Ear to the

ground:

“I want to be a sport punk – you know, play sports but still smoke cigarettes.”

– Local kindergartener spelling out his current life plan

Hour of darkness

It’ll be lights out for several of the world’s major cities this Saturday night. At least that’s the goal of “Earth Hour 2008,” which is asking people across the United States and the world to turn off their lights for an hour at 8p.m. on March 29 in a show of support for action on climate change.

Earth Hour, a program of the World Wildlife Fund, began last year in Sydney, Australia. This year, it has spread across six continents with Chicago serving as the U.S. flagship city and Atlanta, Phoenix and San Francisco joining in as leading partner cities. In Canada, more than 60 cities are taking part.

However, one not need live in a large city to take part. Everyone throughout the U.S. – which happens to be the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide at more than 20 tons per person per year – is invited to participate in the hourlong blackout.

What will you do when the lights are off? The folks at the Earth Hour suggest changing out all those old energy-wasting light bulbs with compact fluorescents. If you’ve already done that or are still at a loss for how to spend your hour of darkness, visit www.earthhour.org.

Fun, fun, fun

Grab the lawnchair, sleeping bag and deck of cards. Tickets for the June 4 Beach Boys show go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday at Community Concert Hall ticket outlets in Durango (either at the Concert Hall box office at Fort Lewis College or the downtown ticket office in Magpies Newsstand, 707 Main Ave.) There is also a purported outlet in Bayfield for east county dwellers. Those wanting to try their luck in cyberspace or too tired to make the 9 a.m. wake-up call can buy tickets by logging onto www.durangoconcerts.com.

The cheap seats, er, “general admission” are $45, with reserved seats going for $100-$60. General admission tickets are limited to 20 per order, with reserved seat tickets limited to four.

The Beach Boys show will conclude a full day festival in FLC’s Ray Dennison Field. Festivities kick off at noon with a preshow tailgate “beach party,” featuring food, a classic car show and live music. Gates to the big show open at 4 p.m. with none other than Durango’s own beach blanket bimbo, Ralph Dinosaur, taking the stage at 5 p.m., followed by a yet-to-be named “national performer” at 6:15 p.m. The Beach Boys will take the stage at 8 p.m.

One more read

Kahuna devotees rejoice. Now you will be able to get exact river level readings for optimal surfing enjoyment. This week, the U.S. Geological Survey installed a gaging station in the Animas River at the Rivergate Bridge, near the Four Corners takeout (officially known as “Cundiff Park.”) And while the gage may seem like an added bonus for boaters, the real reason for the installation is so the USGS can monitor flows downstream of the dreaded water project that shall not be named.