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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.
Oh My God, the RSS Feed Actually Works!
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.
Arik
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Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
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Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
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Daily Blah for... Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Page One (Again)
Every two months or so, I hit upon a brilliant new idea for what to do with this albatross of a blog – which often seems purposeless, a machine I set in motion that I have no idea how to stop, with no reason for its existence other than its existence. The ideas tend to be short-lived (Daily Blah as a chronicle of UK-US relations, anyone?) and the Blah settles back into that vague mish-mash of spontaneous news commentary and Christmas-card-letter life updates we all know and love. But a couple of days ago, my housemate and dear friend Emily sparked a brilliant idea when she picked up a Tom Robbins book I'd just bought (this house is an Aladdin's cave of books I've either just bought or have been meaning to read), read the first page, and instantly declared that it was "not as good" as his previous works, being "too contrived." Such snap judgment always makes me laugh, and I declared I'd love to see a book review website where the reviewer only ever read the first page of each title and extrapolated from there. "For the short of time, by the short of time" would be the tagline.
A couple of months ago I devoured Nick Hornby's latest work, The Polysyllabic Spree, a collection of columns from the San Francisco-based literary magazine The Believer. Hornby lists, with refreshing and thoroughly readable honesty, the books he's bought in the last month alongside a much shorter list, the books he's actually read. It's only a small step from The Polysyllabic Spree to a review organ that proudly wears its lack of depth as a virtue. I wouldn't even need to buy the books – it's not like I need an excuse, but the first page of practically everything is available as an extract on Amazon. I haven't decided whether it makes more sense to do such reviews in a paragraph, or bang on about the first page for longer than the length of the first page. But darlings, think of the infamy! The knowing postmodern wink at an ever-more digested culture! The Amazon sell-through program possibilities!
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