Spandex, lycra, no pants. Scenes from the floor of today's New York Comic Convention, after the jump

I was at Grand Central recently and finally got to see the Holiday Kaleidoscope show.

I wasn't expecting much (the actual thing is never as good as the ads) but I have to say I was impressed. The terminal was filled with people holding cameras, and as the curtain went up, you could hardly hear the music through the oohs and aahs from the kids.

Damien Hirst, the artist with the biggest death-obsession around, is back in town with a pretty remarkable exhibit, The man responsible for diamond-encrusted skulls, and tiger sharks submerged in formaldehyde, has set up the classroom from Hell in the lobby of Lever House. That, or the set of the next Stephen King/Tim Burton project. School: The Archeology of Lost Desires, Comprehending Infinity, and the Search for Knowledge, includes 15 medicine cabinets, 30 sheep, one shark, two sides of beef, a chair, a chain of sausages, an umbrella and a birdcage with a dead dove...anybody hungry?

The exhibit is free, and runs until February 9th, when the displays will be returned to Chinatown and sold as the lunch specials. You should check it out.

SHACKLES BULLHOOKS LONLINESS..all under the bigtop

Odd pairings abound as you walk through one of New York's most historic districts.

Went to see Ron Mueck at the Brooklyn Museum last Sunday. Many of you already know the artist...former Jim Henson protege and YesBut caption competition subject, his work speaks for itself. But actually seeing these pieces up close...the level of creative talent and technical expertise...you almost think they're going to look you in the eye and say stop staring at me. I've been to realist artists' shows before (Duane Hanson comes to mind) but this guy takes it to a level off the charts (which may explain why he's described as a hyperrealist.

On a related note, there was a plaque at the show that quoted the artist saying something like "I just want to make fun pieces that people will want to put in their homes". And I thought, Jesus, how refreshing is that. Reading his responses to questions on the museum site, you come away thinking he's just doing what he likes, and letting people think what they may. I've always wondered, when art critics give these incredibly detailed, intense explanations of what artists are trying to say with their work, are they really that good at getting inside their heads, or are they seriously full or shit...I'm starting to lean towards the latter.

Photo of Ron Mueck with A Girl by felix. (Couldn't sneak in a camera.)

No better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Art or not, it was definitely pretty cool.

Went to the Creative Time exhibit STRANGE POWERS this past weekend. The show includes pieces made to have a paranormal effect on the world, including spells, talismanic objects, and apparitions...all presented in a supposedly haunted building on the lower east side. (Boo!)

A very cool theme with some pretty interesting pieces...mixed in with some not so interesting. There's even a pitch black room supposedly inhabited by the spirit of one of the exhibiting artists. (What do you mean, did I go in?) The show's around until September 17th and definitely worth a look.

He's given us inflatable rabbits, dogs, flowers and dolphins. Now Jeff Koons has turned his attention to super heroes, with this public exhibit at Lever House on Park and 53rd.

2:00PM, February 18th - Union Square, New York City

Always wanted to see old Vegas, but never got around to it. (Check something else off the list) I'd obviously heard about the outdoor light show, and I have to admit it was pretty cool.

9:00am, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan side

The city gets all festive this time of year...Shopping, skating, singing, and the pharmacies stay open longer to sell enough xanex for all the panic attacks. We've got this routine down cold.

Lived in NYC for about ten yers now, but I'd never gone up to Central Park West on Thanksgiving Eve to watch them blow up the parade balloons. Well now I have...scratch another one off the list.

Next, the top of the Empire State Bldg, the Bronx Zoo, and telling a cabbie to "follow that car".

Spent the afternoon at MOMA yesterday for SAFE: Design Takes On Risk, a collection of over 300 products and prototypes designed to protect us from dangerous or stressful circumstances...basically a paranoid hypochondriac's Christmas wonderland. Pretty interesting glimpse of where we are, and where we're headed, in this wonderful color-coded world of ours.

Check out MOMA's online exhibition here for a complete collection of in-focus images. (they don't allow flash photography and I was a little hung-over)