Going out

        Swamp Tour: Power rock rattles the rafters out at Riverbend Music Center when Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple and Ted Nugent team up and crank up for the “Back in the Swamp” Tour. 6:30 p.m. today,$15-$30. 562-4949.

        Lucinda Williams: Across town — and on a quieter note — this southern singer uncorks a night full of music, mixing folk, country and blues after Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers gets the crowd warmed up. 8 p.m. today, Bogart's, 2621 Vine St., Corryville, $22.50. 562-4949.

        For kids: Branch libraries have a pair of goodies for youngsters with summer vacation time on their hands: Juggling fun with the Space Painter's Juggling Company, 2 p.m. at the Harrison branch (300 George St.; 369-4442); old-time musical licks and a whole lotta string plucking with the Cincinnati Dulcimer Society, 7 p.m., Groesbeck branch (2994 W. Galbraith Road; 369-4454).

        Nature program: Dig up a few secrets of the prairie-like areas at Lake Isabella with a park naturalist singing “Praise for Prairies.” 3 p.m. today, Loveland-Madeira Road, Symmes Township, free. 521-7275.

Staying In

        TV picks: Meet “Mike,” the 19-year-old Miami University student from Parma, Ohio, when MTV introduces the cast of the new Real World soap on the Real World/Road Rules Casting Special (9 p.m., MTV). The Real World,shot in New York last winter, debuts July 3.

        • TV Critic John Kiesewetter also plans to introduce his kids to the original 1933 King Kong (8 p.m., American Movie Classics).

Video picks

        Critic's Pick: Laura Linney garnered multiple awards for her work in You Can Count On Me, one of the best independent films of last year, says Enquirer film critic Margaret A. McGurk. Also out on video and DVD today: the Bruce Willis-Samuel L. Jackson fantasy Unbreakable.

Planning Ahead

        24 hours out: The cream of the local banjo-picking crop tunes up for Stanley's Pub's Bluegrass Jam Night, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday, 323 Stanley Ave., Columbia-Tusculum, $2 cover. 871-6249.

        48 hours out: Curtain's up on round two in Cincinnati Opera'sSummer Festival 2001 season: A pairing of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and Schoenberg's Erwartung,8 p.m. Thursday, Music Hall, $12-$90. 241-2742.

        72 hours 'til Saturday: The Alliance of African American Artists Foundation begins two evenings of poetry, prose and literary discussions with a whole raft of local and regional artists, 7-10 p.m., Contemporary Arts Center, 115 E. Fifth St., downtown, free. 721-0390.

        Contact Jim Knippenberg by phone at (513) 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.

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