Jurassic 5; Motherfucker Halloween Party; What Happened Was...; Rekha Malhotra; Amiri Baraka; Photos & Fliers of Hihop's History; DIY Convention at CMJ; Women on Target; Catherine Hall & Megan Hall Lipke's Heirloom; Donna Tartt Reads And: See Music Listi

Last Halloween sucked. We were still in shock, and even guys in hockey masks and gloves with knives for fingers couldn't scare us anywhere near what we had just witnessed. So we stayed home. This year we're going to the 2nd annual Motherfucker Halloween party. Motherfucker is the coolest traveling party there is. Besides the boobs, bulges and beautiful butts, we like some of the people who attend these things for who they are on the inside. Really. This year they've got huge sponsors we couldn't care less about, and some DJ called David Pianka we never heard of. But we don't care?it's a Motherfucker party and we're gonna be there. You should be as well. And you should buy us drinks. Really. At Club New York Thurs., Oct. 31. Admission is $10 before midnight with invite, $15 after midnight with invite and $20 without. 252 W. 43rd St. (betw. 8th Ave. & B'way), 997-9510.

What happens when a neurotic, jaded gay man invites a guy from the office over for dinner as a first date? All sorts of awkward moments ensue in a smartly reworked version of Tom Noonan's What Happened Was?, directed by Steven McElroy, as the two men, trying to overcome their own insecurities and fears, reach out and make an emotional connection. Jim Parsons and Grant James Varjas do superb jobs of embodying their characters with subtle facial expressions and perfect timing. The space is tiny?it seats about 20 people at capacity?but well-designed (you can tell, because the set features a copy of New York Press as a prop). The show, which runs Thurs. & Fri. at 8, Sat. at 8 & 10 & Sun. at 7:30, was just extended through Sun., Nov. 10. Paradise Theater, 64 E. 4th St. (betw. Bowery & 2nd Ave.), 613-5796, $20.

Between running her monthly parties Basement Bhangra at SOB's and Mutiny at (most often) Filter 14, Rekha Malhotra finds time to lay down thundering DJ sets around the city. Bhangra is traditional Punjabi dance music whose dhol drums have been replaced by thick, broken Roland beats. Expect Rekha to throw some hiphop into the mix, and to bring the cute Desi boys out in droves. She's playing as part of CMJ this Fri., Nov. 1, at the upscale Hudson Cafeteria. Samsara Sound System will help mix rhythm and culture, and DJ Kiva will provide a dub backbeat. With Dub Gabriel, Sultan 32, Dr. Israel and Seven, live instruments, cocktails, no cover and a kitchen that stays open until 1 a.m. Hudson Hotel, 356 W. 58th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 554-6302.

Sixties black radical who refuses to lie down and die? Conspiracy theorist? Cranky anti-Semite? Celebrated American poet and literary figure? Socialist? Brutal critic of Israeli foreign policy? All of the above? Newark-born writer Amiri Baraka has proven with his raging, satirical 9/11 poem "Somebody Blew Up America" that even someone appointed to the stuffy position of state Poet Laureate can cause a controversy. Then again, if they were looking for Robert Frost, maybe New Jersey should have thought twice before appointing a guy whose name was so synonymous with black rage and anti-imperialism. You're welcome to form your own opinion when Baraka appears live in concert, Fri.-Sun., Nov. 1-3, with backing blues band the New Ark, at Bowery Poetry Club. 308 Bowery (betw. Bleecker & Houston Sts.), 614-0505; 8, $15, $10 st.

In conjunction with the publication of EMP senior curator Jim Fricke and Charlie (Wild Style) Ahearn's Yes Yes, Y'all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop's First Decade, Deitch Brooklyn gallery is exhibiting more than 100 photographs and fliers documenting the birth and growth of hiphop, from the "bombed-out Bronx in the 1970s" (images of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Fab 5 Freddy, Tony Tone) to today. Grandmaster Caz from the Cold Crush Brothers steps up to the ones and twos during the opening Fri., Nov. 1, 7-10 p.m. 110 N. 1st. St. (betw. Berry St. & Wythe Ave.), Williamsburg, 343-7300.

If you're disturbed that a handful of multinational conglomerates pretty much owns mainstream entertainment and media, you could do a lot worse than attending the DIY Convention at CMJ. It's a full day of seminars, more than 20 of them, teaching business sense for the business-disinclined (i.e., musicians, authors, filmmakers); promoting, distributing and protecting one's work online and off-, self-publishing, self-producing music and indie film and finance and distribution for budding entrepreneurs. Slated keynote speaker is Primus/Oysterhead bassist and independent label owner Les Claypool. As an added bonus, entry to the DIY con includes access to all Nov. 2 CMJ panels, and entrance is free for all CMJ badgeholders. Sat., Nov. 2, at the New York Hilton. 1335 6th Ave. (betw. 53rd & 54th Sts.), 212-586-7000; 9 a.m.-6 p.m., $90.

Lots of New Yorkers pack a little heat, and many of them are women who have never fired a weapon. That all changes on Sat., Nov. 2, when Women on Target, an NRA-sponsored group, hosts its second free women's-only rifle shooting instruction clinic that teaches safe gun-handling skills, ammo basics, marksmanship and proper gun storage?plus free lunch! Experienced instructors are supportive and always ready with a fresh clip as you release your aggression on the indoor shooting range. Westside Rifle & Pistol Range, 20 W. 20th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 929-7287; 8:30 & 11:30 a.m.

Mother/daughter Vermont/ Brooklyn artists Catherine Hall/Megan Hall Lipke collaborate on artworks exploring their family history. Heirloom, their second such effort, opened last weekend and examines Anglo-American family values, especially as they relate to little girls. The news isn't good. The girl's bedroom Hall and Lipke've recreated at the space might have dollies, but look closer to see they're mutant doll/animals, more macabre than cute. This is the room a child sees herself, alone, the one filled with monsters under the bed and fear in the closet and diabolical toys in the corner?not Wally and Beave's sunny haven. It's open Sat.-Sun., noon-6 p.m., and weekdays by appt., through Nov. 17, at the Monk Gallery. 301 Bedford Ave. (S. 1st St.), Williamsburg, 718-782-2458.

Literary cat fight! Donna Tartt, The Secret History author who appears as puckered in person as her name implies (or perhaps more accurately Jane Eyre dressed like George Sand), reads from her long-awaited second novel, Little Friend, Mon., Nov. 4, 7 p.m., at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. This, after dodging the barbs of fellow Bennington alum/Zeppo Marx lookalike Jared Paul Stern in last week's New York Post. 33 E. 17th St. (betw. B'way & Park Ave. S.), 253-0810.