WOW!! It's really a shame regarding what's been going on here the last week. I debated on whether or not I would even respond to any of it, but I feel strongly that I should.
Since becoming a part of the world wide web back in 1999, I never joined a chat room or fan site or guestbook because of all of the unsettleing information that would seem to be displayed. I found this site by chance and observed from a far for several months before deciding that this was a worthwhile place to share and contribute.
The "official" site was fine for getting basic Stooges information (a Stooges 101, if you will). However, it is a corporate site, primarilly for the purpose of selling merchandise. That's fine. They don't profess to be anything but what they are. I agree with the last poster about the guestbook on the threestooges.com site. Some of the posts are quite disturbing, and therefore, cemented my feelings about wanting to take part in any of these things.
I felt this site was very well constructed. The posts were, for the most part, about the Stooges and the tone seemed civil to friendly. One of the things that drew me in right away, were the great quotes from the films at the top of the home page. Then I discovered how detailed the filmography, cast ,crew and technical information were displayed. You can tell the loving care that went into the work here. That was the reason I felt I wanted to belong to this community.
Without pointing fingers or making accusations, I don't know why things started to take an ugly turn. Why should it matter if someone were on this site for three weeks or three years? Why was it neccessary to accuse and make inflammatory remarks? I'm sure the people who spent a lot of time and effort with this site wouldn't want new or future members to think that this is some privileged club where only years of posting gives you credibility or special treatment.
It is the right of anyone to have an opinion and to express it. However, how one chooses to express it is the key. I'm not losing sleep over one disgruntled user giving me a bad "karma." I joined this site as a positive..to turn off the headaches of work, bills, the bad news in the world, trying to raise a level headed daughter in these crazy Britney, Paris times. I wasn't looking for another negative to add to that list. The "karma" deal is one thing, but the reason for it and the language that was left explaining it was unwarranted.
I will stand by everything I've posted here and will continue to do so as long as the people running this site feels the information contributes.
Finally, I tried to make it very clear that the information, specifically the DVD box set was true. I stated that I have a contact at Sony..not a friend or relative to give me under the table information. I never inflated my association with the contact. I felt strongly that all involved here would be glad to get any information that pertained to the issue at hand. Somewhere, a few decided to be doubting Thomas' and this whole thing snowballed into this mess. Even after trying to back up my claims, that still wasn't satisfactory to a few. The key word is a FEW. To those few, no hard feelings, okay?
I agree that too much is being made out of this, so let's get back to the task at hand and use this site for the purpose it seems to be designed for...sharing our thoughts, comments and views on the Three Stooges and their work.
Whew..there...now that I've gotten that out, let's have fun again.