|
|
Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
RSS feed coming soon!
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.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
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
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Thursday, February 20, 2003
Eating Fish at the Aquarium
Here I am in beautiful Monterey for Time's Future of Life conference, marking the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA. Dr. James Watson, one half of the team that made the groundbreaking discovery, is here, as are such luminaries as Bill Joy, Richard Dawkins and Craig Venter (who sequenced the genome). It's fun hanging out with minds of this caliber, but I'm always intrigued by the unspoken ironies of such events. For instance, last night we were all bused over to the city's famous aquarium, a mere mile or so from the conference center -- taking giant gas-guzzling behemoths to an institution devoted to preserving the environment. This was after most conference-goers had been knocking back coffee and cookies all day; they probably would have been glad of the exercise. And once we're there, staring at well-preserved fish behind giant sheets of thick glass, what should be on our buffet tables but fish?
I ate it, of course. My Atkins needs were not being met by the cookies (one of which, I confess, I nibbled at). But I couldn't help thinking how arbitary the glass wall was. The fish on that side are beautiful, so we gawp at them and take pictures (until the Homeland Security folks designate fish a form of transport, that is). The fish on this side are tasty, so we cook them. Some fish, like tuna and anchovies, were on both sides of the glass. Who dies? Who lives? And why do we get to make these arbitary decisions?
At a seminar this morning, Richard Dawkins argued that humans are practically the only mammal on Earth that we haven't genetically modified in some way. We've domesticated cows, pigs, sheep, dogs, cats. So why, his devil's advocate argument went, should we not make designer babies? Another researcher shot back that when we domesticate animals, they typically have 25% less brain than the wild version. Our track record in advancing species through breeding is not superb. Including our own: it's only very recently in human history that we've decided marrying outside the immediate gene pool is a good idea. Some cultures still haven't figured that one out.
By the way, if you get the chance to see it, the new jellyfish exhibit at the aquarium is absolutely stunning. I don't recommend eating them.
|
|
|
|
