There's a television writers' strike going on, you know. That means you're watching less television, and consequently your capacity for looking at other, nontelevision things has increased. I don't wanna tell you what to do with that increased capacity, but if I were me (and I am!), I'd check out the Scott Musgrove, Ryan Heshka and Brian Despain show that's now hanging at Roq la Rue. It's much more exciting than the current season of "Heroes," much more gory than the current season of "House" and much smarter than the supermodels and Ben Stein combined.

Usually group shows are a thematic mixed bag, but this show has a strong science-fiction thread running through all the pieces -- and the three artistic styles on display complement each other perfectly. The bug-eyed countenances of Musgrove's "Late Fauna of North America" could have wandered in from the most pleasant nightmare you've ever had. Heshka's pulp sci-fi "Radio Army" wars with a race of snakelike aliens in a cold, Constructivist landscape; the spoils of war are, appropriately, pinup girls. And Despain's "B-Side Stories," starring a woebegone cast of robots, adds the perfect grace note to a perfect meeting of the minds.

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