For the rest of the week. There are times when the art critic life is like being a pony express rider. But I expect to be checking back in a day or two.
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The Evening News' British Invasion
Jim Lehrer, prepare to Frei! Sean McCormick / BBC Worldwide
In 2006, the anchor of the moment was Katie Couric. By early 2007, it was Charles Gibson. But this fall, it’s time to make room for… Matt Frei!
Who? The BBC’s Frei is the newly announced presenter–sorry, anchor–of BBC World News America, BBC America’s newly planned …
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Kid Nation: Let's Play Fair
Monty Brinton/ CBS
Yesterday was Tuned In Jr.’s first day of school. He came home with a nasty skinned knee and a bandage on his finger from an accident with scissors. Foolishly, perhaps, we are not getting the lawyers involved. Because, you know, kids get hurt, right? Not exactly shocking.
It might have seemed different, though, if he …
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While I Was Out
HBO photo: Nicole Rivelli
I actually do manage to stay fairly unplugged while on vacation, so I had a lot of late-August TV waiting for me when the family got back to the Borough of Kings. I don’t have the diligence–nor, I bet, do you have the patience–for a full-scale roundup of what I missed, but:
Big Love. The finale was a decent …
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Dead Tree Alert: Lip Service for Karaoke
Apparently I wrote a column while I was on vacation. It’s in the current Time magazine and online right here. Who knew? That work-while-you-sleep chip they implanted in my brain must have kicked in!
Actually, it’s a column on the networks’ summer-karaoke shows, bumped for space reasons a while back, which my editors apparently decided …
Let’s Talk About Sales (Or More on Maier, Part II)
I had a brief talk recently with Laura Katzman, who was formerly an associate professor of art at Randolph College and the director of its museum studies program. In April, as it became apparent that Randolph was thinking about selling some of its Maier Museum art collection to raise money for its endowment and operating …
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Robo-James Has Left the Building
OK suckers, funtime’s over. Flesh-James has returned from vacation.
The Tuned In family went to California, where, it being California, we rented a Toyota Prius. My two favorite features of the car: (1) You turn it on by pressing a power button, which makes it like driving a Macintosh; (2) There’s a dashboard monitor displaying, in real …
More on Maier
Let’s get back for a moment to financially troubled Randolph College in Lynchburg, Va., which has been thinking about selling or sharing some of the collection of its Maier Museum as a way to raise money. The school has asked a judge to determine whether the will of Louise Jordan Smith, who donated some of the Maier’s most valuable …
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Vacation Robo-Post: The Lady or the Tiger OS 10.4*
For the last Robo-Post before my return from vacation, a simple question.
You are reading a blog about TV.
You are reading it using the Internet.
If you could use only one of the two–forever–which would you pick?
No cheating.
*Apologies to our Windows-using friends for the partisan Mac reference.
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Vacation Robo-Post: The Alt-Emmys
On Sept. 16, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honors the achievements of Boston Legal, and, you know, probably a few other shows, at the Emmy Awards. Here’s the list of nominees, but we don’t need no stinking lists! Who would you honor at the Emmys if it were up to you? In fact, what categories would you make up?
Hirst’s Skull Finds a Buyer
For the Love of God/Damien HIrst — Photo: Getty
Bloomberg’s Linda Sandler is reporting that Damien Hirst’s diamond encrusted skull has been sold to a (so far) unnamed “investment group” for the $100 million that Hirst was asking. (Sandler’s story notes that The Art Newsaper reported recently that during discussions on the sale the …
Attention: Wal-Mart Shopping
Alice Walton, the Wal-Mart heiress who’s always on the hunt for artworks to fill her forthcoming Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark., has jumped into the Fisk University sale. The story appeared first in The Tennessean. She’s offered to purchase a 50% share of Fisk’s Alfred Stieglitz bequest. That collection includes the …
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Vacation Robo-Post: Your Media Vacation
Hurricane Katrina hit two years ago today, while I was on vacation, and for that reason it was one of the weirdest vacations I’ve ever had. I was on an island in Maine, with no Internet access, no cable, no TV reception, little radio reception and hardly any cell phone service. I was vaguely aware that a big storm was brewing in the …