So, you're already immersed in Christmas shopping at Ala Moana Center? Take a break, give the feet a rest. Today at the Mai Tai Bar, you can soak up the sounds of Darrell Aquino from 4 to 7 p.m. Or party with Rumble from 9 to 11 p.m. If you still have energy to spare, Natural Vibrations is on from 11:15 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. By then, there's no pau-shopping traffic on your way home.

— Wayne Harada

QUIT SMOKING

BAD NEWS IS JUST A PUFF AWAY

These facts from the American Cancer Society may spur you to kick the tobacco habit: Smoking a pack a day at $4 a pack costs more than $1,400 per year, not counting health costs. Meanwhile, children in smokers' homes have more ear infections, colds, bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Here's the clincher: Between 35,000 and 40,000 people die each year from heart disease caused by secondhand smoke.

— Gannett News Service

FINAL WORD

"It saddens me to see groups call themselves 'female empowering,' but all they sing about is how hot they are. Get your ... clothes on, take some classes, read some books and learn something."

Anamatronic | of the Scissor Sisters, in Spin