from the Sydney Morning Herald

[weird_el]

found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/ ... 26436.html



Weird science

September 26, 2003



You think Weird Al's a funny man - you should meet his tailor and barber.



On his first tour of Australia, pop's prince of parody hopes he doesn't meet his parallel-universe alter ego, Sensible Al Yankovic. By Owen Thomson.



What Weird Al Yankovic knows about ancient Greek mathematicians can probably be written on the back of a postage stamp. In large writing.



Luckily, this hasn't stopped the prince of pop parody from showing an interest in re-enacting their brilliance through the magic of song.



"You know, I just love them all so much, it's hard for me to pick my favourite," he says when quizzed on the subject of dress-wearing geniuses such as Pythagoras and Archimedes.



"I think the Pythagorean theorem is completely overlooked in terms of most pop music. I think that P. Diddy was toying around with it in some of his early work, but he never quite got all the way there. He was into the whole square root of A squared plus B squared kind of thing."



If the fundamental principles of geometry seem vaguely irrelevant, that's probably because they are. But when dealing with an artist who has turned absurdity into an art form, they're as good a place as any to start. For the past two decades, Yankovic has distinguished himself as a tireless crusader in the battle between stupidity and sensibleness. Fittingly, the multi-Grammy award-winner nominates the title of his third album, Dare to Be Stupid, as the thing most representative of the Yankovic ethos.



"I think that the battle between weirdness and sensibleness is something that every sentient object has to deal with continually every day of their lives, and it's certainly no different with me," he says.



"Dare to Be Stupid is my motto and my message to anyone. It's a way of life."



As if to underscore the point, Yankovic asserts that the Pythagorean right-angle triangle theorem isn't the single most important discovery in the history of the world.



"I think the most important invention in the history of the world is probably Whiteout, because if you make a mistake with your typewriter, what are you going to do?"



Since rocketing to fame with his irreverent 1984 portrayal of Michael Jackson, Yankovic's resume of assumed personalities has come to read like a Who's Who of rock. Fortunately for defamation lawyers everywhere, it's a body of work expanded upon with his latest album.



On Poodle Hat, Avril Lavigne, the Backstreet Boys and Billy Joel come in for some serious Weird Al treatment.



Many of the artists Yankovic has parodied have perhaps viewed his homages as validations of their own fame, but not everyone is as appreciative. Eminem objected to the mimicking of his likeness for the Poodle Hat project.



"He allowed me to do his song, Lose Yourself, so I do have an Eminem parody on my new album," says Yankovic.



"But he would not allow me to do a video, which was very disappointing. We've wound up now with an album that does not have a video to promote it. I kind of can't see his logic in not letting us do the video."



Yankovic and Eminem have never met.



"But I may be running into him in the future," he says.



Possibly with a large truck, or runaway bus?



"I'll be wearing my Kevlar. You don't want to mess around with the rap guys."



Ensuring that artists' wishes are respected is only one of the concerns Yankovic must be mindful of in his day-to-day existence. Another is ensuring he doesn't become accidentally sucked into a space-time loop that brings him face-to-face with his parallel-universe alter ego.



"In a bizarre parallel universe, Sensible Al Yankovic would be my doppelganger," he says.



"If we were ever able to touch or actually make physical contact, I think matter and anti-matter would invert and the universe as we know it would be destroyed."



Would Yankovic consider beating up his sensible self in the millisecond before the universe folded in on itself?



"Why not? I'd kick the stuffing out of him."

[stupidsurgeon27]

That's a very nice article, not to mention funny with the twisted logic.



-CindyBob

[SmileyGirl87]

Silly writing. I love it! :biggrin:



~*Cat*~

^why wouldn't I want to be Al's tailor or barber?

[Manda]

Thanks for that very funny article. I enjoyed that because there nothing real serious in it.

[Grom]

Now that's a good article. Informative and hilariously irrelevent.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Silly writing. I love it! :biggrin:

~*Cat*~
^why wouldn't I want to be Al's tailor or barber?

Well, he probably doesn't see his barber all that often. And could he really trust you to take his inseam measurement?





-OE, has a strong suspicion she's actually met Sensible Al Yankovic. Also suspects that some Al Yankovic or other probably knows a fair amount about ancient Greek mathematicians. Valedictorians who love math do.

[SmileyGirl87]

Well, he probably doesn't see his barber all that often. And could he really trust you to take his inseam measurement?

Point taken.



~*Cat*~

^happily