Coney Island High Class of 1999 Reunion; Liquid Tapedeck; Comic Book Museum Fundraiser; The Ninja Range; Chicken Soup for the...

It features punk rock, naturally. The Dickies ride in from California for an exclusive engagement, and Murphy's Law contributes a set. Also, there will be a screening of the documentary-in-progress No Dancing Allowed, which shows how Mayor Giuliani's rigorous enforcement of cabaret laws took out the New York club scene in the late 90s (Coney Island High itself was downed by the Mayor's Task Force on Nightlife). The whole event will be watched over by Handsome Dick Manitoba and ex-Coney owners Jesse Malin (formerly of D Generation, now of Bellvue), Dean Corizzi and Lindsey Anderson (of the Kowalskis).

"We are trying to fill the gap for one night that was left when Coney closed," says Malin. "We weren't allowed to have a going-away party, or say goodbye to our friends and employees."

Proceeds from the door and the inevitable Coney Island High merchandise will go to Anderson, Corizzi and Malin, who got their personal assets tied up with the club and found themselves owing the city big money when it closed down. Their debts will probably be cleared at the end of the night, as admission is a fierce $25 ($20 in advance). You get in free if you're a former Coney Island High worker, though, and think hard, you might be?they employed enough people to run a small nation.

...From $25 admission we go all the way down to $0. That's what you'll need to catch tongue-in-cheek art-rock combo the Liquid Tapedeck at Chashama (135 W. 42nd St., betw. B'way & 6th Ave., 391-8151) this Thursday. The Liquid Tapedeck don't have much to offer in the way of talent or competence; they make noise on Casio keyboards, theremins and guitars, and have songs like "Cops SUCK." But they have truly shining promotional literature, featuring doctored gay porn, swastikas made of musical notes and broad swipes at the average rock fan like this intro from their website: "Oh boy are you in for a treat! (Unless of course you think Everclear is a rocking band with 'authenticity' because Alexis was dumb enough to get addicted to heroin! In which case you should log onto the web site of Bryan Adams because guess what! You love mediocrity!)"

The show starts at 8 p.m.; you might just want to show up with earplugs and grab all the fliers, bios and presskit information you can. Someone in this band is a fairly talented cartoonist and I suspect the whole group could have a low-level sketch show or comic book.

...Speaking of comic books, if you really love them, there's a fundraiser for the New York City Comic Book Museum this Saturday. Housed in the Commonwealth Brewing Co. at 10 Rockefeller Center (35 W. 48th St., betw. 5th & 6th Aves., 977-2269), the "Beyond the Panels" event is sponsored by the Sci-Fi Channel, Midtown Comics and Dirty Olive Vodka. It promises to give fans an intimate evening with comic luminaries for the low, low entry fee of $100.

The money is serious because the museum is serious about its mission: "To preserve the historical and artistic legacy of comic book culture." It seems that there's no physical museum attached to this organization, just a nonprofit league of guys and girls who never stopped collecting. Hugh Jackman, currently getting critical acclaim in romantic comedies while he waits for his next chance to play Wolverine, might be there. Saturday are cast members of the forthcoming Spider-Man movie (read: Tobey Maguire?), plus more than 30 writers, artists and editors from across the comic industry. And yes, for $100, you get a Dirty Olive open bar. Space is limited to 400 guests; call 712-9454 or e-mail tickets@comic.com to RSVP.

...The people who helm those Chicken Soup for the... books haven't made quite enough money (just 36 titles, 60 million copies sold, that's all), so they're looking for submissions for their latest endeavor, Chicken Soup for the Man's Soul. Men, apparently, are not that important in the Chicken Soup hierarchy, as this book comes after Chicken Soup for the Golfer's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother's Soul, and way after Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul, which was published in '96.

What's a good Chicken Soup story? Well, it's heartwarming, inspirational, humorous, emotional, cheezy?you know. It should be 750-1200 words long and concern something male. If you write a story and it appears in the book, you get a $300 one-time usage fee. You can submit as many anecdotes as you like; the deadline was April 9, but I called the Chicken Soup people and had it extended to the 30th. Send your stories to "Chicken Soup for the Man's Soul," 2425 E. Camelback Rd., #515, Phoenix, AZ 85016. Good luck.

...You ever stay at home watching Jerry Springer and come across those Invention Submission Corporation ads? You know, the ones that show a CGI caveman chipping out a wheel? Therein lie tales of success, and one of them belongs to Ernest E. Coscia of Long Island, inventor of the Ninja Range.

"The thing is, my creativity is very strong," Mr. Coscia says of his invention?a dart game that uses ninja stars. "I would get ideas from kids' shows, toy commercials, and plus what they advertise in circulars. Because kids are the future. And so are families."

Coscia started the project years ago. "I did this whole thing part-time," he says. "I'm a general mechanic for building structural work: heating, ventilating, air conditioning." Armed with a working prototype of Ninja Range, he went to InventTech Inc., one of those dream-making corporations (different from the guys with the caveman ad) and found them receptive.

"I went with them because they advertised on tv," Coscia claims. "The more a company advertises on tv, the more trustworthy it can be." Units of Ninja Range (the dart game with ninja stars, remember) will hit stores later this year. That's your inspirational story for the day. Chicken soup for the man's soul.