Saturday November 27, 2004
I hope everybody had a pleasing enough Thanksgiving, thinking of the things that they have to be grateful for. I posted my Thanksgiving wishes over at the majestic www.stereolaffs.com , so check it out if you can.
I've spent the last few days watching episode after episode of VIVA LA BAM on DVD, which is a much-maligned show amongst people who are what they call 'intelligent', including so many of my own friends.
so rare that we see anything scripted that provides real thrills or danger. And JACKASS: THE MOVIE was the last film since what, ANIMAL HOUSE, to deliver something that sent a charge through the audience. I saw it two times in the theatre, and people were losing their shit equally both times.
VIVA LA BAM picks up where a third of the JACKASS crew left off, and it maintains a similar sense of energy, although it has more structure (but what couldn't have more structure than JACKASS, which was a collection of random clips?)
People complain that it's stupid. Of course it is. They know it's stupid! But it makes me laugh more than so many other things that I admire for being funny.
Tina Fey said something to the effect that 'to make a person laugh, you have a guy dress up as an old lady and fall down a flight of stairs. To make a comedy writer laugh, you have an old lady fall down a flight of stairs.' That's truer than true for me. I'm a hard laugh. Extremely hard. I end up intellectualizing the humor. I knows it's funny. I can appreciate funny stuff. But I just don't laugh at it. that sad? I watched every episode of 'The Office' but never laughed out loud once. I think it's one of the funniest shows ever, but it just didn't make me actually physically laugh. To think, the clown is crying inside! Waaah!
So when something makes me laugh, I'm in. And VIVA LA BAM makes me laugh more than so many other things.
Back on Tuesday. Get those Jim Rome Rants ready!
Tom
November 23, 2004
I'm back from North Carolina. Jon and I got a Ton of work done, although we were never able to sit down and do some recording. That'll have to wait. But Phase Two has been birthed, and will be shown to the proper authorities who can hopefully take it to the next step.
On tonight's show, I'm hoping to talk about the Pacers-Pistons fight, Thanksgiving and a bunch of other stuff. But I'd LOVE it if anyone out there would be willing to put together a pre-written rant the way callers on the Jim Rome show do. Just a minute of you spewing on whatever. I'll talk more about this in depth on the show tonight. But if you know what I'm talking about, get your pen and paper out and start writing!
Tom!
November 17, 2004
Oh, The Hatas better watch out. Because PHASE TWO is about to begin!
What is Phase Two? I can't tell you.
But all I'll say is that I'm about to get in my car and drive down to North Carolina with my laptop to do some work with Wurster. And the two of us will plant the seeds that will grow into a mighty oak. An oak that will CONQUER THE WORLD!
And when The Oak starts wrecking stuff, The Hatas will be the first to get it. Their houses will be crushed, and their first born will be taken by The Oak, forced to do the bidding of a tree. Oh, what a sight it will be.
We will also hopefully do some recording outside of the radio show, which will be a relatively new phenomenon for us. We'll see how it goes... perhaps we can do our version of Derek and Clive, with the shackles of the FCC off our backs!
So lovas - get ready. Hatas - put on a helmet that will protect you from a raging Oak!
Tom!
Don't Give Up!
November 14, 2004
Hey everyone -
Has the pain of the election lessened for any of you? Are you slowly pulling yourself out of the shock that The Dream didn't come true? You are? Good.
Because we're going to need you. To fight. To stay on these douches. To hold their feet to the fire.
You shouldn't feel alone. Check out the maps at this site to give a little more perspective to things.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/
Don't you wish America was shaped like a birthday party baloon? Yipee!
Back to the fight. One thing that we can never ever ever ever do again is go back to being sensitive. Wimpy. Because that's how these tools keep getting what they want. So don't let go of your anger.
AND jerk them around. Mess with them. Waste their time. I'm not going to start bashing the Red States right now - there are plenty of good people living there who voted correctly. Which isn't an easy thing to do. And I'm not going to bash the undecided voters. Let them live their lives not having formed a solid opinion on anything.
But I am going to bash those dyed in the wool Republicans. The people behind that swift boat bullshit.
Can somebody out there find a list of corporations that are big RNC contributors? Because those are the ones we'll start playing with.
Let's have fun with this.
Tom
Hey Everybody!
Welcome to the official site for The Best Show On WFMU hosted by Tom Scharpling! This is the one place to get all of your programming news and information. Consider it your one-stop shopping for all things Scharpling. There's a lot to check out, so have some fun poking around! This site will also be the place to get the advance word on events and offers for all Friends Of Tom. We'll be updating things regularly, so keep checking back!
Now you might be asking 'What are the Friends Of Tom?' It's the super special fan club that gets you on the INSIDE of the Best Show experience. Just fill out the membership form and you'll get your very own FOT membership card in the mail! FOT members will also receive very special secret things that we haven't figured out quite yet. But trust me - it'll be worth it!
The one and only Chris and Gord are the fantastic webmasters, and I can't thank them enough for the fantastic site. You guys are the reason I have renounced my American citizenship. Thanks, guys. I'd also like to thank April S. for getting the FOT website concept rolling.
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Your hero,
Tom Scharpling