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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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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.
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.
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Daily Blah for... Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Joan's Cabaret
To Teatro Zinzanni last night, for the second time in three years. Again, it was a corporate gig (the last was in 2000. Does this mean the tech economy is picking up again?) This time, the company in question -- I'll not name them, of course -- bought out the whole place to celebrate the release of a product it described (rather desperately) as "love potion". More importantly, I was able to bring friends. And to not tell them where we were going. I've taken P on mystery dates before; this was our first mystery double date.
And what a date it was. Zinzanni is halfway between circus and Weimar-era cabaret; a theater-in-the-round in a wonderful jewel box of a tent, where you're never sure who's in the audience and who's in the show. We began with face-painting and free champagne, and it just got better from there. The performance itself is built around the delivery of each course to your table and, now I know, is constantly evolving. It's a wonderfully-paced trick -- get you well-fed, get you rosy-cheeked, get you laughing and gasping at the same time. You know a lot of your reaction is due to raised seratonin levels, which in turn is due to being rosy-cheeked and well-fed. You also don't mind.
The show is constantly evolving according to which international artistes are involved, and right now the part of the torch-singer Madame Zinzanni is being played by Joan Baez. That's right, the Joan Baez. P was highly impressed, and I felt almost embarrassed that a star like her should condescend to this relatively anonymous role, even though neither of us could actually name a Joan Baez hit when the drunk guy next to us -- similarly agog -- asked. Is this wrong of us? To fall victim to celebrity for its own sake, celebrity by osmosis?
Ah, who cares. She still has an amazing, ear-caressing set of pipes. And the entire evening was made by the sight of the sales rep at the end of the table breaking out of his little sales rep shell, shedding his tie, donning mardi gras beads, face painted like an ancient warrior, eyes twinkling, laughing his well-stuffed guts out.
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