“Weird Al” Yankovic – My Favorite Artist

Music Topic: “Weird Al” Yankovic – My Favorite Artist

Intro
“Weird Al” Yankovic is my favorite musician. For as long as I have been alive, there has been “Weird Al.” "Weird Al” is famous for creating parodies of popular songs, his hits include; “Eat It”, “Fat”, “Bedrock Anthem”, “Amish Paradise”, “Smells Like Nirvana”, and his latest hit “White & Nerdy” to name a few. In over 30 years, there isn’t a genre he hasn’t mimicked, a food he hasn’t mentioned, or a sound effect he couldn’t pass up. He’s recorded 17 albums, and recently completed his 1,000th live performance. He has been nominated for 9 Grammy’s and won 3. He also co-wrote and starred in the motion picture “UHF”, as well as two of his own TV shows, “The Weird Al Show” and “AL TV.”

Many musicians find his parodies to be a measure of their success; Chamillionaire, who’s song “Ridin Dirty” became Weird Al’s first Top Ten Hit, “White & Nerdy,” stated, “It’s really an honor when he does that […] Weird Al is not gonna do a parody of your song if you’re not doing it big.”

Brief History/Background
I was a child of the 80’s, and for as long as I can remember, I have had cable television. And that meant, Nickelodeon, MTV and during special offers on the weekends, the Disney Channel. I remember seeing his video’s for “Fat” and “Eat it” and thinking they were the funniest things on TV. My parents bought me “Evan Worse” and I remember listening to it over and over until I knew every word of every song. “Weird Al” faded out of my life when the boys of New Kids on the Block won my heart. It wasn’t long after that, sometime around 6th grade, I started listening to “my own music” and I rediscovered Al and his “Alapalooza” album. I even named my hamster Harvey after Weird Al’s pet hamster on his show, and his own song “Harvey the Wonder Hamster.”

Weird Al faded out a bit, and was replaced in my life with music like Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson, music that “understood me.” But beneath all the dark cloths and make-up, I still had a goofy side, and when I needed a pick me up, Al was there for me.

Adulthood
As silly as it sounds, now that I am an adult I am an even bigger fan. I became best friends with Gabby, who enjoys him just as much as I do, and she has a long time friend that is as just as much of a dork as we are. We once discovered just how big of fans/dorks we are, by being able to sing as many different songs we knew to the other bar patrons enjoyment, I am sure. I also have a very special friend that downloaded for me, the entire “Weird Al” catalogue, and I spent an afternoon adding the top 55 songs to my iPod. Having seen him live twice, I am anticipating his next Detroit show this summer.

The Concert Experience
July 2, 2007
The Place: Downtown Detroit.
The Venue: Outside during the Taste Fest, just after a rainfall.
Free Beer, Close Seats, and an amazing time. When you go out with Gabby, she almost always ends up finding someone she knows. This particular time, she found a friend that happened to be sitting in the "VIP" section.
"How do we get in there?"
"You have to know some one."
"We know you?"
"Yea, but the guy that's getting us in only has so many passes..."
The guy at the gate asks the friend how many, and I am standing a ways behind her and say four, he asks if we are with her, and she says "Well kind of but only if you can get them in" and he invites us right in to free beer and seats so close I could see the sweat dripping off of the multiple latex chins.

Conclusion
"Weird Al" has reoccurred at every moment in my life when I needed to redefine who I was, and really be myself. He has made me to laugh when I needed it most, and he has taught me its alright to be a geek, or the term I prefer, dork. I have already added his Detroit show to my calendar and I know I have at least four friends going with me. Although you may not agree with me, “Weird Al” has been that link to my childhood. Others may have a treasured toy or blankie, I have over 512mb of “Weird Al” music saved to a jump drive in my pocket.

Reference: www.weirdal.com

Talk About Needing A Sick Day

Wednesday I had sushi with Matt at our favorite location, Wow Sushi, and he was still recovering from a cold that knocked him out last week. By the end of class that night I was starting to get the feeling I was coming down with something, my throat was sore, my nose a little stuffy, it wasn't good news.

By the next morning, when I should have been getting ready for work, I was feeling awful, and knowing that this cold had kept a few of my friends home from work for a few days I thought that maybe I could stay home, get some rest and maybe take this thing out before it got any worse. I called in sick to work, slept till about 11 and ate some grapefruit, an orange, really trying to get some good vitamin C in me.

Mikey, being the greatest boyfriend ever, decided to make some homemade chicken noodle soup for me. He had to leave for a little while, so I got the chicken in the pot and got it boiling. When the chicken was done, I pulled it out and started working on cutting up some veggies, starting with my least favorite the onion.

My family loves to tease me about how accident prone I am in the kitchen, I have cut my fingers, burned my hands, and drop endless amounts of food on the floor, for Diesel to come by and gobble up. So there I was, all alone in the house, and I nearly slice the tip of my finger off. I rush to the sink and get it under some water at just the right time to see my mommy pull up. Its funny how we can have situations under control until we see mommy and then break down like little children. Oh yea, I start to cry and she comes in and thankfully she's been studying medical everything, so she goes and gets some gauze and some tape and gets it to stop bleeding long enough for her to look at it and try to determine if I need stitches. Rule of thumb is that if a cut is on your hands, feet or face, you should get stitches cause you move them too much for it to heal right. Thankfully, I am skilled at slicing my fingers, and my knife was nice and sharp so it appeared to be staying closed without assistance.

With a new band aid, my mother then asks, "When was your last tetanus shot?" Good question, I think I was still in high school the last time I ever volunteered my arm for a good needle stick. Which actually, as I think of it, my last tetanus was just before I fell off a ladder onto a box of nails, while I was building the set to the show Fall of the House of Usher, in tenth grade. So my answer was about 10 years ago. She insists that I get a new one. So off the the pediatrician that she works for part-time to get a lousy tetanus shot. And I didn't even get a lollipop.

So now, my arm hurts, my head hurts, my finger kinda hurts, but its actually more annoying with a band aid on it, I can't breath and I am still home sick from work.

Beatlemania

With a broken heart today I went and saw the Classical Mystery Tour at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall. It was an incredible show, I had a blast. It was probably the closest thing I will ever have to attending a real live Beatles show. I did see Ringo live once, and I really enjoyed that as well! I have always loved the Beatles, ever since I was a kid. My favorite album is still the White Album and if I could own every single vinyl I would! I have listened to every song they ever recorded at least a dozen times each, and I have shared a many deep connections with most of them. But I really have to say, seeing them today, with the aching in my heart, I really got a feeling of calmness from them. Each and every song performed seemed to tell me that its all going to be ok. "I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday." In all actuality I long for the day before yesterday, but I am glad that John and Paul understood how I am feeling right now. And then George really made me feel better, by letting me know "its been a long, cold, lonely winter, little darling... Here comes the sun." And even Ringo can get credit too! "I get by with a little help from my friends" Even if those friends are Gabby, Annie and Beer, I know that I will get by, and I know in my heart that things happen for a reason and everything will be fine.

Nobody Reads Me Anyhow...

So... I am feeling a little hurt today, a little betrayed today. And I am guessing no one is going to read this anyway... I think I like to kill my relationships. I must be some kind of weird commitment-phobe when it comes to my friends cause I can't seem to keep them very long and I usually end up being the one that puts her foot in her mouth and ruins everything... I guess... I still can't believe some days that I have been with Mikey for as long as I have... he must be immune to my stupidity... If the people that I really want to read this are reading this, I hope they know I am sorry for any grief I have caused... though I have to say I never wanted anything for myself... if you need a shoulder, I am there... even at 3AM... If you wanted me to tell you everything will be ok, even if you didn't believe it yourself, I'd say it... If ever my actions were taken with some kind of ulterior motives, you were wrong, and I obviously did not communicate them properly. I never told any of your secrets, and I never will. I will step back and allow you all the time and space you need, but please know that I will still be here if you want me back... if days, weeks, months and years pass and I never hear from either of you, I will know I have lost something truly great.

Almost There

For those of you that were not following my myspace blog, I started on a mission to loose weight about, oh who am I kidding, forever ago. But seriously, after my mom had to have back surgery, I decided that I really needed to get my weight in check. I went to Medical Weight Loss Clinic. For those of you not in the metro-Detroit area, its basically the devil at work. You pay lots of money, you eat nothing, but you loose weight. Don't get me wrong, I am loosing weight, and if I had to do over again, I might, but its just bloody expensive! So, basically the idea is that you eat foods from the store, not their foods, and you don't count calories or anything, but you have to eat a certain number of portions of different foods; protein, veggies, carbs, and fruits. Oh yea, and on top of that, you also have to get their drinks/bars which I think is the biggest expense. I am sure the products work, but I kinda feel like the ladies try to guilt you into the whole experience. Like every month the dang things go on sale, yet every time they behave like its never going to happen again. But enough ranting. I started on the program in September, lost 25 pounds by Christmas! It's taken another month but I think I finally got another 5 pounds gone! And I am kicking butt at the gym too! I can definitely feel a change in how I feel and am able to do more. I guess I can't complain. Right now I am doing a little boost, and I think I may already be down 3 pounds, we'll see next week.

Disenchanted in Detroit

It started months ago, when I first started using my Facebook page. I was chatting with a friend whom I found out was getting a divorce, and I was sad about this news. I don't think they had been married long and were still quite young. I just thought it was awful they couldn't get it to work. And then all hell broke loose. After that, I started noticing other friends relationship status' more. I started finding out that people I thought had perfectly good marriages were divorced or going down that road. And I am not one to usually dwell on things, but this really had me wondering. What the Fuck?

I thought back, I remembered that as a child it was beginning to become more common to have two sets of parents. Or at least ones that were split up. My parents didn't divorce until I was about 14, but Mikey's parents called it quits after like 15 years of marriage or something when Mikey was like 6. And all of my friends had a room at Mom's and one at Dad's too. It wasn't weird to ask my mom if I could stay at Crystal's Dads for the weekend.

Is that where it all went wrong? Did our parents finally feel free to divorce and ended the stigma? But worst of all, did our parents new found freedom suddenly instill in us that we can set our expectations higher? That we don't have to work at it, we can quit if we want to?

I have been with Mikey for 12 years. When we got into our early 20's and our friends started getting married, we always got the nudges and nods, and the "You're next!" And we'd laugh cause we just weren't ready. I wanted to be done with school, and we wanted to be sure we had a place of our own. In the last year or so all of our friends that we rented tuxedos for, and bought many a gift for, started splitting up. And now, I am thinking I am so glad we waited. In fact part of me doesn't even want to bother. We have a good thing going, why mess it up with some formal contract. That thought alone is still pretty sad though.

It's about time...

I got my ears pierced for the first time when I was in fifth grade and thankfully for me, the styles had changed from when my mom got hers done. Her ears were pierced smack-dab in the middle of her lobe, I was lucky to get mine down farther with the intention that maybe someday, I would end up with a 100 more piercings.

Well, it wasn't until about eighth grade or so that I thought I would like a second set of holes. I'd just seen this crazy girl I knew, pierce her own eyebrow and thought if she could do that, I can pierce my own ears. And I did. Only after staring at them for a few days I realized that they were uneven and I took them out never to have them again. Or so I thought. If you looked at my ears, you would have thought I had second holes and just never wore earrings in them, the holes never went away in the front. In the back they'd sealed themselves up tight. Randomly, I would attempt to stick an earring through with a bit of pain and no luck.

I am not quite sure what made me want the second set of earrings again, but its been on my mind a lot lately. Could have been my friends getting tattoos, which I don't think I can handle. Who knows, the only thing I know is that I wanted it done. I had considered driving down to the local Clair's a few times, but kept imagining myself crying in front of a bunch of 15 year old emo girls and their mothers, and I just couldn't do it.

Today was a new day, I had no plans, was cruising around with the dog and really didn't have any reason not to. I sat in the parking lot talking to Gabby on the phone for a little while (avoiding the 15 year old emo girl and her mother who'd just walked in). Finally, I walked in (after the emo girl had gone) and asked, "Do you do ear piercing?"
"We sure do! Would you like to take a look at the earrings?"
"I guess so. I want to get my second holes done again. I did them myself 10 years ago and they were uneven, so I'd rather let you correct it."
I chose the simple 3mm white gold balls, figuring they will look the best for the next 6 weeks. I signed a form 4 times, along with initialing by 6 other items, they are apparently afraid of getting sued by some lady who's kids ear falls off. And after they checked my id to ensure that I was really a 26 year old wuss, it was time to hoist myself up into the big chair and get started.

After the girl (who was much younger than me, and had more earrings) washed her hands, she got out new piercing things for the guns, loaded my new earrings into them, and cleaned my ears. It all came down to a count of 1... 2... 3! And I winced less than when the mean nurse steals my blood at the hematologist. I couldn't believe that I had waited so long! I am such a wuss, and I didn't even cry!

I know, I know, you can all leave me comments about how silly I am, and about how I managed to get this much of a story out of one minute spent at the local Claire's with the emo girls, but I am glad I did it!

Spring, Please Hurry!

I am supposed to be writing about 30 of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, but it seems that every time I look a new one up, its all the same stuff. It's getting more and more difficult to come up with creative ways to say so-and-so went to college and then studied human behavior.

Since this is the latest thing on my mind I thought I would post a new blog about the only other thing on my mind... and many other minds... Spring. I simply don't want to wear a coat any more. I want to walk out the door without having to warm my car up first. I want to smell those great new spring smells, you know what I mean? I can't identify them but I know they are there. I don't even mind that the ground will be all squishy at first thanks to all this snow and the inevitable rain. I just want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, and drive around with the windows cracked open just enough. I want to sit on a friends deck, and drink beer and just be happy.

Not to mention, the coming of spring will mean that I will be one more semester closer to finishing my bachelors degree. And I won't be writing about eminent psychologists any more. Considering my entire grade is based on this paper, I should probably get back to it.

The First Blog

Hello! I used to blog on Myspace, but that place is such a dive anymore... A shame really. So, basically I am going to post whatever kind of things are on my mind. I am not planning on this being one of those amazing blogs that get picked up by major newsfeeds or anything like that, but, I would like to expand on my writing and I am hoping this can be the outlet.

So, who am I? I am 26, living in Rochester Hills, MI with my boyfriend, kid sister and mom. I bought the house about 4 years ago thinking it would be a good investment, thank you economy. I enjoy the outdoors, except when its cold, which is a good half of the time when you live in Michigan. Mikey, the BF, and I like to go for motorcyle rides, and fishing and hunting. I love to have bonfires, though city limits prevent the good ones. I have a fantastic doggie, Diesel, that I love to take for walks. He's so handsom! In the summer we take him swimming in Lake St. Clair, and in the winter he loves to go up state and run in the snow. When I am with my friends I love to drink, sing karaoke, play disc golf, and shoot zombies. I prefer to be called a dork, as geek and nerd imply some kind of intelligence, and even though I know a good deal of useless information, I cannot be called a genius.

I have a talent for writing. I know I do. I just really don't know what to do with it... and maybe you don't agree, but wait till you read some more... I am really going to work on my stories.

I guess that's all for now...