Everyone should listen to the archives regularly

[Sarah]

It is so much fun!  Choose an archived show at random, and relive its joys and woes (at this moment, I'm enjoying Jason's stellar turn as Captain Jack on the 12/29/04 show; Bruce's effort earlier on is noteworthy as well).*  It's especially satisfying to listen to old shows that one first heard live.  Reliving memorable moments, picking up on subtleties one missed first time around . . . good times.

This is what happens when over the past five weeks a person has listened to only one hour of the show live.  As withdrawal becomes more painful, the archives take the edge off the suffering. 

*Lots of fine singing on this one, too.  It's a sad fact that Tom's misery often leads to the best singalongs.

[kenkwan]

I think I'm on my third go round through the archives at this point. Since I pretty much listen to the the Best Show exclusively at work, I can sometimes get through two shows a day. It makes the work day just fly by!

[JP]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I am trying to get them into itunes via a real audio ripping program so I can make notes and listen to them more systematically and have them organized.

[nerryawesome]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I am trying to get them into itunes via a real audio ripping program so I can make notes and listen to them more systematically and have them organized.

If you figure out a way to do that, I'd be eager to hear about it. I'd like to listen to older episodes at work, but real player streaming is blocked, so having them on my ipod is a feasible solution.

[Josh]

If you figure out a way to do that, I'd be eager to hear about it. I'd like to listen to older episodes at work, but real player streaming is blocked, so having them on my ipod is a feasible solution.

I use a 20 dollar program called WireTap Pro to convert the archived shows into mp3s.
It's a tool for music thieves but I just use it so I can hear old Best Show episodes in the car.
It's Mac only but I'm sure there's a PC equivalent out there.

Hope that helps.

[JP]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I am trying to get them into itunes via a real audio ripping program so I can make notes and listen to them more systematically and have them organized.

If you figure out a way to do that, I'd be eager to hear about it. I'd like to listen to older episodes at work, but real player streaming is blocked, so having them on my ipod is a feasible solution.

"Trying" I guess implies that I am not currently succeeding in doing it.   I *am* doing it with the free(!) program at http://rawavrecorder.homestead.com/
Realaudio-to-Wav Recorder

[nerryawesome]

You guys are awesome! I'm converting the very first show on the archives using the resource you provided, JP.

Next question, do you know of any safe, trustworthy freeware out there that converts wav to mp3? mp3 should be more compact than wav.

[Gilly]

Is that in real time? I'm assuming there isn't a way to record an MP3 from a .ra stream in anything other than real time.

[Josh]

Next question, do you know of any safe, trustworthy freeware out there that converts wav to mp3? mp3 should be more compact than wav.

Audacity and/or dBpoweramp

[Jason]

I have been thinking for a while that this site should contain a database of all the bestest Best Show moments, with links to the appropriate archives. Maybe now is the time to explore this.

[Gilly]

Maybe alternative start times for topics, interviews, guest calls in the archives?

[Jixby Phillips]

I recently listened to the October 30, 2001 show during a long art class. It started really slow; The callers were real wimps for the first half of the show. But once it picked up, It became one of the best caller-driven shows ever. It even inspired an art contest entry, which I'll be posting later.

OCTOBER 30, 2001: RECOMMENDED! But it requires some patience!

[sleepytako]

12/29/04?

Is that when he sings "I Fought In A War"? I remember exactly where I was when I listened to that episode, saved and played on my lappy in my car driving through rural San Deigo County. It was a great night, almost ran outta gas however.

[neuroticomic]

i just completed the collection and added them to my secondary ipod, the nano.
so its basically an S&W ipod with 230 calls.
now i just need a best show skin for it.

[Sarah]

This morning I'm listening to the farewell show (8/31/05).  It's a very emotional experience, one of the emotions being a reawakening of the annoyance I felt at the time, which will become full-blown when I listen to the 9/6 show.*

*I was fairly sure the departure was a hoax but not entirely so (thanks a lot, Bruce).  When it was apparent it was all a joke, the part of me that had been duped felt used, abused, and embarrassed.  I recall being irritable with Tom in the chat when he came crawling back looking for comfort.  I don't know if I've recovered yet.