Going out

Midday opera: Oxford Presbyterian Church gears up for a high C or two with vocalists Audrey Luna, Mari Opatz-Muni and Bess-Arlene Camacho taking a turn at Puccini, Rossini and Handel. 12:10 p.m. today, 101 N. Main St., Oxford, free. (513) 523-6969.

Birding: Look heavenward - and bundle up - for this one: California has a winter birding program showing how to identify by plumage and song. 4-5:30 p.m. today, 5400 Kellogg Ave., California, $3 (reservation required). 231-8678.

Fiction workshop: A little something to help with the Great American Novel: It's a fiction writing workshop focusing on characterization with local author Dianne Castell. 7 p.m. today, Barnes & Noble, Newport on the Levee. (859) 581-2000.

At Bogart's: Hot young power rockers Trapt and opening act Blue Karma give their amps a workout. 8 p.m. today, 2621 Vine St., Corryville. $5. 562-4949.

On TV

Critic's pick: Chicago actor Craig J. Harris wrote Skin Complex, a drama about an African-American (Wolfgang Bodison) who wonders what it would be like to be white. It's the eighth annual Dreambuilder Celebration film by Cincinnati producer Jim Friedman.8:30 p.m., Channel 9.

Critic John Kiesewetter also says to look for the wedding of Cincinnati's Nick Lachey (part of the pop group 98 Degrees) to pop singer Jessica Simpson on NBC's In Style Celebrity Weddings. 8 p.m. today, Channels 5, 22.

In stores today

DVD/video picks: Enquirer film critic Margaret A. McGurk likes Matt Damon's popular spy thriller The Bourne Identity for the fast-paced, no-baloney style that recalls the best of the genre, like Three Days of the Condor. Speaking of icons of the film world, the acidic Warren Beatty-Julie Christie comedy Shampoo makes it to DVD today.

Planning ahead

24 hours out: Award-winning author/illustrator Ashley Bryan shows and signs his new children's book Beautiful Blackbird. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. 287-7081.

48 hours out: The inventive and twangy jamgrass act the Waybacks makes a return appearance at the Southgate House. 8:30 p.m. Thursday, 24 E. Third St., Newport, $10-$12. 779-9462.

72 hours 'til Friday: The Weston Art Gallery throws a reception for new exhibits Lost And Found, a mixed media installation by Cal Kowal and Anita Douthat, and Lyrical Lights & Darks, paintings by Velma Morris, 6-9 p.m., Aronoff Center. 977-4165.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com