Night & Day

tuesday
february 2
Chairman of the creative-writing department at the University of Miami, poet, and novelist Fred D'Aguiar reads from his third novel, Feeding the Ghosts tonight at 8:00 at Books & Books (296 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables). Inspired by a true story, the book starts out on a slave ship whose passengers are in danger of being infected by disease while returning from Africa in 1781. (D'Aguiar's Dear Future was voted Best Book by a Local Author in this very newspaper's 1997 "Best of Miami" issue.) Admission is free. Call 305-442-4408. (NK)

wednesday
february 3
The scene: a lonely desert isle. No Gilligan, Skipper, Ginger, or Mary Ann, just a castaway who lies unconscious. He wakes up, walks over to a palm tree, and begins to shake it, attempting to release a coconut. He succeeds. The fruit falls from the tree and bonks the castaway on the head, rendering him unconscious once again. The scene repeats over and over and over again. No, you're not watching an outtake from Gilligan's Island, but artist Rodney Graham's Vexation Island. The maddeningly humorous film, featured at 1997's Venice Biennale, is being shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art (770 NE 125th St., North Miami) through February 14. Screenings are held at 11:30 a.m., and 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and at 12:30, 1:30, and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is five dollars. Call 305-893-6211. (