FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: Tom Scharpling on February 23, 2015, 11:21:16 PM
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Here's where I'm at with everything.
http://blog.scharpling.com (http://blog.scharpling.com)
Thanks for reading.
Tom.
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Take care of yourself, Tom. You have given us all so much joy. All I can say is thank you.
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We love you, Tom.
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tom, i love you and all you give to the world. you are the absolute greatest and the absolute funniest. i am so sorry about all that is going on. it couldn't possibly be less fair.
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You're a great person, Tom.
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Hope you feel better, Tom.
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the show's been great Tom, hope you'll feel better.
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We are all behind you, Tom, no matter what.
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Take care of yourself Tom. Do what's best for you.
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Whatever you decide to do we'll be here. Love you Tom.
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You're a good guy, Tom. My sympathies to you and yours.
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Love you, Tom. Whatever you do, we're in your corner.
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Thanks for being the best, Tom. I hope you know that even if you never did another show ever again, you have made lots of people's lives much better and more interesting.
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Glad you're committed to taking care of yourself, Tom. We'll be here when you're ready!
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We love you, Tom.
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We are all behind you, Tom, no matter what.
Agreed. God bless you Tom Scharpling.
I mean it.
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Tom,
I lost my father just coming up to a year ago. Worst thing that's ever happened to me too. A year on, and it's still painful. It always will be - no one can replace that guy you shared so much with. Still, a couple of times a week he appears in my dreams and the painful realization that he's not really with us anymore is just terrible. Utterly heartbreaking. You have my sympathy, you really do. It's an awful, awful thing to go through.
Everyone here is behind you 100%, i'm sure. Whether you carry on, show-wise, every week, or fortnightly or once a month or if you never do another show, it doesn't matter, everyone here wants you to have some kind of serenity in your life, which you so rightly deserve. Obviously we all want the Best Show to remain with us for as long as possible, but your own state of mind is much more important.
You've given me and everyone else here hours and hours and hours of amusement and i for one, can't thank you enough. I've never met you, but you come across as a truly lovely, decent guy, and i hope you can find the answer. All the best to you and i hope, seriously hope, that 2015 improves for you.
Best birthday wishes to Terre, and stay strong.
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Hi Tom, you and your family have my full support - as well as the support of multitudes of others. I will step up and help in any way I can when you say the word. Much love to you, Terre, AP Mike, Dudio, Pat, Brendan, Kristen and so many others.
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Thanks Tom. Been there last year with my dad and going through something similar this year. Try to find comfort and happiness, whatever you do.
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All the best as you take time for yourself Tom!
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What everyone else has said, please take all the time you need to take care of yourself.
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I have enough Best Show downloaded to last a lifetime. He's given me so much, just want him to get out from under the curse he's been under and be happy again. Godspeed, Tom, you are very loved.
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Take your time, Tom. You've given us a decade and a half of great radio, and there's an enormous box set coming out in a few weeks. We'll live.
Happy birthday to Terre as well!
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It was extremely heartfelt and I hope you can find a way to cope with everything. We're all here for you and your people.
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Do what ya gotta do, man.
I appreciate the transparency and the rawness of that blog post, and I just feel lucky/blessed to have discovered Tom, The Best Show, and everyone/everything around it.
Sincerely hoping 2015 manages to deliver some joy and respite to Tom and family.
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All the best to you and your family Tom.
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You know where I stand Tom. Anything I can do.
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All the best to Tom. What was going on this past weekend on Facebook and on Twitter was blown way beyond the initial scope of the post which was about getting listener input for guests to be on the show. It was tough to read the aftermath and it seems like some people got their feelings hurt by reaction to a simple question which was asked in good nature and tried to get input from the community.
Thanks Tom for all that you do.
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Tom, you're an incredible guy and I wish you the best and will support you no matter which road you take.
I'm also one of the (apparently) rare fans who could easily be offended by some of the things on The Best Show. I'm conservative and politically active, but I value the smart humor that you bring to me more than I care about the political differences that may exist. I wish that people would put aside whatever agendas they may have and simply enjoy the show for what it is, and not try to meld it into whatever social/political stance they are championing.
I think that there will always be a small, vocal group of people who put agenda above all else. That's wrong. I put humanity above all else, and I think that you are a brilliant example of humanity. No qualifications...you've made three hours of my week better for years, and for that you will always have my support.
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I missed the aftermath of the post on Facebook, and I'm not sorry for missing that.
Sometimes you get people who are just rude about a thing, or pushing their own agenda where it doesn't belong. Sometimes you get (and Tom once had a long talk with a caller who was of this persuasion) people who love a thing so much they "just gotta destroy it."
In any case: this show is and has been a great thing. I've spent more time listening to this show than I have spent with any other single entertainment entity except my local newspaper, which I started reading, um, a good while earlier than the Best Show.
The show has meant a tremendous amount to me. The messageboard is one of the places I hang out and enjoy posting about stuff with other like-minded and non-like-minded people. Just a few, judicious posts here and there for me.
I hope the show goes on and, most importantly, provides positive outcomes for Tom in terms of career success and creative satisfaction. But whatever he decides to do is the right thing, and I'll continue to be a fan regardless.
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Tom,
Your show has given me so much joy over the years that I wish I could send some of it back to you. I hope comfort and happiness find their way back to you soon.
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Tom, I know what it's like to have many people demanding more than one person can seemingly give. I got sick in December from being overworked, stressed, and not knowing when to quit. Please take care of yourself. You are one person who is doing the best he can.
We'll all be here for you when you return. Take comfort in the fact that your loved ones and friends are there to help you. Don't hesitate to tell them that you need their extra support when it's really tough.
Your show has meant a lot to us. Come back when you feel that it will be in your best interest. All the best to you and your family.
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So Tom...
We've never met. We've never spoken. I've shared a few things over the years on your Facebook or Twitter page, but that's about it. But you're affected my life in ways it's difficult to describe. When I went through a very tough time in my life, The Best Show truly got me through it. I put you and your brilliant comedy on a high pedestal. Often at the end of one of your shows, I am in awe of how smart, quick, and clever you are. Growing up, while my friends were quoting the latest Eddie Murphy bit from SNL, I was countering them with word-for-word reenactments of Battle of the PBS Stars, DiMaggio's on the Wharf, Half-Wits, and Bobby vs. Skip Bittman skits. I was lucky enough be influenced by SCTV growing up and feel the same being able to listen to The Best Show during my adult years.
Reading your blog today has made me sad. I wish there's something that I, we, could do to help out. I wish there was a magic answer to provide you. But there isn't. Part of being human is having to deal with all that life throws at you, as great or shitty it may be. But we have the ability to process and deal with the roller-coaster of emotions and in most cases, come out stronger than before. I know you've got close friends that love you and want you to share what you're going through with them. Hell, you're got thousands of fans that love you as well and would do anything to help. Use them, us. Take your time. Do what you feel is best for you, not the show. It'll be there when you're ready. We'll be there when you're ready as well.
Very much looking forward to the Chicago show in a few weeks.
Hang in there Tom.
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For whatever it's worth, we're all pulling for you, Tom. And the show has been truly excellent since its return, as great as it's ever been. Really, truly fantastic work.
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Sending you love, Tom.
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Tom,
As much as I love the show, your happiness means more to me than The Best Show does. Do what you gotta do, we'll be here to support no matter what.
With love,
B
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Tom! Harris really made me look at how I relate to some of you guys that I spend so much one-sided time with; I have a relationship with people that don't know my name, but I still really care for you guys and would never want you to suffer for my entertainment. Take care of yourself and know you have thousands of friends who care about you. That's astonishingly fortunate.
Best...
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Tom, thanks for doing as much as you've already done especially during this sad period you and your loved ones are going through. As a fan of yours and the show since '07, I'd rather have you find your way though these times and come out of it with some peace of mind to return to it psyched and happy to do it- whether it's a few weeks or months. There's no point in doing the show if it's adding to your burden.
Take care and thank you.
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Oh Tom... I want to jump on a plane and come give you a hug.
Take care of yourself. We all love you.
Your striving is not in vain, just take the time you need.
The Best of The Best of The Best to you, my man.
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Tom, this is another offer of whatever you need. I live in New Jersey and have a super-friendly dog you can borrow. She'll look at you as her new master if you just give her half a hot dog or part of a bagel. She has no loyalty to me whatsoever but she is very lovable. I do want her back....
More generally, having seen many friends and families struggle in different ways with different results against depression, my advice to anyone going through or seeing someone they love go through it to seek medical treatment (not implying you are clinically depressed and I am a not in any way a doctor) and not try to tough it out. William Styron, author of Sophie's Choice, wrote an excellent memoir on his battles with depression called "Darkness Visible." In one crushing bout of depression, he had resigned himself to an impending suicide but a change of medication turned the tide that pulled him out of it. And listen to "Tears are in your eyes"--YLT. Mucho uplifting. Okay, I am off my soapbox.
Be well everyone, you and yours.
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You take it easy, Tom. Sending you kind thoughts and wishes for happiness from a huge fan in Australia.
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Come back when you're ready. Stay away as long as you need to. We'll be here to support whatever you do. Just take care of yourself.
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Good luck, tommy. :)
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I'm still recovering from the depression caused by having had a horribly horrendous flame-out of a call and even I don't wish this on you. Take care.
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The way forward is with a broken heart.