GOING OUT

        Big-name lecturer: University of Cincinnati kicks off its Ropes Lecture Series with prominent American novelist E. L. Doctorow (Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, City of God) at 8 p.m. today, Room 127, McMicken Hall. Free. 556-2560.

        Theater bargain: A night full of lasagne, beer and mighty fine theater. It's friends Night Out at Ensemble Theater with happy-hour at BarrelHouse Brewing Co., all-you can eat buffet and a performance of Richard Greenberg's edgy Three Days of Rain. Happy hour 5:30 p.m., performance 8 p.m. ETC, 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine. $17 (regularly $25). 421-3555.

        Storyteller, singer: A soulful night indeed when Alice McGill, the reader's advocate and National Public Radio commentator, shares selections from In the Hollow of your Hand: Slave Lullabies, a book and CD collection celebrating the songs sung by slaves to bring comfort and hope. 7 p.m. today, Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St., downtown. $5, free to members. 621-0717.

Staying In

        TV picks: Charlie Parker, who grew up on red hot jazz in Kansas City, used to take a melody line, double the tempo and wail into improv. The result was dazzling; when he met trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, bop music soared. That's one of the stories in this seventh chapter of Jazz. It goes from 1940 to 1945. 9-11 p.m., Channels 48 and 17.

        • Life is more complicated now that Danny and Diane are secretly a couple. A female cop has been shot and Danny worries about Diane's safety. NYPD Blue, 10 p.m., Channel 9.

What's in stores today

        Video picks: Among this week's releases, Enquirer film critic Margaret A. McGurk likes John Waters' homage to guerrilla filmmaking, radical outsiders and disreputable entertainment. Cecil B. Demented, features fine, wild-eyed performances by Stephen Dorff and Melanie Griffith.

Planning Ahead

        24 hours out: Whereas you only get one set of bones, and whereas clinical nurse and educator Gail Greenberg knows plenty about them, you should maybe try her discussion of the best-seller Strong Women, Strong Bones. It's the latest about osteoporosis, a disease affecting millions of women. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Barnes & Noble, Tri-County, 895 E. Kemper Road, Springdale. 671-3822.

        48 hours out: The Celestial Restaurant tries out some new music in the elegant Incline Lounge with Tom Schneider and Friends for an evening of smooth rock that includes hits by Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel. 7-11 p.m. Thursday, 1071 Celestial St., Mount Adams. $6 cover. 241-4455.

        72 hours 'til Friday: The Gambler himself, Kenny Rogers lets the chips fall where they may and begins two days in the new 1,500-seat showroom at Belterra Casino and Resort. 8 p.m., Belterra, Ind. $40-$45. (888) 255-8377.

        Get To It appears daily. Send items to Nancy Berlier, Deputy Tempo Editor, at nberlier@enquirer.com.

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