My son discovered Weird Al Yankovic’s parody videos this week and immediately identified two that he equates with ME… Which two did he choose?

Bought It On Ebay (spoofing I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys)
and
White and Nerdy (Chamillionaire - Ridin’ Dirty)

Okay- I have to admit right here and now that I have ALWAYS BEEN a Weird Al fan. I was listening to Al when his songs were performed on Dr. Demento’s radio show in the early 80’s and then followed him on MTV (also known as AL-TV when he guest hosted the show). I know the words to most of his old stuff, but lost track of him as I entered adulthood.

I get a little bit of a thrill that my son has discovered this comedy gem and finds his warped sense of humor as funny as I always did (and still do).

As we listened to the lyrics of the Ebay song, we chuckled at the shocking similarities to me as I explored selling antiques and collectibles on this most famous auction site (which, by the way, brought in quite a bit of dough for me for awhile…). But “White and Nerdy”?? I wasn’t familiar with this song at all since I’m not a big fan of rap music.

I sat down this evening and watched the video with Eric and we laughed and laughed as he pointed out in each scene why I am so white and nerdy– all the way to the Pac Man symbol in the background.. knowing html… building web pages…. friends coming to me for code…. it was downright frightening!

I looked at Weird Al, who is now almost 50 years young, and thought to myself - LOOK AT THAT! He still looks the same as he did 25 years ago when I first saw him on MTV! Why is that? Maybe because he is living his PASSION? Could someone actually make a living at writing stupid songs that make fun of famous songs and movies? NAH, that would never work……

Here’s a little history about Al Yankovic that you might not know. He was valedictorian of his high school class, graduating at the age of 16. He then attended the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he majored in architecture. Not exactly the curriculum of a future musical comedian, would you say? Probably not.

While in college, he hosted a campus radio show and earned the nickname “Weird Al”. After recording a parody of My Sharona” by The Knack, called “My Bologna”, he finally gained the attention of Barry Hansen, aka “Dr. Demento”…. and the rest is history.

So think about it… how many of your passions have you thrown to the wayside because you thought it was too dumb to pursue– or that you could NEVER make a living doing it… Look at Weird Al! He’s happy, wealthy and full of youth, doing the thing he loves every single day.

By the way… I’m just relieved that my son didn’t decide that “I’M FAT” reminded him of me…..

CHECK OUT WHITE AND NERDY by Weird Al - at YouTube