There are so many creative ways to trash a perfectly good hotel room--it's come naturally to rockers and divas like these for decades.

The first instance of modern hotel room trashing can probably be traced to F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, who reportedly fled their eucalyptus-scented bungalow at the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel of L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard after it caught fire. The high-living Jazz Age icons were concerned about their massive bill, which was quickly coming due. These 10 outrageous incidents help explain why we've had to leave a credit card at the front desk ever since.

I said spaghetti pomodoro !
The risk of selecting pasta from a room service menu is that it may arrive overheated, much like the frequently boiling blood of Amy Winehouse . In one of a seemingly endless series of mini meltdowns, the beehive-coiffed British pop singer, 24, hurled a plate of spaghetti Bolognese at the wall of her Munich , Germany , hotel room. Two months earlier, Winehouse tallied up nearly $18,000 worth of damage to her room at London 's posh Sanderson hotel after a fight with her scrawny hubby. A hotel staffer told the British tab Sunday Mirror , which has gleefully chronicled Winehouse's year in celeb hell: "I've certainly never seen anything like it before. They had to get an outside firm to clean blood off the walls, and then there was a hefty paint job." Sanderson, 50 Berners St., London, England, 011-44/20-7300-1400, sandersonlondon.com , rooms from £ 215 ($435).

Won't get fooled again
On August 23, 1967, while touring with fellow British Invasion band Herman's Hermits, The Who's Keith Moon observed his 21st birthday by raising a celebratory toast—and a dozen more—to the spirit of uncontainable destruction that marked both his drumming and his lifestyle. He hurled a five-tier cake into the crowd partying in his hotel room, promptly ruining the carpet and setting off a food fight. Someone even emptied all the fire extinguishers on his floor (in a post-trashing interview, Moon claimed the damages totaled $24,000). When a police officer showed up, Moon, stripped down to his underwear, jumped into a nearby Lincoln Continental, drove it through a fence, and abandoned it at the bottom of the Flint Holiday Inn's pool. In a final flourish, he slipped on a piece of marzipan and knocked out his front teeth. The officer escorted Moon to the dentist before throwing him in jail for a few hours. Forty years on, this incident remains the granddaddy of all rock and roll lodging smashups. The Who were subsequently banned from all Holiday Inns for life. Sadly for Moon, that would amount to only about 11 years. Days Inn Flint (formerly Flint Holiday Inn), 2207 West Bristol Rd. , Flint , Mich. , 810/239-4681, daysinn.com , rooms from $58.

The suspect is two feet tall and well armed
Guests at Manhattan 's posh Mark Hotel were awakened at 5:30 a.m. on September 13, 1994 , by the sounds of shattering glass, snapping wood, and loud domestic squabbling. When police entered the $1,200-per-night Presidential Suite, they found actor Johnny Depp and his then-girlfriend, supermodel Kate Moss, sitting amidst a pile of debris—but they did not find the armadillo Depp reportedly blamed the vandalism on. Depp was taken to the city's 19th Precinct station house, booked on felony criminal mischief charges, and billed $9,767 for the damages. Coincidentally, one of the put-out guests at the hotel that evening was Roger Daltrey, singer for alpha hotel destroyers The Who. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I give him a 1," Daltrey told People magazine. "It took him so bloody long. The Who could've done the job in one minute flat." Years later, Depp, then split from Moss, claimed the hotel's owner thanked him for all the free publicity. The Mark Hotel , 25 E. 77th St. , New York , N.Y. , 212/772-1600, themarkhotel.com . Closed for renovations through summer 2008.

Next eBay search: "syringes"
If Lindsay Lohan stuck with rehab long enough, she might make one of those 12-step meetings where they recommend avoiding people, places, and things that might trigger a relapse. Places like luxury beachside hotels with well-stocked minibars. They might also warn against dating someone met inside rehab. Someone like Riley Giles, late of Utah 's exclusive Cirque Lodge facility, who was with LiLo in early December 2007 when she laid waste to Room 645 at Shutters on the Beach. According to Star , Lohan and her ex-boyfriend spent three days wreaking havoc. An unnamed source told the tabloid, "It was a pigpen. There was filth everywhere and the room stank of cigarette smoke.... There was also a bloody syringe that someone left lying on the bedside table on a room-service tray. Hotel security photographed it before calling someone to remove it, because it was considered hazardous waste." That would also describe what's become of the once-promising actress's career. Shutters reportedly had to bring in an outside cleaning crew to repair the damages to the room. Shutters on the Beach, 1 Pico Blvd. , Santa Monica , Calif. , 310/458-0030, shuttersonthebeach.com , from $485.

Stone crazy
Have you ever noticed that your hotel room's television set has been bolted into the armoire? This story may explain why. At the L.A. stop of the Rolling Stones' 1972 North American tour, guitarist Keith Richards— and musician Bobby Keyes—grabbed the TV set from Room 1015 at the Continental Hyatt House, carried it out on the balcony 10 stories above the parking lot, and pitched it over the side. Richards remains an edgy rock icon in part because of his keen sense of self-mythology. He waited to make sure documentarian Robert Frank's camera was rolling before condemning the TV to its cruel fate. "O.K., you can tell us when," Richards croaked, then let the TV fly into legend. The footage (available in Frank's documentary and on YouTube) inspired dozens of copycats looking for a quick conduit to achieving Keith-hood. Hyatt West Hollywood (formerly the Continental Hyatt House), 8401 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, Calif., 323/656-1234, westhollywood.hyatt.com , rooms from $240.

What happens in Bangkok ...
In 1989, as the decade that made him a superstar drew to a close, Billy Idol found himself in Bangkok , Thailand . His plan for prolonging the party just a little more (more, more) was hatched in the Oriental hotel, but Idol allegedly soaked the carpets with some kind of fluid, and was quickly asked to vacate. From there, as with most urban myths based in Thailand , details get fuzzy. If rumor is to be believed, he embarked on a three-week drug-fueled orgy with an outrageous tab in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It, too, ended with flustered staff. Idol is said to have refused to leave the penthouse of another hotel, forcing local military officials to tranquilize him and carry him out on a stretcher. The room was then occupied by a visiting dignitary with a long-standing reservation—and no demonic sneer. The Oriental, 48 Oriental Ave. , Bangkok , Thailand , 011-66/2-659-9000, mandarinoriental.com/bangkok , rooms from $349.

The proto-Paris Hilton
Edie Sedgwick was the It Girl of the Swinging '60s art and fashion set, and a muse to both Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan. Yet the hard-partying socialite was also reportedly afraid of the dark. Her habit of falling asleep surrounded by lit candles resulted in an apartment fire in October 1966. After moving into Manhattan 's bohemian enclave, Hotel Chelsea, she ignored both recent history and a cryptic warning by fellow denizen Leonard Cohen. (The songwriter insisted Sedgwick's candle arrangements were "casting a bad spell.") Soon another rug was on fire, and shortly thereafter, the entire room was too. Luckily none of the hotel's guests were seriously injured, but Sedgwick's cat perished in the blaze. Its name? Smoke. Hotel Chelsea, 222 W. 23rd. St. , New York , N.Y., 212/243-3700, hotelchelsea.com , rooms from $209.

While you were out
On March 24, 1997 , French thespian Juliette Binoche accepted a Best Supporting Actress statuette for The English Patient as part of the 69th Annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium. Simultaneously, at her hotel just a short drive away, bass player Mike Dirnt of Green Day allegedly accepted the notion of defecating on her balcony as part of, well, nobody knows for sure. In fact, Dirnt strongly denies that this even happened, and considers the (fecal) matter closed. Yet he remains, at least in the minds of scatological crime enthusiasts, forever dangled over that balcony. The band was indeed staying in the rock-and-movie-star haunt, the Sunset Marquis, while recording their Nimrod album. One can't help but wonder about Binoche's first thought upon returning home from the after parties and spotting the now-fabled dookie. Sunset Marquis Hotel and Villas, 1200 N. Alta Loma Rd., West Hollywood, Calif., 310/657-1333, sunsetmarquishotel.com , rooms from $450.

43 is the new 23
In London to test out new material at a small Shepherd's Bush gig, recidivist hotel trasher Courtney Love celebrated her 43rd birthday with an impromptu room party at the Covent Garden Hotel on July 9, 2007 . While reflecting among revelers and well-wishers like British TV star Noel Fielding (of The Mighty Boosh ), the voice in her head might have gently suggested " Gee, I'm older now, more mature, wiser...do I still have it in me to completely freakin' destroy this perfectly charming rented space? " The cleaning staff discovered the answer to that question the following morning. "The room was left in a right state like a wild animal had been let loose in there," an unnamed witness later told the Daily Mirror . There were reportedly cigarette burns in the carpet, the sofa, and the bed—not just the bedding, but the actual four-poster bed. Love's rep played down the extent of the damage by claiming that one of the guests was "leaning on a table." Hotel management insisted that "what our guests do in here is between them and us," leaving open a window of possibility for her 44th. Covent Garden Hotel, 10 Monmouth St., London, England, 011-44/20-7806-1000, firmdale.com , rooms from £250 ($513).

Do not further disturb
The case of billionaire maverick Howard Hughes proves that with enough money, ingenuity, and henchmen, one can stretch the spontaneous room trashing into a prolonged exercise in grand-scale dementia. Hughes checked into a ninth-floor room at Las Vegas 's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving 1966, and, as was his habit, rented out two floors to ensure privacy. When it came time to check out, weeks later, Hughes instead arranged to purchase the entire hotel (one of five he would come to own in Vegas). He closed outside access to the ninth floor and added a 24-hour security checkpoint at the elevator. He reportedly spent much of the late '60s watching the Rock Hudson film Ice Station Zebra on a loop, having installed a cinema-quality sound system that caused the walls to shake. As his obsessive-compulsive disorder manifested itself as severe germophobia, Hughes supposedly stopped dressing, bathing, and clipping his nails; stored his own urine in jars; and wore tissue boxes for shoes. Films such as The Aviator and The Hoax explore the sights and sounds of this dark period. None have addressed the smell, which is best left to the imagination. Wynn Las Vegas (formerly Desert Inn), 3131 Las Vegas Blvd., South Las Vegas, Nev., 702/770-7100, wynnlasvegas.com , from $199.

Ten cities are throwing spectacular parties for this New Year's Eve. Here's the skinny.

By Summar Ghias/Budget Travel

Bangkok: Brand new tradition
For the first time, a 68-foot-high Greeting Ball Tower will offer light and sound effects at midnight in the capital of Thailand. The event will happen outside of the giant CentralWorld shopping mall, where more than 200,000 merrymakers will join hands to count down to the New Year. Earlier in the evening, free events will include a cutting-edge fashion show and eight concert performances by Thai stars. Grab a Chang or Heineken from an outdoor beer garden. (A roughly 30 ounce pour costs $6). Details: handsbangkokcountdown.com or tourismthailand.org. Hot tip: If you want to see traditional Thai dance and folk music, head to the city's historic parade ground, Sanam Luang. At midnight, fireworks will explode over the nearby banks of the Chao Phraya River.

Berlin: The best and the wurst
Despite subzero temperatures, Berliners host an open-air New Year's Eve party, and the city claims that it is the largest such party in a specific space in the world. Roughly one million people pack the mile-and-a-quarter-long stretch between the Victory Column and the Brandenburg Gate, where colorful lasers illuminate the sky while music—mostly pop—blares from giant speakers. Germans are as law-abiding on Silvester (New Year's Eve) as always, lighting their private fireworks in designated spaces under police watch. But they also cut loose with practical jokes, such as filling homemade doughnuts with mustard instead of the usual jelly. Details: silvester-berlin.de. Hot tip: If you need a breather, duck into one of the scattered party tents, which offer free benches and specialty sausages, such as bratwurst for around $3. Or else head to Unter den Linden Boulevard, which offers a clearer, less claustrophobic view of the fireworks.

Cape Town: Where the Second is best
A slave's only day off in 18th-century South Africa was on January 2, and so it's on Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year) that Cape Town parties the hardest. Up to 13,000 minstrels will paint their faces white for the Cape Town Minstrel Festival. Clad in bright reds and blues, participants carry instruments and umbrellas while parading from Keizersgracht Street past City Hall and into Rose Street. South African wares and local delicacies are hawked along the route, and troupes compete for titles like Best Dressed. Details: capetownminstrels.co.za and tourismcapetown.co.za. Hot tip: Pop into a café along the cobblestone streets of the Bo Kaap residential neighborhood. Watch from indoors as minstrels perform patterned dances past brightly painted houses.

Edinburgh: Viking night lights
The Scottish capital toasts every New Year with a four-day festival called Hogmanay (pronounced hog-muh-NAY). On the Saturday before New Year's, a torchlight procession along Princes Street whisks a 40-foot Viking-style longboat to Calton Hill, where it's torched. Then on New Year's Eve, indie rockers blast away in concerts at the Princes Street Gardens. Nearby, there's a ceilidh, a traditional Scottish party where locals dance gigs and reels to a piper's beat. Details: edinburghshogmanay.org and visitscotland.com. Hot tip: Practice the traditional Scottish song "Auld Lang Syne" in advance. Everyone belts it out when the clock strikes 12.

Hong Kong: Reaching for the stars
At the waterfront promenade Tsim Sha Tsui, seasonal messages to loved ones hang near handprints of Chinese celebrities and a life size statue of kung fu star Bruce Lee. Make wishes and resolutions for the coming year at the Avenue of Stars, which becomes the Wishing Trail during this season. Then use this waterfront vantage point to take in the Symphony of Lights, a noisy, colorful show set on the rooftops of 44 buildings. Near midnight, pyrotechnics light up the city's tallest building, 2 IFC. Details: discoverhongkong.com. Hot tip: For a memorable view, jump aboard the Sunshine Star Ferry for a two-hour cruise of Victoria Harbour. It departs from the Tsim Sha Tsui pier; $17 per adult, with free snacks and nonalcoholic drinks on board.

Las Vegas: The glittering Strip
Vegas celebrates New Year's Eve the only way it knows how, with lunatic stunts, a massive light display, and performances by well known entertainers. The Strip hosts the free portion of America's Party, an extravaganza with an eight-minute-long fireworks display launching from seven rooftop locations. On Fremont Street, folks pay $60 a head to step under a four-block-long canopy and watch a motorcycle daredevil team perform stunts inside a roughly 14-foot globe. They also hear the Bangles and the Doobie Brothers jam. Details: vegasexperience.com. Hot tip: The Las Vegas Monorail runs until 3 a.m.; a special one-day pass costs $9.

New Orleans: Gumbo and pigskin
As in years past, New Orleans offers its own take on New York City's ball drop: a spotlit gumbo pot that drops from the Jax Brewery at midnight. Its fall prompts a nightlong bar crawl in the historic French Quarter. This year's Sugar Bowl matchup between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Hawai'i Warriors on January 1 will provide a football theme for most of the city's New Year's events. For example, in Jackson Square after the gumbo pot drop, a light-and-sound display will synchronize each team's fight song with the appearance of each team's colors in the sky. Details: neworleansonline.com. Hot tip: Take the ferry from Canal Street to Algiers Point (friendsoftheferry.org), where you can get a comparatively peaceful view of fireworks. The free ferry departs every 30 minutes from 6 a.m. to midnight. [Correction: Due to an editing error, this story erroneously said that Ohio State and Louisiana State would be the contestants in the game on January 1. We regret the error.]

Reykjavík: Fantasy and flames
Icelandic law allows a firework free-for-all on New Year's Eve, making for a raucous night in the capital city. Elves, trolls, and other costumed creatures sing and dance at 11 bonfires scattered across Reykjavík. Note that on this holiday, local bars and clubs open a little after midnight. Details: visitreykjavik.is. Hot tip: The warmest way to enjoy the subzero celebrations is to take a coach tour. Iceland Excursions' Gray Line stops at the largest bonfires and offers a midnight toast with sparkling wine for $90 per adult.

Rio de Janeiro: Beach party
The two-and-a-half mile stretch of Copacabana Beach plays host to more than two million partygoers decked out in traditional white. Cariocas (as the locals call themselves) make offerings of red roses and white gladioli to Iemanjá, the Goddess of the Waters, before an all-night whirlwind of dancing. This year, Rio's live concerts will stick to homegrown Brazilian music, including performances by the four samba schools that won the competitions at the most recent Carnival. Details: rioconventionbureau.com.br. Hot tip: Looking for passion? Wear a hint of red and you'll send the right message.

Sydney: First to party
Because of its location, the Aussie capital is among the first major cities to greet the new year. The city will synch up its pyrotechnics with colorful lighting effects on the arching Sydney Harbour Bridge. The partying begins earlier in the day, though, with the one o'clock firing of a cannon at nearby Fort Denison. Waterfront events attract crowds of Sydneysiders in T-shirts and shorts—plus indigineous people in traditional garb. When darkness falls, 50 illuminated ships circuit Sydney Harbour, foreshadowing the barrage of light and sound to come. Details: cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nye. Hot tip: Lay down a blanket at North Head at Sydney Harbour's National Park, a relatively uncrowded hangout offering a great vantage point for the fireworks.

More from Budget Travel 

Photo Illustration by C.J. Burton for Newsweek

Ed Goldston used to sprinkle salt on almost everything he ate—from soups and salads to steak. That changed about 15 years ago when his doctor diagnosed him with hypertension and told him to go on a low-sodium diet. The Pittsburgh real-estate investor agreed to stop adding salt to his meals, but that wasn’t enough. “I found out there was so much salt added to food before I even picked up a shaker.”

French fries were an obvious source, but he didn’t realize that ketchup was packed with sodium, too. He stopped topping his pizza with anchovies, then realized that even a slice of plain cheese can have more than 750 milligrams of sodium, about a third of the recommended daily allowance. Goldston, now 72, started avoiding pizza altogether. Soon he’d added packaged lunchmeats, snack foods and canned soup to his blacklist. “I was really amazed at how much salt I was consuming without even realizing it,” he says.

Stories like Goldston’s have doctors concerned. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, or about a teaspoon of salt. Those with, or at risk for, high blood pressure should limit their intake to 1,500 milligrams. But most Americans consume triple that amount—about three quarters of it from processed foods.

If the body’s kidneys can’t eliminate enough sodium, it starts to accumulate in the blood. That increases blood volume, which makes the heart work harder and puts more pressure on the arteries. Studies have linked high-sodium diets with an increased risk of stroke, heart disease and high blood pressure. “It’s a major health problem,” says Dr. Daniel Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

Last month the Food and Drug Administration called a hearing to review its policies on salt in food. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has asked the agency to add health warnings to salt packets a half ounce or larger and to impose stricter limits on salt in processed foods, a move the American Medical Association supports. Richard Bonnette, a consumer-safety officer at the FDA, says implementing such regulations would be “challenging” and could take several years.

What to do in the meantime? Madelyn Fernstrom, founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Weight Management Center (where Goldston is a patient), urges her clients to read nutrition labels and avoid high-sodium processed foods like canned vegetables, rice and noodle mixes and microwavable meals. She recommends buying sodium-free foods or products marked “low sodium,” which must contain 140 milligrams or less per serving. And though only about 10 percent of the salt Americans consume comes from the shaker (some is also found naturally in foods), Fernstrom suggests using other seasonings instead. Ultimately, says Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a physician and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, “If you leave it to chance, you’re going to eat too much salt. You have to be conscious about it.”

That strategy has worked for Goldston, who lowered his blood pressure from 172 over 82 to 120 over 70 with the added help of a hypertension drug. “I still try to stay under 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day, and that’s hard,” he says. “But it’s worth it. I feel great.” Doctors hope that with more publicity about the benefits of a low-sodium diet, millions of other Americans will feel better, too.

‘Olivia Helps With Christmas’ by Ian Falconer (ages 5 to 7; $18.99). Kids will identify with Olivia, an adorable piglet who frowns when she opens a gift of a sweater and booties but beams when she gets a sled and maracas.

‘The Nutcracker’ by Susan Jeffers (ages 5 to 8; $16.99). This beautifully illustrated condensed version of the famous story will prep young kids for seeing and understanding the ballet.

A Real Italian Stallion, Upgraded
This dream ride has been tweaked to go lighter, faster and track-ready. It goes from zero to 60 in a body-flattening 3.6 seconds, significantly quicker than the F430 and has shorter braking time. Just 350 will be made in ’08.

Buy “Twin Peaks,” The Definitive Gold Box Edition ($70). Includes the original pilot, all 29 episodes, deleted scenes and other goodies in a crisp, remastered format. Break out the hot coffee and cherry pie and get ready for the Log Lady.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on tipples when hosting a holiday get together. Tip Sheet put together a selection of new and classic bottles that will make your party sparkle.

Almost famous: Shoppers play the videogame Rock Band at the MTV Store in midtown Manhattan
Photograph by Timothy Fadek—Polaris for Newsweek.

There are few things that strike fear into the hearts of holiday shoppers as effectively as trying to shop for videogames. Many grown-ups aren’t particularly knowledgeable about games, which means that they regularly run the risk of buying a game that the recipient either doesn’t want or already owns. On top of that, sometimes buying just a stand-alone disc- or cartridge-based game doesn’t feel like a big-enough gesture (the box is so small!). Fortunately, there are a number of hardware-based gaming options that, depending on your budget, definitely make a statement about just how much you care.

Two of the hottest options are the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock bundle ($80 to $100, PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii; redoctane.com) and Rock Band ($170, Xbox 360 and PS3; rockbandstore.com). The original Guitar Hero was a surprise smash in 2005; Guitar Hero III continues the tradition of challenging players to match button presses on the included faux guitar with the matching on-screen icons. Just strapping on the guitar is enough to make you feel like a rock star, but letting your fingers fly across the buttons and tilting the neck up to trigger “star power” and drive your fans wild completes the dream.

Rock Band, however, cranks the fantasy up a notch by adding drums and a microphone to the mix (it also supports a second guitar for that special bassist in your life). The guitarists strum, the drummer drums, the singer warbles—think karaoke, but it detects what key you’re singing in—and it all adds up to one fantastic experience. At first, you’ll probably be using the overdrive power-up to save other band members from failing out and taking your entire band with them. But once you get the hang of it, overdrive becomes the nitrous that boosts your well-oiled machine to arena-rattling heights as you and your mates go on a virtual tour from Boston to Reykjavik and a slew of points in between.

If you’re shopping for someone who’d rather just sing than play mock instruments, consider the Ceramic White PlayStation 2 bundle ($150; gamestop.com). It includes Sony’s ubiquitous seven-year-old console, a pair of microphones and a copy of SingStar Pop, a slick karaoke game that includes both music videos and songs by such performers as Alicia Keys, Rihanna, U2 and Gorillaz. And for those who’d prefer to dance, Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution is available for multiple consoles, including Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party for the darn-near-impossible-to-find Wii ($70, Wii; bestbuy.com). What’s unique about the Wii version is that it not only makes use of the dance pad for your toe-tapping moves, but also the Wii remote and nunchuck for a variety of upper-body gestures.

You may find it next to impossible to persuade the Xbox 360 owner you’re shopping for to put down his or her copy of Halo 3 long enough to open up presents, or even bathe. But when less-trigger-happy friends come over, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action ($60, Xbox 360; amazon.com) should entertain them without any digital bloodletting. Complete with four wireless game-show-style buzzers, it’s the videogame version of the popular DVD trivia series, with this one focusing on movie-related questions. There’s also Buzz! The Mega Quiz ($30, PS2; target.com), whose questions extend beyond movies to music, TV and sports, and Buzz! Junior Jungle Party ($30, PS2), targeted toward kids. And we’ll throw in a final stocking stuffer: the Wii Zapper ($25, Wii; circuitcity.com), a shotgun-shaped housing for a Wii remote and nunchuk that includes Link’s Crossbow Training. If you think of holiday shopping as a game, we hope we’ve given you the cheat codes you need to win.

Instead of hiding from your aunt’s optical zoom this holiday season, why not flaunt what you’ve got? Three pros offer tips for looking great in family photos.

Practice makes perfect. Try out different expressions in the privacy of your bathroom mirror, says Jonathan Becker, a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair. If you know what works best, then you’ll look confident—and natural— in pictures.

By Tara Weingarten
When a Little Goes a Long Way

You wouldn’t know it, but this scrappy little hatch costs about the same as an entry-level Mercedes-Benz. The snob appeal is all under the hood—in its taut, high-performance suspension and all-wheel-drive traction. Enthusiasts thrill to the R32’s quick acceleration and sharp steering. Just 5,000 will be produced.

The odd ingredients appearing on the labels of ecofriendly fitness apparel—from corn to soy and coconuts—may cause consumers to wonder whether they should wear or eat their shirt. What can these products do for the environment? The Base3 Long Sleeve Zip, a thermal top made for cold-weather exercise, contains 92 percent Ingeo, a corn-based fiber. Supporters say it can be composted when worn out, though corn farming’s intensive water use takes away a kernel of sweetness ($98; nau.com). Marmot’s Midweight Long Sleeve Zip for women contains Cocona, a fiber made from coconut shells. The fabric traps odors, and it uses a waste product of the coconut-growing industry ($49.95; marmot .com). Recent media reports have questioned whether the Vitasea fabric from Lululemon Athletica (lululemon .com) really contains seaweed, but the company stands by its products. Before buying any newfangled shirt, remember: the most ecofriendly garments are the ones you already own.

Rent “Interview.” No film sounds more obnoxious than having Sienna Miller play a version of herself opposite Steve Buscemi as a journalist. But this tale of a celebrity profile gone wrong comes off quite right, and the twisted ending would be at home on the cover of Us Weekly.

Read “Red,” edited by Amy Goldwasser ($21.95). In this eclectic essay collection, teenage girls write poignantly and humorously about such things as nearly losing a sibling in the Asian tsunami, the perils of growing up with Jewish hair and the joys of rock climbing.

The sticking point is the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which raises taxes on people with high deductions relative to their incomes. Last year it mainly affected taxpayers with cash incomes of $200,000 to $1 million. But the AMT isn’t indexed to inflation. Unchanged, the 2007 AMT could hit more than two thirds of taxpayers with cash incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 this year, and more than one third of those with incomes of $75,000 to $100,000, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

The House passed a fix, called a patch, last month, but the Senate deadlocked over how to pay for it. A rising AMT is built into the government’s long-term budget projections. Capping it just for 2007 will cost $50 billion over the next 10 years. Democrats want to fill that gap by raising taxes on certain superhigh-income people whose compensation is taxed at low rates. Republicans want to add the $50 billion to the deficit, and they have the votes to block the bill.

Tax professionals expect that the patch will pass. Accountant David Kahn of RSM McGladrey is advising his clients to include the change in their estimated tax payments for the year. Here are some more tips from the pros:

Do you have year-end cash? Add it to your retirement account if you haven’t been funding it to the max. You can contribute up to $4,000 to an IRA (plus an extra $1,000, if you’re 50 or up) and $15,500 to a 401(k) (plus $5,000 at 50 or up). Next year your contribution ceiling rises to $5,000 for the IRA, plus the 50-or-up bonus. Don’t hold back on your retirement investments if stocks look bad. You never know when the market will leap.

Did you sell your house at a loss? It’s not tax-deductible. If you sold in order to take a new job and the company reimburses you for the money you lost, that’s taxable income, says tax attorney Julian Block. You do get a deduction if you rent out your home while waiting for a buyer and, later, sell at an even lower price. You may be able to write off the loss that occurred from the time you got the renter.

Do you have a flexible spending plan at work? You have until the year-end to sign up for 2008 contributions to accounts that help pay your uninsured medical bills and the cost of caring for a child or other dependent. The money comes out of your paycheck and lets you cover these expenses pretax.

Are you saving for college in your child’s name? The income from those investments is taxed in your bracket if the child is under 18. Next year this “kiddie tax” gets worse. You’ll be taxed if the child is under 19 or a full-time, dependent student under 24. If your child is currently 18 or a little older, the account contains capital gains and you’ll need that money soon, sell before the year-end while the tax is still only 5 percent, says Mark Luscombe, analyst for the tax-information firm CCH. For college savings, 529s are a better choice.

Have you planned for the fabulous break next year on investment profits? From 2008 through 2010, there’s no tax on capital gains for people in tax brackets up to 15 percent. For 2008, that’s a taxable income of $65,100 for couples and $32,550 for singles (including the gains from asset sales).

The average working stiff won’t have any stock gains to cash in, but for people of wealth it’s another matter. Parents might consider giving appreciated stock to their young-adult children (those out of kiddie-tax range) to repay their college loans or make a down payment on a house. The kids could sell the stock tax-free, says Donna LeValley, contributor to the tax-guide publisher J.K. Lasser Institute. The same tactic applies to young people 19 and up who are moving from school directly to jobs, says Kaye Thomas, author of “Capital Gains.” Parents could give them stock to sell before they start earning a paycheck. Retirees might sell appreciated assets to cover their household expenses rather than taking money out of their taxable IRAs. Prospective retirees could delay the start of their Social Security checks, temporarily living on tax-free stock sales instead. You’ll hear more ideas in the year ahead. The prospect of zero taxes brings out the planning genius in everyone.

Reporter Associate: Temma Ehrenfeld

What is the point of holding a family money meeting?
We call it a family retreat. The primary purpose is to foster good communication between generations on topics pertaining to money and money values. We do a lot of them around the holidays. The whole goal is to maintain harmony even after Mom and Dad are gone.

If the winter holidays have become more about finance than fun, take heed. Most households will add to their already-worrisome credit-card balances over the next month, and that can cause season-ruining stress. So cut back on the shopping, wrapping, gift-giving, calorie-consuming extravaganza— especially if you’re in charge of it. Instead, consider some psyche- and earth-friendly alternatives, says the Center for a New American Dream. The Takoma Park, Md.-based advocacy group offers a free “Simplify the Holidays” booklet, available on its Web site, newdream.org. Here are some of its tips.

Rent “Superbad,” last summer’s hit movie starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as two dweeby high-school buddies making one last desperate attempt to hook up with a girl before they graduate. This teen-comedy classic is just too much fun.

1 lemon wedge
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce Cointreau
2 ounces brandy
Place the sugar in a shallow saucer. Wet half of the inner and outer rims of a chilled stemmed cocktail glass with the lemon wedge. Dip the rim into the sugar.
In a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice, combine the lemon juice, Cointreau, and brandy. Shake well and strain into glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.