Still trying to make these at least one a week. I need more letters to make it happen but I also need email clients to treat all text equally and not create these headaches where the text comes in different sizes and colors and formats. It’s 2006 and still text is hated like I’m still PVNE69a@prodigy.com in 1994. And here we go with the letters!
Polish! (SEND A LETTER)
Mike: Dude, more Polish posters, cmon!
Am I the only one that was seconds away from having a seizure during the trailer for Tony Scott’s Deja Vu? Is this kind of editing really necessary? Is there any way you guys could start doing a Graphic Novel of the month/week feature? I would like to read more but I don’t know what to buy and alot of them are expensive. I know there are Graphic Novel websites out there but Chud never steers me wrong. How come you guys don’t talk about Trailer Park Boys ever, it’s one of the funniest shows in years and they have a movie coming out. I know it’s not British but there is other things non-British that are funny. Where’s Dave?
Nick: There’s a new Goin’ Polish goin’ up today. As for Tony Scott, I have to agree. I liked Man on Fire but primarily because I really dig men who are consumed by flames. I turned Domino off in record time and never plan to give it another chance. I think we should be content with our current comic coverage becaue THOR’s is an institution and it’s really hard to find reliable folks above and beyond those champions. As for Trailer Park Boys, we got a sent a screener and I mailed it to a reviewer, one of many that disappeared into the ether. As for Dave, he’s busy tending to other parts of his life right now. Hopefully we’ll see more of him soon, but a man has to do what a man has to do. With kids.
Farhate (SEND A LETTER)
Barb:
Hi Nick. What is up with the totally random Farscape bashing from some of your writers?
I admit, I wouldn’t object if I weren’t a fan, but the snarky remarks have been out of context and not all that coherent.
Thanks for listening!
Nick: They’re opinions and this is an opinion site. Way it goes I guess. I like Farscape quite a bit myself.
9/11 Turbo (SEND A LETTER)
John:
I’ve been an avid listener of the Chud Show since day one. Its one of the most played on my ipod; episodes 1-6 are some of the funniest pieces of audio I’ve ever heard (most of the good bits coming from Justin). I loved when you came out of character when playing Acting Sensation Mayor Ted Levine just to give that crap(read:brilliant) double entendre/pun about Ivan Reitman not being the right man for the job. I have no craving to hear Devin on the show, and I think Micah needs to tone down the energy/breathing.
My question (finally) is why the censorship? At this point all the long term listeners think of yall as family so its going to take alot for us not to listen anymore. Just like somehow at this point in Deadwood somehow I was rooting for Dan to pop that other dudes eye out and murder him. Apart from the silly parts (deceased?) of the ‘cast the arguements are the most fun.
Anyway, I dont think theres much you can do wrong with your listenership at this point, so go ahead and show me Steve getting defensive about 9/11.
Nick: No, you misunderstand. We’re not censoring. I’d love to run those shows because there’s some really funny shit. We got screwed by the recording process. The show you mention was recorded in one 2+ hour segment with each of us having our own audio track in Adobe Audition. The memory usage of 4 2+ hour wav files being recorded without stopping kicked my computer right in the ass and the stuff was unusable. I’d never let good stuff go to waste and the 9/11 conversation was very good. Steve was dead wrong in his retroactive anger about that. America Never Forgets.
Ad Complaint #485,747,373 (SEND A LETTER)
John: Pop-over ads.
You know, I love your site. And I know you need the revenue from
advertising. And I know that the pop-over adds are all the rage now.
I’m OK with that, generally.
I just pulled up chud, and was greeted with some pop-over add with a
black background, irregular edges, and no visible close widget/area.
It obscured easily the first 15-20 lines of content in the article
displayed and there was no way to dismiss it without reloading the
page.
That’s a deal breaker for me. Go ahead and do the pop-overs – I don’t
mind as long as I can close them. But if these pop-overs with no
visible means of closing them persist, then I’ll stop visiting chud.
Please yell at your add agencies.
Nick: The really annoying ad campaigns are few and far between and I think they’re trying to make it less of an eye/earsore. But, the site is free and there’s only so much guff I can take from folks who threaten to boycott because of ads. It’s bad enough so many of you intentionally block our ads already.
Message Board Woes (SEND A LETTER)
XXXXXXXX:
After reading the Real Name thread and the whole Moltisanti thing I have come to the decision to leave CHUD for good. I realize that I could fade into the woodwork and no one would care which is why I’m not making a public post stating that I am leaving. However, just disappearing serves no purpose and doesn’t quite express my frustration with what has become an increasingly annoying message board. Nor does it do you any good if no one tells you of the frustration that casual CHUD members may feel. You can’t do anything if you don’t know people are leaving.
I originally started coming to CHUD back in 99 as an alternative to AICN. I enjoyed your site and eventually came to enjoy the often raucous celebration of film that was the message boards. After two years back at school and very little time to do anything besides sleep and study I found myself with more time. I re-registered with CHUD and waded in.
Although I found the tone to be different I enjoyed my first year or so back on the boards. But I have grown constantly concerned about the cult of personality that has developed on the boards. It seems as if it has become a personal id-fest for a few members and if you don’t tow that line then you are relegated to ignored or berated. The actions of these few continue to mar any relatively decent experiences I may find.
I enjoy the conversations I have found in the music section, books section and occasionaly in the budding filmmaker’s section. However, this enjoyment is quickly dispelled by the rank childishness that so often occurs elsewhere.
I don’t expect a letter begging me to stay. As I said my disappearance will likely not even cause so much as a "Huh!". But, as I said, I thought perhaps it might help you if you knew that people were leaving and why they were doing so.
I do enjoy the main page and will continue to check in on that from time to time. I wish you all the best of luck with CHUD and all the projects you have on the go.
Nick: I see what you’re saying. The message boards source of debate. Recently, I’ve tried to tweak some stuff to make it more interesting but we’ll have to see how it goes. It’s evolving like things do and part of me wants to say "we had a good run" of being the best in the business and that the message boards are being overtaken by the same elements that ruin most message boards though we oblterate IGN and IMDB without pause in terms of quality of posts. We also just lost our main MB admin, so that’ll take some time to repair. Then again, there are plenty of great folks on our boards and it’s worth the effort to fix if people cooperate. I just folks would comment more on site related stuff.
Pod (SEND A LETTER)
Shannon: In the recent Leak Letters column, you mentioned that it’s hard for you to tell the popularity of the podcast without people writing in. I figured I should do just that. Great, great podcast. I listen to a lot of shows, but I look forward to the CHUD Show more than anything else. Ask my co-workers about the stifled laughter they keep hearing when I’m sitting at my computer. Keep up the good work.
Nick: Will do!
KYLE EX-WHY? (SEND A LETTER)
Caroline:
I would like to hear your thoughts on the very bad tv show, Kyle XY and if you have seen the footage of lead star Matt Dallas on Kathy Griffiths tv show. It claims that it shows he is gay. But that claim is from a guy who runs the website PerezHilton.com. Your thoughts?
Nick: I have not, but it’s only because it looked like shaft. As for the sexuality of celebrities or stars of Kyle XY, I have no real interest.
Mayan (SEND A LETTER)
Jeff:
I missed Decoding the Past – Mayan Doomsday Prophecy on the History Channel last evening. When will it air again and on what channel? How can I purchase a copy of it?
Nick: Apparently, it was well received. Here’s hoping they release it on DVD.
Leak (SEND A LETTER)
Steven: I
Yes, I miss the old format. "If CHUD ran the movies" was always what I
looked for.
Nick: I’ll do my best!