So, after all that fanfare about starting a new blog and whatnot (which obviously didn’t work out too well, seeing how I haven’t written anything here since, what, October of 2009?) I’m ready to give this another try. Why yes, I’m gonna give it a go at being a blogger again. I’m going to put down those messy pens and all of that flammable paper every once in a while and occasionally commit my thoughts to the Digital Ether.

And I will do it with panache.

I can, of course, think of no better way to alienate encourage people to come back and read what I have to say than by posting this video of conservative (is that what we’re calling them now) people rapping against Obama (I’m not saying that conservative (and frankly very white) folks can’t rap. Or that Obama shouldn’t be criticized. I am, however, saying that these folks can’t rap, or dance, or criticize anything in any way that any thinking person would or should ever take seriously ).

So, um…enjoy? (I had the misfortune of first seeing this video here.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MddREczVeL4[/youtube]

If you can watch the above video and not hate me for posting it (which would be understandable) you should come back and check me out again. I promise hope to never offend you this much ever again.

This whole Roman Polanski thing is really, really disturbing me. As if the fact that someone has gotten away with drugging and raping a 13-year old girl for a good 30 years isn’t disturbing enough, I have to sit and look as hundreds of celebrated and admired artists, filmmakers, writers, actors and actresses, business people, on and on and on try to either defend his actions or support the idea that he should just be forgiven, after all these years, and be let free?

Um, no. He’s a fugitive child rapist that is finally (for whatever reasons) being brought to justice for his crimes and I, for one, am ok with that.

That he could easily flee the country because he was afraid of going to jail is only a sign of his privilege, not his innocence. He’s not a martyr fleeing the U.S.out of fear that the judge might do him wrong. He’s a filmmaker with a lot of connections and money who believed that he was above the law, and all he had to do was skip town and round up his lawyers to avoid paying for his crimes.

I call bullshit. I hope he’s extradited back to the U.S., convicted, and thrown in jail.

If you’re here and reading this, you may have been a reader of my old blog, A Slant Truth. That blog, while still existing on the internets for archival purposes, will no longer be updated. From here on out, these are my diggs. Why? Well, mostly because I can, but also because life has been such lately that I’ve really appreciated the new. I have changed so much (hopefully for the better, but that’s another story) from the days that I originally conceived of A Slant Truth that it seems right that I should just move into a new home. Frankly, I had grown tired of A Slant Truth. I didn’t want to log in to the Admin Panel, let alone actually write a post. A name change really wouldn’t have cut it, since the url is intimately tied to the name (i.e. the same!).

So, welcome to my new home.

As with any move, I’ve brought along a lot of the things that I had in my old place. They are things that I like and see no reason to get rid of. So yes, this place does in many ways look exactly the same as the old blog. I’m Ok with that for now, but
I’m still working on decorating the place. Please bear with me as some things may change drastically while I get accustomed to this new spot.

There are, however, some basic thoughts and ground rules that I feel the need to lay down before I begin this new adventure:

Will the blogging here be different?

That depends on how long you’ve been reading me. I’m still interested in the same things, for the most part. I had just stopped blogging about a lot of those things, somehow finding myself blogging almost exclusively about politics. I’ll still blog about politics and social justice and anti-oppression and all of that other stuff, but I miss writing about art and literature and pretty things. I miss writing about the silly or fucked up things that happen to me during the course of the day. I lost that somewhere and it took me up and moving to find it again. I’m still angry and/or disappointed about the same things; I’m still incredibly happy about the same things; I will still bring the snark (and mockery if necessary) unapologetically; but yeah, if you started reading me in the last year or so, you may find that things will be a tad more varied around here.

What’s up with the name of this joint?

As at A Slant Truth, the name is a poetry reference. This time to a letter written by a favorite poet of mine, Hart Crane, to Waldo Frank. Here’s the relevant part of the letter: “a Bridge will be written in some kind of style and form, at worst it will be something as good as advertising copy.” Make of that what you will.

As for the URL? Well to be honest, it’s random. When I signed up with a new web host, I got a free domain name in the deal. At the time, I didn’t really need a new domain, but who turns down free shit? I couldn’t come up with a name for some project that I hadn’t thought of yet. So, I just chose my first and middle name as the domain name and went with it. This domain has been sitting around doing nothing for a good two years. Now, I figure why not use it. I have plans for a few other things with this domain as well, so stay tuned.

What are the rules about commenting?

They are mostly the same as at A Slant Truth, but with a few things added. Now you can read it here:

Behave yourself.

This is my space, my house, and I reserve the right to kick anyone out as I see fit. Disagreement and debate are encouraged and welcome, but if I deem a comment offensive or not contributing to the conversation, or if I feel that a comment was left for the sole purpose of intimidation or derailing the conversation, I will delete it or replace it with some bit of mocking hilarity.

If your comment is deleted or changed or you are banned, please don’t whine to me about your rights to free speech. You are still free to go to your own blog or to another blog and spew your hatred and ignorance. It’s just not going to happen here.

All comments by “Anonymous” or any derivative (Anon, Anon. Y. Mous, etc.) will be deleted as well. If you can’t at least come up with a pseudonym that identifies you as an unique individual, you probably have nothing to say. At the very least, you have nothing to say that I want to read. Multiple names coming from a single IP address are also subject to deletion, you silly sock puppets. Feel free, however, to make up an email address if that part of the commenting process makes you uncomfortable (if it’s rude or offensive, I will still delete your comment).

I also suggest that you take the time to read the Lifehacker’s Guide to Weblog Comments and Chris Clarke’s excellent exposition on why deleting trolls is necessary.

What happened to that ginormous blogroll you used to have?

It’s gone. I’m starting over. So many of the sites and blogs that I had linked to on my old blog are either gone, never updated, or so far from where I am right now that I felt it was best to just start with a fresh blogroll. It will grow again over time. Trust me. If you know that I’m a big fan of your blog and yet I have neglected or forgotten to add you to the roll, feel free to email me with a reminder. I also welcome hints about any blogs or sites that I may be interested in that I’m unaware of.

Can you still kick it?

Why yes, I can.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdHhdpiGIas[/youtube]