CARE TO BE STUPID!

"Put down that chainsaw and listen to me. It's time for us to join in the fight."

Do you feel that Weird Al should be inducted into the Rock Hall? If so, then by all means help out...and all it will cost you is your time and dedication!

Video Help - Research Help

SHOOT A VIDEO!

"Talk with your mouth full."
We're taking the fight to the Rock Hall itself, and we need your help to call them out!

All you need to do is take your handy-dandy video camera, phone, or recording tool of choice and film yourself saying the following....

"My name is [you] and I am asking the Rock Hall to dare to be stupid and induct Weird Al!"

Don't be cute and actually say "My name is you." If you'd like to add where you're from after you say your name, that's cool, but please don't stray too much further than that. Keeping it brief will make it the most effective. And please, use your real name; no nicknames or stage names. This is about Al. Not about you.

Please, no music or video clips playing in the background. We want to make sure nothing will cause a record label or movie studio to swoop in and try to take your video down. Also, we may or may not do a compilation video based on all the clips that are submitted, and background music or video would make it difficult to work with.

If you'd like to wear something Al-related, or have various Al collectibles in the background, that's more than fine. We dare you to fill the whole screen with Al imagery!

No plugging for yourself. Don't mention your local band. Don't use your wacky Twitter handle as your name. Don't show your web site URL on a shirt or cap or a graphic on the screen. This is about Al. Not about you.

And we probably shouldn't have to say this, but no profanity or obscene gestures. You're doing this for Al, and he wouldn't do that kind of stuff.

"Come on, join the crowd. Shout it out loud!"
If your whole family or group of friends would like to do one video altogether, great! Just please make your introductions quick and follow all of the other guidelines.

Try to avoid a shaky video, and no creepy close-ups of your face. Have a friend or relative hold your phone or camera if that's what it takes. It shouldn't look like you shot it yourself while running from a zombie invasion.

Just be yourself in front of the camera or phone. No voices, animation, puppets, dubbed movie clips, or other trickery. We know Al fans are extremely creative, but that's not the point. This is about Al. Not about you.

When you're video is uploaded on your web site of choice, simply let us know!

Send us a tweet at @rockhallweird, message us on Tumblr at rockhallweird, or simply e-mail us at "rockhall" at "allthingsyank" dot "com." If everything looks a-okay, we'll tweet it onto our Twitter feed (messaging it directly to the Rock Hall), post it onto our Tumblr page, and add it to a special playlist on our YouTube page.

"Get your mojo working now."
Feeling adventurous? Looking for a challenge? Want free stuff for your hard work, your adventurous feeling, and your challenge...um, looking? Well, now you really have a chance to dare to be stupid!

Get a celebrity on camera to say the phrase and we will send you an exclusive Make the Rock Hall "Weird" bumper sticker featuring our classic "Al face in the Rock Hall" logo! This bumper sticker has only been made available to select volunteers and has NEVER been sold in our online store. This is a true Weird Al collectible for the completist who already thinks they have everything!

In addition to the FREE bumper sticker, you will also have exclusive access to purchase a DVD copy of our 2012 documentary Yankoheit 27 at cost! You will be able to own our movie for a mere SEVEN DOLLARS (shipping included!), saving over half of its retail price.

For this challenge, there are some additional rules....

If the celebrity you've filmed is a group (such as numerous members of one band, etc.), we will officially count them all as "one" celebrity--even if you've obviously filmed each person individually at the same instance. But don't fret, we will send a few additional trinkets and goodies your way for your extra effort (Yankoheit 27 DVD excluded).

There must be a way for us to contact you listed somewhere on the site where you've uploaded your video (via your YouTube channel page, etc.). No graphics on the video itself, please! This is mainly for verification, as really anyone can e-mail us with a link to your video and claim it as their own. If we have to play "20 Questions" with you in order to get a firm answer about who you are, then your video is disqualified. Sorry.

And since there's bound to be some debate or argument, we have to set some guidelines about who we're counting as a "celebrity"....

1. You are not a celebrity, unless you happen to be, say, Patton Oswalt. We don't care if your YouTube channel has 100 subscribers or your tweet got favorited by @Midnight. This is about Al. Not about you.

2. Unless we are talking about Michael Jordan or the late Babe Ruth, professional athletes do not count.

3. Unless we are talking about a living U.S. president or vice-president, political figures and/or news pundits do not count.

4. No local news or media personalities. No TV weathermen, no wacky morning deejays, no open-mic emcees, no local garage bands, etc.

5. Your uncle who appeared as an extra in an episode of Law & Order does not count.

6. Game show or reality show contestants do not count. No Last Comic Standing people, American Idol losers, etc.

7. Unless we are talking about, say, Stephen King or Neil Gaiman, authors and comic book artists do not count.

8. Bloggers, YouTube "stars," or other Internet-only personalities do not count.

and of course...
9. Prince does not count.

"It's so easy to do. We're all waiting for you!"
The bottom line is, if we can't tell who your celebrity is either from the video itself or after at most a two-second Google search, then your celebrity doesn't count. Sorry.

No cheating! No video mash-ups of clips from Brad Pitt movies where he says every word individually. You doing your "awesome" Jack Nicholson impression does not count. You operating a Kermit the Frog puppet, dubbing over old Popeye cartoons, or playing with your My Little Pony dolls does not count. If you can't actually find a celebrity, then don't worry about it! This is supposed to be fun! This is about Al. Not about you.

Please, no ambushing. You're not working for TMZ. If they don't say the entire phrase, your video won't count.

IF YOU GET AN ARTIST ON CAMERA THAT AL ACTUALLY PARODIED, WE WILL SEND YOU A COPY OF YANKOHEIT 27 FOR FREE!

This part is pretty self-explanatory, but we will widen the circle to also allow artists whose songs have been included in a polka or those that have obviously inspired Al style parodies ("Dare To Be Stupid," "Pancreas," etc.).

And should you need them for whatever reason, additional copies of Yankoheit 27 will be made available to you at cost for the previously mentioned price of seven dollars.

Barring unexpected delays from our suppliers, rewards will be sent out at some point during the fall.


CARE PACKAGE HELP!

"It's time to make a mountain out of a molehill, so can I have a volunteer?"
Want to do even more for the campaign? Well, here's where the "care" part comes in!

While everyone is off shooting videos telling the Rock Hall to dare to be stupid, we will be sending care packages to the individual members of the Rock Hall's nominating committee, lobbying to them one by one. This will be the first time that we are taking Al's case directly to the committee members.

Care packages will include a detailed letter pleading Al's case, a copy of The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic, a copy of Yankoheit 27, and other Make the Rock Hall "Weird" paraphernalia.

We are knee-deep in the middle of researching reliable mailing addresses for the forty-or-so members of the nominating committee. As wonderful and easy as it would be that each one of them would have some dedicated web site, Twitter handle, or Facebook page, the reality is that many of the committee members work behind the scenes in the music industry and have no public "presence," online or off.

We are seeking volunteers to help us track down current and above all reliable mailing addresses for a number of members of the nominating committee. We are preferably looking for business addresses and NOT home addresses...we are after all contacting them on a professional basis. Considerable expense is being put into these care packages, so we obviously would want to use verifiable addresses to ensure that the materials are in fact going to the intended people.

"Let's go!"
Interested in being a research volunteer? Then simply e-mail us at "rockhall" at "allthingsyank" dot "com." We will respond with a list of the members we are still actively researching, and then it's up to you! Please wait for us to send you the list before e-mailing us random addresses...we don't need fifty people just telling us how to reach Questlove.

We will continue to research members' addresses, and we will send updates to all volunteers on our progress as a whole.

The soft deadline for address will be August 1, as we want to be able to mail out all of the care packages in order for them to arrive before the members head to New York in September to vote on nominees.

If we get any kind of direct response from the committee member (either positive or negative) based on the address you've supplied, then you will receive a Make the Rock Hall "Weird" bumper sticker.


We can't do this without you, so please volunteer to help!
"The future's up to you, so what you gonna do??"

Go back to the main Rock Hall page!