The Places to Be--Or Not to Be

More than 100 events celebrate the 53rd inaugural through Monday. Exhibits and receptions. Galas and tributes. Bashes, brunches, balls and dances. Even a hockey game. What’s hot . . . and what’s not?

*

Hot Parties: Anything invitation-only. After all, we all want what we can’t have. Joining forces for a cocktail extravaganza for 1,000 at the Corcoran Gallery on Saturday night are sponsors MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and the Conde Nast publishing group. Big-screen music videos will rule. And 24 hours later, vying over the celebrity outwash from the Presidential Gala, will be a Red Sage live music bash by MCI and Rock the Vote (so proud are they of their underground blowout last inaugural). The Kevin Costner crowd will be lured to bipartisan revelry at the Ritz-Carlton’s tony Jockey Club on Embassy Row where area socialites Phyllis George and Buffy Cafritz will glitter and host.

*

Not So Hot: Any soiree with a state or some reference to pants in the title. “The Texas State Society Black Tie and Boots Gala.� “Blue Jeans Bash.� “An Ohio Celebration.� Who are these people? And pass on the “53rd Presidential Inaugural Gala,� a salute to Bill Clinton on Sunday night. Sure, it has Mikhail Baryshnikov, Aretha Franklin, Kenny Rogers, James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, yada, yada. But you have to be a Clinton acolyte to get a ticket--and why bother when you can see it on TV?

*

Hot on Inauguration Day: The inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. Come hell or high snow, they put it together every time (for JFK they used flame throwers to thaw the streets). Marching bands, floats, equestrian units, church choirs. Sentimental, sure, but everyone loves one.

*

Not So Hot: A diluting 14 (count ‘em) Official inaugural balls on Monday night. They’re broken down regionally, so people calling for tickets are assigned to one. What’s more, they kept mum until the last minute about entertainment and are trying to discourage ball-hopping by not explaining who is playing where. Are these party poopers or what?

*

Hot on the Mall: It’s hard to beat the smell of hot, roasted cuisine on a stick wafting into the bracing January air. We’re talking everything from kosher hot dogs, Native American tacos and Philly cheese steaks to beef fajitas, jambalaya and frontier buffalo stew. Then there’s the fireworks shooting off all over the city Saturday night and free music all weekend. Chaka Khan, Count Basie Orchestra, Little Feat. Simple pleasures.

*

Not So Hot: A cyberspace tent stuffed with computers where you tap out messages to Clinton, displayed on an overhead screen shaped like, well, a bridge to the 21st century. “About Paula Jones, Mr. President. . . .� Plus, they will have “leading Americans� lecturing about themselves to anyone who will listen in yet another pavilion dubbed “American Journey.� In the words of Washington Post funny man Tony Kornheiser: “Doesn’t that make you want to drive a bulldozer through it?�