|
|
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
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Monday, April 03, 2006
V, MF
I finally went to see V for Vendetta last week, and gave it one anarchic thumb up. I was pleasantly surprised by how little had changed from the book, or at least my memory of the book. The parts that were obviously intact, like Evey's stay in "prison" and the letter she reads there, were by far the most moving moments. And I stood by my original declaration, that I didn't care if the political battleground had shifted somewhat -- it was still a battle worth fighting.
But then I reread the book, something I hadn't done since a long coach ride back from a school exchange trip to Russia in 1991 -- and something I was trying not to do until I saw the movie. Reading it for the first time as an adult, I was blown away. It is certainly Moore's most harrowing, and possibly his most arresting work, a position previously reserved for Watchmen (with Promethea in second place), and I'd even put it on a par with 1984 -- in fact, it's basically 1984 with a happy(ish) ending. And how many of us who've read that book a dozen times wouldn't rather see Winston Smith slip on a vigilante mask and kick some Inner Party ass?
I could see what Moore was driving at when he said they'd de-fanged the fascism in the movie. They've defanged a lot, in fact. In the book, it is made abundantly clear that there has been an absolute racial and homosexual holocaust in Britain. The country is run by the Leader in conjunction with a kind of totalitarian proto-Internet called Fate; surely the Wachowskis could have run with that ball? The Leader's demise is much more complex, much more believable, and V doesn't have to sully his hands with it: natural human vanity, jealousy, greed and fear are seen to be more than enough. Then there's the pivotal acid trip taken by the policeman on V's trail: so much could have been done with that, and it's a poetic ending to have our detective driven mad by the naked truth of the country's crime. What were they afraid of?
I still think Moore is a bit of a prima donna about his work. On the other hand, once, just once, I'd like to see someone take a graphic novel and use it as a scene-by-scene movie script. Just film the whole thing as it was written, and how it looks. You never know how well it could work -- how many embryonic movies could be sitting meekly on the graphic novel shelves -- until you try.
|
|
|
|
