Nick's first post

Re: the mails that have been sent back and forth

I have questions.

First off: is it okay if I go crazy? I just feel like I have all this pent-up energy and I really need a release.

I can already hear Brian writing "Go nuts", so why ask? It's about more than that, and finding out how far I can go, and to see how, why, what this blog will be about.

If this blog is, as Brian put it, an outlet for a pretty diverse group of people, then there will - and as far as I see it should - be a diversity to the output. The focus on movies will probably come of itself, this being a common interest. But what about all the other stuff?

This being our day-to-day-bullshit-corner from whatever dreary existence we may or may not be carrying on in real life, some of us might just want to throw out a note saying Condoleeza Rice is hot, or that their cat shat all over the rug, and let others agree or disagree.

Is the fact that this is a blog and not the old forum just a format issue, or an opportunity to do something different, going further and having more fun than before? Unafraid of a potentially censoring overlord?

Otherwise I will, quite simply, be bored.

The question of what we all see this thing as is pretty important to me since this is a collaboration after all. I don't want to put up a set of rules, just a general agreement.

If this is our Moe's Tavern then it should be a corner for shooting the breeze and throwing out whatever is on our minds during those dark, light or grey hours or minutes of the soul we all have - constantly, personally - and not just the latest films we have seen or want to see (even if I suppose that will be a main thing).

There is another reason for wondering how personal and far out people can go with the blog, and benefits to be had if the feelings is mutual amongst us.

Columns and blogs being more personal than just regular news articles we can create a familiarity amongst ourselves, and whoever drops by. Who cares for the unobjective movie review or opinion? That's barely the plot synopsis. I read Wells because after reading him since '98 (I think), whether I agree with him or not, I know where he's coming from. That, and that he has access to places I cannot go. It's the reason I'll keep reading.

It's also what we all share.

Most of us know each other, or at least somewhat know where we're coming from. And we all have access to different areas the others may not have, not only geographically, but politically, culturally and even historically.

The name Gone Elsewhere should be about going in another direction from the other bloggers and columnists.

We have the ability to do something other sites do not do. And that is having a circle of diverse people - friends, I dare call us - with contrasting perspectives, coming from different places, commenting and debating eachothers opinions. And we should do this without fear of decorum or not looking 'pro'.

So with all their due respects, but fuck Wells and Poland. I have gotten tired to my very bones of their patronizing attitude towards the plebs. Poland 'tolerates' and Wells is worse. The change has been gradual but now it's there, plain as day. Where's the love? Hell, where's the humility? Better when they were the underdogs.

Let whatever 'work' there is speak for itself. If what is written deserves mention it will get mentioned, and even when it is and isn't, fuck 'em. I say we do this for us, and not for some far-fetched hope for 'recognition'. Let the shit hit the fan.

Letting it grow from that, I think at least we'll get something out of it. If someone else likes it, great. But most importantly, we do this for us.

Best wishes everyone,

Nick Kockum


P.S. I enjoy Joe Sherry's blog, been reading it for the last year, and I think we should accord him the respect due to a guy (whom we know) trying to do his own thing on the web by at least linking to his blog. Like the former overlord would have put it - he's one of the good guys.

P.P.S. Where's lesterg? D.S.