John Russell: 1919-2008

Well, there’s a good long life. Russell came to the New York Times as a critic in 1974, not long after I had started reading everything I could find about art. I was very soon aware of two things about him. One, he rarely had anything negative to say. The pejorative was a mood that didn’t appeal to him much. And two, he could write. …

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Vacation Robo-Post: Mad Men Watch

All right, Not-TV Week’s over; back to the important stuff. Episode five of this season of Mad Men is the first one I didn’t get a screener of in advance, so I’ll have to catch up on it after vacation. But don’t let that stop you. Five installments in, how do you think this season is shaping up?

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The Morning After: Robo-Version, 08.25.08

While Flesh-James is on vacation, Robo-James has generated this free-for-all thread to discuss anything that’s caught your eye in the worlds of TV, media, or other matters Tuned Inland-y. Think of it as do-it-yourself guest blogging.

(I don’t know if I’ll be able to post anything on the Olympic closing ceremonies, so feel free to chime …

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Not-TV Week: VP Text and Context

Greetings from lovely Michigan! I’ve only been able to check in briefly, as my Internet connection at my Mom’s house relies on piggybacking off a neighbor’s very weak wireless signal, and I haven’t yet found a coat hanger to fashion into a wireless booster antenna for my laptop.

I signed up for the text message from the Obama campaign …

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Robo-Post: Not-TV Week—Games People Play

I don’t play a lot of videogames anymore, not because I don’t like them, but because I do. I know myself well enough to know that I get addicted. The last time I played regularly was in the ’90s, post-college and pre-kids. Now, between writing, TV screening and, you know, being a person, I don’t know how I could re-develop that habit …

More on Pollock

I was visiting Portfolio.com this morning to look over Anthony Haden-Guest’s piece on how the ongoing banking and credit market upheavals may effect patronage of the arts. Big banks and investment houses like UBS, Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers are major supporters of art fairs and exhibitions, and major collectors too. The upshot: …

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Robo-Post: Not-TV Week—Best of the Web

We’re all agreed that Tuned In is the best of all blogs. About TV. That you happen to be reading right now. Or accidentally clicked on while trying to get to Swampland.

But I know that we’re not exclusive. We have an open relationship. You can’t be tied down. So in the interest of broadening our reading options—and getting to know a …

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Robo-Post: Not-TV Week—Song of the Summer

It’s that time of year: when music critics assess the singles of the last few months and pick the definitive summer song of the year. Mine probably wouldn’t make any of these lists, but the one single that’s most deeply wormed into my brain this season is probably Aimee Mann’s Freeway. Watch the video, and see if you can see her lips …

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