GOING OUT
               Ekoostik Hookah: Herewith a break from the endless stream of holiday music, via this wildly popular Columbus jam band. It's a broad and psychedelic mix of rock, blues, funk and jazz. Hot on the heels, mind you, of opening act The Shantee. 8 p.m. today, Bogart's, 2621 Vine St., Corryville. $12-$15. 562-4949.

        Marionettes: A double-dose of something good: It keeps the kids busy — bored on winter break, no doubt — and it's free. That would be the End of the Year Celebration: A Marionette Variety Show starring the Frisch Marionettes. Bundle them up and head out: 2 p.m. today,West Fork Branch Library, 3825 West Fork Road, Monfort Heights. 369-4472.

        Historic site: Step back in time — but not so far back that you can't leave in an hour and step back into central heating — and celebrate “Christmas in 1890” at the Hauck House Museum. Dang well preserved in the once-so-fashionable West End townhouse district, it's stuffed with period decorations, including a 12-foot evergreen in the music room and a Teddy Bears' Holly Day Tea Party on the second floor. Noon-4 p.m. daily through Saturday, 812 Dayton St. $3, $1 children. 563-9484.

Staying In
               TV picks: You gotta wonder: If you found the carcass of a 32-foot squid, would you go looking for a live specimen? Scientists from the Smithsonian did in 1999, taking a sub deep in the waters off the coast of New Zealand to poke around. Join them and narrator Jonathan Pryce in Quest for the Giant Squid, 10 p.m., Discovery Channel.

        Interesting lives: So before they were mega-stars with toadies to fulfill every whim, what were our most celebrated rock 'n' roll stars like? Find out in Before They Were Rock Stars with profiles of Sisquo, Elton John, Enrique Iglesias and others when they were mere mortals. 9 p.m., VH1

What's in stores today
               Meet Mary: Well fine. You took back the ugly tie from Auntie Flo, unloaded the Lawrence Welk CDs from your mother-in-law and now you have a wad of money to spend. Try this: Cincinnati Art Museum director emeritus Millard Rogers has a book name of Rich in Good Works, Mary M. Emery of Cincinnati. The bio digs into her life, her status as one of the nation's richest women after her husband died in 1906, and what she called her “vast responsibility.” Which is to say giving money away — hospitals, orphanages, art museums, zoos, cultural agencies of all kinds — and why she did it. It's $34.95 in the Museum's gift shop.

Planning Ahead
               24 hours out: Think of it as a practice run for New Year's Eve when sizzlin' New York Jazz guitarist Vinny Valentino heats up the Blue Wisp Jazz Club. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, 19 Garfield Place, downtown. 721-9801.

        48 hours out: Krohn Conservatory, currently home of 22 zillion poinsettias, spends the day celebrating the African-American cultural festival of Kwanzaa with a whole bundle of activities. Noon-8 p.m. Saturday, Eden Park. 421-4086.

        72 hours 'til Sunday: As if you didn't have enough hard decisions about how to spend New Year's Eve: National recording artists Fastball headline a night full of music, karaoke and groaning midnight buffet tables, making this one plenty hot ticket. Jillian's, 1200 Jillian's Way, Covington. (859) 491-5388.

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

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