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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
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"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... Thursday, June 24, 2004
England Agony
I'm sitting here biting my nails, listening online as England play Portugal. It's the first quarter final of Euro 2004 in Lisbon, and the home team is fighting hard to stay in it. We're 1-0 up but we've lost our star player, Wayne Rooney. This is the thing about supporting England -- they never give you an easy ride. And you can never breath easy when they're ahead. I remember the pain of four years ago, when this very same team came back from 2-0 down to knock us out of Euro 2000.
Nor has it been easy trying to watch them. DirecTV is ostensibly showing all the matches on Pay-per-view, for an extortionate $25 per match. For some mysterious reason, they won't let you order with your remote control. Nor can I use the automated phone system, unless I want to order the whole of Euro 2004 for some ridiculous price like $200. So I've had to call a customer rep to order the match every time. Would that were all. When I ordered England v Portugal this morning, I got the pregame -- then nothing but a blank screen. The entire first half was spent on hold with DirecTV. Never have I been so furious with customer service. "Are you getting the audio?" asked the rep, hearing commentary after I'd reset my receiver for the third time. "No, I'm listening to it online," I said. "It's my only bloody option right now."
Usually I take the catch-more-flies-with-honey approach, all sweetness and light, remembering that they are human beings too, even if they sound like script-reading machines. But usually we're not talking about a $25 England game. After 50 minutes on the line, I was finally told they're having a problem with the whole broadcast. Now they tell me. Oh, to be in England right now ... I dare not go to the local English pub, Mad Dog in the Fog, for fear of missing a goal.
Speaking of which, Portugal just equalized. Extra time looms.
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