How I Became the Alpha Nerd

Well, a few weeks ago, my friend Dean casually mentioned that "Weird Al" Yankovic was playing a show at the Puyallup Fair (word from his wife to my wife is that this was actually premediated months ago). Being an Al fan from way back (and one who still feels compelled to buy each new album he releases) and a veteran of a previous, really-fun "Weird Al" show in Portland, I agreed that I thought it would be a great time and we should go. I made a couple calls and got my old friend Phil (who lives in Puyallup) in on the trip as well as our friend Mike, who Dean and I work with in the Scouts (and who also very much loves Al). Throwing some funds to Ticketmaster generated 4 tickets together in the 31st row, and we all worked it out with our schedules to meet up around 3:30 PM. We three piled in my beloved GTI and had little fuss from traffic on the way up. Dean's wife even sent snacks along. Other than spilled cashews, the trip was accident-free. And, in a bold bid at gaining the status of Alpha Nerd, Dean whipped out his laptop on the way up and educated us (using a Powerpoint presentation) on the history and varieties of the mullet. Also, he brought his GPS. But as you will see, I will also make a bold stab at Alpha Nerd status later in the evening.


Although some of you out on the blogosphere will cringe, the sheer lack of nutrition in our pre-concert fair meal begged a photo. Whether or not it was related to my fish sandwich (putting Al's song "Dare to be Stupid" in action . . .), my guts heartily rebelled a day or two later.


So here's the view from the 31st row. Thanks to Dean's educational material, I would say the guy on the left is alllllmost committing to the mullet. I'm also happy to say that I'm proud to have caught Al's accordion-playing action on the big screen.


Here's Dean (and Phil's ear just behind him). Look how packed the place was! There were probably 50 times as many people at this show as there were when I saw Al at the Roseland Theater in Portland. I guess that's what happens when you have a big hit like "White and Nerdy" (which you can see the video for here.) I could believe this is true because I was surprised how many people around me were laughing at the lyrics for his other songs like they'd never heard them before . . .


Feelin' the joy that only "Weird Al" can bring. So, it wasn't too long after this picture that I'd say I made my bid for Alpha Nerd. One thing Al likes to do is make "interviews" where he'll pose questions to a celebrity that he isn't really in the room with (with often hilarious results, of course). So, one of these conversations with with Michael Stipe, from REM, who Al asked for some song lyrics. Michael replied something like, "Everybody's got a cell phone; it's no big deal" and Al put it to music. So eventually, the show (which ran from about 7:30 to 10) ended and we all cheered enough for an encore. Al and his band re-emerged and he said he knew the song we were all wanting to hear. He then launched into his "Everybody's got a cell phone . . ." song and had us all get our phones out and wave them in the air. It was precious and magical to look around. :-) So, as I'm doing the waving as Al ordered, a lady in front of me turned and excitedly said, "Is that an iPhone?" I said it was and let her touch it and she was really stoked and told her husband. At this moment, having the coolest technology in a sea of nerdery, I became the Alpha Nerd.