Well, somebody was bound to say it. Might as well have been me.

Let us bid a fond farewell to:

* Opinions disguised as "information."
* Petty parentheticals
* An overwhelming hatred of anything that wasn't in Disneyland before 1994.
* A lack of imagination about what a theme park based around the great state of California could be, if given a real budget.
* Descriptions of the DCA theme as "hostile." Yeah, "hostile." He actually used the word "hostile." As if it were a war zone.
* Overly dramatic descriptions of families in abject turmoil over their horrific experiences at DCA.
* An example of what the Comic Book Guy from "The Simpsons" would be like if he were a Disney fan. "Worst theme park ever."


But all you Al fans needn't despair. Just follow him over to Miceage. He's still up to his old tricks. The alleged bad view from the top of TZToT is the "most important" part of the new ride. Remember kids, bad things about DCA are "most important." Good things don't get mentioned.

By the way, I noticed he took more than a bit of "look and feel" from Mouseplanet over to his site. Even the red/blue lettering and pale yellow framings. And this is a guy that we're supposed respect his opinon about creative matters.

So long, Al. You'll be missed by far too many.

Originally posted by SweenyTodd

By the way, I noticed he took more than a bit of "look and feel" from Mouseplanet over to his site. Even the red/blue lettering and pale yellow framings. And this is a guy that we're supposed respect his opinon about creative matters.
Yeah! How dare he use elements from the site the HE helped found. And most likely (considering the ammount of layout work he did for MP) he came up with the color scheme to begin with. How awful of him, using his own work. What a jerk.

But all you Al bashers needn't despair. Just follow him over to Miceage! Afterall, you had just as much option to not read it if you didn't like it now as you did before. Lucky you! Unless the guy who obviously forced you to click his articles and read every word finds out about Miceage. :rolleyes:

So exactly how many separate threads are there going to be on this...?

Originally posted by cstephens
So exactly how many separate threads are there going to be on this...?

There is already a thread on this? I'm still not getting the BULLETIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Yeah! How dare he use elements from the site the HE helped found. And most likely (considering the ammount of layout work he did for MP) he came up with the color scheme to begin with. How awful of him, using his own work. What a jerk.

But all you Al bashers needn't despair. Just follow him over to Miceage! Afterall, you had just as much option to not read it if you didn't like it now as you did before. Lucky you! Unless the guy who obviously forced you to click his articles and read every word finds out about Miceage.

Actually, I'm glad he has his own site because I will NOT be visiting it. When Al's updates were on MousePlanet it was just too hard to resist clicking on the link. It's like rubbernecking at an accident on the side of the road--you don't want to look but you can't help yourself. Now it's like an accident on the other side of town; easy to ignore.

As for the color scheme, I would think he would want to be at least a little creative, maybe improve on what he started here (assuming he came up with the look and feel of MP). Just copying it seems more than a bit lazy and like a little poke at his former partners here.

Originally posted by Iceman
...and like a little poke at his former partners here. Considering that he left on perfectly good terms with the current MP staff, I don't think that was his motivation at all. More likely, he's has built up a fan base that is used to the look and feel of this place. Internet readers can be fickle when it comes to visual presentation. Changing format is always a risky business as you may alienate a certain portion of your readership if they feel they don't like where their favorite link is now located or what color the background is. Starting a new site is risky enough from a readership point of view, so he probably is just minimizing variables.

Ok, we have a long standing policy here on MousePad about other web sites and what is fair game.

You can discuss the content of other sites in a specific way. But you may not review their content in a general way. You can disagree with the author without getting personal about the author. You all know the drill.

Al and miceage now fall under that umbrella. Obviously, it is a little fuzzy at times, but we do ask that you try to observe these rules.

Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Considering that he left on perfectly good terms with the current MP staff, I don't think that was his motivation at all.

Starting a new site is risky enough from a readership point of view, so he probably is just minimizing variables.

I may be reading too much into things, but I sense a real "wink, wink" when both sides talk about how friendly the split was.

You are correct that we consumers are a fickle bunch (especially when enjoying the fruits of others' labors for free, like on these sites!), but if a website administrator has confidence in his material then he won't have to worry as much about copying the "look and feel" of another site.

Un-frickin-believable! No matter what Al does he gets criticized for it here...even when he's no longer here.

I've really enjoyed reading his DIG updates, but good riddance indeed! Good riddance to all the never ending Al bashing! :rolleyes:

I wish Al the best of luck and will continue to read his (now) MiceAge articles.

I wonder...where will all the Al bashers go now to complain? Mwuhahahahahaha! :~D

:cool: Thank you Bill, well said. Wow, didn't think of it that way. What a pleasent side effect of this unexpected turn of events.

Originally posted by Bill Catherall
I wonder...where will all the Al bashers go now to complain? Mwuhahahahahaha! :~D

That's an interesting question, as sarcastically framed as it was.

There is no community board over there at Miceage (albeit just yet). Since Al was known to never read the boards here, it will be interesting to see if he'll even bother making one for his new site. I often wondered if he has any interest in what his own critics have to say.

Or does he just trudge on, impervious to the criticisms and concerns of his audience, appealing to only the lowest common denominator, almost... almost like some giant mega-corporation that used to be great and now is lost in its own self of self-importance. Why, the next thing you know, he'll open a new site, just a hair's breadth away from the original (and much greater) site. And he'll theme it way too narrowly, but he won't care, because as long as his name's on it he'll get people to show up.

...too...much... sarcastic.. irony... can't .... carry... on...:p

Originally posted by SweenyTodd
I often wondered if he has any interest in what his own critics have to say. He always responded to emails.

Thank you Bill. My thoughts exactly. The guy is gone, now leave it alone.

ST, you say some one had to say it? Not really. What purpose does it have? Anything constructive come from such a disscution? And you sure seemed willing to go on over and see what he had to say.

And most people didn't even know Al has a sence of humor about it all either.;)


BTW Bill, can you say freakin' here?;)

Originally posted by Iceman
It's like rubbernecking at an accident on the side of the road--you don't want to look but you can't help yourself.

Good analogy. And admit it, you may find him fascinating more than you realize. Fascinating and arousing in a way not too different from what looky-loos feel when seeing ambulances, fire trucks, blood and guts, and wrecked cars all over the side of the highway.

He gets a kick out of ragging on things you love, so you, in turn, get a kick out of ragging on him. And all your postings about him here at mousepad are sort of like a mini-DIG, as you're to Al what Al is to DCA and Disney! However, you may really despise him deepdown, while I don't know if Al really despises all things Disney (DCA, yes, but other Disney things in general? Probably no).

PS: Inquiring minds want to know. Why did Al leave mouseplanet? And why have others ditched this and a few other Disney web sites, or been bounced from them? Are all these people who love writing about Disney, Disney, Disney so hard to get along with? Where's Rodney King (c-c-can't we all just get along?) when you need him?

I didn't know where to post this, and I sure as heck didn't want to start yet another Al leaving thread, but I just wanted to say to everyone at Mouseplanet: y'all are taking the high road and being very classy about this situation--especially your comments in the Mailbag today, Alex.

:) That's it. You people are good stuff. I'm proud of my Homepage.

Originally posted by MMFan
However, you may really despise him deepdown, while I don't know if Al really despises all things Disney (DCA, yes, but other Disney things in general? Probably no).

No, I don't really think so. I don't even know the guy, never met him. I certainly dislike the way he comes across in his internet pages and I suspect that he's not someone I would become great friends with (I try to associate with more positive people), but "despisement" is something I reserve for an extremely limited set of people!

I'm just glad I can enjoy ALL of MousePlanet now...

I just want to pop on here to say thank you for the kind comments about MousePlanet. LisaP- thank you for your pride in reading our site. Iceman- I'm glad that you enjoy MousePlanet.

I think we've tried to show our appreciation to our readers over the years: You are the reason we do what we do- I mean, how boring would it be to write for ourselves and just discuss it among the staff members?

So that's about it, just a chance for me to say: Thank you.

Adrienne K

Originally posted by Iceman
I certainly dislike the way he comes across in his internet pages

So just as Al enjoys lobbing daggers at Disney's California Adventure or other things he dislikes about parts of DL, you like aiming daggers at what we'll call, hmm, Lutz's Internet Adventure (and it, or he, may deserve the complaints or not, and it, or he, may be unpleasant or not. Just like what lots of folks feel about DCA).

When it comes to voicing pet peeves and making a stink about things that make a person angry, annoyed or very disappointed, you, him and most of us are more alike than different.

Ok, thank you everybody for your thoughts. As I said above (or possibly in another thread, I hear there have been others) I do understand that this is a grey issue on our policies related to talking about other web sites.

So what I am going to do now is cut off conversation and see if it starts up again. It is ok if it does, but from this point on, discussion of Al is the same as discussion of LaughingPlace, MouseInfo or any other Disney site.

Thanks for you understanding and cooperation.