First Calls: The Thrills, The Spills, The Horrors

[hugman]

crystal pepsi was a good contribution. a refreshing change of pace from all the births of or records came outs.

[snogrog]

Just listened to the podcast. Listening to myself...oh man that was rough. Definitely need to iron out the kinks next time...or at least not laugh so much at myself. I sounded like Clark, for Petey's sake!

Weird sensation though, listening to your own call. HOW DO YOU GUYS DO IT EVERY WEEK?!

[sonicdork]

I got through my first call a couple of weeks ago when Patton Oswalt was in the studio. I called in about the ad in Rolling Stone where David Crosby was selling his boat, The Mayan.

[Sara from Chicago]

I flipped through Rolling Stone looking for that ad, and then I took a picture of it for posterity.



It's a bit blurry because I was using my phone and trying to hurry. But I think the message comes through: David Crosby is the dumbest member of CSNY.

[drennen_won]

i called for the first time a few weeks ago. tom said it was pretty good, but that mike said it was the worst call of the year.

[Pidgeon]

What'd you say?

[drennen_won]

i called to talk about this comedian i had seen the night before on comedy central but could not remember the name and i think tom was more interested in talking about rush because they guy before me was a big rush fan so it was a lot me going "mmhmm....sure....yeah....i don't know... yeah.... mmmhmm.... listening to it later, it was actually pretty funny. i fancied the idea of being a paul shaffer to the letterman that is tom scharpling.

[amiright??]

i called to talk about this comedian i had seen the night before on comedy central but could not remember the name and i think tom was more interested in talking about rush because they guy before me was a big rush fan so it was a lot me going "mmhmm....sure....yeah....i don't know... yeah.... mmmhmm.... listening to it later, it was actually pretty funny. i fancied the idea of being a paul shaffer to the letterman that is tom scharpling.

Funny... That was MY first call!

[Deric W. Haircare]

I honestly think I might be one of the longest lurkers in Best Show history (listening since '03, never called once!). It's not nerves but the acknowledgment of Tom's hatred for crappy phones that's kept me silent all these years. One day I will buy a big-boy phone, though, and ohhhhh buddy, it'll be on!

[bonnaventure]

I'm a long time/first time as of last night and think I did a fairly poor job especially since I called so early in the show. Kind of a snooze after Julie's flight of fancy and Ted Leo story. At least I didn't get HH'd

(I'm Jern/Jarren/Jaron/The Poor Man's Zac Effron)

[Bryan]

I'm a long time/first time as of last night and think I did a fairly poor job especially since I called so early in the show. Kind of a snooze after Julie's flight of fancy and Ted Leo story. At least I didn't get HH'd

(I'm Jern/Jarren/Jaron/The Poor Man's Zac Effron)

I thought that was a good call. Great job!

[buffcoat]

I'm a long time/first time as of last night and think I did a fairly poor job especially since I called so early in the show. Kind of a snooze after Julie's flight of fancy and Ted Leo story. At least I didn't get HH'd

(I'm Jern/Jarren/Jaron/The Poor Man's Zac Effron)

Good job Jarren, although I think maybe that's my name now.  You can call yourself, I don't know, Jaron.

[JonFromMaplewood]

My first call was like most of my calls. Serviceable. Told Tom that The Mountain Goats were singing his praises on stage. Tom liked that, but the conversation didn't really go anywhere.  Not a home run, not a total strike out. A walk, maybe. 

But I think it was like my fourth call and I had started building a nice, friendly rapport with Tom. Then I said something that made no sense without more explanation - plus I was clearly trying too hard to be funny - and he said "What?" in that high-pitched "what's wrong with you" kind of way, followed by "You flamed out."  Then he ended the call quietly.  It was worse than a GOMP.

I walked around for an entire week like Kate Beckinsale had broken up with me. It was a true low point.

But to those of you who are new to calling. Do not despair. Look at the arcs of Julie, Steve in North Hollywood, and countless others who used to be GOMP fodder and are now preferred callers.  And I myself, and my littler way, also experienced redemption.  I pulled myself out of the "flamed out" wreck and got my fan fiction read on the air by Tommy Tornado himself.  And who knows? Next week, I will probably get heaved ho and start at square one again.

[hugman]

I'm starting to think that the majority of fanatical FOTs (myself included) have daddy issues. much like the character W. in the movie "W."

[spastic heritage]

i called in for the first time (after, what, at least 2 1/2 years of listening every week?) last night. i was the "andrew in pennsylvania" after the (top notch) wurster call -- to my mild amazement, it wasn't a total disaster. when tom took my call i was completely taken aback -- i was caught up in the saga of brushman vs. tom and wasn't sure whether or not i was on the air initially, leading to a shaky start.