GOINGS ON : UCSB Presents an Evening of Armchair Mountain Climbing : Greg Child will share a decade’s worth of slides and essays from his trips to the Himalayas and other ranges.

Greg Child has scaled Yosemite’s El Capitan. He’s climbed the steepest of Himalayan peaks. But is he ready to address a crowd at UC Santa Barbara?

Find out Saturday, when Child presents a retrospective slide show covering his decade of Himalayan climbing and adventuring throughout Asia. Child will also read from a collection of his essays, which deal with the range of emotions--fear, exhilaration and more--with which climbers are confronted and upon which they thrive.

The presentation will begin at 8 p.m. in Campbell Hall. General admission is $5. For more information call 893-3535.

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Other UCSB activities: The university, on Sunday, will show the 1981 film “My Dinner with Andre,” in which actor/director Andre Gregory and his actor/playwright friend Wallace Shawn discuss their philosophies of life. Show time is 7 p.m. at Campbell Hall. General admission is $5, with tickets available at the door beginning at 6 p.m.

The movie will serve as a preview to Monday’s Campbell Hall presentation “Love and Art: An Evening with Andre Gregory,” in which Gregory will share his ideas on love and, yes, art. The lecture will begin at 8 p.m. General admission is $5. For more information on either event call 893-3535.

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Beatrix Potter’s classic children’s stories of Peter Rabbit will come to life Sunday at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre, when the West Coast Symphony and the Montecito Ballet Company combine talents. Santa Barbara storyteller Michael Katz will narrate the stage performance.

The show, “Peter Rabbit and the Tales of Beatrix Potter,” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ever-adorable Peter and siblings Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton Tail, and all their friends.

Keeping in the Peter theme, Sunday’s program will also include a ballet production of “Peter and the Wolf.” Musical instruments from the orchestra will play the roles of the characters in the story. They will be backed by the narration of Don Messick, the voice of such animated stars as Boo Boo Bear (Yogi’s pal) and Papa Smurf.

Show time is 3 p.m. Tickets are $10.50 (adults), $8.50 (seniors) and $5.50 (children age 12 and younger and people with disabilities). Call 963-0761. The Lobero is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

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Sculptor Donald Davis, whose credits include exhibits at galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Fe, will display his work in the Reynolds Gallery at Santa Barbara’s Westmont College Monday through Feb. 18.

Some of Davis’ work is housed in collections at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston and the 3M Corporation building in Minneapolis. A 16-foot marble and granite sculpture he created stands outside the entrance to the San Bernardino Government Center.

Westmont College is at 955 La Paz Road. The gallery is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Call 565-6162 for more information.

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California’s Anza-Borrego Desert, the largest state park in the country, will be the subject of a slide show-lecture Tuesday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Farrand Hall.

Museum naturalist Philip Brown will discuss the geology of the 600,000-acre park--its high peaks, mountain springs and canyons--as well as the variety of plants and animals that live there.

Admission is free. The presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road. Call 682-4711 for more information.

Leo Smith is a regular contributor to Ventura County Life. Write to him at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura, 93003 or send faxes to 658-5576.