“Weird Al” Yankovic Should Not be Any School’s Most Famous Alum
With all due respect to a trio of astronauts, some state senators, Ozzie Smith, John Madden, the guy who drove the car that killed James Dean and Chuck Liddell, who is apparently famous but I am not quite sure why, Cal Poly’s most famous alumni might just be “Weird Al” Yankovic.
As a product of the 1980’s, I know my fair share of Weird Al songs. And like most products of the 80’s, I stopped listening to Weird Al in 1989. However, I have modeled my life after Stanly Spadowski and even right now I suddenly have the urge to mop something. And I always dream of opening my very own Spatula City every time I drive by an empty commercial building. But there is one thing out there that turns Weird Al from an occasionally amusing individual in small doses to a brilliant song writer…and that thing is “Yoda.” Lola to Cola, Yoda to Soda…genius. I may be the exception here, but being a much bigger fan of the Kinks than of Star Wars, I actually had to watch Star Wars (one of those really old ones kids, before that annoying weird thing was around) again to really appreciate the intricate lyrical genius of the song.
Listen to “Lola” by the Kinks, watch Star Wars episode four or five or something and then watch this YouTube video of Weird Al’s Yoda…Lego style. Why Legos? I have no idea, but it seems appropriate when reminiscing about the 80’s. But back in the 80’s we didn’t have Legos that fancy, but one must give credit to the effort that must have went into that YouTube video. Three and a half million viewers can’t be wrong.
If we are lucky, Cal Poly can get to the NCAA Tournament, upset a 15 seed and then we can talk about that in the future instead of Weird Al. In retrospect, discussing the Mustangs success in other sports, most notably football and baseball would have been more applicable, but you can’t go wrong with Weird Al, the Kinks, Star Wars and Legos in one video and story. There is something for everyone.
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