Going out

        CAC: The Contemporary Arts Center opens Loop, an exhibit full of interpretations of loops both as metaphor and physical structural basis, organized by the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today, 115 E. Fifth St., downtown. 721-0390.

        Plant auction: The Cincinnati Cactus and Succulent Society auctions off a gigantic array of rooted and unrooted agaves, cereus, crassula and more. 1 p.m. today, Krohn Conservatory, Eden Park (previews begin at noon). 931-0531.

        French music: The Catacoustic Consort lets fly a concert of 18th century French music entitled “The Secret of the Muse,” a program centered on the French women's instrument pardessus de viole, 7:30 p.m. today, Christ Church Glendale, 965 Forest Ave., $7-$15. 772-3242.

        Comedy: The “Get Your Laugh On” Comedy Jam goes for laughs with performances by stand-up artists Mike Epps, John Witherspoon and A.J. Johnson. 8 p.m. today, Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, $27.75-$33. 241-7469.

Staying in

        TV picks: Peter Jennings' In Search of America concludes with reports on Frito-Lay managers obsessed with exporting potato chips to China (9 p.m., Channels 9, 2), and on efforts to solve crime problems in Gary, Ind. (10 p.m.).

        • TV Critic John Kiesewetter also says tonight's best movie is the epic How The West Was Won with John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, James Stewart and Debbie Reynolds (8-10:35 p.m., Channel 16).

The goods What's in stores today

        Word Games: And this for hardcore Scrabble players who like a game on the run: Scrabble Game Folio Edition is traditional Scrabble, except that the tiles snap into place so you can fold it, zip it, carry it awhile and then pick up where you left off awhile later. Like play for awhile in the airport, fold it, board the plane and pick up later. With, it says here, all the tiles still in place. It's the size of a medium sized purse and runs $19.99.

Planning Ahead

        24 hours out: The Cathedral Concert Series of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption opens its season with a program paying homage to Sept. 11 victims and families with works such as Cesar Frank's Piece Heroique, Gabriel Faure's Requiem and Charles Ives' Variations in America. 3 p.m. Sunday, 12th Street and Madison Avenue, Covington, free. (859) 431-2061.

        48 hours out: Cach the gallery talk “Among the Two-Headed: Twenty Years of Drawing from Life” by artist Kate Kern who currently has an exhibit of small-scale drawings and book objects at the museum. 7:30 p.m. Monday, Miami University Art Museum, Patterson Drive, Oxford, free. (513) 529-2232.

        A week away: Festival Hispano 2002 includes an expanded pan-American food court, live salsa and merengue music, folkloric dancing, Latin American folk art and more. Next Saturday and Sept. 15, St. Charles Borromeo Church, Seymour and Fairpark Avenues, Carthage. 761-1588.

— Jim Knippenberg

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

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