Sam Strange Remembers... - Page 11

Best wishes, Mr. Strange!  It's not going to be the same without your presence on the main page.  But, hopefully I'll still see you around the boards.

Good luck and take care, man.

Best of luck Sam, you're good people!

That said, even though I dig Badass, but I find it kind of bizarre that, given the history, they approach people who work with CHUD and try to poach them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Strange 

I fear this will make me somewhat villainous around here because the website I'm going to is badassdigest.com. That's a hit on my character I just have to weather. Despite the obvious vulgarity of Sam Strange, I try my best to walk a virtuous line. Everything on the table, this decision represents a failure of my own morals because I'm hurting someone who has been very good to me.....

Speaking for myself, I don't think you have anything to worry about in that regard. You don't come off as a bad guy at all. An offer is an offer. People make choices. I don't think anyone can hold it against you.

You will be missed as one of my favorite CHUD features and Badass Digest is all the richer for having you. So, here's hoping they take good care of you. Because, if they don't, they'll be hearing from me.

More importantly, I hope you do keep your presence on the boards active. So, don't break that promise.I think your being a member of this community is the most valued thing of all for me. I wish you'd post more often.

Speaking of which, although I haven't posted to comment on many of your recent pieces, I have been reading. That Harry Potter one was genius.

Don't be a stranger and we miss you on the B thread, man!

I always look(ed) forward to your stuff Sam, especially the Trailer Tracks. That shit was golden.

Also, the wait for guy.com just got a bit tougher

Good luck, sir.

Will you be continuing on as Sam Strange at badass? Or will you be performing in a different capacity? 

I found out about this in the middle of the night and there's already an article there.

Yeah, sometimes I hate my job.

If Dave Davis suddenly pops up on Badass Digest, its gonna seem like they've got something personal against you Nick...

Good riddance!

So Badass Digest is CHUD West with current events? 

Never liked Sam Strange so no biggie.  Just a bit surprised to see it on BD.  I think it's a lame poach.  Come with something new and original if you want to claim to be a new site.  And I like BD.

I do enjoy both CHUD and Bad Ass Digest so I wish you the best over on BAD Sam! Wonder whos getting the push here at CHUD?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeShaynePI 

Good riddance!

Agreed. I never got why people thought the stuff was funny.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul755 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeShaynePI 

Good riddance!

Agreed. I never got why people thought the stuff was funny.

Couldn't possibly be differing senses of humor. Must be some sort of mass hysteria.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata 

I found out about this in the middle of the night and there's already an article there.

 

Yeah, sometimes I hate my job.

What?! Ugh. Bad form, as the British would say. 

I never "got" his stuff, so I'm relieved it wasn't somebody else who left. Not a knock on Strange's stuff, it just wasn't my cup o' tea.

I still don't understand why AICN wanted Beaks, though. He does like one article every three weeks, it seems. I think it's because they gave him the job of interviewing less-commercial artists/directors he favors, but aside from that, and a handful (or not even that, really) of geek-friendly edit bay visits and news items, he's a ghost there. Since ever, too; he had maybe 20% more facetime when he started, so it's not like his output went into a steep decline. I've seen him do set visits video diaries for Collider.com, too, though so maybe he's not full-time AICN anymore? I dunno, he's my favorite writer, so I'm just pissed I don't read new stuff from him every single day. Somebody should get that man to write a book. Damon, too! Something like Rabin's movie-oriented stuff. Hey, Nick, get Andre a book deal! "CHUD.com presents... 'Various Essential Essays on Movies' by Damon Houx".

Also, Badass Digest teeters between a movie news site and a blog/Tumblr feed. I like the movie stuff editorialization, but it's hardly the be-all and end-all of movie websites.

This is pretty dirty pool. Seems to be getting cut-throat for the sake of it. Not a knock on Evan, per se, but this feels kinda personal in a larger sense.

I just realized... Strange - you mentioned on Twitter a couple of weeks ago that you were going to be writing for another site and that you had to keep it hush-hush.  Was this it?

Kind of feels like that huh.

Just read the comments on Sam's debut over at Badass Digest. What the fuck is this, 2nd grade? Is CHUD now at war with them or something? Christ, the internet.

Agreed, very dirty pool. i'm sure it's not Sam's fault but it's been handled pretty badly. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

Just read the comments on Sam's debut over at Badass Digest. What the fuck is this, 2nd grade? Is CHUD now at war with them or something? Christ, the internet.

Haven't you heard? Nick and Devin had a little tiff... IT'S TIME TO PICK SIDES!!!

I totally didn't realise Phil was writing over there. That IS Phil, isn't it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evi 

Haven't you heard? Nick and Devin had a little tiff... IT'S TIME TO PICK SIDES!!!

Is Switzerland still an option?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

I totally didn't realise Phil was writing over there. That IS Phil, isn't it?

Wait... did we lose Phil too?!  Is that why I haven't seen him on around the boards for awhile?  Dammit. 

Is it because Devin dedicated a thread to him?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

I totally didn't realise Phil was writing over there. That IS Phil, isn't it?

Yes. My contributions are infrequent and largely relegated to personal outrage over the new Dark Shadows movie. And has absolutely nothing to do with my posting here less. We don't need to take Sam's thread into these waters, do we? In fact I'd prefer to not be brought into conversations about "picking sides" and wars and shit at all, if that's cool.

Everybody leave Phil alone! I'm picking no sides, I swear - was just wanting to get my curiosity confirmed. I knew there couldn't be two Phils THAT obsessed with DARK SHADOWS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don S. 

Wait... did we lose Phil too?!  Is that why I haven't seen him on around the boards for awhile?  Dammit. 

 

Is it because Devin dedicated a thread to him?

If I'm going to weather a an ass-kissing jab, it's not going to fucking come from YOU, Don. Much love.

I love this community. I love these boards. As I said elsewhere, once the kinks are worked out, I'd love to be back posting more. Otherwise I'm left posting about movie minutiae on people's Facebook walls.  Not as fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don S. 

Wait... did we lose Phil too?!  Is that why I haven't seen him on around the boards for awhile?  Dammit. 

 

Is it because Devin dedicated a thread to him?

If I'm going to weather a an ass-kissing jab, it's not going to fucking come from YOU, Don. Much love.

 

I love this community. I love these boards. As I said elsewhere, once the kinks are worked out, I'd love to be back posting more. Otherwise I'm left posting about movie minutiae on people's Facebook walls.  Not as fun.

Dude, I was totally joking!  I meant no disrespect.  I have no hate on either side.  Just trying to keep the humour during an awkward situation.

My sincere apologies.
 

Oh sweet!  I've written a couple of articles for that site as well.  I think it's okay to mention that in the open, just not to reveal what the content is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Strange 
That was me being really excited about my As I Lay Dying article......

I love it already.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

Just read the comments on Sam's debut over at Badass Digest. What the fuck is this, 2nd grade? Is CHUD now at war with them or something? Christ, the internet.

Yeah... I saw that too. Not Sam's fault but I found it distasteful. And, basically, really fucking silly.

Though, to be fair, things got kind of hairy in the running commentaries over here too during the height of the Nick/Devin feud. People are people. I say: let it go.

Now let's get back to wishing Sam well... Or complaining about how not funny his articles were (but you read them anyway) and how glad you are that he's no longer writing here.

Whichever is your bag.

If you guys are outraged over this, I can't wait to see the reaction when Princess Kate's new BAD column goes live.

Best wishes from me too Sam. I got you. I got you like the wind.

Helluva way to build a website... just BUYING people from other ones. Yeesh.

I'd like to remind everyone that they don't know the backstory on what happened here. Thoughts on Sam's pieces are warranted, but let's try to avoid the abstractia on his career shift.

I think it's more BADASS's approach to expanding its site. Like Warren said, just lifting chunks of another well-established site wholesale is kinda disappointing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua Miller 

I'd like to remind everyone that they don't know the backstory on what happened here. Thoughts on Sam's pieces are warranted, but let's try to avoid the abstractia on his career shift.

As if it isn't obvious. Come on. It's disappointing to see the Drafthouse organization, which built its reputation on the idea of a geek community, attempt to further its own goals by raiding the one here. I know buying talent like this is standard practice in the corporate world, but I expect more from them than "standard practice". Finding the voice of that site, cultivating new personalities, it's hard work. Tim doesn't want to do that work, so he's trying to transplant as much of Chud's identity as he can (along with new "unique" features like talking about beer and stuff).

Fair enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren Peace 

 

Finding the voice of that site, cultivating new personalities, it's hard work.

Didn't Sam just turn up in the blogs section one day?  Readers worked harder to "find" Sam than the site did. Not a slam, just math.

And this is so not my battle, but since that doesn't seem to be stopping anyone else: As I said to Nick on FB, it's Sam Strange, not Kunta Kinte. Wanting to tsk-tsk those involved while saying it has nothing to do with the cat who made the decision seems full-of-shit-ish. And I'm not sure when this became about Tim League and criticizing HIS business decisions, but my understanding is that he has zero to do with the day-to-day operations of the site, and was not involved in inviting Sam to the site.

And saying "eh, I never liked it anyway" about a feature Nick defended and championed for over a year probably isn't the salve it's meant to be. "Nick, we think X is terrible, but whatever the site wants to do is immediately awesome until it's not here anymore!" If it was a terrible idea for a column, feedback probably should have happened earlier. Just rings hollow now.

It was good to read your "clean slate" request, Nick, as well as the virus update. I know there are probably myriad legal reasons you are unable to take the level of responsibility Ludwig suggested for all the infected/affected users, but I think you will see more people posting and getting behind you again with a bit more of the straight talk you used in that update. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil 

And saying "eh, I never liked it anyway" about a feature Nick defended and championed for over a year probably isn't the salve it's meant to be. "Nick, we think X is terrible, but whatever the site wants to do is immediately awesome until it's not here anymore!" If it was a terrible idea for a column, feedback probably should have happened earlier. Just rings hollow now.

 

There was actually a lot of that negative feedback. It became a running joke, in fact.

But yeah, this all seems a little silly. I didn't see any of this anger when AICN "bought" Beaks away from CHUD and (no offense; believe me when I say I'm one of SS's biggest fans) Sam Strange is no Beaks. It's what happens and you can agree or disagree with it, but the actual anger coming from people who won't be affected (Sam Strange still exists, the move won't change the way he writes) seems false.

Nick's anger, though, I get.

I've moved on. Evan's doing good work on GUY, life moves on.

This, like many other features and personalities on the site, is historical now.