I knew of Al, of course. You couldn't be a teen/early twenties in the eighties and not know about him. I had heard Another One Rides The Bus, I saw Al on the Tom Snyder show. But he really came on my radar when I saw the Bad video for the first time. I liked him, sure. Who didn't? But I think that I thought he worked for Mtv or something. I don't think I knew he was a real musician, with a real band, with records you could buy and concerts you could see.
So, for a reason I don't even remember, in summer of 2002 (about the time some of you were at the first OC shows) I decided to Google Weird Al. I came upon sagabegins.com (you remember that? Yep, Al had two RWS related websites - now defunct.) If I hadn't been unemployed when pentiums.com was up for sale, I would soooo have bought the domain name. But I digress....
Anyhow, I actually listened to the music of TSB. I was struck by how good it was musically. I knew Al was funny. I had no idea he and the boys were so talented. I was intrigued. So, of course, I started WAY surfing. A lot. What finally made me a fan, was when I saw how he interacted with his fans. How nice he was, how warm and generous with his time. Now, I was a fan. And I wanted to talk about him.
Once again, Google came to the rescue, and I found this forum. (Thankfully, I missed the early days of the drama with he who shall not be mentioned.) My first post.
As a newbie fan, I was super excited to find and acquire all sorts of new stuff. I called them WAY Safaris. Ah, the memories....
For my 2727th post, I tried to do something special. My one and (thankfully) only parody.
Some time in Spring 2003, WHiZZi asked Elvis and me if we wanted to be mods. Well... yeah! (I tried to find the announcement post, but the search function on the new forum software doesn't like me. Which is fine, because I don't like it much, either.)
My first show, San Luis Obispo, June 22, 2003. It a great concert. I have a happy, hazy, memory of turning to OE and saying "He's much better looking in person!" the first time I saw Al. (AIH commencing...) and the rest of the actual concert is a haze. I also have some really fun memories of that whole weekend: Meeting Helen, Vikki, Jordan, Dave and his tattoos, Cid, Kevin, Tony Goldmark and his sister and mother. We got to see the Bathroom of Future Fame, the original radio station where Al started, Bubble Gum Alley, and the bathrooms at the Madonna. Oh, yeah... the coffee house where Al used to sing and the school of Architecture.
But apparently, I never got around to reviewing the concert. I guess I was just overwhelmed by the whole weekend to process it all. I did share pics in the first drool topic.
September 9, 2003. A day that will live in infamy. It was my first time meeting Al Here's my full review, (with pics!) apologies in advance for the pop-up ads.
Next show? Portland, Oregon. Another show that I got to hang with some Al fans. Helen, Vikki and her aunt Claudia were coming up from Cali for a mini-tourchase. I was also going to meet Nate aka Driew. I got there before everyone else, and had time to kill. So I walked down to the venue. The bus was there! The bus was there! The bus was there! I was so excited, I just had to share the moment with someone who would understand, so I called Dave. What? You guys don't call a tattooed guy in New Jersey to report your WAY whereabouts?
OE and I had crappy, yet very expensive, internet access at the hotel, so we checked in briefly to give you all a mini review. Driew got home before we had good internet access, so he gave a review first. He did a great job on the review, I only had to make a small addition to Driew's review.
Portland Pics
Then it was on to the next venue, Eugene! Checking in with Dave again, for the benefit of those playing along at home.
Eugene Pics
My review.
As you can see, over the years, I've made some wonderful friends, had some fun memories and shared it all with you. My friends at WOWAY. Thanks for the ride, it's been a blast!
Congrats! 
