Yank Blog

Yep, the almost unsinkable Ken Jennings can finally crank up his stereo and bombard his neighbors with 24 hours of Al’s “I Lost On Jeopardy“. And now for one of my favorite quotes:

(Don Pardo’s voice)
That’s right Al–you lost! And let me tell what you didn’t win:
a twenty-volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax,
and a year’s supply of Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat. But that’s not all!
You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people! And you
brought shame and disgrace on your family name for generations to come!
You don’t get to come back tomorrow! You don’t even get a lousy copy of our
home game! You’re a complete loser!!

Here’s a really cool Flash animation of The Weird Al Show Theme put together by Ryan Simmons.

VH1 is airing the “100 Cheesetastic Video Tricks Exposed” this holiday weekend. Hour 1 first airs on Saturday, November 27 at 10:00 PM. Hour 2 airs November 28, and Hour 3 airs November 29. Our buddy Al is scheduled to make some cheesy (pun intended) comments throughout the shows. Since it’s VH1, they’ll play each part several times throughout the weekend so if you miss one of the shows because you’re in a turkey stupor, catch the rerun.

Today I feel like practicing my “copy and paste” skills, so here’s an excellent quote from WeirdAl.com’s Ask Al section from May 2000:

Jeremy McCarthy of Fairfield, CT asks: Hey Al!!!!! What do u think about Napster? I just want to know if you approve.

Weird Al Answers: I have very mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I’m concerned that the rampant downloading of my copyright-protected material over the Internet is severely eating into my album sales and having a decidedly adverse effect on my career. On the other hand, I can get all the Metallica songs I want for FREE! WOW!!!!!

There have been many strange, unusual, and weird artists in the comedy music genre over the years. Perhaps one of the least understood and most often overlooked is Wild Man Fischer. Now, a new documentary hopes to give background him. Derailroaded attempts to dig deep, peel back the layers, and expose the REAL Wild Man Fischer. Oh, and our pal Al gives some of his comments and thoughts as well. Hey look at that. There’s relevance in this post. Also chiming in are Barnes and Barnes, Frank Zappa and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. The website for Derailroaded says that the film is coming soon. No word on when ’soon’ is.

Weird Al fans struggle to get satirist in Hall of Fame
- Here’s a nice article from University of New Mexico’s “The Daily Lobo” about the movement to get Weird Al inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with lots of quotes from hard-core fan, Greg Method.

A group of die-hard fans are on a mission. They are clever in their tactics, and won’t stop at no.
…
“We just want to get Al the respect he deserves,” he said. “It sounds silly because it is Weird Al, but making fun of something is still an art form.”

Once again The Onion has called upon the lore of Al for its comedic effects. The article this weeks comes in the form of an editorial entitled I Must Take Issue With the Wikipedia Entry For ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic. Certainly if you are reading this blog, then at some point in your boring miserable life you’ve wanted to correct someone on their facts about Al. This man’s rage against Wikipedia.com is an inner fury we’ve all felt at some point and can relate. Oh, and don’t forget that a few years ago The Onion interviewed Al and published it (as well as many other great interviews) in The Tenacity of the Cockroach. Makes a great Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, or whatever else holiday gift.

Thanks to Tony Goldmark for being the first one to bring this to our attention.

Some news from weirdal.com:

PHOTOSHOP AL!
Photoshop fans may want to check out a new book called “When Pancakes Go Bad: Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop.” The entire first chapter, “Six Degrees Of Weird Al,” focuses entirely on how you can have fun digitally manipulating Al’s image.

On the website, there is a link to some of the manipulated images too. Plus, just to be complete, weirdal.com now mentions that Al lent his vocals to the next Ben Folds CD, but you already knew that.

BACKGROUND AL!
When Al was in Nashville recently, he joined his pal Ben Folds in the studio to sing background vocals on a song called “Time,” a song on Ben’s new album which is due out in February.

Ben Folds Pens Smith Tribute

Folds produced the eleven-track follow-up to Rockin’ the Suburbs himself and recorded it over the past month… while Weird Al Yankovic makes an appearance on “Time.” “It’s sort of a hypnotic piano thingy, and Weird Al sings in the background,” Fold says. “We’ve got this massive Mamas and Papas-like vocal arrangement.”

Woo! And for those who didn’t know, Al directed the video for Ben Fold’s Rockin the Suburbs, and Ben Folds was on the piano for “Why Does This Always Happen To Me?” on Al’s Poodle Hat.

Amazingly enough, I’ve found a news bit today that loosely ties something about Al and my “in case you haven’t already been deluged with millions of other people’s” pleas for you to go out and vote. Out here in Illinois, there’s a political smear campaign ad against Scot England that starts off with an attempt to ridicule him for once being a Weird Al impersonator. Whoop de doo. Hey, if anything, that just pushes me to vote for him. (Still, the elections really shouldn’t be taken lightly.) Anyway, you can see the video clip at Mediageek.org .

While we’re on the subject… go out and VOTE VOTE VOTE!!! Vote Kerry, Bush, Nader, whatever. I won’t try to sway your choice, but at least get out there and make one.

And just to be crystal clear, this blog is NOT affiliated with “Weird Al” Yankovic officially. The views and opinions expressed here are blah blah blah… you get the idea.