Going out

Stretch for Strength: The Milford-Miami Township Branch Library opens a free series on improving flexibility with chiropractor/personal trainer Brian McMaster. 6 p.m. today and Tuesdays through May 6. 1099 Ohio 131, reservations requested. 248-0700.

Play reading: Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative, a grass-roots group committed to getting new works on stage, has a reading of Son of the Moon, local playwright Charles Wente's play about the life of Orson Welles. 7:30 p.m. today, Fifth Third Bank Theater, Aronoff Center, $5. 241-7469.

On TV

Top pick: Maybe more of us will be Watching Ellie when Julia Louis-Dreyfus' sitcom about lounge singer Ellie Riggs returns after a one-year absence. NBC has abandoned the ploy of doing the show in "real time." Steve Carell (The Daily Show) co-stars as her ex-boyfriend.

• Critic John Kiesewetter also says Judging Amy (10 p.m., Channels 12, 7) pays tribute to the late Richard Crenna, who had played Maxine's (Tyne Daly) wealthy lover.

New on CD

Critic's pick: The week's hottest seller looks to be the DVD/CD release by rapper 50 Cent, Brand New Breed (Universal; $19.98).

• American Idol Kelly Clarkson is Thankful (RCA; $18.98) that her debut CD is finally out.

• Jimmy Buffett collects himself for Meet Me in Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection (UTV; $24.95 two discs).

• Patriotic country star Darryl Worley asks Have You Forgotten? (DreamWorks; $17.98).

• Pioneering Americana band Uncle Tupelo reissues three of its original CDs with bonus tracks - No Depression, March 16-20 1992, Still Feel Gone (Legacy; $18.98 each).

• Indie rock mainstay Pete Yorn has Day I Forgot (Sony; $12.98).

New on DVD/Video

Critic's pick: The can't-miss title new to shelves today is the Oscar-winning Japanese animated feature Spirited Away, says Enquirer film critic Margaret A. McGurk.

• Also high on the list is the rousing marching-band drama Drumline and Philip Noyce's moving Rabbit-Proof Fence about Aboriginal girls fleeing an Australian orphanage.

Planning ahead

24 hours out: Newbery Award-winning author Linda Sue Park rolls in to sign and discuss her children's book A Single Shard. 1 p.m. Wednesday, Joseph-Beth Kids, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.

48 hours out: The Cincinnati Film Society shows off a newly restored version of Fritz Lang's sci-fi classic Metropolis. 7 p.m. Thursday, auditorium, Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park, $4-$6. 721-2787.

72 hours till Friday: Reggae/world beat masters Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited are at the 20th Century, 9 p.m., 3021 Madison Road, Oakley. $20-$25. 731-8000.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com