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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.
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Daily Blah for... Monday, March 27, 2006
iSaw
Living right by the Presidio has its benefits: waking up to birdsong; great views of the trees; easy access to nature; a 15-minute walk to the beach. The biggest downside, I thought when I moved in, was the vast eyesore at the Presidio entrance a block away from me, the former Public Health Service Hospital. An architectural monstrosity that was probably quite daring when it was built in 1931, the PHSH has been utterly abandoned since 1988 -- and has of course acquired a patina of shattered windows and graffiti tags. As incongruous as it is in this well-to-do neighborhood, it still gives me a shudder when I see it at night.
But take a look at this set of photos on Flickr. The inside has been transformed by trespassing graffiti taggers into a vast work of gritty urban art. You don't get much of a clue from the front, which is all skulls and the giant tag "Good as dead". Look harder at one of the front towers and you'll see the tiny and very disturbing tag: "I sleep here with a hatchet."
But round the side was my first clue that something more artistic was going on here: a window filled with four repeating prints of Anne Frank, looking for all the world like a lost Andy Warhol. And now it seems the inside is something of an accidental art installation, or a historical record, or a hangout spot for the utterly hip, or all of the above. The culture-loving LA friend who sent me the Flickr photo set really wants to see the place for herself next time she comes to visit -- which would, as things stand, involve some highly illegal trespassing.
So maybe instead of fencing it off, the city should start selling tickets. The city doesn't think so yet; its current plan is to demolish the building and build condos in its place. I was against that anyway because of the years of noisy construction work it would involve; now I've seen this photo set, I'm doubly against it. Would future generations shake their heads sadly if we demolished this place? Personally, I'm not prepared to take the risk.
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