Video of the Year

Video of the Year goes to that "Weird Al" Yankovic parody of a rap song in which Al puts on a gangsta persona and boasts of his hardcore computing skills, featuring cameos by a couple of nerd icons.


Oh, did I mention the year in question is 1999?

Way before "White and Nerdy," his take on Chamillionaire's "Ridin'," Al covered similar ground with his parody of Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins." (Tangential poll: Sean "Puff Daddy"/"P. Diddy" Combs is the weakest, blandest, most undeservedly popular rapper ever. True, or Very True?) Replace "White and Nerdy"'s Seth Green and Donny Osmond with Emo Philips and Drew Carey, and you've got "It's All About the Pentiums." An equally funny song and video, which unfortunately happened to fall in that fallow period between "Amish Paradise" and "White and Nerdy," when the mainstream forgot Al existed. I'm starting the retrospective here: those of you who only know him from his inexplicably (but fantastically) huge hit single should check out some of his fairly recent, overlooked work. "Weird Al" rules!

In other news*: I'm home! And apparently have nothing better to do on New Year's Eve than post to my blog!

Regular blogging hopefully to resume soon, if not immediately, possibly including Top Ten lists of 2006's best movies (according to the tremendously small sampling I was able to watch) and television. Plus a must-see, set-your-VCRs-and-TiVos TV alert for later this week!! (Hint, hint.)

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*TM Jeremiah.