MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011 >>>

1. Even though their name might suggest wonderful softness, freshness and static control, The Fabulous Downey Brothers are not as soft as the Fabulous Baker Boys. Liam Downey and his older brother, Sean, bring the punk pop out of Olympia with such tunes as "Canadian Rum" and "Eat Dirt." No "Makin' Whoopee" here. Nope, they're charging hard with fellow bandmates Chandra Farnsworth, Myrtice Dobler, Freddy Dobler, Kenrick Ward, Jessica Geez, and J. Alex Link. Catch them with Boats at 8 p.m. inside the all-ages venue Northern in downtown Olympia.

2. Our planet is going down. Way, way down. To the mat, hard and painful, and with a sad moaning broken-boned crunch.  A diving Al Gore elbow off the top turnbuckle for the finish.  Down, I tell you. Humans are chewing Mother Earth up, spitting her out, stomping and gobbling and burning and gouging and drilling and sucking her dry. All we want is more and faster and with less consequence, and pretty soon our planet is gonna go, well, there you are, I'm finished, sorry, and boom zing groan, done. So ... celebrate our great planet while it's still here in the form of Bob Lane's natural images, landscapes and backyard scenes - in a variety of media including acrylic, oil, watercolor and charcoal - from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mary Boze Gallery inside the Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Church. His work will be on display through May 10.

3. We like cartoons as much as the next slacker.  Maybe even more. In fact, we like to think that we're moderately versed in cartoons. Still, we get intimidated when we ponder underground cartoonists. Underground cartoonists of the 1960s and 70s used to answer their shocked critics with the reply, "It's only lines on paper, folks." This continued into the Newave comix era of the 1980s when a small group of radical comic artists redefined the medium and pioneered the use of photocopy technology as a form of DIY publishing. Writer and veteran Newave cartoonist Steve Willis will trace these lines on paper from the 1960s to the present, and how our responses to them have changed our culture in a noon lecture at the State Capital Museum.

4. Awesome. Beginning today there's another reason to head to Old Town Tacoma (and, of course, end the trip with a beer at The Spar or a glass at Café Divino). Throwing Mud Gallery, a new gallery and pottery studio in Old Town, celebrates its grand opening from 5-8 p.m. with prizes and refreshments. Ceramicist Mark Hudak and his wife, Eileen, offer handcrafted pottery, jewelry, wood and glass, as well as clay classes. Check it out at 2212 N. 30th St.

5. Ah, the college years. Sleeping in, skipping classes and making eyes with Chad Hunkenstein. Who among us wouldn't want to go back, at least for a night? Well, now we can. Every Monday night, the best bounce shooters and beer drinkers in the area converge at Steilacoom Pub & Grill to battle it out in a weekly beer pong tournament. Cheap pitchers and food specials coincide with the Ping-Pong shooting madness. Sign up begins at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound