Cleveland

This past weekend was a great one, for me anyway. My sons and I spent it in Cleveland, Ohio, where there was more to do that I had expected.

For starters, we picked the right baseball game to attend. The tumbling Detroit Tigers lost three of four to Cleveland, but won Saturday night 6-0, the game we saw. I picked up another MLB hat, and the Cleveland home cap is a nice one. It will see the light of day from time to time as I try to rotate my baseball hats; no point having them if all they do is sit in boxes. 

Sunday we saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One of my favorite bands, Paul McCartney and Wings, were the centerpiece display, so it was pretty cool to view that retrospective along with all the other exhibits. There was even a chance to vote on the 2027 inductees to the Hall. I voted for Weird Al Yankovic. He deserves it. I mean it.

The Hall is right on Lake Erie, and as it happened there was an air show. After the Hall, we were treated to the Blue Angels, the US Navy's tactical flying squad. Very impressive, close quarters formations. Those pilots must have nerves of steel.

We ended the main part of our visit watching Coyote vs. Acme at a restored theater (The Capitol) just off downtown. A great place to see a movie, and Coyote vs. Acme, about Wile E Coyote suing the ACME corporation for its defective products (anyone who has seen the old Warner Brothers cartoons know ACME) was worthy of the hype. I laughed out loud often. 

As always seems to be the case, it was over all too soon. C'est la vie. We'll just have to improve on it next year.

Two Score and Three Years Ago

As I continue (and hope to continue even further) into dotage I must admit wondering just what aging means. At times I feel it's nothing more than forever pointing at something and exclaiming; "I remember that!"

A few minutes ago I watched the trailer for Weird, the completely faked documentary of Weird Al Yankovic. It stars Daniel Radcliffe as Al. 

Harry Potter, I'm sorry, Mister Potter as Professor Snape would say, as the embodiment of a singer who I grew up admiring (my triune forces in comedy are the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, and Weird Al Yankovic) is either a triumph of casting or, well, just plain weird. And as Weird Al himself is all in with the project, I'm leaning towards weird. Heavily. 

But to the point: as I watched the minute long advert all I could think was, I remember Weird Al's arrival. I remember clearly (well, clearly in that vague, dream like sense) Al's arrival on the stage in 1979 or so. Hence my title: two score (forty years) and three years back I was listening to Weird Al on the syndicated Doctor Demento radio show (Rainn Wilson is Dr. Demento in the movie by the way) and thinking that that guy's funny. Truly hilarious in fact. 

And now I'm anticipating a fake story about him, about which I literally pointed at my computer screen and exclaimed, "I remember that!" about Weird Al's arrival. 

Dotage, perhaps, is more immanent than I might care to admit.

Constants

Everyone has at least one. I think you have to one, too. We need a constant, that one thing which over the years keeps us anchored.

What I mean by that is, we need something which is always there. The body likes comfort food; the soul, I'll wager, wants something more sublime. Something which is, like the soul, without substance, yet sustains it along the road of life.

This idea struck me this morning as I was riding around my van doing a few chores. I had the album Mandatory Fun playing on the CD. That's when It occurred to me: I had found my constant, the one thing which speaks to my soul in a way I can understand. One thing which has been with me for better than forty years. One thing which can keep me sane. Yes, I know what my constant is.

Weird Al Yankovic.

The 10 Greatest Novelty Songs

10. Pretty Fly for a White Guy - The Offspring (1999)
-- Alternative Rock fans may not agree that it's novelty, but the band was obviously going for the funny. Plus, the song rocks!

9. White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic (2006)
-- So our first two picks parody white guys; well, white guys and Christians are the last two groups for whom it's still PC to satirize. Besides, it shows that we conservatives appreciate humor even when aimed at us.

8. The Battle of Kookamunga - Homer and Jethro (1959)
-- The clown princes of country music score big with this takeoff of the Johnny Horton standard The Battle of New Orleans. Classic.

7. The Lumberjack Song - Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
-- I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay. Perfect absurdity.

6. I'm Against It - The Marx Brothers (1932)
-- Groucho at his best. It's a great right wing song too: whatever it is, I'm against it!

5. They're Coming to take Me Away, a-ha - Napoleon XIV (1966)
-- What guy can't relate to his girl jilting him? Who wouldn't go crazy?

4. Poisoning Pigeons in the Park - Tom Lehrer (1959)
-- Hilarious. Who doesn't want to get rid of the pesky birds?

3. Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah - Allan Sherman (1963)
-- Camp was never like that, was it, kids?

2. King Tut - Steve Martin (1978)
-- A solid parody as the world went gaga over the touring treasures of the young pharaoh. It's Steve Martin at his sublime comic best.

1. Christmas at Ground Zero - Weird Al Yankovic (1986)
--An absurd juxtaposition of the holiday season and nuclear holocaust, this tune is demented and delightful at the same time. Weird Al is the undisputed king of sung comedy.