That most excellent of pop-culture icons, St. Al of the Weird, is set to media-blitz us all during the upcoming holiday season. Read along, and prepare for annihilation. Here's the release, due in the press tomorrow:

"WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC TAKES OVER THE TUBE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
Concert Special Debuts on VH1 Nov. 20, Concert Home Video Release Nov.
23,
ALTV 2K Debuts on MTV Dec. 4

Pop satirist/director/actor/performer and two-time Grammy-winning
recording artist "Weird Al" Yankovic will rule the airwaves this holiday
season with a slew of TV specials, the release of a new home video and a
Web chat.

The onslaught begins on Saturday, November 20 on VH1 when Al hosts the
channel's annual "Fairway To Heaven" event. Taped in Las Vegas, the
3-hour special revolves around a golf tournament in which rockers,
celebrities and pro golfers tee up for charity, along with a "Top 18
Countdown" of the week's most popular videos. Participating celebs
include Alice Cooper, David Cassidy, the Backstreet Boys, Greg Kinnear,
and Joe Pesci. In addition to his antics on the links, Weird Al also
presents the day's programming, including a special edition of "Karaoke"
(2) and "The Sexiest Videos of the 90's."

The Al-dominated program block culminates at 10 pm EST/PST (a sneek
preview airs earlier in the day) with the premiere of "WEIRD AL
YANKOVIC - LIVE!", a one-hour concert special taped last month in San
Rafael, California during Al's current North American tour in support of
his new album, "Running With Scissors" (Way Moby/Volcano/Zomba). The
special includes performances of Weird Al's biggest hits, including his
parodies of Michael Jackson (Fat), Nirvana (Smells Like Nirvana) and
Coolio (Amish Paradise), along with two recent hits from the new
album, "The Saga Begins" (his Star Wars-based epic to the tune of
"American Pie") and his Puff Daddy parody "It's All About The
Pentiums". The live show is a multimedia extravaganza that includes
elaborate costume changes and of course his very talented band of 18
years: Jim West on guitar, Steve Jay on bass, Ruben Valtierra on
keyboards, and Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz on drums.

Hot on the heels of the VH1 special, Volcano will release on November 23
the full home video version of the concert, including many songs not
seen in the broadcast. "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC -LIVE!, the home video, also
includes as bonus tracks the music videos for "The Saga Begins" and
"It's All About The Pentiums". The "Pentiums" clip features hilarious
cameos by Al's pals Drew Carey and Emo Philips. The release of the
video marks the first time in Weird Al's 20-year career that his live
concert experience has been made available on tape.

Weird Al‚s storming of the music video channels continues on Saturday,
December 4 at 4 pm EST/PST with the premiere of ALTV 2K. This 2-hour
special continues Al's long tradition with MTV where he uses his pirate
satellite transmitter to take over the channel's airwaves. Al plays the
videos that he likes to watch, alongside his featured interviews with
major music stars, mock contests, promotions, commercials, and assorted
surprises, not to mention a special appearance by his best friend in the
whole world, "Harvey The Wonder Hamster".

ALTV 2K will be repeated on MTV throughout December, while WEIRD AL
LIVE! will repeat on VH1 through March of 2000.

For those who can‚t wait for Al to hit the airwaves, he‚ll be visiting
the World Wide Web for an on-line chat at Yahoo! (www.chat.yahoo!.com)
on Tuesday, November 16 from 7 - 8 pm EST. Visitors to the chat will be
able to see both the text of the chat, and hear Al live.

Rock on, Mr. Yankovic. What do you think, readers, could this press release possibly sweat Weird Al any more?

Hasta El Paraiso Amish,

El Cosmico

mail me at:elcosmico@austin.rr.com