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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... Friday, December 09, 2005
Clueless on the California
Missed the express bus this morning by a few minutes, but I didn't mind. In fact, I welcomed the extra time on the regular, tortoise-like 1 California. The reason? I've finally found a way to beat the bus blahs: simply download as many episodes of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue to the iPod as the thing will hold, then laugh my head off to the bemusement of fellow commuters. Wash, rinse, repeat.
ISIHAC, the "antidote to panel games," is a BBC radio comedy gem that's been running for over thirty years, or roughly as long as I have. Listening to it on Saturday mornings, no matter where the family errands and outings took us, is one of my strongest memories of childhood. These days I suppose you'd call it improv; think of it as a cleverer audio version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, only with more in-jokes. A lot more in-jokes, such as a board game based on the London Underground, the rules of which are far too complex to go into here. So many in-jokes, in fact, so much quintessentially British humor, that I wouldn't have thought many Americans would be into the thing. How would they hear it, and hear it enough times to delve fully into its idiosyncrasies?
But most of the shows I downloaded on LimeWire (catch me if you can, BBC) were from people who were up and online last night, ie. way too early in the British AM. So who where these people, a network of ex-pats keeping the home fires burning? Or do I give you Yanks too little credit? (It wouldn't be the first time.) Will things that are inherently funny seep out no matter what, and spread like a virus? Are there any American fans of ISIHAC reading this? Please identify and explain yourselves -- and send me all the episodes you have. I've got a lot of commuting to do.
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