GOINGS ON / SANTA BARBARA : Cultural Potpourri : ‘California Generations’ at UC Santa Barbara celebrates the many artistic traditions of the state’s inhabitants.

Jesse Smith is an honest to goodness cowboy, from his hat to his boots, and, yes, to his poetry.

“They’re just stories put to rhyme, usually about everyday work or whatever,” he said of his verse. “If something funny or something stupid happens, I put it to memory.”

Then, Smith said, he tries to convert that memory to a poem. “Sometimes it flows like water,” he said. “Sometimes you have to think like hell to get one.”

Smith will recite some cowboy poetry as part of the “California Generations” show at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. His recitation will be one of eight presentations depicting cultural and artistic traditions that are alive and well in California.

“Cowboy poetry has just been around for a long time, from the time of trail drivers in the 1800s,” Smith said. “I don’t really know how it got started, but it got started. It’s just been a part of our heritage ever since.”

Smith writes most of his own poetry but likes the classics. “They’re like old songs,” he said. “They don’t stay around if they’re no good.”

The evening’s program will include Native American prayer, song and dance, presented by Jimmie James of the Yurok nation and Julian Lang of the Karuk nation.

There will also be Garifuna drumming, singing and dancing by the Chatuye ensemble; Veracruz jarocho folk music by Los Pregoneros del Puerto; Hmong ritual music and dance by Ge Xiong; Tibetan music and dance by the trio Chaksam-pa; Afghani dutar (or lute) playing by Aziz Herawi; and hula dancing and chanting by Sissy Kaio and her family.

“California Generations” will begin at 8 p.m. at Campbell Hall. General admission is $10, $14 and $16. Call 893-3535.

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Santa Barbara’s Rape Crisis Center will hold its “Lucky 13th Annual Benefit Auction” on Saturday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Items to be bid upon include elegant dinners, sailing trips, Persian rugs, massages and tree service. The silent auction will begin at 4:30 p.m., a buffet will start at 5:30 p.m., and the live auction will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $50. Call 963-6832.

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Concept translated to words translated to dance. That is the theme of Santa Barbara Dance Theatre’s season-opening show Friday night at the Lobero Theatre. The show, titled “Words Made Flesh,” will feature four routines, three of which will be performed for the first time.

“Word Bombs” illustrates the evening’s theme by exploring the relationship between words and dance. “Words Made Flesh,” the title number, looks at the interaction between a person’s intelligence, physical self and inner self. “Streams of Humanity” is an interpretation of how the ups and downs of life might appear if they were visible.

The fourth piece is “Expanded Ball Passing” choreographed by guest artist Charles Moulton.

The Lobero is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St. The show will begin at 8 p.m. General admission is $16. Call the Lobero Box Office at 963-0761.

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Robert Eisenman, chairman of the religion department and professor of Middle East religions at Cal State Long Beach, will lecture on the “Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls” Sunday at Santa Barbara City College’s Garvin Theatre. Eisenman played a key role in having the information within the scrolls made available to the public. The college is at 721 Cliff Drive. The presentation will begin at 3 p.m., with a reception at 4 p.m. General admission is $8. Call 965-5935.

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Actor Michael Kearns will bring his one-man show “Rock,” a combination of fact and fiction regarding the life of Rock Hudson, to UCSB’s Main Theatre on Monday night. Kearns will take on the roles of four characters connected in some way to Hudson--Marilyn Monroe, an acting coach, a gay Midwesterner named Rocky, and Kearns himself. The performance will begin at 8 p.m. General admission is $10. Call 893-3535.

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The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra will open its new season at the Lobero Theatre Tuesday night with help from guest soloists Ronald Copes playing the violin and Brent McMunn on piano. The program will include the overture to Rossini’s 1813 opera, “L’Italiana in Algeri”; Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, in C; and “Double Play for Violin, Piano and Chamber Orchestra” by William Kraft, holder of the Corwin Chair in Music Composition at UCSB. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. General admission is $15, $18 and $20. Call 564-8887.