Here's an update on the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games: nine days, 28 sports, 72 venues. The games, open to everyday athletes rather than just the elite, are the world's largest multisport event, attracting more than double the competitors of the Olympics. The games take place every four years. Sydney will host the seventh games Oct. 10 to 18.

The 28 sports include archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, canoe/kayak, cycling, diving, football, golf, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, orienteering, rowing, rugby union, sailing, shooting, softball, squash, surf life saving, swimming, table tennis, tennis, touch football, volleyball, water polo and weightlifting.

Opening and closing ceremonies, as well as festivities and social events, will welcome competitors and friends, families and spectators.

To enter, people need only meet their sport's minimum age, between 25 and 35. Competitor and volunteer registrations are at www.2009worldmasters.com.

The motto of the games: "Fit, fun and forever young."

LONDON

U.K. CELEBRATES 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF HENRY VIII'S RISE TO THE THRONE

In the United Kingdom, April marks the 500th anniversary of the coronation of Henry VIII, and celebrations are countrywide across the U.K. (For fans of Showtime's "The Tudors," this month also marks the beginning of the show's gripping third season.) The palace at Hampton Court, Henry's residence on the Thames River, is about an hour southwest from London and best accessed via suburban trains from Waterloo Station to Hampton Court station, www.nationalrail.co.uk. Thames Riverboats run in the summer from Westminster pier.

Hampton Court Palace, maze and gardens admission is about $20; open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through October; November to March until 4:30 p.m. www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace

FAMOUS PEOPLE, FAVORITE PLACES

SINGER JACK JOHNSON'S TOP SPOT: NORTH SHORE'S PIPELINE, OF COURSE

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's is in Trinidad. Suze Orman's is at Crissy Field in San Francisco. Alex Trebek's is in England.

We know this because author and editor Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr. has been pestering famous people with a single question, and National Geographic has just published the answers in "My Favorite Place on Earth" ($22.95, paperback).

There are 75 answers in the book, some predictable — Lance Burton heads to Las Vegas, Ted Danson is partial to Martha's Vineyard; some are not — Tom Brokaw treasures Tibet and Brian Wilson loves London. The answers come with explanations, color photos and a few sentences of background on each traveler and each place.

Hawai'i turns up four times, courtesy of cookie-meister Wally "Famous" Amos, cartoonist Matt Groening, businessman Rinaldo Brutoco and singing surfer Jack Johnson — just imagine them standing in line together for shave ice on the North Shore. www.myfavoriteplacenatgeo.com.