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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)
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Daily Blah for... Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Kerry's Meditative Moment
This self-imposed five-day break from fundraising, ostensibly to show some r-e-s-p-e-c-t for r-e-a-g-a-n, is easily the best thing that could have happened to Kerry at this stage. What you seldom get in the midst of campaign craziness is a moment to pause and reflect, to reconnect with your reasons for suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous politics. Five days on his front porch should be just the ticket for this guy, who despite his lead in the polls is badly in need of a long-term makeover. And who better to have staring out at him from the front page of every paper than the man who sold sunny optimism at all costs -- even as the deficit soared and the streets filled with the mentally ill?
There are some very simple truths about presidential politics that have held throughout the television age: The taller guy always wins. The more alpha male-like guy always wins. The guy who smiles more always wins. Project an air of confidence in a better future, and people lap it up like cat's milk.
P just played a song on the iPod called Things Can Only Get Better. For those of you that don't know, this was the theme tune for Tony Blair's first landslide victory in 1997. It could serve just as easily for Kerry. Just that single phrase is about all most voters care to hear or believe. Right now, they're not hearing it.
So here's my wishlist for what Kerry emerges with: first, an unshakeable certainty that John Edwards, Mr. Smile himself, is the man he wants to be standing next to, raised fist in raised fist, at every campaign stop from now through November. Secondly, a theme song: something heart-pumpingly upbeat. Cher's Believe would serve with just a slight lyrical alteration: Do you believe in life after Bush? And thirdly, a determination that he's not going to hold back: he's going to speak every truth on Iraq or the economy, but he's going to do so with the widest possible grin and confident body language that says: don't worry, this will all be over soon. The combination, as Reagan proved, is absolutely unimpeachable.
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