Thurs. Nov.2

We were in New York City when the famous punk rock club CBGB went down for the final weekend with the Dictators, Blondie and the Patti Smith Group. Lotsa old punks showed - Jeff Magnum from the Dead Boys, Tommy Ramone - but the guy in the spotlight was owner, Hilly Kristal. And Hilly got to musing about a lot of things - cancer (he's fighting it with chemo), false promises (he thinks Mayor Bloomberg was all talk, no action) and gigs (Patti Smith playing 7 shows in a row, the Ramones early 17-minute wall of noise.) He also got to talking about Steven Lee Beeber's new book, "Heebie Jeebies at CBGBs," which is about the heavy Jewish presence on the scene back in the day (mid-late '70s). Kristal, who is Jewish, had this to say: A shrug. So what, coulda been any ethnicity, didn't matter to him. One Jewish musician who didn't want to be named was thoroughly pissed off. Some writers saw it just as an easy peg for a book and others went, "Huh? Didn't know Joey Ramone, the Dictators, Lou Reed and Chris Stein were Jewish?" Beeber read from his book at the CBGB Gallery on the final Friday, but we can't say we heard much. All the old punks had their own catching up to do and it just about drowned him out. So see what this Bostonian has to say for himself and his book at Brookline Booksmith Thursday Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. Free.

279 Harvard St., Brookline 617-566-6660 brooklinebooksmith.com

Nov. 1

The Gobshites is a great name for a Celtic punk band and Shred, local music director for WBCN and new booker for the new-ish Bulfinch Yacht Club (near the Garden, next to Hooters) describes the Boston group as a band which plays "Guinness-inspired Celtic rock with a punk-ass twist that gives your pants and pints a kick." The Gobshites call their music "acousticelticore." (Nice.) You might just hear a few Pogues covers in their sets. Tribute was recently paid to the Gobshites as the Dictators and Tommy Ramone sang "Blitzkrieg Pop" to close the Dictators last show at the CBGB's last stand. Long-haired and sunglassed Tommy was sporting a Gobshites t-shirt. Starts about 9:45, Wednesday Nov. 1, right after the Celtics home opener. The next night,the Zambonis - North America's favorite all hockey band - are at the Bulfinch, following the Bruins game. Covers: $6.

234 Friend St., 617-723-0800 thebyc.com

Thurs. Nov. 2

Some ideas seem so obvious once someone points them out to you. Like Lez Zeppelin: an all-female, New York-based quartet playing the songs of the most macho of macho bands - well, some of the time - Led Zeppelin. There are those who think this is the ultimate male fantasy - never mind the Suicide Girls. Brooke Gengras, who takes the stage as Roberta Plant, says, "It's funny and it's a schtick that it's an all-girl band, but really we just truly love Led Zeppelin." You can check 'em out at lezzeppelin.com or go to the Middle East Downstairs Thursday Nov. 2, where they're playing with the opener, Bad Jamie. Show starts at 9. Tickets: $20.

472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 mideastclub.com

ongoing until oct 31 

Cemeteries: They're not just for the dead and flesh-eating zombies anymore. If you're like us, you grew up with more than slight fear of what might lurk amidst the gravestones, and watching George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead'' didn't help. Neither did camping out in a friend's yard whose family lived across from the local cemetery. (That friend was buried there after an auto accident.)

Oct. 13 - 31 (weekends)

 I was a krazed klown once with the Insane Clown Posse. Really. It was four years ago. They were the celebrity crazies at Spooky World down in Foxborough, but I got to dress up with the other SW "actors" in a puffy clown suit and lurk in the bones and gore, while fondling a dismembered fake foot. "Foot fetish," was my best line. I would growl it to an inquisitive visitor. Spooky World world, owned by Dave Bertolino, went down after 2003, but John Denley of Boneyard Productions bought it from Bertolino and launched it this year at Bayside Expo Center. He's got three huge (4000 square-feet) haunted houses in there as well as three other main attractions and various B-level celebs showing up to do the meet-and-greet on various weekends. (Wrestler Kane is there Oct. 28, 4-6 p.m., and Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) and R.A. Mihailoff (the original Leatherface) are slated, too. Denley's also got a tag the kids can wear - a zombie protective device so the wandering psychos stay away. There's also a guarantee the patrolling monsters will not touch anyone. Call this Spooky World a PG experience. Bertolino went opening weekend and raved about a house called "The Experiment" - "a very cool haunted house with high energy. That made the event, with the jump-and-scare stuff. He's got great staffing. I enjoyed it and my son thought it was great." Tickets: $24.50 (adult).

Columbia Point, South Boston, 800-697-3287 spookyworld.com