September 4, 2005, 2PM EST

Well, gang, it was fun. Forty-eight weeks have gone by. In that time we focused on every one of the fifty states, Puerto Rico, and fifteen foreign countries on four continents, all in the hope that fans in each state and country would send their support for Al to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in New York.

Were we successful? Well, ultimately we won't know for sure until later in the month, when the 2006 induction nominees are announced. But what I do know is that without a Weird Al tour to base a campaign around, we were still able to mobilize fan support in every state and beyond. Without a new Al project, we were still able to get Al some much-needed press throughout the year. And I think it can be all but guaranteed that the words "Eat It" were uttered somewhere at the Rock Hall Foundation this year.

Really, can you imagine the following conversation taking place among the nominating committee....?

"Oh come on, he's not eligible yet! 'Eat It' wasn't popular until 1984!"
"Ah, but 'My Bologna' came out in December of '79."

I sure can. How is that not a success in some way?

And if nothing else, we've done something that I don't believe has ever been done before. We created a serious dialogue about Weird Al's place in rock and roll. His music may not be serious in nature, but we forced people to consider him in the same league as the other "serious" artists that have been inducted. For that, we have been more than successful.

There is no way I can adequately thank every Al fan (and non-Al fan for that matter) who helped us out, either by mailing their support, getting the word out, or covering us in the press. This is the kind of thing a fan base is for, and I am so proud to be a part of this particular fan base. Thank you, everyone.

If we don't get Al nominated later this month, don't worry. Make the Rock Hall "Weird" is certainly not going anywhere. One way or another, we've got a fun art contest coming up in the fall, and we will soon announce our 2006 campaign drive (which might be the most ambitious thing our little fan base has ever done!). And of course, I'll keep popping up on here with more odd, humorous, or just ticked off blog entries.

But speaking of which, this entry will bring to a close the "50 States in 48 Weeks" section of the blog, which we will then archive with the very next blog posting, whenever that may be. I'll also make sure the links to the older blog sections are easier to find, as a link at the very bottom isn't helpful if a person has to sift through about seventy blog entries first.

In the meantime, let's all cross our fingers. The Rock Hall does not announce beforehand when nominations will be announced, but history has allowed us to give an educated guess of sometime around September 13. Will we finally hear those three words and two apostrophes that we've been fighting tooth and nail to hear?

If not, there's always next year. I'm certainly game if you are.

September 2, 2005, 2PM EST

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. And guess what the museum has planned to celebrate the big day?? NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Sheesh...anyway, we're less than two weeks away from the big announcement, the 2006 induction nominees. Did we succeed at getting Al on the ballot? Did everyone who pledged to send support actually do so? Are we about to celebrate or sob? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, let's talk about something a little more serious and vastly more important. If you've been watching CNN this week (you know, the sane news network), you've no doubt been watching the devastation and carnage in New Orleans as a result of the flooding from Hurricane Katrina. I can't imagine why the National Guard isn't there in abundance to help right now. They must have something "better" to do.

If you have the means, please donate to the Red Cross to help the relief effort (they sure aren't getting help from the administration!). And it also might be a good idea to go out and donate blood sometime this weekend. When we can't count on our government to help folks in need, then it's time for us to step up to the plate.

I'll be back here on Sunday to recap "50 States in 48 Weeks." Be there!

August 28, 2005, 12AM EST

This is it. The eagle has landed. The duck flies at midnight. The pigeon has left droppings. Forty-seven weeks have passed. It all comes down to this one week, this one state, this one moment.

We're down to the end, our final week of "50 States in 48 Weeks," this year's massive global campaign drive. And there is perhaps no better state to give this last, but certainly not least, honor to than the very Al-positive state of Pennsylvania.

And in celebration of our final week and our final state, we have not one...not two...but eight radio stations to send Al requests to! We have stations in almost every region of the state at the ready, so go nuts! Request anything! Let's make this the biggest, grandest, weirdest Al free-for-all week ever!

There's Lite Rock 92.9 in Pittsburgh, "Mix"-ish 94KX in Sunbury, top 40 station 98.5 KRZ in Pittston (call 800-222-0985), rock station 93.5 WSBG in the Poconos, the "Mix"-esque Y102 in Reading (call 800-839-WRFY), oldies and soft rock station Sunny 104.5 in Philadelphia, "Mix"-ian Star 104 in Erie, and B104 in Allentown (this is a dedication line, so be sure to include who the dedication is from and going out to, the town you two are from, and whatever message you'd like the deejay to read on the air). Go get 'em!

And, as threatened, I think it's safe to now reveal the plans for this fall's post-nominations project, although the official grand announcement won't come for a few weeks still. We will be hosting the first ever Make the Rock Hall "Weird" art contest! You have been warned! Keep your eyes on this blog in the coming days and weeks.

Finally, in case you didn't already know, this is the last week for this year's campaign, so if you haven't gotten around to it yet, send your mail to the Rock Hall Foundation now. I know some of you like to wait until the last minute, well this is it! This is the last minute!

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to every Al fan and anyone else who helped out in the last year. Whether Al gets nominated next month or not, you all still made this campaign a success by getting people to finally talk about and analyze Al's role in this great art form called rock and roll. Let's cross our fingers, toes, eyes, and everything else and hope for the best.

And if we don't succeed, then there's always next year!

August 26, 2005, 4PM EST

I just wanted to hop on here quickly and say that this morning's interview on Eagle 97.7 in Dover went really well. Both Steve and Dana were very courteous and great to talk to. This was exactly how most morning show interviews should be, but unfortunately too many deejays feel the need to raunch things up or go right for the inappropriate questions (gee, can't imagine whom I'm referring to). It's been so refreshing over the last few months to chat with deejays, both those who have interviewed me and those who simply spread the word on their shows, who actually have an interest in the pop music they're hired to sell to us listeners.

Unless a miracle happens in the next week, this was probably my final radio interview for the year, as our official campaign drive will be ending at the end of the month. Believe it or not, but the pace of these last couple of weeks has been frantic to say the least (I actually had to turn down two other interview offers because they conflicted with prior commitments). But, if this was to be my last interview for a while, then I think I went out on a high note, as this was about as perfect of an interview as I could get. Thanks Steve and Dana!

Now to change gears a bit. Perhaps on Sunday, when I do my usual (and final!) weekly state spotlight, I might just announce our little project for the fall and winter. If any of you more-creative Al fans are out there itching for something to do, then you will definitely be interested!

August 21, 2005, 12AM EST

Anyone else feel that? That sort of nervous, jittery vibe in the air? Almost like growing suspense? Building anticipation? Increasing...um...suspense--no, I just used that...err, drama?

We're down to the second-to-the-last week of "50 States in 48 Weeks," this year's international campaign drive. And we continue to circle the covered wagon that is our final state by first highlighting one of its closest neighbors, Delaware!

And of course, this week there are two new stations to request Al songs to! First it's "Mix"-esque station River 94.7 in Claymont, where we should want their inbox to grow "Fat" with all the requests! There's also top 40 station WSTW 93.7 in Wilmington. WSTW does play Al from time to time, so apparently to them Al music "Smells Like" good music.

We are so running out of time now that it's not even funny anymore...then again, I'm not really sure how comical that concept was in the first place. For the love of Freberg, if you haven't told literally everyone you know to help out and send a letter yet, do it now! I mean right now this second. Go ahead, get up off that chair and pick up the phone. Come on, dial already! Tell them to reverse the charges.

Finally, in case you missed it, last night Al appeared with college favorite Ben Folds on none other than The Tonight Show to help perform Ben's hit single "Landed." If you weren't able to catch it, never fear. You have one chance left. According to NBC's web site, the episode will air again Thursday night in the later, "NBC All-Night" spot at 2:05AM (EST). Again, this is not the normal 11:35 time slot; this is that later post-Conan, post-Carson repeat time slot. Stay up, tune in, and show your support for Al!

August 14, 2005, 12AM EST

We're still bouncing back and forth across the East Coast as we continue our final month of this year's campaign drive. This week it's the smallest state, Rhode Island!

Perhaps surprisingly, we actually have not one but two radio stations to send requests to! Both in Providence, they're top 40 station 92 Pro-FM (get off your "Couch" and make a request) and Lite Rock 105 (be careful and precise when you write to them, just "Like a Surgeon").

Meanwhile, if you haven't done so yet, be sure to vote in RateItAll.com's informal "Deserving of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?" poll. Come on, Def Leppard's ranking higher than Al right now. Let's show our support!

Also, you might want to mosey over to WOWAY soon, as we'll soon be discussing campaign ideas for the winter and coming year.

Hurry up and send your letters and postcards! We're quickly running out of time!

August 7, 2005, 12AM EST

Here we are. The last month of this year's campaign, "50 States in 48 Weeks." Four more weeks, four more states. This is it. It's crunch time. If you haven't sent your mail yet, do it now!

This month we'll be spotlighting the remaining states on the East Coast, such as this week's state, Vermont!

And, like always, we have a new station to bug with Al requests. However, this week the best we can dig up is a studio phone number and not any online form or e-mail address...after all, this isn't exactly a huge state we're talking about. But still, you can phone in your requests to Mix 98.1 in Rutland at 802-775-6499, unless you're "Amish" and don't believe in using telephones.

There has certainly been an influx of visitors in the last week, which is a little ironic since this year's campaign is nearing its official end. We've picked up another, albeit snarky press mention in Biloxi of all places, in which the snotty "I'm too cool to seriously write about Weird Al" writer tried to characterize us as having too much time on our hands. I find that to be interesting, especially since Mississippi took the longest time of any state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, the one abolishing slavery (they embarrassingly waited until 1995, the year the Rock Hall opened). I guess different people value time in different ways.

Oh, speaking of media mentions, I have been told that the campaign was brought up on a radio station in Philadelphia, which is really strange because we haven't even begun preparing press materials for Pennsylvania yet! If anyone lives in the area and came here after hearing about the campaign on the radio, please e-mail us to tell us which station it was, as I at least really want to know!

As long as I'm welcoming folks, I also want to say hello to anyone who moseyed on over from Wikipedia, Tulsa TV Memories, or the RPGnet Forums.

In case you didn't see it, over on the main page there's a new link up for an informal poll at RateItAll.com. If you haven't clicked on it to vote for Al yet, by all means do so. It's really easy to do. And please, it's just for fun, so don't be tricky and flood the poll with votes.

Finally, I updated the mailing timetable a bit to include some key post-schedule dates. We're going to be slowly morphing the timetable into a general campaign calendar, depending of course on how things work out this year.

So, in short...um, get out there, write, send, and recruit! We're almost out of time!

July 31, 2005, 12AM EST

Well, the West Coast has had its chance, as did the Southwest, and the Great Plains, and the rest of the world for that matter. We're now solely east of the Mississippi! And what better state to start such a focus with than the ol' Miss himself...or herself...or whatever you use for a transvestite. Ahh, magnolias!

And of course, we have a new radio station to hurl Al requests at! It's none other than soft rock station Sunny 93.3 in Tupelo , where all the fussy young men look a little hungry.

Hopefully everyone's been able to find us following our big domain switch earlier in the month, as there seems to have been an increase in daily visitors (like always, if we're missing a media mention, please let us know).

Let's hope our efforts this year will work out...but if not, we'll be soliciting campaign ideas for next year in the coming weeks!

July 24, 2005, 12AM EST

Wow, we're almost done with this year's project, with only a little over a month to go!

This week, we have our final state west of the Mississippi, North Dakota. There's no particular reason why this state got the honor, but certainly a mention in "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" probably helped.

Also this week, we're calling upon any and all remaining Al fans overseas. Countries that we haven't focused on yet, countries we already have, countries nobody has volunteered to represent, everyone! With the amount of time it takes international mail to reach the United States in this day and age, we wanted to make sure everyone around the world had a chance to send mail and still have it arrive in time to help make a difference. This is it! If you've been waiting for just the right moment, guess what, it's now! "I know some of you like to wait until the last minute...well, this is it! This is the last minute!"

And in honor of our special final spotlight on our international friends everywhere, we are again presenting foreign stations to send Al requests to, and we will once again have a Weird Al free-for-all this week! Request any Al song you'd like!

We have two Canadian stations, Mix96 in Montreal and Z95.3 in Richmond, BC. There's also Western Australia's top 40 network Hot FM and the country's music video channel Channel M.

I really can't put into words how grateful I am for all of the help we've received overseas. This truly was a global effort, one that proved that Weird Al has indeed made an impact, one that is felt all over the world.

July 17, 2005, 12AM EST

It's time to start yet another brand new week! We're going back to our usual trend of featuring both a state and a country. Remember, next week will be our "last call" for the year for international fans, so if any of our foreign friends out there haven't sent a letter yet, please be sure to do it now!

This week, however, we will spotlight two somewhat similar regions, politically speaking. One was under a dictatorship for two decades, while the other gave us the worst president in history. That's right, we need your help, Texas and South Korea!

The big ol' state of Texas also has five radio stations for us to send requests to (it's just that big), so once again it's time for another Weird Al free-for-all! There's the "Mix"-esque station Y100 in Lufkin, the '80s-centric 106.9 The Point in Houston, top 40 station 93.1 Kiss FM in El Paso, Mix 104.5 in Beaumont, and Sunny 106.5 in Tyler. Whoo-doggie!

Even though it's more in a general sense, I will hopefully have some big news in the coming days, so keep checking back!

July 10, 2005, 3PM EST

Hey gang! I just wanted to let everyone know that there's a great write-up about us in today's Denton Record-Chronicle by the paper's entertainment columnist Lucinda Breeding!

You can check it out here, but do note that the paper does require a subscription for older articles, so I don't know how long it will stay up for free...so go read it now!

July 10, 2005, 12AM EST

Well, here we are once again! Another week! Can you believe we're almost done with this year's project? I certainly can't. This week we again go back to double-dipping on states as we focus on both Colorado and Arkansas!

And, as always, we have some more stations to bug with Al requests! If you're in Colorado, you can check out 95.1 The Peak in Colorado Springs or Mix 100 in Denver, but just don't overload their "Pentiums" with requests. Now, if you hail from President Clinton's former stomping grounds, there's B98.5 in Little Rock and classic rock station 93.3 The Eagle in Fayetteville, both of which might want to play a public service announcement about the benefits of mass transit.

I've been dancing around this for a while now, but I think I can finally let the cat out of the bag, especially now that our materials are currently en route to them. As some of you probably have deduced by now, we have been able to get none other than Bowling for Soup to volunteer to help out in any way they can! We've sent the guys a little "care package" of materials and information to use however they'd like, and we can't thank them enough for wanting to participate. See, Rock Hall, Al has rubbed off on today's hot acts!

Also, it's probably little surprise that I often write these "Sunday morning" columns on Saturday night, which means right now it's still the one-year anniversary of the official launch of Make the Rock Hall "Weird."

One whole year. Sheesh...and Yahoo still refuses to include us in their Al directory!

Has it really been a year already? It seems like only yesterday when we were looking for people to pass a petition around at concerts. Now look at us. We've been mentioned on The Dr. Demento Show and dozens of local stations across the country, we've been written up in some major newspapers, we've been able to get big-name artists on our side, and we've even received international attention! It just seems so unreal...almost like people actually care about this or something. I know, it's strange.

Hopefully we won't need to celebrate a second anniversary next year, if you know what I mean. But no matter what happens in the coming year, it'll be a fun ride.

Go send your letters!

July 7, 2005, 9AM EST

I just wanted to hop on and say this morning's interview on Star 102.5 went quite well. Rob and his producer Lesley were very nice and gracious. I definitely felt welcomed there, unlike some other morning shows I could name.

We're just two days away from Make the Rock Hall "Weird's" one-year anniversary. Can you believe it? I have a special surprise lined up (which I kinda already spilled the beans about during this morning's interview). Let's just say for now that we've got some pretty famous people volunteering...provided they're not still preoccupied with a certain year.

July 3, 2005, 12AM EST

Holy cow, it's July already! There's only two months left of "50 States in 48 Weeks!" Can you believe it??

For those of you who haven't been keeping track, this is the fortieth week of our unique state-by-state project, and this week also marks the official one-year anniversary of Make the Rock Hall "Weird." So, what better state is there to focus on this week than the one we're directing all of our mail to, the great state of New York!

Apparently, we're already getting press over there. At least one newspaper in the Syracuse/Utica area mentioned us (if there's anyone out there from the area, we would love details of this so we can add it to our media roll call!). Oddly enough, this was also the first area where last year's petition first showed up! Now, let's hope an outlet in the Big Apple, where the Rock Hall Foundation is located, is also brave enough to rally the troops.

And, of course, we've got three new stations to send requests to this week! There's 100.7 WHUD in Westchester, 106.1 BLI on Long Island, and 103.9 WSRK in Oneonta. All three fit nicely in the "mix" category of stations, so once again we will do a special milestone "Weird Al free-for-all" week...go nuts with your requests!

Share the love, New York!

June 28, 2005, 2AM EST

Wow, talk about a surprise! It turns out that our little campaign got a little old mention on Raleigh, North Carolina's local NBC station! This marks the first television publicity we've received!!!

If anyone out there was able to get the segment on tape, please e-mail us, as we'd definitely like a copy!

June 26, 2005, 12AM EST

Well, here we are. The final week in June. Time is quickly running out if you want to help make a difference for this year by sending pro-Al mail.

One of the bigger remaining states on the East Coast will be covered this week, North Carolina, as will everyone's favorite land of ancient philosophers and authors, Greece.

I do want to welcome everyone who has checked out the site after hearing about the campaign on Hitz 94 in Charlotte or reading about it on the station's own web site. Thanks for your interest! Don't forget to also send them Al requests this week. Or, if you instead happen to live near Fayetteville, make your requests at Q98. Remember these are both "mix"-esque stations, so avoid requesting songs from the Stone Age...songs about that time period, however, are absolutely fine!

June 19, 2005, 12AM EST

First of all, Happy Fathers Day out there to those who deserve it. Down with nepotism!

Woo-hoo! It's time for another week, another state, and another country! This week's new state is everyone's favorite destination for Weird Al conventions and moth attacks, Illinois! We'll also be acting as good neighbors by inviting fans in Mexico to help out!

And, as always, we have some more stations to send requests to! There's Lite Rock 97.5 in Champaign/Urbana, oldies and mix station 92.5 The Chief in Champaign, and 95.9 The River in Wayne and Garth's hometown of Aurora. Speaking of hit movies, this might be the time to run, Forrest, run.

By the way, if you happen to have any of those modernized horse-and-buggies that the kids like to drive nowadays, and you'd like to help promote Make the Rock Hall "Weird" in a certain inexpensive way, be sure to send us an e-mail and we'll tell you what you can do.

Keep stopping by during the week. I refuse to jinx this by even hinting about it, but something very cool might be happening really soon.

June 12, 2005, 12AM EST

Hey, how about we have just one week in which I'm not asked by a moron why Al killed his parents, okay? I know, it seems like a lot to ask for.

We again have a new state and a new country to focus on! First, it's the state where UHF was filmed seventeen years ago, Oklahoma! And of course, we're continuing our own little conquering of Europe by highlighting Germany!

This week, though, there's only one station to send requests to, the soft rock station Magic 104.1 in Oklahoma City. Perhaps we can request something appropriately festive, eh? Just don't "Spam" them with e-mails!

June 5, 2005, 12AM EST

Well, here we are! The month of June. The beginning of the final three months in our "50 States in 48 Weeks" project. This is crunch time. It's time now to really show your support for Al, regardless of where you live. It's all up to us!

And of course as one month begins, another must end...it would be really freaky if it didn't work out that way. Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone who visited the site in May, making it our busiest month yet!

This week, we're back to doing one state and one country, and we've got two big ones! Here in the States, it's Al homeland of California! Meanwhile, across the pond we have those geniuses in France! Allez, allez, allez!

And of course, with a big state we of course have beaucoup the stations to pester! This week we have four, and they're all in the "Mix-esque" format, so it's another Weird Al free-for-all this week! There's KWOD 106.5 in Sacramento, My 94.1 in San Diego, KFOG in San Francisco and San Jose, and K-BIG 104.3 in Burbank.

And finally, we're always psyched about any and all media mentions we get, but this one is extra cool. If you live in San Jose (JOSÉ!!!), be sure to tune in to KFOX's morning show, as host Greg Kihn (yeah, as in "Jeopardy's" Greg Kihn!!) will give us a shout out sometime during the week. Once again, the man shows it's cool to like Weird Al. Thanks Greg!!!

May 29, 2005, 12AM EST

Sheesh, how many times did AOL's server send this site back in time this week? It might be time to start shopping around for a new domain or something.

Oh well. Once again we have two new areas to spotlight, and this is actually the first week in which two states will share a week as opposed to a state and a country. So help us out, Montana and Utah!

The two states will each have two different radio stations to send requests to this week, and all four are of the "adult contemporary/mix" variety. In Montana, Missoula is home to both 102.5 The New Mountain FM and Star FM. Utah, meanwhile, has two similar stations in Salt Lake City, 107.9 The Mix and Star 102.7. Perhaps this may be a good time to send requests about our country's growing obesity problem, yes?

Anyhoo, if you haven't seen Star Wars yet, go do it now, you lazy hooligan...and please try to have a safe holiday weekend.

May 22, 2005, 12AM EST

Hey nerfherders...YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE! Sorry, had to do that.

Anyway, it's time again for another unlikely duo to call up, South Dakota and the home of all things bootlegged, Malaysia!

Before we go over this week's radio station, I would like to announce that we have two more countries to add to our international roll call! Both Puerto Rico and Croatia(!) will be a part of the "Al Fans Abroad" week beginning July 24.

Plus, I wanted to plug another hall of fame Al will surely get into some day, the Comedy Music Hall of Fame. This is the brainchild of Grant Baciocco from the group Throwing Toasters and we wish him all the luck in the world in getting this off the ground.

Now then, this week we again only have one station to send Al requests to, the top 40 station Hot 104.7 in Sioux Falls. This might be a good time to send requests for two songs that I don't believe we've covered yet, "Yoda" and "The Saga Begins."

And this ties in nicely with my final blog thought for the day. Again, go see Star Wars Episode III, as it's a pretty frickin' awesome movie. This will most likely be the last time we see these characters on the big screen in a new production, so go out and be a part of cinema history.

May 15, 2005, 12AM EST

Wow, we're already two-thirds of the way through our "50 States in 48 Weeks" project! It's still not too late to volunteer, regardless of where you live. We need help from everyone everywhere!

This week, we'll be focusing on two cultural polar opposites, Alabama and the United Kingdom.

We only have one radio station to send requests to this week, WZYP in Athens, which might make "Headline News" if they receive enough Weird Al requests.

I am also tickled to announce that we have two more countries to add to our ever-expanding international roll call. We now have Russia and New Zealand covered, which will both share the "Al Fans Abroad" week of July 24 with Guatemala. Including the United States, we're now up to fourteen different countries participating!

Finally, just in case I don't pop in with another blog entry this week, I will say now that you are all-but-required to see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on Thursday. Come on, let's knock that stupid boat movie from the top-grossing spot!

May 10, 2005, 10PM EST

What a day, what a day! For those of you who don't check the site every day...how dare you. But anyway, late last week we had announced on the main page that I would be on the radio talking about the campaign with The KFR Morning Show out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Well, the interview took place this morning, and I like to think it went really well.

I have never given a radio interview before, so I was naturally nervous, but the show's hosts, Glen and Noelle, were very warm and welcoming. To coincide with the chat, immediately beforehand they played "Amish Paradise." I thanked them on the air for not stooping to play a certain Michael Jackson parody.

Like I said, it went well and I had a good time. Glen was clearly an Al fan, listing some of his favorite parodies at the start of the interview. We discussed Al's place in popular music, how fans can help get him this honor, and Eminem's recent appearance on VH1 in which he credits Al's videos as an inspiration for his own parody-filled videos.

I cannot thank the folks at the show enough for having me on. It was truly a thrill on my end...I just hope I didn't make a complete arse out of myself on the air.

So if you have wandered over to our site after hearing about the campaign on WKFR, welcome! Go send some mail now!

Finally, as just a quick update to the schedule, North Dakota will now be sharing the week of July 24 with what we are calling "Al Fans Abroad." We are getting volunteers in more and more different countries lined up, and we want to make sure that letters and postcards that are sent will arrive at the Rock Hall Foundation in plenty of time before the fall. So, essentially, the week of July 24 will be the official cut-off week. It will serve as the week that newly added countries can send their mail (we will post an update on those later in the week) while also being the final week we will ask all previously called-up countries to make sure that they've sent theirs. Got it?

Oh, and although we never do mid-week request shout-outs, be sure to go to Dr. Demento's official web site and request the new Al mash-up "EBay (I Need Your Loving)" by the "mysterious" "DJBS!"

May 8, 2005, 12AM EST

It's a brand new week, so we have a brand new state and a brand new country to call up! This week is centered around both Kansas and Australia! How about that, the place from The Wizard of Oz and just plain old OZ!

And this is also the first week in which we have request lines in both of the spotlighted regions! We've pretty much run the gamut of suggestible Al songs by now, so if you come upon some repeats from previous weeks, well...deal with it.

If you prefer the cornfields of Kansas, then you can send requests to either 96.5 The Buzz in Kansas City (which might want to "Smell" a certain parody) or Mix 93.3 in...um, Kansas City (which might take requests from the "Amish" fans out there).

Now, if you instead like your music down under (down under what?), then we've got a couple of options for you too. First you want to get up off your "Couch" and write to Western Australia's top 40 network Hot FM. And hey, here's a first: a video request line! You need to register to the site first, but the country's premier video network Channel M takes requests. As for which song...well, it would be "Pretty Fly" to select a video we didn't get here in the United States!

Speaking of radio, in case you live in the southwest part of Michigan and you didn't see the fairly gratuitous announcement on the main page, on Tuesday, May 10, a little after eight in the morning, I'll be on The KFR Morning Show on 103.3 FM out of Battle Creek/Kalamazoo! Although I've been interviewed before about Make the Rock Hall "Weird," this will be my first live radio interview, so it will be ripe with awkward pauses and raspy stutters. Don't miss it!

And finally, if you're reading this on Sunday, be sure to visit or call your mom today.

May 3, 2005, 11PM EST

In this latest media blitz brought on by last week's ChartAttack.com article, I thought it would be cool to mention that yesterday we were briefly featured on Lycos's Internet-culture column, the Lycos 50 Daily Report! It was in an article about which comedians Lycos surfers have been searching the most for. Not surprisingly, Al was on top, and we got a great plug in the process!

However, I do have to take exception with one comment made in the article, but I am not faulting the writer...much. Dean Tsouvalas wrote: "Unfortunately the campaign seems to be falling on deaf ears...but fans of Weird Al will never be silenced, or so they tell us."

Well, I'm certainly glad that he's being optimistic about us and our drive, but he kinda screwed up when he said "the campaign seems to be falling on deaf ears." He's referring to a line in our press releases in which we're mentioning the petition from last summer.

Here, check it out. We'll use the text from the Canadian press release, since that's what ChartAttack.com was sent:

"This past September the campaign sent the foundation a petition containing over 2900 signatures from fans around the world, including such pop stars as the Knack's Doug Fieger and genre legend Don McLean, in hopes of getting Yankovic on the 2005 ballot. Unfortunately, those pleas fell on deaf ears."

So obviously what happened was that ChartAttack.com read that and included that bit in their article, and Dean in turn rewrote it for his column but apparently didn't understand that it was referring to last year's project.

I just wanted to clear that part up, mainly because the exact opposite of what he said is happening right now. "The campaign seems to be falling on deaf ears?" Hardly! Does a campaign that's falling on deaf ears get continual press around the country, in Canada, and even in Japan?? Does a campaign that's falling on deaf ears get a booth at a movie screening? Does a campaign that's falling on deaf ears get mentioned in a Lycos column about current searching trends?? I don't think so!

But like I said, I can't blame Dean too much. He was just interpreting the information he read in a different way. Granted I prefer doing research before writing an article to make sure I know what I'm talking about, but then again I don't work for Lycos.

Oh well. Click here to check out the column!

May 1, 2005, 12AM EST

Here we are once again with our second double-whammy week. This week we'll be focusing on two very dedicated parts of the world, Michigan and the Netherlands!

And what would such a cool week be without many stations to hound with requests? This week we have a record number of radio stations, six, all in Michigan (sorry, Dutch fans). Due to the number of stations and just because we love Michigan this much, this week will once again be a Weird Al free-for-all! Go ahead, request any song you'd like!

In Kalamazoo we have the "Mix"-like Q-106.5, while Ironwood has the similar WUPM 107. There's also two "soft rock"/adult contemporary stations in Grand Rapids, Star 105.7 and I-96. Flint has Cars 108, while that Motown town of Detroit can receive requests at 96.3 WDVD.

Finally, unbelievably, international media coverage on the campaign has been on the rise! A number of additional Canadian news and music sites have picked up the ChartAttack.com article, and we're even actually getting press in Japan! Word is spreading around the world, so let's see if that will translate into more letters sent!

April 27, 2005, 2PM EST

I just wanted to happily announce that we have another country lined up, Guatemala! This is the first country in Central America to be represented (even though it's all still a part of North America), so we're now up to twelve different countries participating!

Speaking of our friends in foreign lands, this week the campaign got a slightly tongue-in-cheek Canadian mention on Chart magazine's web site ChartAttack.com. Chart is one of the nation's leading sources for music news, so hopefully enough fans were able to see it...it would have helped, though, if the article actually included our web site address. Oh well.

Don't forget to stop at your local music store and pick up Ben Folds's new album Songs for Silverman, featuring Al on backing vocals on the song "Time." It's a really groovy album, so do check it out.

April 24, 2005, 12AM EST

Wow! This is the thirtieth week of our "50 States in 48 Weeks" project! I remember back in October when we didn't even have thirty states lined up, and now look at us. We have every state represented, press coverage is increasing, and we're getting more and more international help. I am confident this will work, just as long as we actually do what we've committed ourselves to do and keep sending mail to the Rock Hall!

Since this is the thirtieth week of this phase of the campaign, we are going to start increasing our efforts every week...no, I mean literally! This is the first week in which we will double up on the areas to call up, as we want to start giving our friends around the world a chance to speak their minds.

Back in the States, though, we will first turn our attention to Wyoming. For weeks Wyoming was one of those states I was really worried wouldn't have any fans in it who would be willing to help out. Shows what I know, huh?

But now, let us travel abroad with our trusty spotlight. Since this is the first week we will call up international fans, it would be foolish to not start with our friends to the north, Canada. Canada has been so good to our boy that sometimes Al has bigger hits there than he does back at home! They don't call it the Great White North for nothing, eh?

And in honor of our campaign's first foreign country, this week's request lines will be taking off to that massive northern land. We have two stations to send requests to, Mix96 in Montreal (hopefully the language difference won't make a request too "Complicated") and Z95.3 in Richmond, BC (which reportedly has songs dating back to the "Jurassic" period).

April 21, 2005, 10PM EST

I thought this was kinda cool to bring up...in anticipation for Canada's upcoming week, we have received our first foreign press coverage! Vancouver's alternative newsweekly The Straight, the largest in all of Canada, made a special exception to its own "local news only" rule in order to raise awareness for the campaign!

You can check out the nice little article by clicking here. I particularly liked being introduced in the article as "an Ohio man," which to me conjures up images of an elderly farmer in overalls, pitchfork firmly in hand and griping about those fast-talkin' big-shots in Hollywood. Those who know me would find such an unintended comparison comical, as I stopped wearing overalls when I was sixteen.

And on the other end of the media spectrum, you know you have finally arrived when someone nobody has ever heard of disses you on a blog that nobody goes to. After fellow fan Doug Petch was kind enough to plug our site on his popular blog, someone else (whose name and site are currently escaping me, which I guess says how memorable they were) decided to offer a counterpoint to such an effort. Hey, I'm cool with a differing opinion as long as it makes sense, unlike that of the Boston morning deejay who thought our campaign was stupid because she personally hates Al and thinks the Cars should be inducted first.

Well, unfortunately, I didn't find that fair and balanced argument after all. Like about 99 percent of those who claim to hate Weird Al, this person's outrage toward him stemmed from the fact that Al parodied his favorite group. The fact that this guy's favorite group was Nirvana I think raises more questions, as most of Nirvana's die-hard fans know that the whole group loved and appreciated Al's parody. Oh well, I guess being a fan of a group doesn't require picky little things like knowing anything about them. Anyway, he ended his anti-Al rant by making fun of the emotional and substance-abuse problems that plagued the last few years of Kurt Cobain's life, right up to his tragic suicide. I dunno, I guess you need to be a really big fan to find that funny.

Well anyway, those of us with souls will keep campaigning on our merry way. Thanks for the plug, Doug!

April 17, 2005, 12AM EST

It's a new week, which means it's time for a new state! This is quite a special week, too, as it will be the last one in a while that has just one region devoted to it! We'll be doubling up for the next few weeks in order to start accommodating our friends around the world, but for right now we're going to be making our way down to South Carolina!

Like always, with a new week and a new state comes a new radio station. This week we only have one for you, 95SX in Charleston, which might appreciate a call that wasn't "Phony."

April 10, 2005, 12AM EST

Hey Cheeseheads! Yeah, you guys and gals up in that dairilicious land of Wisconsin! We need your help! We've also had some cool little radio mentions in the area to coincide with the week.

And of course, we have a couple of new radio stations to harass. Both are in the "Mix" style, if you know what I mean Vern. From Milwaukee we have 99 WMYX (which might be able to live with a "Hernia"), while Madison is covered with Z104 (which could probably go for a tasty, crunchy ice cream treat).

April 3, 2005, 12AM EST

Okay, okay, the above time is really an educated guess since tonight's the night we're supposed to set our clocks ahead...or back...or whatever the heck it is in the spring. I dunno, I just spent an hour on the road in a nice, balmy early April blizzard, so the clocks here could be running backwards for all I care right now.

Well, here we are. The 27th week of our "50 States in 48 Weeks" campaign, which means we've arrived at our 27th state. As most die-hard Al fans know, the number 27 holds a special, "in jokey" significance, so to honor the 27th week we had to pick a very special state...Ohio. Help out, fellow Buckeyes!

Now, many people out there are probably whining, "No fair! This lout picked his own state! Foul!" To those people I say, "Bite me. Run your own campaign then." And no, it's not just favoritism in this case. Think about what our goal is: to get Weird Al into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Well, isn't this mythical museum in Cleveland...you know, in Ohio? For those of you who believe in good karma, I'm sure you'd agree there was simply no other choice.

And you didn't think we'd celebrate our 27th week and 27th state without some new radio stations to bug, did ya? Well, because this is such a milestone week, we have four stations to send requests to! And because this is the 27th week, we'll back away from our anal retentive tendencies and not suggest specific songs for each specific station. This week is a Weird Al free-for-all, so request any song you'd like!

If you're in Akron (or even if you're not), send your song requests to 98.1 WKDD (which is "Mix"-like, if that helps at all). Central Ohio offers both 103.9 Ted FM in Columbus (whose motto is "We Play Everything") and Lite 99.9 in Dayton. And of course, from that certain Rock and Roll Hall of Fame city, the "Mix"-like Q104 has started doing "Whatever Weekends," where they'll play anything, especially requests! Go get 'em! Let's make the Rock Hall's state "weird!"

March 28, 2005, 11PM EST

I just thought I would mention there was a really cool article about the campaign in Sunday's Yakima Herald-Republic. The article was also posted online, and it was even featured on the front page of the paper's web site! Click here to read it!

March 27, 2005, 12AM EST

First of all, Happy Easter to everyone! Hopefully the Easter Bunny won't leave coal in your baskets...or whatever.

What a cool week it's been (we've certainly been having a number of cool weeks all in a row it seems). I was interviewed by the Yakima Herald Republic in (oddly enough) Yakima, Washington; Fox 28 in South Bend, Indiana is planning to do a little segment on the campaign on their morning show; and we have another country to add to our grand roll call...France!!

But, as it is at the start of every week, we now must turn our attention to a new state. If you couldn't tell by the "coincidental" press coverage mentioned above, this week's state is of course Washington!

And, as always, it's time to bug radio stations...or really, "station." Unfortunately, we only have one this week, but it's a good one. It's Star 96.9 in Spokane , which might want to be told that they're so fine...but only if their names are all "Ricky."

March 21, 2005, 1AM EST

As threatened, here is a long "sum-up" of last night's supercool screening of UHF at Case Western. We had some slight camera malfunctions, so unfortunately I do not have pictures at the ready. But that's not to say that it wasn't recorded for posterity....

We arrived at the Strosacker Auditorium long before anyone else did after having dragged our various equipment and signage across the rainy, slushy campus. A UHF poster and fliers decorated the outside of the building, but what caught my eye was the various movie-related chalk writings on the sidewalk. One that particularly stood out was a huge phrase written alongside the curb, "MAKE THE ROCK HALL WEIRD!"

The folks at Case Western's Film Society bent over backwards to accommodate us and put the focus on us. They offered additional materials so we could make an overhead sign for the table, and they gave us a chance to speak before each showing. They were facing various problems of their own throughout the week, and it can probably be honestly said that they pulled this screening off on a wing and a prayer. We are just so grateful that they let us come in, be a part of this, and make us feel all the more welcomed.

The crowds that came in to see the movie were a unique mix. There were of course some Al fans in the lot, but strangely there were numerous people attending who had no idea who Al was. One older gentleman seemed quite confused when we asked him if he was a Weird Al fan and seemed even more confused when we explained we were referring to the person who made the movie he had just paid admission to see. For the most part, though, the patrons were willing to listen to us and at least pretend to be interested.

All in all, it was a fun experience. If you're ever in Cleveland, do check out the Film Society's web site, as they always have a cool movie lined up.

We will keep our site's UHF page up even though the event has passed, and very soon I will update it to make it clear that it isn't something that's still coming up. Hopefully we will be able to do additional events across the country like this, as we still have a long way to go!

Speaking of which, sometime this week the rest of the (gasp!) timetable schedule will be fully updated!! I can hardly contain myself!!!

Finally, we'd like to welcome all the fans from Kentucky who moseyed on over here after reading about us in the Lexington Herald-Leader! It's your week, so use it well!

March 20, 2005, 2AM EST

Oh boy, am I exhausted! I will gladly spill the beans of tonight's two incredible showings of UHF sometime during the day Sunday, but right now I am beat and am heading off to bed.

But in the meantime, I of course need to announce that we have arrived at another state! Come on, you finger-lickers in Kentucky, help out!

We again have two radio stations to send requests to this week. One is Quicksie 98.3 in Elizabethtown (which might need some "medical" attention), while the other is "The Killer B" 107.1 in Hindman (which might want to become "addicted" to a certain side dish).

March 13, 2005, 12AM EST

We're now twenty-four weeks in, and what better state is there to close the first half of this massive state-by-state project than that very lucky state of Nevada!

And as always, we have two stations to direct your requests to this week. One is Mix 94.1 in Las Vegas, which doesn't have online request capabilities but you can call them at their Mixline at 702-364-9400. If you have too big of a "Gump" in your throat and can't speak, then you can e-mail some requests to Mix 96.7 in Elko.

And finally, finally, FINALLY we've let the cat out of the bag. This Saturday, March 19, we invite Al fans big and small to mosey over to Cleveland for two special screenings of none other than UHF!!! We'll be there to hound the general public beforehand in order to get them on our side. Click here for our page with every little teeny tiny bit of info there is! See you there, gang!

March 6, 2005, 12AM EST

And we keep zooming along as we near the halfway mark of this phase of the campaign!

It's now Indiana's week, and of course we have a new station to bug with requests. Just go to B97 in Bloomington...unless you're some kind of "Couch Potato" or something.

Meanwhile something really cool is still being cooked up, and we will announce it both here and on WOWAY as soon as possible, so keep checking back!

February 27, 2005, 12AM EST

Wow, what an update tonight!

As it always is at the beginning of every week, we're now onto another state. This time it's Virginia's turn! And as always, we have a new radio station to send song requests to. This week belongs to just one station, y101 in Richmond. Since it's more of a "new alternative rock" station, maybe it's just the place to hear some "Angry White Boys," perhaps?

And also I am, all at the same time, excited, thrilled, and relieved to announce that we now have ALL FIFTY STATES REPRESENTED!!! Of course, we all should continue to recruit fans everywhere, but this now means no more constant reminders of which states are left...because there are none! I cannot begin to thank everyone who went out there and really hustled to make sure that no part of the country would be left behind!

But we're not done yet, no siree! We're not even halfway done with our state-by-state campaign, and hopefully in the coming days I will be able to announce something I've been trying to put together for quite some time.

February 20, 2005, 12AM EST

Well, despite the odd objections of one Boston morning deejay whom most people have never heard of, this week we shine our spotlight on the great state of Massachusetts!

Speaking of radio stations in the state, we again have two of such stations for you to send your Al requests to, Kiss 108 in Boston (which aired a bit of an Al concert back in 1984 for its fifth anniversary, so maybe some "Jeopardy" is in order?) and WJDF in Orange (which might enjoy a trip to "Bedrock").

And finally, believe it or not, we have only TWO more states to go before the entire country is swarmed with volunteers! So once again, if you live in or know anyone in either KANSAS or MONTANA, then we need to hear from you now!

February 13, 2005, 12AM EST

Wow, was it a busy week in Arizona! The campaign not only picked up another press mention, but a number of volunteers were out there doing some major recruiting and were able to enlist the help of many others, which resulted in a literal flood of letters across the state. Thanks Arizona!

Let's hope this momentum continues as we move on to our next state, Iowa!

And where there's a new state there are of course new request lines! Once again, we have two stations at the ready, Mix 96.1 in Cedar Falls and 92.9 Kat FM in Dubuque. As far as which songs, maybe we can Mix it up on "EBay" and ask the Kat for "Fat?" Just an idea.

Finally, just a week ago we still had nine states left before the entire country was covered. Now, thanks to the many new volunteers over the week including one today, we're down to just four! This is it! This is the home stretch! Let's do everything we can to get these last stragglers taken care of!

So by all means, if you live in or know anyone in Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, or Montana, then we need to hear from you!

February 9, 2005, 11PM EST

I just wanted to give a quick midweek update to announce that we have picked up a few more volunteers in the last couple of days, which means we only have FIVE more states left before the entire country is represented!!!

So by all means, if you live in or know anyone in Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Montana, or North Dakota, then we need to hear from you!

February 6, 2005, 12AM EST

We're back with another state, and what a grand state it is! It's none other than Arizona!

And let us continue with our new additional project with not one but two radio stations to send requests to! This week we have a more modern station with KRQ in Tucson (maybe they want to hear a certain "Complicated Song?") and the classic rock station KSLX in Phoenix (which could probably benefit from some "Bus" service).

And finally, we are getting so close to having every state covered. We're only down to nine more states!!! So, once again, if you live in or know anyone in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, or Vermont, then we need to hear from you!

January 30, 2005, 12AM EST

Whoa boy, it's time for another state!! Let's all go down to the French Quarter and visit Louisiana!

And, as threatened, we will continue with our new interactive feature, in which we flood a given station in this week's state with requests for Al songs.

For this week, there's some good news and some bad news. We did find an appropriate station, Mix 102.9 in Shreveport, but unfortunately due to a recent reshuffling of radio frequencies the station is temporarily off the air. The station does promise to be back on the air very soon, so it's still worth a shot (plus, there are literally no other radio stations in the state that would probably grant an Al request). Since we're unsure if a song will actually be played, when we e-mail them our requests, let's get "Eat It" out of the way now, okay?

January 23, 2005, 11PM EST

WHEW!!! Finally, after entering a little over eighty questions, the FAQ page is now done and uploaded! Hooray! I'm going to bed.

January 23, 2005, 12AM EST

I am only hours away from posting the entire FAQ up onto the site, but in the meantime we are at a very special moment in the campaign.

We are exactly a third of the way through with this year's letter-writing campaign, so what better state is there to kick off the next sixteen weeks than one immortalized in one of Al's best loved songs? That's right, I'm of course talking about Minnesota!

And I am also pleased to announce a new interactive feature beginning this week, one that will correspond with each week's new state. This is a chance for fans who may not live in a state in question to still show their support for Al in that region...by flooding the request lines of a local radio station!

Although we're kinda cheating a bit since this station is just part of a national radio network, this is still a good station to start with, Mix 103.7 out of Bemidji. Just send them an e-mail to request an Al song (be sure to keep the word "request" in the subject line). We don't want to tell you which specific Al song to request, but how about for this first week we start with a classic, such as "Smells Like Nirvana" perhaps?

January 16, 2005, 12AM EST

I'm still working around the clock to get the FAQ done for the site (which will hopefully be very, very soon...I promise!), but it would be rotten of me to not stop to mention that we now need to hear from another state! C'mon Georgia, you're on my mind!

January 9, 2005, 12AM EST

Well, here we are, another week and another state! And what focus of the East Coast would be complete without spotlighting that great state of Alaska?? (Go ahead, answer that one!) That's right, ten years after The Al-Can Tour, Alaskans get to once again show their love and support for Al.

At some point during the week, I will hopefully add to the site an all-inclusive FAQ page, so hey, that's something to be on the lookout for.

Meanwhile we have yet another state taken care of! Woo-hoo! That means that only twelve remain before the entire country is covered. So, once again, if you live in or know anyone in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming, then we need to hear from you!

January 2, 2005, 12AM EST

It's a brand new year! Hooray! In just eight more months we will see if our continuing efforts have helped earn Al a place on the 2006 induction ballot.

Of course, until then, there's no stopping us now! We're going to finish our little focus on the East Coast with a stop in Connecticut, one of the only two states mentioned in Al's ultra-rare satire on social acceptance, "American Slob."

Speaking of states, I am tickled pink to announce that in the past week we have added four more states to the roll call, leaving only thirteen more to go before the entire country has fan representation. The entire Great Lakes region is now covered, as is all of the country west of the Grand Canyon, and we're finally gaining some distance in the South. As it stands right now, 74 percent of the United States is involved with this campaign, and that's quite impressive!

So remember, if you live in or know anyone in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming, then we need to hear from you!

December 26, 2004, 12AM EST

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday. It is so hard to believe that 2004 is almost over. How time flies when one spends the whole year trying to get one guy out of one building and another guy into another!

But let's focus on the latter right now, because we are now at the final state for the year! It's none other than New Jersey, which is another one of those states where I think some Al fans live, but I might be wrong.

And hey, just because the year is ending doesn't mean we're done at all! We're not even a third of the way through! We still have seventeen states without fan representation, so if you know anyone in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, or Wyoming, send them to the site!

Have a happy new year everyone and stay away from loud, lame Joel Schumacher movies!!!

December 19, 2004, 12AM EST

Here we go! Just two more weeks left in the year, and look! It's another eastern state, the very indecisive state of Florida!

And as we approach the end of the year, one would think that Rock Hall news would be sparse. But no, as this past week the foundation announced which acts will make up the Hall of Fame's 2005 inductees.

In the "Big Bag of Yawns Department," the 2005 class of inductees consist of U2, the O'Jays, the Pretenders, Buddy Guy, and Percy Sledge. Not exactly anything surprising, huh? Well, that's why we need to get cracking and get more people lined up to send letters. We need the public reaction one year from now to be "Holy crap, they inducted Weird Al?!?"

December 12, 2004, 12AM EST

With just three weeks left in the year, let us continue our focus on the East Coast by calling on the state of Maryland. Sounds like a capital idea, wouldn't one say? After all, the guys started their first national tour in the neighboring city of Washington, D.C. back in 1983.

If anyone of you out there who are schedule to send something during the month, one fantastic suggestion has come up (one I wish I came up with, but I'm not that clever): instead of a normal postcard or letter, doesn't Suzan Evans deserve a card with a little more festive slant? Perhaps something like...oh, I don't know...a Christmas card?

Meanwhile, I am so pleased to announce we have another state lined up, which brings us down to just seventeen states left without fan representation. We're going to begin some serious recruiting starting the first of the year, but until then if you know anyone in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, or Wyoming who could be begged or coerced into helping out with this campaign, I know I will be quite grateful.

Although I've already asked about this on WOWAY, on here I would like to officially invite any artwork, stories, or photos anyone may have of their own personal experiences helping out the cause for inclusion on the site.

And for just a little bit of incestuous cross-promotion, don't forget that December 15 is the day the latest "Weird Al" Yankovic Songography will be e-mailed out to everyone. Click here for info on how to subscribe for free!

And finally, the moment many of you have been waiting for, as the schedule on the main page has been updated through early spring! As you can see, we're still hanging on to a few "heavy hitters" for later in the year, but the many volunteers in such states as Indiana, Arizona, and particularly Ohio are no doubt breathing sighs of relief after hanging on for so long for some word on when they can start sending their support. I cannot thank everyone enough for being so patient.

December 5, 2004, 12AM EST

And here we go, the final stretch for 2004! First up this month, it's that wacky tube top-wearing New England state of Maine, the only state to dare muscle in on our neighbors to the north in Canada. Don't worry, loyal Canadian Al fans, your moment will come soon!

The next major chunk of the schedule will be up by the end of the year, of course. Who, exactly, will be called upon during the campaign's all-too-critical twenty-seventh week beginning April 3rd?!? The suspense is maddening!!!

November 28, 2004, 12AM EST

I hope everyone had a fun holiday and weekend of shopping 'til dropping, but here we are at the start of a new week.

Let's hear it for Oregon, where I believe some Al fans live.

Meanwhile, from the "I Can't Believe It Department," we will soon be entering the final month of the year, which not only means that only four more states will be spotlighted in 2004, but also that there will be another update to the schedule very soon!

And it also means we still have eighteen states that need volunteers! Continue recruiting, gang!

November 21, 2004, 12AM EST

Here we are once again with a new week and a new state to call up. How about we ask the great Volunteer State of Tennessee for help now?

In case I haven't done it enough yet, I do want to apologize for scheduling a state during the week of Thanksgiving, but a week is still a week, so hopefully we aren't putting too many fans out for this.

Regardless if you're in Tennessee or not, here's hoping everyone has a safe and fun Turkey Day...or rather, 'Querque Day. And be sure to go see The Incredibles and SpongeBob after dinner!

November 18, 2004, 10PM EST

Oh boy! What an update! Sure enough, the New Mexico Daily Lobo at the University of New Mexico ran a story on the campaign, and I was interviewed! Yippee!! This is the first time I've been interviewed for something other than my wide-eyed political leanings, so I'm pretty psyched!

I don't know how long it will stay up, but Jessica Del Curto's favorable article is currently online on the paper's web site. Hopefully this will get the attention of more New Mexico fans this week. I cannot thank Jessica and the paper enough for helping us out like this.

Also, as threatened, I've tidied up the site a bit in order to move the petition information to a new section...you know, just to avoid any confusion as to what we're doing right now.

November 14, 2004, 12AM EST

"There's a New Mexico??"

There sure is, and that state where Albuquerque makes its home is now up! In fact, for those of you in that mythical city of friendly people and fluffy towels, our little campaign just might be mentioned this week in the New Mexico Daily Lobo (but don't quote me on that).

Within the next week, I'm going to be updating some things around the site, mainly just moving information and the blog entries on this past summer's petition drive to a separate page.

In the meantime, we need to keep recruiting more fans to help out, especially in some of those "white" states!

November 7, 2004, 12AM EST

Man, what a crazy week! Seriously, between making sure every last detail for my front porch's multimedia Halloween display went off without a hitch to the election and its very disappointing aftermath, the last seven days have been absolutely hectic. I'm surprised I didn't develop a couple of ulcers because of it!

Err, I mean...hey, it's time for another state! It's time for the Show Me State of Missouri to show the Rock Hall what its made of!

Meanwhile, on the main page I have listed the other countries so far that have fans participating in our campaign (remember, I've been saying "massive global campaign" all along!). Since I'd like to keep this site as light on graphics as possible, I will not be changing the U.S. map to a larger world map. I may of course change my mind should more and more countries sign up, but that's then. I don't know exactly when we'll start incorporating foreign countries into the schedule, as ideally the goal should be to give each country plenty of time to have their mail arrive but also make sure it's early enough to actually get the attention of the Rock Hall before the fall. Right now, the soft, flexible, squishy plan is for our friends abroad to send their mail in the early spring, but that could change. I do promise that everyone will be made well aware of the international schedule and, like with the states on the map, a country's name will go green when it's their turn.

Well, that's it. I'm heading to bed. Go see The Incredibles this week!

October 31, 2004, 12AM EST

Ah-ah-ah! What a spooktacular update to make tonight!

The good news is that we're ever so close to having every single state represented, plus a number of other countries have signed on as well in the past week (don't worry, friends in foreign lands, we'll have you all listed very soon!). Right now, it's the great New England state of New Hampshire's turn to send in Al mail!

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Plain Dealer has finally announced the results of its Rock Hall readers' poll that ran until October 4. Unfortunately, unlike last year, our efforts to flood the ballot box with votes for Al did not earn a mention in the paper (although the article describing the results seemed curiously vague, as if some content was removed). Oh well, hopefully we'll make the Plain Dealer again when it's Ohio's turn!

Have a safe Halloween everyone, and be sure to get out to vote on Tuesday. With so much on the line, this isn't the year to sit one out!

October 28, 2004, 1AM EST

I'm quite excited about tonight's bit of news, as the campaign has finally been mentioned in the press! (Of course, that's assuming it hasn't already been mentioned before and I just missed out on it.)

The Boise Weekly's web site had a nice blurb in their "Music News" section about this being Idaho's week to send in their letters and postcards. They did a pretty good job squashing our press release into a few short sentences (although, I should point out that the title "Just Eat It" did not come from our release), and I thank them so very much for mentioning us.

You can check out the blurb by clicking here (unless you're reading this in March, in which case I have no idea where that link will take you). Now, I do not know for sure if the story also ran in their print edition, so if there's any kind Boise fans out there reading this, please let me know and try to snag a copy for me!

And check out the map! We only have eighteen more states to go!

October 24, 2004, 12AM EST

Since there are no doubt many fans out there still celebrating Al's forty-fifth birthday, I'll make this update quick.

First of all, hey Idaho! Guess what? It's now your turn to send in your postcards and letters to the Rock Hall! Go get 'em!

Also, I am happy to announce that the state schedule for the rest of the year has been posted on the main page. Hopefully that will answer some of the questions about who goes when.

Meanwhile, there are still nineteen states that do not have volunteers lined up. If your state is in white on the map, by all means contact me if you want to help. I'm not a psychic.

Finally, as I mentioned last week, a number of radio shows around the country have been letting their listeners know about the Rock Hall campaign, and I am forever grateful for their help. If you live in the area (or can stream where applicable), we ask that you tune in to the following shows...

Coffee and Cartoons - WUML 91.5 FM, Lowell, Massachusetts - Wed. at 2PM
Crazy College - WVUD 91.3 FM, Newark, Delaware (among other stations) - Sun. at 6PM
Laugh Tracks - WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham, North Carolina - Sat. at NOON
The Pab Sungenis Project - WBCQ 7.415 MHz, Kennebunk, Maine - Fri. at 5:30PM

October 17, 2004, 12AM EST

And we add another state to those that should now be sending their pro-Al correspondence. Hey, West Virginia, you're up!

In other news, a number of the comedy radio shows across the country have been kind enough to help spread the word about our little campaign (and I can't thank them enough for doing so!), so if you have such a show in your area, be sure to tune in. I'll put up a list of shows in a day or two.

We have only nineteen more states to go before the whole country is committed, and only two more weeks until the end of October! Let's go after those undecided states--whoops, wrong thing. Well, then again, maybe not....

October 10, 2004, 9PM EST

Oh boy, ask and ye shall receive! We now have 27 states with fans committed to sending something to the Rock Hall Foundation! Florida became the state that helped us reach that mark.

We still have a little ways to go before all fifty states have been volunteered, but at least now we're over the hump. It may seem a bit unrealistic, but let's try to get a fan in every single state lined up before the end of October!

Hopefully I'll have some cool news in the coming days, so keep checking back!

October 10, 2004, 12AM EST

Well, Hawaii had its chance, and now it's Nebraska's turn! Of course, if you do live in Hawaii and just found out about this campaign, please go right ahead and send in your support to the Rock Hall Foundation. You still have the green light.

Meanwhile, as of this writing I am proud to say that exactly one half of the United States has fans committed to participating in the campaign. We're well on our way to getting the whole country represented!

And of course, we're just two states shy of a certain number that every Weird Al fan knows about. Who will be willing to volunteer their time and their state next? Which state will be the "lucky" one? The race is on!

October 3, 2004, 12AM EST

The next phase of our campaign has officially begun! Beginning this week, each state will have a chance to show its support for Al. Don't worry, the schedule on the main page will updated in the next couple of days.

Again, if you have not volunteered yet, regardless of which state you're in, by all means do so now! We need everyone's help for this.

September 20, 2004, 9PM EST

First, I want to pass along some very cool news from Tara Lyn. Dr. Demento mentioned the campaign on a recent episode of his show! I had written to the Good Doctor a while ago to let him know we were doing this, and a couple of others were also in contact with the show's representatives in the final days of the petition's circulation...but needless to say I was floored to learn the news (man, if only I actually had a station near me that played the Demento show...stupid Clear Channel). I can't thank Dr. Demento enough for giving our cause a little mention.

The episode with the shout-out was #04-34 back in late August, in which the theme was companion animals. The show was recently repeated on the XM Satellite Radio service. Appropriately enough, the Doctor mentioned us right after playing "Harvey The Wonder Hamster."

Meanwhile, we are getting very close to announcing the next major phase of the campaign, from an idea suggested by uberhelper Cinnamon. It will be big, and it will hopefully involve fans in every state of the country and beyond. I have put up a map on the main page indicating which states already have volunteers committed to the new campaign (the purple was chosen so that it doesn't look like an electoral map or something). By all means, go back to the main page to see if your state is covered and to volunteer, as we need helpers from everywhere.

September 18, 2004, 11PM EST

Well, the crap hit the fan this week, as the list of nominees for 2005's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were announced. Al unfortunately did not make the cut, despite our petition arriving before the final list was compiled.

I'm not bitter at all, no siree. We did a fantastic job collecting nearly three thousand signatures in six weeks. To be a sore loser would be completely counterproductive.

This new list of nominees includes U2 (bunch of rooftop-video troublemakers), Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (with their four notes), Randy Newman (anti-midget), the O'Jays (wife murderers), the Pretenders (phonies), Buddy Guy (complete rip-off of Chummy Pal), Wanda Jackson (another child molester), the J. Geils Band (the "j" stands for "jerk"), Conway Twitty (he's a twit all right), the Sex Pistols (in case we haven't been bludgeoned over the head with phallic euphemisms in rock yet), the Stooges (I hate Joe Besser), Lynyrd Skynyrd (the band that refuses to die despite physical evidence), Gram Parsons (stupid Metric system), and Percy Sledge (what the hell kind of name is "Percy" anyway??).

This is not over at all. Plans are already underway for the next phase of the campaign, so by all means check back here very soon.

There are a few ideas floating around right now, but let me say this: if you haven't sent in a letter yet and are planning to, please hang onto it for a little while.