WHAT'S HAPPENING : ART.

Dear friend remembered: When poet Frank O'Hara was struck and killed by a Long Island beach taxi in the summer of 1966, the New York art world lost its best friend. Since the late 1940s, the charismatic O'Hara had been a central figure in Manhattan art circles, befriending painters such as Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns, writing passionate reviews, and promoting friends' work in his role as curator at the Museum of Modern Art. O'Hara was everywhere: uptown at jazz clubs, downtown in artists' lofts, the prismatic center of a city that was transitioning from the macho bravado of abstract expressionism to the wilier imperatives of pop art. Painters collaborated with O'Hara and made works inspired by his writings. In turn, O'Hara memorialized dozens of artworks in his poems - slangy, streetwise evocations of his gritty, beloved Manhattan. This extraordinary relationship, and the dynamic milieu in which it thrived, is the subject of ``In Memory of My Feelings: Frank O'Hara and American Art'' at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles. Running through Nov. 14, ``In Memory of My Feelings,'' in a sense, chronicles one man's love affair with a culture and a metropolis, an affair no less intense for its brief duration. Call [phone].

- Reed Johnson

film

Out of the mouths of babes ... : Tired of all that good-natured vulgarity they're passing off as filmed entertainment this summer? Then you might appreciate the refreshingly mean-spirited vulgarity of ``South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.''

By both coincidence and intention, the big-screen version of the crudely animated, cable TV shock comedy turns out to be the most daring, unforgivingly earth-scorching social satire of the season. In it, the cut-out Colorado kids are unduly influenced by a potty-mouthed Canadian comedy film, resulting in parental outrage that escalates into all-out war with our dangerous neighbor to the north.

``South Park'' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone leave nothing sacred unsoiled; even the most cynical souls are sure to find something offensive about the movie. Yet their very immature audaciousness, sharp wit, insane imagination and uncompromising cultural criticism places ``Bigger, Longer'' on a much higher level than Adam Sandler or Mike Myers could even locate, let alone aspire to.

And it's a pretty good musical.

- Bob Strauss

stage

`Pigs' sprout wings: When Howard Crabtree was growing up in Excelsior Springs, Mo., his high school guidance counselor told him he'd be big in show biz ``when pigs fly.'' Little did that cynical bureaucrat know she was handing Crabtree the title of the shamelessly entertaining, satirical musical fable now playing at the Coronet in West Hollywood. ``Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly'' is the last will and testament of Crabtree, a brilliant, iconoclastic costume designer and former Broadway chorus boy who died of AIDS in 1996. It's also, in a sense, the story of his compulsively inventive life, especially his talent for turning garden hoses, shower curtains and the like into pun-happy, ready-to-wear ensembles. The Coronet's five-man troupe, brightly directed by lyricist and sketch writer Makr Waldrop, honors Crabtree's alchemic genius for spinning thrift-shop materials into pure comic platinum. Though a couple of sketches feel dated, and the costumes upstage the performers now and then, ``When Pigs Fly'' splendidly proves Crabtree's conviction that, when it comes to high school guidance counselors, dressing well is the best revenge. Call [phone].

- Reed Johnson

music

Blues in the park: The bone-shaking blues of the Kinsey Report was bred in the gritty steel town of Gary, Ind.

The three Kinsey brothers - guitarist Donald, bassist Kenneth and drummer Ralph - were steeped in the blues by their Mississippi-born father, slide guitarist-singer Lester ``Big Daddy'' Kinsey.

Combining hard-core urban blues with rock, funk, r&b and reggae, the Kinsey Report boasts a brawny, blistering sound.

The Kinseys appear Sunday at the seventh annual Big Time Blues Festival at Gemmrig Park in Long Beach.

The daylong event also features Elvin Bishop, Lady Bianca, the King Brothers, Mighty Mo Rodgers and Chris Hanlin.

Oklahoma-born guitarist Bishop was a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, where he pioneered a twin lead guitar format with the late Mike Bloomfield.

Oakland's Lady Bianca is known to roar and cajole her way through a foot-stomping set of gospel-tinged blues.

Local outfit the King Brothers recently won a Bammie for outstanding blues artist at the 1999 California Music Awards. The brothers are cousins of the late Freddie King.

Chicago pianist and philosophy major Rodgers calls his music ``existential blues.'' And solo slide guitarist Hanlin offers classic Delta blues and originals.

Gemmrig Park is at 7390 E. Carson St., Long Beach. Show time is 11 a.m. and tickets are $23, age 12 and under free with adult admission. Information: [phone].

- Fred Shuster

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) TV's ``South Park'' is a scorching social satire on movie screens.

(2) Jim J. Bullock as Baby Jane in ``Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly.''

(3) The Kinsey brothers play Sunday.