Perhaps top of my best things I did to celebrate Easter list was listening to BBC Radio 4's program on Carl Sagan, the guy who popularized astronomy years ago. As a kid he went to the public library and with his first card found a book informing that our sun was a star only close-up. "Suddenly," he said, "the universe became much larger than Brooklyn". I know just how he must've felt ;) Sagan was also the mover/shaker behind SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)

Does the new film of Marvel comic Thor gets us thinking about our place in the cosmos or does it just thump us on the head? Well many will be pleasantly surprised at just how eloquently this film plays. Scriptwise, it doesn't labour over the original comic's detail of having Thor taught a lesson by his godly dad Odin and cast into a disabled human medical student body (Donald Blake). Instead it thrusts him into the New Mexico desert into the hands of mortals Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) et al, cuts to back story of the Frost Giants, then back to the desert again and off we go. Director Kenneth Branagh tells the tale with all the clarity garnered from his experience directing Shakespeare over the millennia. Subtle it isn't but it's cast so well that every nuance of Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is both wryly funny and plot anchoring as are many of the other performances. Anthony Hopkins as Odin is so fine an actor that he only needs one eye to convey a myriad of emotions. Thor isn't Iron Man cutting-edge Marvel cinema but it's oldy-worldy knightly quality really is quite endearing.

It's also a timely somewhat liberally politically incorrect film for younger audiences with it's message along the lines of: we shouldn't go seeking war but we must always be prepared should it go seeking us. The 3D element (at least at the screening I attended) did seem unintentionally too dark (a much publicized drawback of some 3D). At first you think it's artistic ombre but when the brighter scenes of the hospital or the daylight desert also seem dim you do begin to wonder. Maybe that won't be a problem in the IMAX version and it surely couldn't have been an oversight for someone as 'on the ball' as Branagh . But if Natalie Portman's Jane Foster character fosters a renewed interest in investigating the cosmos (albeit for they hope they a hunk like Thor might walk into the life of their data) then so much the better. Carl Sagan would not doubt have agreed and again rankled the stuffy scientific elite as he did with his many TV appearances.
Jerry Robinson (Ambassador of Comics) gives a talk Thurs at the SVA

Loads of other cool things to do (if you're not glued to the Royal Loo (English expression that I picked up on my visit - just the expression;) There's even an awards ceremony (not yet with Royal patronage)
Dana Rossi hosts a monthly merging of stories and songs at Poisson Rouge. Six artists--writers, comics, actors and musicians--tell the stories they associate with songs of their choosing.
Bitforms gallery has Recorded Delivery by Brit Tim Knowles (1st NYC show).
Eli Ping is at Susan Inglett Gallery
Special event with photographer Will Steacy with a Saturday talk at Michael Mazzeo
The Camera Club of New York shows photos of New Yorker Gerald Vezzuso - Mexico City's Distrito Federal.
Ooooh, and One Story magazine has a Debutante Ball benefit at The Invisible Dog (tickets start at $50, Fri 7-11pm)

Oh, and think I came to a rapprochement with Mr. Fish and his photos, by the way. Apologies to any artists who might have been a bit miffed at his antics. Should be some pics to see of last week's Marianne Boesky's uptown opening. Any day.


Don't think he can read (in spite of his good eye;) so let me tell you I heaved a sigh of relief at not having a temperamental fish to add to my problems. What is it with Viva and animals! I'm not the Mother Teresa of all things great and small you know. Cheese and sprinkhles!

Oh, I gotta go...I don't normally have visitors... ;)

Artwork in FISH JONES' photos copyright Sean Landers and Boesky Gallery

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