CHRIS CAIN >& DENNIS MURPHY This is one of the great local entertainment stories of the year 2001. Back in July, the blues-singer-guitar-slinger Chris Cain and the bass-player-frontman Dennis Murphy joined forces for what was going to be a four-to-six-week limited-engagement Thursday night gig at Sly McFly''s. Two things happened: 1) Cain and Murphy clicked and turned into a seriously great blues band; and 2) the event turned into an All Star show, attracting the best players in town, who drop by once in a while to sit in. Six months later, they''re still at it. As good as this "new" house band is, this is not likely to last forever, and watching these guys work together is a don''t-miss event.

8:30PM. SLY MCFLY''S, 700 CANNERY ROW, MONTEREY. FREE. 649-8050.

Rocking

CHUBBY BUNNY There are local bands that you might listen to in a restaurant and think, "That was pretty good." And then there are local bands that get under your fingernails and make you think, "Most excellent. I am part of an individual, personal music scene, and it rocks." Chubby Bunny has the latter effect. A product of the cultural wastes of the Salinas Valley, this band makes way-out rock that fans can''t hear anywhere else. It''s a melting pot of slapped-around jazz bass, bizarre nursery-rhyme guitar and, over it all, a freaked-out survivor of a songwriter recounting the trauma. A great reason to slip down the rabbit hole for a few hours.

9PM, OCEAN THUNDER, 219 LIGHTHOUSE, MONTEREY. CALL FOR PRICE. 643-9169.

Local Scene Scores

UNDER_SCORE At the risk of repeating ourselves, we really must note that under_score vocalist Nikki Anderson sings like a bird-a headstrong, sultry, New Wave bird named Debbie Harry. And now that we''ve spied with our little eye a Missing Persons ditty on this local band''s set list, we''re thinking perhaps Anderson''s been channeling Dale Bozzio''s emphatic phrasing and vocal curlicues, too. Whatever she''s doing, she''s doing it right, and the rest of the band is, as well. Tight, rather minimalist guitar by James Sanderson and upbeat rhythm by Matt Brown on drums and Dale Hameister on bass generally follow the tried ''n'' true alt rock formula to happy effect, while the band''s sense of humor allows for entertaining and slightly ironic forays into heavy metal. Tonight they appear with the San Francisco quartet Enda, whose intense, driving sound earned them honors last year in Coca-Cola''s Best Unsigned Bands contest.

8:30PM. BLUE FIN CAFE & BILLIARDS, 685 CANNERY ROW, MONTEREY. CALL FOR PRICE. 375-7000.

Masten Delivers

RIC MASTEN No one knows, including Ric Masten himself, how many more opportunities we''ll get to meet the masterful poet/storyteller and Carmel native in person. Masten, who was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer nearly three years ago, has toured the world for over 35 years offering up his conversational poetics to universities, television and radio shows, and at conferences around the globe. His extensive body of work (16 books and countless interpersonal communication, psychology and public speaking textbooks), coupled with his reputation as a dependably inspiring performer with an acute awareness of the human condition, are two reasons why you can''t miss his appearance at the National Writers Union Roundtable on Tuesday, January 8th. Masten will take you on a journey through his personal creative process, one that has enabled him to engage and invigorate audiences and critics alike for more than three decades.

7PM. WALDEN BOOKS, DEL MONTE PLAZA, MONTEREY. FREE. 373-0987.

The Word on Deities

LEONARD SHLAIN Ok, so we all know that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. But now we want to know why. Who is responsible for this ever-disturbing distance between the planets, and how has this chasm impacted the roles of the sexes in society today? In sum, where have all the goddesses gone? If this all seems completely unrelated or a bit too much to ponder in the confines of your own brain, Dr. Leonard Shlain is here to help. Shlain, author of the controversial and critically acclaimed book, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image, will be lecturing on his hypothesis that there is not a who, but a what, in the form of the rise of alphabetic literacy, to blame for the demise of the female deity and the ensuing patriarchal society that developed. Don''t miss this chance to finally GET IT! Hosted by the Gentrain Society.

1:30PM. GENTRAIN FORUM (LF 102), MONTEREY PENINSULA COLLEGE, 980 FREMONT ST., MONTEREY. FREE. 484-1812.

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