  I must confess, I hate most blogs. Many are pointless and uninteresting, self-indulgent even. For a long time, I resisted the temptation of starting my own blog, for fear of falling into the same trap. Why do people start blogs that don't even try to entertain or inform? One day, at an assignment, I met a friend whom I had not seen for a long time. While we were having lunch, we started talking about a mutual friend, Dina, whom both of us had not seen for a while.
"Have you been following Dina's blog? " said my friend. "What? She has a blog too? Seems like everyone has one these days," I said. "Yah, but Dina's is very funny and interesting.
" OK, I made it a point to check out urlLink The Gongkapas Times that very night. And for once, I was entertained by a blog! It was then that I started feeling the desire to blog again (I have another blog which I have abandoned because it became pointless!). But what the hell could I write about? I definitely wasn't going to write about my everyday life! There are already too many of those kinds of blogs, and most are as boring as drying paint.
And then, while on Yahoo Messenger with Dina, it hit me. A horror blog! Shit, why the hell not? I have tonnes of horror stories, and there is nothing that interests me more than ghouls, monsters and seeing dead people! And then Dina suggested, why not also write about my filmmaking experience? Cool!
That way, the blog won't stay in one form or shape. But there was still one thing: there had to be rules. Rules to keep me in check, so that the blog won't go astray. Thus was born The Clouded Moon Manifesto. Hell, in the last couple of weeks, I've been enjoying this blogging business. So far, so good.
Let's see where we can go with this. THE CLOUDED MOON MANIFESTO 1. This blog shall remain true to the spirit of its inspiration: the Gothic manifestation of such shadows, architecture and foreboding of German Expressionism, Edgar Allan Poe, HP Lovecraft and Hammer Horror. Which means I get to be as melodramatic and pretentious as I want. 2. This blog shall attempt at all costs to be as entertaining and informative as its blogger's human capabilities will allow.
Which means I have to be more interesting than a piece of cotton. 3. This blog shall refrain from becoming too self-indulgent. Which means I shall not write about my pet, or my belly button, or my rubber dolly, or my ingrown toenail. 4. However, this blog shall also remain partly a journal of my filmmaking experiences, which may seem to be in conflict with Rule No.
3, but hey, like Antonioni's Blow-Up, it's all a matter of perspective and perception. I see it as imparting information and advice to other fellow budding filmmakers, and if you disagree, you're a wanker. Ahem. 5. But this blog shall, first and foremost, be about all things that go bump in the night, regardless whether they are true or otherwise. We are not here in pursuit of the truth.
Leave that to the science and religion blogs. Or the OJ Simpson blog. Or the ... er, whatever. 
