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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
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
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Daily Blah for... Tuesday, November 02, 2004
All About Turnout
I'm in a hotel suite in Reno, nervous as hell.
It's been a tough and exhilirating day. I helped get out the vote in Nevada, and I saw the best and the worst of the American democratic process. The best was a line at my adopted precinct's polling station, Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, that stretched round the block from 7am to 7pm. It was a remote, desert-surrounded part of the greater Reno area; still, the people would not stop coming. The worst was a county official who refused to assign idle poll workers to help reduce the line, and Republican watchers who threw their weight around without revealing their affiliation.
All day, though, the sight of that turnout gave me a very good feeling. Currently, Kerry is 4% ahead in Nevada. In Nevada, a state that has been solid Bush country for election after election. We did some good work here today.
The connection between high turnout and a heavy Kerry vote is tenuous, but Nevada proves it is there. And you know what? In Ohio, they're still voting at some polls three hours after it closed. Lined up round the corner, just like Spanish Springs.
This is the word from the optimistic side of me. You will not be hearing from the pessimistic side tonight.
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