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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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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, October 08, 2003
California Coup
What could I do? I tried Ethiopian food. I tried going to Mitchell's, the best ice cream in San Francisco, where, in what seemed like an appropriate nod to our pallid beanpole of an outgoing governor, I chose thin mint. I tried buying electronics online (an irony I am not immune to, for by doing so, I was contributing to the new Californian economy). I even tried downloading really cheesy Kylie Minogue tracks. But nothing could wipe over the sheer disappointment of Ahnuld's victory. How? How could so many voters be so politically inept? How could they believe the vague, made-for-TV pronouncements of a Hitler-admiring, breast-groping, language-mangling, turkey-making knucklehead with no political experience and a cadre of old-time Republican cronies?
The city seemed desolate tonight, like the Schwarzenegger tsunami had washed everyone off the streets. Nobody was out on the Haight. If I know San Franciscans, they're all indoors commiserating with a stiff drink (or something stiffer). The only comic relief was provided by my friend Aaron, who sent round a Tribe.net call to join the fresh-faced, uniformed Schwarzenjungend (Schwarzenegger Youth) corps. Tomorrow belongs to them.
Still, well done, Ahnuld. You saw your moment and you seized it, much like your Teutonic dictatorial idol. You would never have won in a regular election season with regular Republican primaries and many more weeks of media scrutiny. You guessed the electorate's rage at a nationwide recession would blind them; that they would be dazzled by your name, by your celebrity, by your pals Warren Buffett and Rob Lowe, and by your ability to string two sentences together in the one debate you showed up for. You guessed that all this would paper over the Grand Canyon cracks in your policies. You guessed right. Now the bar is set lower for your successors. Way lower. Any old celeb could run and win now. Kylie Minogue in '06!
Of course, why wait that long? Why bother having elections at all? We'll just have a recall every couple of months. It'll be like the Mr. Universe title, or box office rankings. Anyone beats you for muscles or first weekend gross, they go straight to Sacramento. And I think we'll be a lot happier that way. Who wants to worry about political nuance these days? Who has the time to bone up on policy debates? Who, besides a sidelined minority of real thinkers, cares to look below the surface of things anymore?
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