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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
"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
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Daily Blah for... Friday, September 10, 2004
Love and Death in Sim Suburbia
This was bound to be a low-productivity week. The San Francisco summer began, the fog and wind of August cleared off to reveal weather warmer than it was, apparently, at Burning Man. I learned how to beat the heat by making mojitos. My old J-school comrade Andrew West, whom I haven't seen for two years, dropped out of the blue on his way back home to Sydney, where he's going to help bring about another stinging defeat for a Bush ally, Prime Minister Howard. Another friend is leaving town for New Orleans, and we saw her off with a wonderfully surreal night of costumed karaoke. And on top of all this, I got my hands on a near-final copy of The Sims 2, a leading candidate for best game of 2004.
If you've played the original, all you need to know is this: it's even easier to get emotionally involved with your little virtual suburbanites. As well as the usual daily needs -- hunger, comfort, fun and so on -- each Sim now has an ever-changing list of specific aspirations such as buying a new couch or making a new friend, and fears, like seeing a bug or having a flirtation rejected. And they now live for a mere 30 Sim days or so, which makes every moment more precious. You want to fulfill all their aspirations, to give them as rich and rewarding a life as possible.
Naturally, with death comes its erstwhile companion, sex. Or rather, as it is called in the game, "woo-hoo." The one and only time I got my single housemates to experience it, woo-hoo turned out to be a very PG-rated affair that takes place entirely under blankets. Still, the foreplay that leads up to it can often be more exciting than anything you'll see on Sex and the City -- partly because you can never be entirely sure a Sim will be in the mood. A kiss, a pick-up line, a backrub could easily be rejected, and you get the sense of walking on eggshells. Rather like real life, really.
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