Review of "Weird Al" Yankovic's STRAIGHT OUTTA LYNWOOD

Today is the day that "Weird Al" Yankovic's new album Straight Outta Lynwood came out (as if I haven't been talking about this album enough already on this blog over the past few weeks). I've been playing around with the new CD for several hours now – after having to go all the way to the Best Buy in Burlington because no place in Rockingham County has yet to get it in stock...

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They are mad as hell, and they aren't going to take it anymore

Darth Larry (who has been woefully absent of late even considering his recent trip to Denmark) scores big with some of the first released photos from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is due out this coming July. Lots of good pics here, including the first I've seen anywhere of Dolores Umbridge.But this is the pic that I absolutely love...Harry, Ron, Hermione,...

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For crying out loud: I'm ALREADY TAKEN!

Since 6 o'clock last night (it's half-past 1 in the morning now) I've received eight "friend requests" to my Myspace account. All of them are from people I've never heard from before in my life. Every one of them is a young woman. And each one has popped up the same screen every time I clicked on their name to see who the heck this is supposed to be...I have no idea what...

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Can't wait a few days for more LOST?

I've been too busy all summer to keep up with The Lost Experience interactive game thingy, even though I'm a really big fan of the show Lost and have been trying hard to figure out just what the heck is going on with this island. Well some people have been playing this game and have worked the past few months to piece together all the tidbits of information that Lost's creators have spread around about the show's underlying mythology. And before...

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Luke Skywalker is DEAD!

Tonight Lisa and I drove up to Martinsville for dinner - our second time at the place - at Pigs R Us (click here for my initial review of that excellent barbecue joint). Afterward we walked around the mall there for a bit, and it was in Waldenbooks that my eye caught Star Wars: Legacy #3 in the comic book rack. I bought issue #1 awhile back and although I've missed #2 since then, I decided to buy this new issue and take another look at this new...

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Considering immortalism

Bennett Miller, the director of last year's Capote, is now getting read to delve into the realm of immortalism. That's the philosophy - that some people have tried to put into practice - of escaping the inevitability of physical death. So you have some people who have died and had their bodies frozen in liquid nitrogen (or saved money by having just their heads cut off and preserved) in the hopes of someday medical science getting to the point...

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The officially YouTube hosted WHITE AND NERDY video

Behold the pure genius that is "Weird Al" Yankovic turned loose on Chamillionaire's "Ridin'"...

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Gnosticism is alive: "Christian" children worship President Bush at Bible camp

I've yet to actually see the new documentary Jesus Camp that this ABC News clip is about, but I've heard from plenty enough sources to take their word that the kids depicted actually are worshipping an image of George W. Bush.This movie is about a Bible camp for children in North Dakota. As a Christian, I'm compelled to ask the obvious: why does a Bible camp need a large cardboard cutout image of President Bush at all? What's the purpose of it...

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WHITE AND NERDY: The Video is now online and legit! Plus: a guide to who's who and what's what in the video.

Go to "Weird Al" Yankovic's Myspace page to watch it and not have to be bothered by your guilty conscience for seeing it as a leaked version.And now, as I promised earlier, here is...The Complete "Weird Al" Fan's and Nerd's Guide to the "White and Nerdy" Video02 seconds: The two gangsters in the car are being played by Jordan Peele and Keegen Micheal Key of MAD TV.15 seconds: The red candles make out the outline of Pac-Man.37 seconds: MC Escher was...

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I will finally become the Anti-Christ!

(Let's wait for the shock of that double-entendre to wear off, shall we?)So help me, I have been in a giggle-fit of hysterical laughter all morning ever since installing the playable demo of Left Behind: Eternal Forces (191 MB download). Based on the best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, Left Behind: Eternal Forces is a real-time strategy game that pits you...

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Papal controversy and the very small god of Islam

So some Muslims are now threatening Pope Benedict XVI with death because he quoted an obscure Byzantine emperor who noted that Islam is a religion that kills those who don't agree to follow it.And these Muslims are proving that the quote by Manuel II Paleologus is inaccurate... how?I mean, it sure seems to me that if someone was telling others that yours is a bloodthirsty faith, and you wanted to prove it otherwise, the logical thing to do would...

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I have seen the WHITE AND NERDY video

And I'll post more about it tomorrow... after it has the world premiere that it so deserves to have. When I do I'll also post "The Complete 'Weird Al' Fan's and Nerd's Guide to the 'White and Nerdy' Video".(Want proof that I've seen it? Okay, how's this: pay very, VERY close attention to that Wikipedia page that Al is editing.)This is the first real video that Al has done in seven years (if you don't count the one he did for "Bob" on the last album,...

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My interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic

Since some people (yeah I'm talking about YOU Dylan!) have observed that I'm going more than a little nuts for "Weird Al" Yankovic lately, what with his new album coming out next week on the 26th, I thought: why not make yet another post about the guy? Well, five years ago this month I was blessed to have the opportunity to interview Weird Al, and ever since I've come to regard that as one of the all-time highlights of my journalism career. So...

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The 25 Worst Web Sites

Ten years ago one of my favorite websites was one called Mirsky's Worst of the Web. The guy running it showcased the absolutely most horrendous websites on the still-infant web with a lot of wicked wit. Sadly, Mirsky quit running it the fall of '96, but I still remember some of the sites he found, like this one.Well, Mirsky may not be cataloguing them anymore but PC World continues his legacy with a new article featuring what they consider to be...

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Celebrating Constitution Day

This afternoon Erich Smith, another candidate for Rockingham County Board of Education (click here for his website) held a party in Wentworth to celebrate today being Constitution Day. It was a great time that included a cook-out, a dunking booth (am sorry to say that I didn't bring my swim trunks) and a few other things, including some political stump speeches. Which Eric brought an honest-to-goodness stump for speakers to stand on for. I gave...

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Chamillionaire praises new Weird Al parody

Remember the infamous "Coolio incident" that happened in 1996? Well, looks like that is not going to be happening to "Weird Al" Yankovic this time because Chamillionaire has nothing but praise about Yankovic's new parody "White and Nerdy" (which if you're reading this post around the time I'm making it, you're now listening to it)...The multi-platinum artist is happy to hear the new version, and holds no grudges towards Al. Cham said, "He's actually...

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"Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs..."

"...Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind..."The next phase of my campaign for school board is about to begin. Namely, the one where I start to seriously spend money. Here's the debut of the first major expenditure...This is the yard sign that I'm gonna be planting in as many places as I possibly can over the course of the next month or so. Now, something that hadn't...

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