Yank Blog

Al’s got a new blog up. Go read it. He talks a little about the tour, the European dates, the possibility of a new album, the aborted Cartoon Network film, his children’s book, and some other super secret projects he’s working on. Hmm, actually that about sums it nicely, so I guess you don’t have to go read it now after all. Never mind.

Hot diggety, if you’ve been salivating over those trading cards that Weird Al posted on twitter a while back but couldn’t afford the VIP concert packages that you had to buy to get them, then fret no more.   A cornucopia of new items have been pushed out at WeirdAl.com’s Merchandise page.  In addition to the trading cards, you can also get a dozen t-shirts or caps with Al’s name on it.  Sweet!

Passing along this email I got from Relmin:

Hey, I just was listening to some new songs by Mike Phirman and it seems like one of his new songs “Street Meat (You Keep Tauntin’ Me)” has Weird Al in it! There is no official statement on the site but it does have a thank you to Weird Al at the bottom of the site. http://music.mikephirman.com/ is where you can hear it, though I am sure you can google mike phirman and find it that way too.

Yeah, that definitely sounds like Al.  How hilarious is it that he’s peddling meat to the hapless song protagonist?  Thanks for the info Relmin!

OH NOOOES!!1!!!1!  This just in!  Breaking news!!!  Weird Al, who has been a vegan since 1992, has been tricked into drinking powdered bone slime!  GASP!!!

Yes, according to The Washington Post, his 2003 concert rider (page 5) specifically requests two bottles of good Chardonnay, especially Yellow Tail brand.  However, the Vegetarian Star reports that this particular brand uses gelatin (an animal byproduct) as part of the finishing process, thus making it not vegan-friendly.

Of course, the drinks specified in the rider aren’t just for Al alone.  That is unless he consumes all 48 cans of bottles of beer, plus two bottles of good red wine, AND the two bottles of Chardonnay after each show by himself.    Hmm, maybe.  Heck, that’s just a Tuesday night for me.

Anyway, where was I going with this?  Hmm, I forget.  Well, I got half a buffalo on the grill and a keg of vodka waiting for me.   Ta ta for now.

If you remember this tweet from Al last month…

It’s a beautiful day – think I’ll fly out to Tulsa and be in a Hanson music video.

and wondered what that was about, wonder no more.   Hanson is releasing a new album called “Shout It Out” with a music video for its first single “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin”.  The video will recreate a scene from “The Blues Brothers” and have over 300 extras including, you guessed it, “Weird Al” Yankovic.

The single will available through iTunes on April 27th.

[source: PopEater.com]

Al will be kicking off the new season of the award-winning Nickelodeon show “Yo Gabba Gabba!”

Monday, March 8 – “Circus” – Weird Al Yankovic plays the circus ringmaster; Sarah Silverman teaches the “Time to Mime” dancey dance and Black Kids sing the original Yo Gabba Gabba! song, “We Love Clowns.” The episode also features Jack McBrayer and Paul Scheer telling a “Knock Knock” joke and Mark Mothersbaugh in his “Marks’ Magic Pictures” segment.

Yo Gabba Gabba’s New Season Coming Soon!

After years and years of playing the same songs on stage, Al is going to let YOU suggest some songs he add into the setlist of his next concert tour. He made this announcement via a tweet.

I’m putting together the set list for my 2010 Tour tonight – which songs (other than the super-obvious ones) would you like to see included?

So if you’ve always wanted to hear Franks 2000″ TV, or pull some of those musty older songs he did EONS ago like “Brady Bunch” or even something a little more obscure like Mr Frump in the Iron Lung or even Still Billy Joel To Me, now is your chance! Just tweet to @alyankovic and watch your request be ignored!

Don’t send in too many suggestions though. Al and Suzanne should be celebrating their 9th anniversary instead of looking at your pitiful suggestions. We here at the Yank Blog with them a Happy Anniversary and hope they have many more.

“I’ve just signed a production deal with Cartoon Network.”  –Weird Al Yankovic

WHOA!!!  Al just broke news of a new project he’s working on over at his blog:

http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/this-thing-im-doing/

How cool is that? Although I was really hoping for an action-packed documentary about Winston Churchill starring Jackie Chan.  Oh well, perhaps someday.

Oh, and Al also very casually drops a subtle hint about [MESSAGE REDACTED BY ALIENS].   Wow!!!  I can hardly wait!

Here’s another TV alert.  If you get the Biography Channel, then make sure to watch William Shatner’s Raw Nerve on Tuesday January 5 at 10pm ET for a half-hour interview with Weird Al.

Host William Shatner sits down with Grammy Award-winning artist Weird Al Yankovic. Shatner talks to Weird Al about his early days as a DJ on college radio and his turnabout from architecture student to parodying famous hits. Yankovic discusses the tragic death of his parents, his concerns about the environment and the oddities of being in the music industry.

[ Biography ]

Hey kiddies, watch “Web Soup” on G4 tonight at 7pm Eastern for “The Golden Download Awards” episode.

Host Chris Hardwick highlights the best of the best and worst viral videos that the internet has to offer, and provides humorous impromptu commentary, themed segments to showcase certain video styles, surprise guests and recurring characters.

Weird Al is going to be one of the surprise guests (shhhhhh!).  If you don’t get to catch it tonight, it will re-air multiple times.  Just check your tv listings