Going out

        John Mellencamp: The Indiana superstar rocker and his little pink houses are at Riverbend with up-and-coming singer/songwriter Shannon McNally. 8 p.m. today, $25.25-$45.25. 241-7469.

        Lunchtime concert: Simon Winds, a professional ensemble made up of a bunch of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra members, performs a freebie full of music by Russian composers, plus marches by Henry Fillmore and John Philip Sousa. Noon today,Fountain Square. 231-0833.

        Decorating seminar: Joyce Grothaus of Decorating Den Interiors shares ideas in “Dream Rooms for Real Children,” a batch of thoughts on decorating a fun room for the tykes. 7:30 p.m. today, Milford-Miami Township Branch Library, 1099 Ohio 131, free. 248-0700.

        Nature: Learn more about the bugs buzzing area ponds when scholar Jan Trybula presents “Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of Southwest Ohio.” 7:30 p.m. today, Winton Woods' Winton Centre, Springfield Township, free. 741-7926.

Staying in

        TV picks: Is the caller there? Phil Donahue, 66, returns to TV after a six-year absence, moving into prime-time with a new Donahue show on MSNBC (8 p.m). He will chat with guests and callers and read e-mails, but will not have a studio audience.

        • TV critic John Kiesewetter also says the Dave Matthews Band reaches new heights when it performs on the Ed Sullivan Theater roof during the Late Show with David Letterman (11:35 p.m., Channels 12, 7).

Hot tickets

What's on sale today

        • Tickets for wildlife researcher Jane Goodall's 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 talk at Xavier University's Cintas Center go on sale today. Tickets are $5 to $40, available at the Cintas Center ticket office, 745-3411, at Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 562-4949 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Planning Ahead

        24 hours out: Red-hot California pop-rock act The Callingworks its magic at Bogart's, 8 p.m. Tuesday, 2621 Vine St., Corryville, $15. 562-4949. 48 hours out: Miami University Summer Theater celebrates the season with Noel Coward'sfamous comedy Hay Fever. 8 p.m. Wednesday, Gates-Abegglen Theatre, Oxford, $8-$12. (513) 529-3200.

        72 hours 'til Thursday: The Foundation Gallery at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation holds a reception for the opening of a new exhibit Voices from Visions, all full of works by B.B. Hall, Peyton Morris Petty and Jackie Spang., 5:30-7:30 p.m., Fourth and Elm Streets, downtown. 241-2880.

— Jim Knippenberg

        Contact Jim Knippenberg by phone: 768-8513; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: jknippenberg@enquirer.com.

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