SO MANY MOUNTAINS, SO LITTLE TIME.
KNICKERS IN A TWIST:
A DICTIONARY OF BRITISH SLANG
Canongate / $13
Ostensibly, Britain and the United States share the same language. But, as this often-hilarious and entertaining guide proves, the moment countless "nonposh Brits" open their mouths, Americans shake their head in collective confusion. "It's the euphemisms, the abbreviations, the colloquialisms; it's the slang," writes author Jonathan Bernstein. In these pages are the definitions to such words as chav ("much-mocked and maligned British working-class youth ...") and chinwag ("a cheery, gossip-filled conversation"). Bernstein also covers words associated with bad behavior, body language, regional usage, food, money and politics.
JUNE SAWYERS
HAWAII
Pacific Aviation Museum opens
A museum on the air war in World War II's Pacific theater opened last week at Pearl Harbor naval base near Honolulu on the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack there. The Pacific Aviation Museum displays vintage aircraft, including a Mitsubishi Zero, a Navy Wildcat fighter and an Aeronca 65-TC flown by civilian pilots that was hit by Japanese fire the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. The new displays are the first phase of a $90 million future museum complex. Go to pacificaviationmuseum.org.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
UPDATE
Passport deadline moves to Jan. 23
A much-delayed deadline requiring Americans to have passports to travel between the United States and the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico will be delayed again, although not by much. The new deadline, which applies only to air travel, is Jan. 23. The Department of Homeland Security missed a 60-day advance deadline for publishing the new rule in the Federal Register, meaning it couldn't be implemented as planned on Jan. 8. The deadline for sea and land crossings is June 1, 2009, and permits either a passport or a new document called a PASS card that has yet to be issued.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
GEAR & GADGETS
Those big plastic coolers hold a lot but are bulky to store. The soft-sided collapsible models don't provide support for heavy items. The Gourmet Tote provides the best of both worlds, and, as a bonus, accommodates hot and cold items at the same time, separated by a removable divider "shelf." Made of PVC board covered in leather-like vinyl with silver Mylar-laminated thermal insulation, the tote folds flat for packing. It assembles by folding up the sides and connecting them via embedded snaps and Velcro strips. The lid folds down and shuts with fabric fasteners, and has two heavy-duty buckles for extra security. The tote has two side pockets for accessories, a padded handle and a removable utensil pouch and shoulder strap. Gourmet Tote is $85 for the family size and $75 for the personal size. From gourmettote.com.
JUDI DASH
CAR RENTALS
Enterprise tops satisfaction poll
Enterprise ranked highest in customer satisfaction among rental car companies for a third consecutive year, according to a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The car rental firm scored 789 out of 1,000 points in the survey of 4,133 business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location between January and October. The company scored particularly well on costs and fees, pick-up process, return process, reservation process and shuttle bus / van. Enterprise was followed in the rankings by Hertz and National, J.D. Power said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS