Calendar’s Summer Splash : Three Ways to Plunge Into Summer : Pricey

It’s summer, the “good vibrations” season when people spell the word entertainment f-u-n----and they get away with it.

There’s a deluge of no-brainers--and a good number of serious undertakings, too--all beckoning us to dive right in.

To assist waders, swimmers and lifeguards through the season’s somewhat unpredictable waters, Calendar has set up three guided tours to help you cope with the Summer Splash. They’ve been created chiefly with budgetary considerations in mind, but each itinerary includes bargains and splurges alike:

* At the low and frequently free end of the spectrum, there’s the Bargain tour for those with more time than bucks to invest in entertainment. Approximate investment for the whole summer: $100.

* For middle-of-the-road spenders, there’s the Mid-Range tour, a generally local group of enticements. It’ll get you as far away as San Diego for an optional weekend getaway. Approximate summer-long cost, excluding side trip: $300.

* At the high-rent end of these excursions, there’s the Pricey plunge, with optional side trips to Paris, Venice and Purchase, N.Y. To have it all (excluding side jaunts), all summer, figure on about $1500.

In each case, the mythical traveler is presumably a well-rounded seeker, as open to Tchaikovsky as the Cowboy Junkies.

The selections have not been sampled, but are based on past performances, insider buzz or, in a few cases, convincingly seductive advertising.

This week: Rent a vintage woody--or “Little Deuce Coup”--and catch the Beach Boys with Chicago ($30) at the Hollywood Bowl on May 28. Information: (213) 480-3232 or (714) 480-2000. Optional side trip at the end of the week: Ojai Festival in Ojai, Calif., June 2-4, with Pierre Boulez returning for his fourth Ojai visit in three decades, conducting music by himself and by Gyorgy Ligeti, the featured composer this year. Information: (805) 646-2094.

June 4-10: Listen to and actually see radio superstar Garrison Keillor ($25) when he brings his storytelling magic to the Universal Amphitheatre on June 9. Information: 213-980-9421.

June 11-16: Laugh yourself silly with Dennis Miller (of “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update fame) and Louis Anderson (king of the fat jokes) when they appear together ($19.50) at the Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, on June 15. Information: (213) 480-3232.

June 18-24: Who cares if it’s sold out for what seems like the duration of George Bush’s first term? You’re on the high-class tour. Call up your local scalper at get yourself tickets for “Phantom of the Opera” (about $90 for balcony seats to $225 for orchestra seats) at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave. Information: (213) 410-1062.

June 25-July 1: If you haven’t already seen them at screenings or in friends’ homes, spend June 30 taking in a double feature of “Batman” ($6.50) with Jack Nicolson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger and Billy Dee Williams and then Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” ($6.50), said to be the best Lee film yet. Optional side trip: to Paris for the “Magicians of the Earth” show running through September at the Georges Pompidou Centre. Information: 011-33-1-42771233. And to Venice for the encyclopedic “Italian Art of the 20th Century” at Palazzo Grazzi through October. Information: (011) 39-41-5231680.

July 2-8: If you’re still in town, take in the 42nd Annual West Coast Science Fiction Convention ($45 in advance, $60 at the door), June 30-July 4 at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel, 700 Convention Way, Anaheim. Guest host is author John Varley whose “Millennium” will be released as a feature film in August. Authors Harlan Ellison, Larry Niven and David Brin will also appear. Information: Westercon 42 c/o P.O. Box 8442, Van Nuys, Calif. 91409. If you’re returning from Europe, stop in Purchase, N.Y. for the tenth Pepsico Summerfare festival at the State University of New York. This year’s bill features Peter Sellars’ operatic Mozart trilogy (“Nozze di Figaro,” “Cosi fan Tutte” and “Don Giovanni”), the Frankfurt Ballet and English conductor Roger Norrington. Information: (914) 253-5900.

July 9-15: Head for the L.A. County Museum of Art for “The Dada and Surrealist Word Image” show ($5 for adults, $3.50 for seniors and students with I.D., $2 for children 6 to 12 and free for those under 6), running from June 15 through Aug. 27. It’s the first exhibition examining the use of words in the art of modern masters from Kurt Schwitters to Marcel Duchamp to Rene Magritte. 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Information: (213) 857-6111.

July 16-22: Count the costume changes when Diana Ross ($30), appears on her first concert tour in five years, at the Universal Amphitheatre, July 19-22. Information: (818) 980-9421.

July 23-29: Visit the Pacific’s answer to the Caribbean by getting yourself on a Sunday afternoon Reggae Boat Cruise ($16), a weekly three-hour excursion on the Pacific Ocean with a live reggae band, complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar, every Sunday through the summer. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Boat leaves at 1 p.m. from Seaport Village, 140 Marina Drive, Long Beach. Information: (213) 498-0091.

July 30-Aug.5: Pull on your riding boots and keep an eye out for the rattlesnakes in them there hills when you saddle up for a Friday night horseback ride ($25) through Griffith Park over to Burbank with a stop at Viva, a Mexican restaurant where you and up to 49 other riders purchase your own dinners. The whole thing takes about five hours, no reservations accepted. Arrive at 5 p.m. to sign up and leave on horseback at 6 p.m. Sunset Ranch, 3400 N. Beachwood Dr., Hollywood. Information: (213) 464-9612.

Aug. 6-12: Get beyond recognizing and perhaps categorizing Persian carpets at “Timur and the Princely Vision” ($5 for adults, $3.50 for seniors and students with I.D., $2 for children under to 12 and free for those under 6), a survey of Persian art of the 15th century during the dynasty of the legendary ruler Tamerlane. The show, which includes 150 paintings plus artifacts in metal, calligraphy and carvings in jade and wood, runs from Aug. 13 through Nov.5 at the L.A. County Museum of Art. 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Information: (213) 857-6111.

Aug. 13-19: Slick your hair back and get dressed up for the Aug. 18 opening of Leningrad’s storied Kirov Ballet ($65 for the best seats). In the most eagerly awaited dance date of the season, the company will perform its full-length “Sleeping Beauty” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, through Aug. 27, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Information: (714) 556-2787.

Aug. 20-26: Invite your favorite pinball wizard to join you at the Who’s Aug. 24 benefit performance of the rock opera “Tommy” ($1000 on down). The show has not yet been officially announced but is well into the work according to insiders. Word has it that the modern classic will feature numerous guest stars and be performed the Universal Amphitheatre. Information: (818) 980-9421.

Aug. 27-Sept. 4: See award-winning playwright Marlane Meyer’s latest work, “The Geography of Luck” ($26 for Saturday nights) directed by award-winning director David Schweitzer at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., running from Aug. 26 through Oct. 15. Information: (213) 955-9960.