier oils.

• Drink water. The feeling of being hungover is the same as dehydration. Drink water in between alcoholic drinks to make sure you aren't dehydrated when you go to bed. Failing that, at least have a nice big glass of water (or two) before you pass out on the bathroom floor.

• Know your limits. How much is "too much" depends on everything from body weight to racial type. A general rule of thumb: no more than three drinks in a 2-hour span, and no more than five in a single night.

• Put a B-complex vitamin, electrolyte and water on your pillow. So if you know you're going big, you might as well ingest these at the end of the night. Why? Because getting wasted depletes the body of many things, with B-complex and electrolytes being the most important. Seriously, down as much water as you can before you go to bed. Chances are you might be able to do some late preventative work once your night is called, and you might wake up with less of a hangover than previously imagined.

• Take N-acetylcystine, NAC. The science behind this isn't spectacular but there is some evidence that NAC does in fact work to prevent, as well as cure, hangovers. The idea is that NAC can bind acetaldehyde: the toxic, hangover-inducing metabolite of alcohol. When NAC binds acetaldehyde the body can much more easily get rid of it. Thus, it is a good idea to take NAC before going out drinking, to have it in your blood before the alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde. This is especially good because it doesn't prevent alcohol's fun effects, it just helps to get rid of the bad stuff.

Cure your hangover

You ignored all of the above advice, and now you're lying on the couch in your underwear, clutching at the blanket tangled on your chest wishing the day were already over. Here are a few things you can do to speed up the slow and painful process of getting rid of that excess alcohol.

• Drink water. Yes it makes both lists. Alcohol has dehydrated you, and to speed up your recovery the first thing to do is get the water back in your body. Ideally, a liter or two of IV D5-Ringer's lactate will solve the problem. But, drinking water is a close second.

• ""Eat Burnt Toast."" Butter and honey on burnt toast - if you can stomach it - will help calm the upset stomach with the sugar from the honey giving you a needed boost of energy and the charred bread acting sort of like charcoal and absorbing excess alcohol remaining in the stomach. If you're the type who vomits with your hangover this might give you some relief, or at least something to heave.

• Sleep. The physical effects of alcohol on your body combined with the late nights that typically precede a hangover mean that sleep is usually easy to come by. Embrace it. Your body needs to metabolize the alcohol, and if you can sleep while it's taking care of that, you'll feel better when you wake up a few hours later.

• Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Although all of these are helpful for relieving headaches, you're better off avoiding them when you're hung over. Aspirin is a blood thinner, but so is alcohol. Combining the two is a bad idea. Acetaminophen when combined with alcohol can cause liver damage, and ibuprofen is more likely to irritate your stomach lining when combined with alcohol.

• Avoid coffee. Sacrilege, yes. But coffee will just make you more dehydrated. One cup might be OK, but try not to down an entire pot in some misguided quest to wake up. Drink water instead. Or, if you need caffeine, try something mellow like iced tea.

• Exercise. Frankly, this sounds crazy to us. But exercise speeds up your metabolic rate, and thus gets the alcohol moving out a bit faster. Not for the faint of heart, but if you feel like going for a run, by all means knock yourself out. Bonus points if you smell like a bar sweating its way down the street.

• Hot shower or steam. Essentially an extension of the "Drink Water" solution, any way you can drive water into your body will help. Hot showers or even better a steam room, will not only help you with the essential water you need but will also help you metabolize the alcohol faster, aka sweat it out.

• Bury yourself up to the neck in moist river sand. Some people in Ireland swear by this method. It's really just here to illustrate that all those hangover cures your friends will tell you to try are unfortunately just folk tales. There is no easy cure, save toughing it out.

Conclusion

Most of the so-called hangover cures and over-the-counter remedies are as good as snake oil. Everyone's physiology is different, so what works for one person might do nothing for another. That said, if you have a tried-and-true method, don't let us talk you out of it. In fact, you should contribute to this wiki page by adding it.

If it works it works, even if it just proves the placebo effect.

Now if you'll excuse us, we need a drink.

* Please let somebody else drive (be it car, boat or airplane) … “NO!”, means no not maybe … Watch your temper, leave your knives, guns and other implements of mayhem at home … As a former para-medic let me tell you nothing will ruin your celebration like a trip to the ER or jail and you will really make first responders hate list if you bleed or puke all over their ambulance or patrol car, not to mention I need all the readers I get...

Award winning Singer and Songwriter Penny Nichols will be in concert at Prairie Creek Lodge's "Sandhill Stage" on Saturday, January 8th beginning at 7 pm. The next day, she'll be conducting a singing and vocal harmony workshop. 

Details on the poster, or call 375-3065. 

Don't miss her!

Your New Year's Eve options

A sampling of some of the area events Friday night organized around New Year's Eve:

DOWNTOWN COUNTDOWN: Gainesville's New Year's Eve celebration features Beatles tribute band the Imposters and chamber blues-rock duo Velveeta Underground, streamers and confetti at midnight, noisemakers passed out to audience members, 9 p.m.-12:30 am, Bo Diddley Community Plaza, 111 E. University Ave. Free.

GLOBAL PEACE DANCE: Live music, singing, dancing and candlelight meditation to bring the year to closure and welcome 2011, 7:30-10 pm. United Church of Gainesville,1624 NW Fifth Ave. Cost: $5-10 (546-1345)

SWING AND SWAY DANCE CLUB: New Year's Eve event features live music by Don Letbetter's Blue Notes for ballroom dancing on a wood floor, dance instruction offered intermission, 8:30-12:30 am. Thelma Boltin Center, 516 NE Second Ave. Cost: $20 per person plus snack to share. (375-1996)

NEW YEAR'S BASH: Featuring music by Army of Ponch and more and a free champagne toast at midnight, 9 pm, Common Grounds, 210 SW Second Ave. Cost: $6.

On this day in the Sunshine State …

1858 Clay County was created today as Florida’ 37th county.  The county is named for Kentucky’s Henry Clay, who served as Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams and who was a perennial presidential contender.  County Seat: Green Cove Springs.

1891 E. J. Triay assumed the office of Treasurer of the State of Florida today.  He would hold this position until succeeded by C. B. Collins on January 3, 1893.

1896 The oldest Florida Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, now the Daytona Chapter No. 1, was chartered today at Live Oak.

1945 Beth Kodesh Congregation, formerly the Miami Hebrew School and Junior Congregation, was founded today.

1973 Florida Tourism officials were predicting dire consequences for the state’s tourist industry as gas rationing was introduced following the Arab oil embargo.  Since most Americans were limited to about eight gallons a week, officials feared that the number of tourists in the Sunshine State would be extremely low in 1974.

* Starting Monday we will visit what happened in Florida during the Civil War on a day by day bases …

“If we can connect in some tiny way with a human that doesn't agree with us, then maybe we won't blow up the planet.”

“Nature does nothing uselessly.”

“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”  

I do not want your money, and I offer nothing to buy. No coffee mugs or T-shirts here. I do this to learn, keep some semblance of sanity and, foolishly, not to make money. There are only four ways in which I can be fairly compensated for my efforts here at the Mullet Wrapper...

Comment! Don't be shy. It's my only feedback. Make up a name, if you want. Yes, I know our insane spam-blocker can make it frustrating at times. I welcome civil disagreement, too.

If you have a site, and you like me, throw me a link saying so. (Call me cyber-slut if you must. I can take insulting criticism - if justified.)

Send my site around to your friends, enemies, relatives, and everybody else you know who you think might get a kick out of our random mix of stuff. My ever-growing readership is my reward, and I figure there must be millions of folks out there who might like me if they knew I existed. I'd rather be a Wal Mart than a cute boutique for my fragile egos' sake.

Send me story ideas and announcements of things happening locally of interest. If it interests you most likely it will interest others.

Thanks and have a Happy New Year!

Today: Sunny, with a high near 76. South wind between 5 and 9 mph.

Tonight: Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 51. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

New Year's Day: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 76. South wind between 3 and 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. Light south wind.



Sunday: A 30 % chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Southwest wind between 3 and 8 mph.

Sunday Night: A 20 % chance of showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. 

Hazardous Weather: There is potential for some dense fog to develop late tonight, otherwise hazardous weather is not expected.

A cold front will advance across the area Saturday night and Sunday. Isolated thunderstorms may accompany the front.

Forecast Details: A shortwave undercutting East Coast ridge is showing up quite nicely on water vapor imagery moving east across northeast Florida early this morning. Associated high cloud cover has kept temperatures mild south of I-10. A stratocumulus deck resides over portions of southeast Georgia. Some patchy fog has been observed over Duval County but elsewhere cloud cover has inhibited development. Upper ridge will continue to build over the eastern United States today. Increasing thicknesses support maximum temperatures in the 70s across most of the area today. The exception will be right along the Atlantic coast where a cool onshore flow will keep temperatures from climbing out of the 60s. More sun than clouds expected today. Shortwave and weak inverted trough will combine to produce a few light rain showers over the Atlantic offshore waters today.

Temperatures will remain roughly 10 degrees above normal through Sunday. Upper ridge will shift offshore on Saturday as broad upper trough over the central Continental U.S. pushes east. Cold front will also advance in our direction. Overall Saturday will be a very nice day with highs in the middle 70s most areas. Some cirrus-filtered sun will get the day started but cirrus clouds will thicken and lower during the day. Increasing moisture in deep southwest flow may support a few showers (20 to 30 %) over our far western zones late in the day.

Best dynamics expected to remain north of the region where the heaviest rain is expected. The latest runs of the NAM show strong shortwave energy lifting northeast out of the Gulf of Mexico with potential for elevated thunderstorms across our western zones late Saturday night. Not a lot of support exists for this solution so probability of precipitation for Saturday night will continue to be capped at 40 %.

Actual front will not push into the area until Sunday afternoon. Low level convergence appears favorable for shower activity ahead of the front during the day. Overall organization remains uncertain but best chances will reside across southeast Georgia. Will go ahead and bump up probability of precipitation to 50 % across southeast Georgia on Sunday. Since northeast Florida will remain in southwest flow most of the day temperatures should top out in the low to middle 70s under mostly cloudy skies. High thickness values also support this. Showers along the front will dwindle as we go into the evening hours.

Today's Pollen Levels: 4.4 Low Medium (on a scale to 12); Predominate Pollen:Juniper 

For additional information visit the National Weather Service in Jacksonville website on the internet at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax/

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The La Chua trail has grown and expanded in it's popularity with park visitors with each passing year. Regular visitors have seen many changes in the facilities at this trail, from establishing a new parking area, construction of the boardwalk, a paved walkway from the trailhead to the boardwalk (improving accessibility to all trail visitors), and now, renovation of the observation platform at the end of the trail. In early November, a "Renovation Team" of prairie staff and the inmates that work on many of the park construction projects, repaired and renovated the platform to improve it's stability and use for park visitors.

The platform will now be dedicated to Dominick Martino. The materials for this projects were purchased at the direction of former Florida Park Service Director, Mike Bullock, in recognition of Dominick's dedicated volunteer service at the prairie. A dedication ceremony will be held at the platform on Friday, December 31, 2010, at 10:30 am. Please join us in remembering an incredible individual who gave so much of himself to Paynes Prairie and to those who love this special place.

1924: Astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that the spiral nebula Andromeda is actually a galaxy and that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies in the universe.

Before Copernicus and Galileo, humans thought our world was the center of creation. Then (except for a few notable stragglers) we learned that the sun and planets did not revolve around the Earth, and we discovered that our sun — though the center of our solar system and vitally important to us — was not the center of the universe or even a major star in our galaxy.

But we still grandiosely thought our own dear Milky Way contained all or most of the stars in existence. We were about to be knocked off our egotistical little pedestal once again.

Edwin Hubble was born in Missouri in 1889 and moved to Chicago in 1898. In high school, he broke the state record in the high jump, and went on to play basketball for the University of Chicago. He won a Rhodes scholarship and studied law at Oxford. He earned a Ph.D. in astronomy, but practiced law in Kentucky. After serving in World War I and rising to the rank of major, he got bored with law and returned to astronomy.

He trained the powerful new 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson in Southern California on spiral nebulae. These fuzzy patches of light in the sky were generally thought to be clouds of gas or dust within our galaxy, which was presumed to include everything in the universe except the Magellanic Clouds. Some nebulae seemed to contain a few stars, but nothing like the multitudes of the Milky Way.

Hubble not only found a number of stars in Andromeda, he found Cepheid variable stars. These stars vary from bright to dim, and a very smart Harvard computationist named Henrietta Leavitt had discovered in 1912 that you could measure distance with them. Given the brightness of the star and its period — the length of time it takes to go from bright to dim and back again — you could determine how far away it is.

Hubble used Leavitt’s formula to calculate that Andromeda was approximately 860,000 light years away. That’s more than eight times the distance to the farthest stars in the Milky Way. This conclusively proved that the nebulae are separate star systems and that our galaxy is not the universe.

Cosmic though it was, the news did not make the front page of The New York Times. The paper did notice the following Feb. 25 that Hubble and a public health researcher split a $1,000 prize ($12,500 in today’s money) from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Hubble went on to discover another couple of dozen galaxies. Before the 1920s were over, he added another astronomical achievement to his reputation. By analyzing the Doppler effect on the spectroscopic signals of receding stars, he established that their red shift was proportional to their distance.

When the 200-inch Mount Palomar telescope was completed in January 1949, Hubble was honored to be the first astronomer to use it. He died in 1953. NASA named its space telescope after him.

If you're out and about this weekend and have too much to drink, please call AAA's Tow To Go program (1-800-AAA-HELP). They will tow your car and get you where you need to go, no questions asked. This is available to anyone, member or non-member. We've loved hearing from you in 2010 and we want to make sure you're all around for 2011!

Have a great weekend, Gainesville!http://www.aaasouth.com/newsandsafety/tow_to_go. 

Live Music For This Weekend ...

982 BAR: 919 W. University Ave., Gainesville. Friday: Paint Me Irrational, Through You, Dear Mr. Anderson, Sweet Babies, Allie Wetzel. Wednesday: Only Thieves, The Future Now, Panda Nova.

ATLANTIC: 15 N. Main St., Gainesville. Friday: DJ Donna.

BACKSTAGE LOUNGE: 1315 S. Main St., Gainesville, 373-0281. Tonight: R Style, Flat Top Steel. Friday: Nanerpus, SOLKRY, Red Paper Birds. Saturday: WOLFGANG.

COMMON GROUNDS: 210 SW Second Ave., Gainesville. Friday: Army of Ponch, Averkiou, The Future Now, Bedwetter. Monday: Karaoke.

DIRTY BAR: 2441 NW 43rd St., Gainesville, 373-1141. Tonight: Wolfgang. Friday: Area Code. Saturday: Wolfgang. Tuesday: Karaoke. Wednesday: Karaoke.

EMILIANO'S CAFE: 7 SE First Ave., Gainesville, 375-7381. Wednesday: Karl Weismantel Duo.

FRANCESCA'S TRATTORIA: 4410 NW 25th Place, Gainesville, 378-7152. Sunday: Karl Weismantel Duo.

FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES: 7118 W. University Ave., Gainesville, 332-4454. Friday: Studio 235.

GATOR TALES: 5112 NW 34th St., Gainesville, 376-9500. Tonight: Karaoke. Friday: DJ Wes Baker. Wednesday: Mike Garrett.

GREAT OUTDOORS RESTAURANT: 65 N. Main St., High Springs, 386-454-1288. Saturday: Quarter Moon.

KICKIN' DEVIL CAFE: 2017 NE 27th Ave., Gainesville, 505-6660. Thursday: Ed Barker, open mic. Friday: Anna Marie and friends. Saturday: Nook and Cranny. Sunday: Open mic. Tuesday: Progressive Madness. Wednesday: Blues lightning.

LEONARDO'S 706: 706 W. University Ave., Gainesville, 378-2001. Tonight: The Marty Liquori Jazztet.

LIGHTNIN' SALVAGE: 1800 NE 23rd Ave., Gainesville, 395-6622. Tonight: Kathleen Taylor. Wednesday: Open mic.

LILLIAN'S: 112 SE First St., Gainesville, 372-1010. Tonight: Killer Bees. Friday: Eager Beaver. Monday: Jam Night. Tuesday: Michael J. Wednesday: Karaoke.

MUNEGIN'S: 4005 NW 13th St., Gainesville, 335-0300. Tonight: Hung with special guest Danielle. Friday: Shelley and Josh unplugged. Saturday: Two.

OLD FLORIDA CAFE: 203 NE Cholokka Blvd., Micanopy, 466-3663. Thursday: Steve vest. Friday: Steve Vest. Saturday: Steve Vest.

QUEEN'S ARMS PUB: 5323 SW 91st Ter. 378-0721. Friday: Killer Bees.

RED ONION: 3885 NW 24th Blvd., Gainesville, 505-0088. Friday: Barry Sides Trio.

SANTA FE BAR: 23731 S. U.S. 441, High Springs, 386-454-9461. Friday: DJ Jodie. Saturday: Star Sound Entertainment.

SPINDRIFTER: 16130 NW U.S. 441, Alachua, 386-462-9081. Friday: CORE. Wednesday: DJ Wildman.

SUNSHINE EAGLES @ DUBS: 4562 NW 13th St., Gainesville, 335-4518. Friday: Crooked Council. Saturday: Karaoke.

From the Gainesville Sun
By Erin Everhart
Correspondent

You don’t have to go all the way to Times Square for a downtown New Year’s Eve celebration that you’ll be talking about through the next year. You just have to make it to the Bo Diddley Community Plaza.

The city of Gainesville’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs is back to round out 2010 with Downtown Countdown, its free, New Year’s Eve celebration featuring Beatles tribute band, The Impostors, and the chamber blues-rock duo, Velveeta Underground.

“You get out with a group of citizens together to be out in a public place, like New York, but on a much smaller level of course,” says David Ballard, events coordinator for the city of Gainesville. “They come down here, they meet friends and meet new folks. That’s what people do.”

Downtown Countdown is in its third consecutive year, but it’s been a part of the community much longer than that. Due to budget issues and the lack of someone able to coordinate the event, it was canceled for New Year’s Eve 2007.

Ballard saw that people missed the event, even if he didn’t get the obligatory angry phone calls.

With free events, it’s hard to estimate the number of people that could come, leaving Ballard and his team prepping for 1,000 or 3,000 celebrators, depending on the weather for the evening. But armed with free noisemakers, the people as well as local restaurants and clubs in the area all take part in the New Year’s Eve celebration, making it a real party at the plaza.

To add to the event’s tradition and party atmosphere, Ballard brought back The Imposters for their second appearance at Downtown Countdown.

“The Beatles are pretty popular across the board,” Ballard says. “Their music never goes out of style.”

Ron Thomas, bass player and a founding member of The Impostors, says the group had such a great time last year that it didn’t hesitate to play again when asked.

“Everyone seemed to enjoying rockin’ in the New Year,” Thomas says. “That’s what we hope to do again this year.”

The band plans to perform a lot of new songs this year, including such Beatles tunes as “Eight Days A Week” and “What Goes On.”

“The Beatles wrote so many songs that they make us easy to do something fresh,” Thomas says.

They’ll also be making a classic rock night of it, performing some tunes by Jimi Hendrix and Buffalo Springfield as well.

For a Beatles tribute band, 2010 was a notable year, marking the would-be 70th birthday as well as the 30th anniversary of the death of John Lennon.

“We try to keep it a celebration,” Thomas said. “It’s certainly sad to remember we lost him, but it’s good play his music again and keep it alive.”

Due to the recent and forecast weather conditions and wildfire activity, a proclamation declaring a Local State of Emergency has been issued in Alachua County and the Emergency Order implementing a Countywide Burn Ban (issued on December 22, 2010) will be extended for an additional 7 day period. This Proclamation and Emergency Order are effective for 7 days and may be renewed.

The mandatory burn ban affects all of Alachua County, including rural and municipal areas. 

The countywide mandatory burn ban prohibits all of the following:

• All outdoor burning that has not been specifically permitted by the Florida Division of Forestry.
• The use of any fireworks, sparklers, flares, or other pyrotechnic devices except as provided by law for public displays requiring a permit.

*Please note that the ban does not affect agricultural burning permitted by the Florida Division of Forestry for land clearing or prescribed burning purposes.

Although the use of LPG/LNG grills and charcoal grills is permitted, the public is encouraged to keep a constant watch for any stray sparks or embers while cooking outdoors.

Additionally, due to the potential for accidental ignitions, the use of motorized equipment such as ATVs and dirt bikes is discouraged during times of high wildfire risk. Please bear in mind that lawnmowers, both push and riding, also pose accidental ignition risks.

Citizens are asked to exercise extreme caution during the burn ban. Working together, Alachua County's citizens and local fire suppression agencies may avoid a repeat of the 1998 wildfires which scorched 7,100 acres locally.

Any burning within the County during the imposed ban will be in violation of Alachua County ordinance 86-1, sections 10.08 and 10.09 and section 252.50 of Florida Statutes. It will be considered a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a 60-day imprisonment and up to a $500.00 fine. All County and municipal law enforcement agencies are authorized to enforce the ordinance.

For more information, contact Alachua County Department of Public Safety at 352-384-3101.