Sometimes you find yourself crawling out of bed in the morning, pouring yourself a cup of ambition, and think to yourself “I wonder if I could plaster a billboard on my garage door for cold hard cash?”

Canadian news site “The Globe and Mail” asks Weird Al about his serious thoughts about cities possibly selling naming rights to public properties.

Lady Gaga is adamant … she did NOT ban Weird Al Yankovic from parodying her hit song “Born This Way” — despite Al’s accusation that the pop star shut him down hard recently.

And the New York Times managed to catch up with Al shortly after the song was posted. So they got to dig deep, peel back the layers, and expose the real Al and the story behind the story. What will happen next in this saga? Will she publically announce her blessing for this song? Would she make a guest appearance in a video if she did? Will she reveal she’s really Justin Bieber’s mother? How should I know?

Of course, none of this should really matter since Al originally got permission for Madonna to do a parody of her work over 20 years ago. #addingfueltothefire.

A nice interview focusing on his children’s book, When I Grow Up.  Weird Al describes the writing process, the more sophisticated vocabulary, and what’s in store for the future.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you see or hear Al anywhere else, let us know!

For this book, I interviewed quite a few renowned rock musicians, including…Weird Al Yankovic! Weird Al’s quotes are throughout the book on a variety of MTV-related topics, and there is a chapter titled “Weird Al” Yankovic, in which Weird Al discusses the “stories behind the videos” for the clips “I Love Rocky Road,” “Ricky,” “Eat It,” and “Like A Surgeon,” plus his “AL-TV” segments.

Sounds very cool.  Here is the full press release:

As the author of such books as, ‘Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music,’ ‘Touched By Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story,’ and ‘A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon,’ Greg Prato has two new titles that are now available for purchase.

The first, ‘MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video,’ is the first-ever book to focus solely on the channel’s important building-block years, specifically from the MTV’s launch to when its original group of VJs left the channel. Comprised of over 70 all-new interviews (“Weird Al” Yankovic, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rob Halford, Stewart Copeland, Rick Springfield, Jerry Casale, Geddy Lee, Ann Wilson, Chuck D, Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, etc.), the book is not only an eye-opening account of the early years of MTV and the stories behind its biggest videos, but also of the music industry, important music developments/events, and the “Big ’80s” in general.

The second, ‘The Eric Carr Story,’ is the first-ever book to tell the life story of Kiss drummer Eric Carr. Comprised of all-new interviews, the book also doubles as a study of 1980′s era Kiss. You’ll find insight into all of Kiss’ albums that featured Carr (from producers Bob Ezrin, Michael James Jackson, and Ron Nevison), as well as those closest to him (sister Loretta Caravello, girlfriend Carrie Stevens, Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick), and music-related friends (Eddie Trunk, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, Anthrax’s Charlie Benante). Also included is one of the last-ever interviews conducted with Kiss’ original manager, Bill Aucoin, and for the first time ever, Kiss fans will be able to learn what the real story line to Kiss’ controversial release ‘(Music From) The Elder’ was all about (thanks to an explanation from Ezrin).

With both the 30 year anniversary of MTV’s launch (August 1, 1981) and the 20 year anniversary of Eric Carr’s passing (November 24, 1991) approaching in 2011, what better way to celebrate both subjects than with all-new books? Both books are set up in an “oral history” format (in other words, you’re getting the story straight from the source) and are chock-full of rarely seen (or in many cases, never-before-seen) photographs.

The MTV book is 427 pages long and priced at $24.99 (ISBN # 978-0-578-07197-8), while the Eric Carr book is 256 pages long and priced at $19.99 (ISBN # 978-0-578-07424-5). Both books will make perfect gifts this holiday season for rock music fans worldwide. For ordering information and to view samples from each book before purchasing, visit the following links…

MTV - http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/mtv-ruled-the-world-the-early-years-of-music-video/13991020

Eric Carr - http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-eric-carr-story/13991056

Doogtoons.com proudly presents a new animated story of Weird Al’s childhood.  This time illustrating one of Al’s romantic adventures in the strange world that is high school.  It is a tale of deceit, betrayal, and horrifying nightmare-inducing revenge involving purple hedgehogs.

Revealed in this interview:  the children’s book, When I Grow Up, will be released on March 1, 2011 and will be a word-for-word duplication of the UHF script, oops no wait, I mean it’ll be about a curious monkey named George, no wait, it’s about a boy hoping to someday be the subject of a book by Weird Al and other careers.  Yeah, I think that’s it.

Super hush hush secret revealed:  The Skipper Dan costume used in concert is authentic and was recovered from the  grave of a former Skipper captain who met an untimely demise when battling those hungry, hungry hippos.  Amazing!

[Thanks Gil for the link]

http://www.nerdist.com/2010/05/nerdist-podcast-17-weird-al-yankovic/

(Thanks Greg!)