by Traci Vogel

SATURDAY 10/23

CRÈME BRÛLÈE LESSONS -- First, it was Jell-O and pudding. Then it was custard or flan, maybe mousse. Now you've graduated to the most grown-up and elegant of desserts: Crème Brôlèe! Before spending your life savings ordering it at fancypants restaurants, see how it's done with cookbook author and dessert expert Debbie Puente (Elegantly Easy Crème Brôlèe, Renaissance Books). Puente will be making magic with her blowtorch at this weekend's Seattle Cooks event, and she'll show everyone just how easy it can be to make burnt sugar into a li'l taste o' heaven. (MIN LIAO) Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, the Sur La Table booth, 1 pm, $10 (entry for the entire Seattle Cooks event).

BUG-A-BOO -- Your kids are bugging you? Turn them on to real insects at the zoo's creepy crawly bug fair. There will be bug movies, a mystery hunt, and bug costume making. Woodland Park Zoo, 5500 Phinney Ave N, 684-4800, 10 am-3 pm, free with zoo admission.

SUNDAY 10/24

WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The first international squash championship tournament ever to be played in the United States wraps up with today's finals, sure to be grunt-a-rific. Seattle Athletic Club, 2020 Western Ave, 443-1111, call for times and price.

MONDAY 10/25

DONATE BLOOD -- Halloween draws near, and surely you've got more blood than you need. Give some of it away, and/or volunteer to hand out drinks and cookies to other donors. Puget Sound Blood Bank: Contact Angel Quait, Volunteer Coordinator, at 292-2752.

WEDNESDAY 10/27

APPLE TASTING -- Sink your teeth into a wide variety of Washington apples, and pick the best ones to bob for. Pike Place Market, north end, 587-0351, 11:30 am-1:30 pm, free.

CONFLICT

OF INTeREsT

by Traci Vogel

MONDAY 10/25

HIRIZE, MILLENNIUM BUG: JUDY NICASTRO BENEFIT -- After a year of print servitude to bands great and small throughout King County, it's my pleasure to finally write about my own group, HiRize. But even though I'm allowed to bring attention to the gig, current conflict of interest laws stipulate that I use other people's adjectives to describe HiRize. So: HiRize is an "awesome," "stupid" band made up of "illustrious" "bastards" who play "sloppy," "brilliant," or "uneducated" jazz. The bassist is "big" and "stompy," the drummer and guitarist are "rocking," but the keyboardist is "loungy." Finally, the alto/flute player (that's me) is a "self-serving" "hack" who should "stop asking me to describe your fucking band." (Nathan Thornburgh) Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave NE, 789-3599, 8 pm, $5 donation.