Calendar for the week

thursday
august 21
Frugal Indulgents: It's hard to be a broke twentysomething with expensive tastes. When you have Donna Karan tastes and a Clothestime budget, having an empty wallet seems to be a constant rebuke. But don't despair -- Jennifer Griffin, one of the authors of Frugal Indulgents: How to Cultivate Decadence When Your Age and Salary Are Under 30, comes to Books & Books (296 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables) tonight at 8:00 p.m. to give tips on how to live more than comfortably within your means. Think of it: Just by shelling out thirteen bucks for the book (what else is that gonna get you -- a drink at the Raleigh? half an appetizer at China Grill?), you get great advice about how to live the high life on a low salary, including how to find a cheap apartment, where to buy inexpensive clothing, and how to score a free vacation back home. Call 442-4408. (JO)

Coral Gables Congregational Church Summer Concert Series: The summer is coming to an end and so is this concert series, which concludes tonight at 8:00 p.m. with a performance by jazz legend Milt Jackson and his trio. Known for his seamless improvisations, vibraphone virtuoso Jackson has for six decades played and collaborated with the pioneers -- Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Coleman Hawkins, among others. With the Modern Jazz Quartet, he revolutionized the use of vibes by improvising on classical themes. While not the first vibraphonist to play jazz (Red Norvo and Lionel Hampton preceded him), Jackson is credited with being the first to play bebop on his instrument. Pianist Michael LeDonne, bassist Melbourne Cranshaw, and drummer Granville Roker join Jackson on-stage at the Coral Gables Congregational Church (3010 DeSoto Blvd., Coral Gables) as he performs songs from his latest release, Sa Va Bella, a tribute to Billie, Dinah, Sarah, and Ella, those great ladies of jazz. Tickets cost $25. Call 448-7421. (GC)

Reba McEntire/Brooks and Dunn: Those red curls, that perky smile, those impressive lungs. No, we're not talkin' about Annie. Think south, much farther south, to Nashville, where Reba McEntire reigns as one of the crown princesses of country music. Since launching her career in 1978, the Oklahoma spitfire with the angel-pure delivery has released two dozen albums, five of which have gone triple platinum. A country and western renaissance woman (the daughter of a steer roper, she used to compete in rodeo barrel races), McEntire was also a best-selling author with her 1994 autobiography Reba: My Story, and she hosted a nine-week series of classic ABC daytime dramas (okay, soaps) called A Daytime to Remember this past spring. Tonight at 8:00 p.m., La Reba belts out tunes from her latest release, What If It's You?, at the Miami Arena (721 NW First Ave.). Honky-tonk cowboys Brooks (he's the cute one) and Dunn open. Tickets cost $41. Call 530-4400. (GC)

friday
august 22
Megadeth/Misfits: Two darkling bands from opposite sides of the nation invade the Sunrise Musical Theater (5555 95th Ave., Sunrise) tonight at 8:00 p.m. When Megadeth emerged from Los Angeles in 1983, the band had perfected a jazz-oriented blend of chops and emotional aggression that often accelerated to lightning speed without loss of control. Megadeth is at the top of its game with its latest release, Cryptic Writings (ironically enough, frontman Dave Mustaine's former band, Metallica, which paved the way for Megadeth's success by topping the charts with thrash first, has lost its edge in the eyes of many critics and fans). About the same time Megadeth was starting up, tourmates the Misfits were hanging it up. But New Jersey's gloom-punk sons are back in business after a fourteen-year hiatus with their latest disc, American Psycho. Sure, things just aren't the same without Glenn Danzig at the helm, but hey, what is? Tickets cost $22.50. Call 954-741-7300. (GC)

Sonic Machinery: The danceable crunch and grind of industrial music takes over Squeeze (2 S. New River Dr., Fort Lauderdale) as Florida-based indie label Innerface Records celebrates the release its fifth project and first industrial hardcore and hip-hop compilation, Sonic Machinery. Among the bands on the CD are Nation of Fear (with former Collapsing Lungs singer Brian Tutunick), Cleaner (which does a snazzy cover of George Michael's "I Want Your Sex"), aggro-boogie band Purge, Euro-synth band Renz and its industrial hardcore offshoot the Sect, and experimental trip-hop duo Sinamen Skunk. All of the above will perform tonight beginning at 9:00 p.m. Admission is five dollars for those over age 21, and seven for those ages 18 to 20. Call 954-522-2151. (GC)

Boxing on the Beach: The Team Freedom fighters return to the Seville Beach Hotel (2901 Collins Ave., Miami Beach) tonight at 8:00 p.m. FECARBOX WBC champion Eliecer Castillo (Cuba) slugs it out with Freddy Adams (USA) in the main event; additional matches feature Team Freedom fighters Eliseo Castillo, Anselmo Felipe, and Jan Carlos Suarez (all Cuban immigrants), plus Alex Lugo (Colombia), Charles Wittaker (Cayman Islands), Felix Marti (Dominican Republic), and Domingo Alvarez (USA). Tickets cost $15 for general admission and $20 for ringside seats. Call 888-3812. (GC)

saturday
august 23
Hialeah Fest: !Oye, consorte! Get yourself over to Churchill's Hideaway (5501 NE Second Ave.) tonight for un tremendo bayu. The third annual Miami Rocks Festival goes wild with a whole mess of bands from -- ta daa! -- the City of Progress: Al's Not Well, Maria, the Butterclub, Derek Cintron, and Egg, and some extra-special surprise guests. Admission to this eighteen-and-over show is five dollars. The party begins at 8:00 p.m., and there will be plenty of bocaditos and pastelitos for munching, plus giveaways and trivia contests for you Hialeah old-schoolers. Call 757-1807. (GC)