Yank Blog

Well everybody’s heard about the bird !

Bird bird bird, the bird is the word!

Al will have yet another thing besides Grammy Award winning musician, director, producer, and actor to add to his résumé — children’s book author. Al signed on with HarperCollins Children’s Books, to write his debut picture book, When I Grow Up.

Plot spoiiler warning:

With gleefully dizzying wordplay, an exuberant eight-year-old tells his patient teacher and amazed classmates about the astonishing variety of humorous and inventive careers he plans to pursue when he grows up.

It will be humorous and inventive, huh? It’s a departure, but I think he can pull it off! The book is currently scheduled to be released in March 2011, so, don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to finish reading Go, Dog. Go! before then.

Twenty years ago today, Al’s first and only full length feature film made its debut in theaters! Happy anniversary “UHF”!!

And if you’re wondering what some of the cast is up to nowadays, you can catch Victoria Jackson, Gedde Watanabe, David Bowe, and Jay Levey at AL FEST on August 1, in Costa Mesa, CA! Hope to see ya there!!

New update on WeirdAl.com

JEOPARDY!
We’re told there will be a special tribute to Al on “Jeopardy!” on Friday, June 26 – in the Double Jeopardy round, every category is inspired by a Weird Al song parody.

Come join Dr. Demento at AL FEST, a “Weird Al” Yankovic fan convention and celebration of comedy music, to be held 10 am to 10 pm Saturday, August 1, 2009 at the Holiday Inn in Costa Mesa, Calif. Admission is $50 per person age 11 and up, $30 for children 5 to 10. Tickets are available on the event website at www.alfest2009.com.

Dr. Demento will open the event and share never before seen clips from his new show on the online television station called “The Real UHF.” Other AL FEST highlights include a presentation by Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, Yankovic’s drummer since 1981, a slack key guitar performance by Jim “Kimo” West, Yankovic’s guitar player since 1982, a performance by Ruben Valtierra, Weird Al’s keyboard player, and a “UHF” 20th anniversary celebrity panel featuring Dr. Demento, Victoria Jackson, Gedde Watanabe and the film’s director/co-writer Jay Levey.

The convention concludes with a screening of Yankovic’s 1989 debut feature film and cult classic, “UHF”, complete with costumed participants acting out the action on screen in the style of the midnight shadow casting made popular by the fans of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” In 2002 “UHF”(which Yankovic co-wrote and starred in) became an instant top ten bestseller upon its release on DVD.

Other events at AL FEST include live performances by comedy musicians, an auction of Weird Al memorabilia, photo op and autograph sessions with stars from UHF and some members of Yankovic’s band, a trivia contest and a Weird Al fan variety show. Fans from across the United States, Europe, Asia and South America have already bought tickets to attend. To make the event truly global, organizers are offering free tickets to the first fans who register from Africa and Australia (airfare not included).

From WeirdAl.com:

NEW! AL’S BRAIN MERCH!
Check it out here!

SPOILER ALERT!

If you want to know the name of the new song being released on June 16, click here. You can also listen to a brief sound clip at that link too. And that’s all I’m gonna say for our friends who want to remain spoiler free.

Come on June 16…. hurry up!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!

Seibertron.com posted a transcript of the Botcon 2009 panels featuring “Weird Al” Yankovic and David Kaye. Nothing earth-shattering but it does offer a little insight on Al’s Wreck Gar character from Transformers: Animated. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, close your eyes and have a friend read it aloud to you, while you pretend you were there. Ahh. Okay, you can open your eyes now.

I know it’s been kind of quiet on the Weird Al Star Fund lately, but I just wanted to let everyone know that, yesterday, our application extension, along with a few updates on Al’s recent and future projects, was hand-delivered to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber is expected to release their list of new stars for 2010 some time in June. When I hear the news, I’ll keep everyone updated.

GOOD LUCK AL!