Al Odds and Ends
Wow, it's November! We don't have an actual news update or anything to announce, but we did want to catch everyone up on a few miscellaneous Al things going on.
Greg is still hard at work on our big documentary, Yankoheit 27 (he decided against the movie's working title, Tyler Perry's Yankoheit 27), sifting through archival footage and sending requests out to various entities for assistance. We will soon update our documentary wishlist on the main site, but by all means, if you have Al concert footage that you yourself had shot that you would be willing to let us use, please give us a holler.
If you happen to live in or around Los Angeles, you might want to head to The Echoplex on December 8 for the two-day Winston Calling rock/comedy benefit. Al will appear on stage that first night with none other than the Pixies! Tickets are either $20 in advance or $25 the day of the show. You can order general-admission tickets online through TicketWeb: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=500645
Speaking of Al-related events in Los Angeles, the AlFest 2009 DVD is still for sale, featuring highlights from all the events, live performances, the UHF panel, and even a special video cameo from Al himself. Order here: www.alfest2009.com
Meanwhile, as we look ahead to the holidays, we are delighted to say that we will again be posting our annual gift guide, offering suggestions on what can be sent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation to help show Al's body of work. And yes, the recent compilation The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic will be featured prominently...which leads to the bigger question of, have YOU bought it yet?? All thirty-eight tracks have been completely remastered, sounding better than they ever have before, and the liner introduction by NPR music editor Stephen Thompson makes no bones about it...Al belongs in the Rock Hall! And remember, when you buy things through the links we'll provide, you will in part be helping to fund the campaign, maintain the web site, etc.
On the same wavelength of buying stuff, we did want to mention to our fellow U.S. fans a huge sale going on online that we won't be reflecting in our holiday guide only because the sale will soon expire after our page goes live. DeepDiscount is having a gigantic across-the-board sale until November 29 on everything...DVDs, books, CDs, etc. It is quite possibly the biggest sale they've ever had, and you don't even need a coupon code this time out!
Anyway, we bring it up because all of Al's CDs are dirt-cheap during this sale (except for Straight Outta Lynwood, only because it seems to be on permanent backorder there or something). Al's back catalog had recently gone down in price in general at retail, so this current sale at DeepDiscount really puts them in the "you can't pass this up" category. These are quite possibly the lowest prices these albums have ever been offered for by a retail outlet.
As of this blog update, these are the current sale prices (current RIAA sales statuses noted in parentheses)....
"Weird Al" Yankovic - $5.59 (not yet Platinum)
In 3-D - $5.59 (not yet Double Platinum)
Dare to Be Stupid - $5.59 (not yet Double Platinum)
Even Worse - $6.29 (not yet Double Platinum)
Greatest Hits - $6.29 (not yet Gold - includes Polka Party! tracks no longer available on CD)
Off the Deep End - $6.29 (not yet Double Platinum)
The Food Album - $6.29 (not yet Platinum - includes Polka Party! and UHF tracks no longer available on CD)
Alapalooza - $6.29 (not yet Platinum)
Greatest Hits Volume II - $6.29 (not yet Gold - includes Polka Party! and UHF tracks no longer available on CD)
Bad Hair Day - $6.99 (not yet Double Platinum)
Running with Scissors - $6.29 (not yet Double Platinum)
Poodle Hat - $6.29 (not yet Gold)
In addition to Al's own albums, there are also sales on some of the other Al-related releases of the last couple of years such as the Pokemon 2000 soundtrack, the Halloween II soundtrack (featuring an excerpt of Al's cameo on the explicit version), and the Simpsons Testify CD...not to mention even bigger sales on such Al DVDs as UHF and The Ultimate Video Collection.
This is the perfect time to fill those holes in your Al collection...and by buying them from a retail outlet you'll not only be contributing to the albums' respective sales status, but you'll also be giving Al his due royalties. Just be sure to get your order(s) in by November 29...even if a certain album is out of stock, you'll get it as soon as it comes back in, and at the price you ordered it for!
Speaking of Halloween II, it seems as if it has been quietly announced that the movie will be released on DVD on January 12. So if you want to own Al's hilarious cameo as he razzes Dr. Loomis on a talk show while host Chris Hardwick looks on, click here to pre-order it (or click here for the Blu-ray).
And speaking even more of movies, Al appears on the recently released anniversary edition of Say Anything (um, of course), showing up in an "I Love the..."-style featurette poking fun at the film. If you don't have the DVD yet, order here (here for Blu-ray).
And speaking even MORE of movies, head to your local multiplex December 16, as Al will be the featured guest on the one-night-only RiffTrax LIVE: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza!, appearing alongside Mystery Science Theater 3000 stars Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett as they mock a number of Christmas-themed short subjects. This will be a satellite-provided live feed, and hundreds of theaters across the country will be showing it. Click here to find one near you and order tickets: http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/Comedy/RiffTrax_Xmas_Live.aspx
And in addition to continuing work on Yankoheit 27, we are slowly formulating our big mail drive for next year. We can't say too much just yet, but we guarantee that you will not think of a better way to express your love for Al.