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The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
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Daily Blah for... Monday, June 03, 2002
A British Subject Explains Dept.
Profound apologies to Kathy, a loyal weekly reader who has written three times in search of an answer, or at least an 8x10" glossy. Clearly the woman has the tenaciousness -- and the sarcastic sense of humor -- required by the Daily Blah. Here's her question:
I would highly appreciate it if you could tell us exactly what a "bank holiday" is. You are the only subject of the British Realm that I have any sort of contact with, so educate a poor parochial American. To me it sounds very...generic. Like your parliament got together at the beginning of the year and decided that there would be six holidays that year and then randomly chose the days on which they would fall. Aren't holidays supposed to celebrate something??
Why yes, Kathy, bank holidays do celebrate something. They celebrate the banks being shut. All the money in the country is locked away and forgotten about. Isn't that worth cracking open a six-pack for? Seriously, take a look at this website from Britain's Department of Trade and Industry, which lists the official name for each bank holiday. You'll see they each have a nominal excuse -- New Year, Easter, and so on. "Early May bank holiday" is the new name for May Day, a traditional worldwide worker's holiday which, with its vaguely socialist overtones, has largely been ignored by the US. Perhaps the weakest excuses from a hardworking American's perspective, however, are "spring" and "summer". But if you took a poll, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who does not agree these are Good Things. Shouldn't we all just take a couple of Mondays out of the year to truly appreciate the finer points of spring and summer, preferably in the park with a good book and an ice-cold beverage? In fact, today being Golden Jubilee bank holiday and tomorrow being spring bank holiday, I insist that all readers leave work immediately and go raise a glass to Her Majesty, who, as we all know, is a pretty nice girl.
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