Sunday, January 25, 2008:

As regular site visitors are already aware, one of our editors, Winston, is departing to pursue other opportunities. We here at the RAG wish him the the very best in his new endeavors.

We've also added a number of new staff, so it is probably time to re-introduce our existing editors, as well as introduce our newcomers.

I'll also take a moment to briefly describe the various sections at the site.

On the front page, our senior editors are Machiavelli, Redbeard and Wes Morgan. Between the three of these gentlemen there ranges a wide range of views--from the left, right, libertarian, and places in-between, allowing our readers the opportunity to read and comment on articles from various perspectives.  In support, we also have GrayRider and SargeantJack, both who do a fine job of rounding out opinion from the right. To maintain a healthy political balance, an additional editor will be added to this section to represent the left sometime in the next few weeks.

Fornax, our resident astronomer, will continue to drop by periodically to keep site visitors updated on numerous great bands in the Music section.

Skinnydipinacid and I will continue as site editors, and will be responsible for addressing site design or issues, and all the general mechanical things. And both of us will be popping up most anywhere to provide back-up and support to the other editors and sections. 

Our two newest editors, kwAwk and Xanadu, have been brought on board to assist in other sections of the site, directing their efforts to creating new sections and to address some of the neglected areas, to give these sections some devoted attention and regularly-updated content. Currently, kwAwk has his own section, Serendipity, which provides a potpourri of topics for discussion. He will also be helping out on the front page from time to time. Xanadu will be running the Movies section, as well as assisting in Music and in other areas depending on the site's needs. Please welcome both of them when you see them.

We will most likely be adding a full-time Music editor in the next couple of weeks, and hope to add a new editor to run the Video Games area soon.

Speaking of the site itself, I just want to take a moment to remind readers that there are other areas besides the front page, so I'm going to introduce them, describe them, and provide some posting schedules where available.

I've mentioned Serendipity. This is a new section edited by kwAwk, and provides a wide-range of topics accompanied by commentary and insights from our newest editor. Please stop by and pay him a visit.

We have the Sports Bar, run by Skinnydipinacid, where you can get the latest in baseball, football, basketball, and other sports-related articles.

Music is currently supported by Fornax, Skinnydipinacid, Xanadu and myself. The section does have a regular posting schedule: as a general rule there will be music videos posted three times daily on Monday through Friday, usually at 7 and 11 am, and another at 1 pm. On weekends we'll be leaning toward silly songs on Saturday mornings and a featured band or performer for the Sunday Oldies. Although the music is generally rock-and-roll oriented, expect to see some regular jazz, classicial and country music features in Music in the near-future.

The Movies section is now directed by Xanadu. She will be providing regular movie and television reviews and opinion, and has also volunteered to watch reader-requested movies and review them so that our site visitors won't have to waste their money on bad flicks. Please pay her a visit, she has a creative approach to film, and is planning on providing regular features. Once she has a schedule finalized, we'll post a new announcement.

Gaming currently consists of two areas: one where actual games are featured (and unearthed by Skinnydipinacid); the other where game articles, reviews or game-related pieces are highlighted. This section is still in flux but will soon be a regularly-maintained area of the site.

I'm still not quite sure what Distortion is about--there is a bit of history, science, satire, surrealism, and flat-out craziness in this section. It does provide two regular features: Ancient Film Babes on Friday nights and Saturday Cartoons. As a general rule, you will find new articles posted in this section three times daily during the week (7 and 11 am; 1pm) and more during the weekends. I take the blame for this section.

To round things out there is also the Scribbles section where you will find occasional poetry and fiction, and our Original Articles section where periodic general interest articles will be posted.

Oh, and before I forget, there is also the Wild West. You need to be a member to see this section (but registration is easy) because this is where you'll find content that is generally unsafe for work.

Obviously the BL RAG has changed over the past few months, and will continue to undergo modification for some time forward. Our goal here is to provide various articles, threads, and topics of interest and create an atmosphere where people enjoy visiting. We have a ways to go in some areas, but we share a common goal, so the site will only get better as time moves forward.

I want to thank those of you who visit, and those of you who contribute regularly. Without reader support, this site would not have enjoyed the success it has experienced since its inception. We have along way to go, but with your continued support, the sky is the limit, so I want to thank you for visiting and making this endeavor possible.

Zoy Clem

(I'll move this to the Announcement section later this week).