ESCAPE ARTISTS

Send us your travel queries

If you have a burning travel question, from where to take your family this summer to how to find cheap parking for the airport, the Travel staff wants to help. Starting tomorrow, the Escape Artists blog will feature answers to questions from curious readers each Monday. Send your questions to travel@startribune.com and find our answers -- and offer one of your own -- at www.startribune.com/escapeartists.

KERRI WESTENBERG

THIS JUST IN

Taps run dry

There are no free lunches in life, but one could always count on free beer at Anheuser-Busch theme parks. Until now. The brewer has stopped giving free samples at its SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego and its Busch Gardens parks in Tampa Bay, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va. Customers can still buy beer at some of the parks' existing venues.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEWS OF THE WORLD

A call for honesty

Reader's Digest decided to test the honesty of people around the world, so they had reporters in the largest cities in 32 countries "lose" 30 cell phones in each location. The reporters then called each phone, and if a passerby picked up the phone and answered, asked if the person would return the phone. If the passerby picked up the phone without answering, they waited to see if the person would call one of the numbers programmed into the phone directory to try to find its owner. In Ljubljana, Slovenia, smallest of the cities, with a population of about 267,000, 29 of the 30 phones were returned. In Hong Kong and the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, there were a meager 13 returns. Here's the list, from best to worst, with number of phones returned in parentheses: Ljubljana (29), Toronto (28), Seoul (27), Stockholm (26), Mumbai, Manila and New York (24), Helsinki, Finland; Budapest, Hungary; Warsaw, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; Auckland, New Zealand, and Zagreb, Croatia (23), Sao Paulo, Brazil; Paris; Berlin, and Bangkok (21), Milan, Italy; Mexico City, and Zurich (20), Sydney and London (19), Madrid (18), Moscow (17), Singapore, Buenos Aires and Taipei, Taiwan (16), Lisbon (15), Amsterdam and Bucharest, Romania (14), Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur (13).

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

PLAN AHEAD

Kansas Silent Film Festival

OK, so Topeka isn't the center of the film universe. But Feb. 27-28, it will be the center of the silent-film universe. The highlight of a weekend of screenings accompanied by live music will be a showing of "Bardelys the Magnificent," a rare silent movie from 1926. A teenager named John Wayne has a tiny role. Friday 7-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. White Concert Hall, Washburn University (www.kssilentfilmfest.org).

BOSTON GLOBE

TRENDSPOTTING

Electronic medical records

Traveler ER is a portable USB memory stick that holds medical records, emergency contacts and other details. Plug the stick into your computer and type into the preformatted pages your personal medical information, from blood type to health insurance details. Then tuck the stick into a purse or pocket to have your medical records quickly available. The stick doesn't work with Apple computers or personal computer software older than Windows 2000. It also might not be much use if you're traveling in a region without modern computers, though you can print your details and carry them (www.traveler-er.com).

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

sideroads

Winterfest in Lake Geneva

Winterfest in Lake Geneva, Wis., features snow-sculpting teams from around the world who will participate in the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition Feb. 4-8. Visitors can watch teams sculpt blocks of snow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday in Riviera Park, and the popular People's Choice Award will be announced at 3 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday the finished sculptures will be on display, as live music plays. Other festivities will include helicopter rides (weather permitting) and ice skating (1-800-345-1020; www.lakegenevawi.com).

COLLEEN A. COLES