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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, May 09, 2006
I am not, repeat not, going to E3
The last couple of weeks have seen a rise in the number of annoying phone calls from flaks. (They've also been two of the busiest weeks I've had since joining Business 2.0, which is, of course, typical). The conversations, however, are mercifully short:
FLAK: Hi, Chris, this is Stephanie BLAH from BLAH Communications ...
ME: Hi. This about E3?
FLAK: Yes, we were wondering if we could set up a booth appointment with BLAH ...
ME: Yeah. Not going.
FLAK (shocked and concerned, as if I'd just announced I wasn't going to sleep for the next seven days): You're not going?
ME: No, my dear, an editor doesn't need to go to conferences. Not even mega-conferences like the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
FLAK (crushed, her entire weltanshaung called into question): Oh. Well, E3 is going to miss you.
What I didn't want to tell them: I was planning to head down for Friday, just to check out the show on its most relaxed day and stick around for Souris' famous "missed my flight" BBQ on Saturday. But the Singularity Summit at Stanford beckons, and alas, I can't be in two places at once. So I will not be attending my seventh E3.
Seventh! Has it really been that long? All those rooftop or warehouse parties, those indifferent but free cocktails, which for some reason I remember as being all cranberry-colored; all those conversations with obsequious game execs and fawning flaks and cynical fellow hacks; the booth babes, the alien suits, the thumping, shuddering miasma of background noise ... it all blurs into something like a single day.
Seven years, though. Suddenly I feel I know what it's like to have been trapped in an abusive relationship. If E3 misses me, well, maybe E3 needs to spend some time thinking about what it did to me.
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