SOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-Mandatory Fun #1 (2014).
So, yeah I’ve spent the last few weeks talking about the songs from Mandatory Fun. What could I possibly have left to say?
Well, only that I think it’s pretty awesome that Al’s viral campaign worked and that his album made it to #1 on the Billboard charts. (Of course, I have my disclaimer that I really don’t care about charts and usually have no idea what is number one, but I’m always pleased when a band I like can get that honor). I think it’s pretty cool that he’s been doing this forever (and I’ve liked him since “Another One Rides the Bus”), and that he is not only still successful, but is even more successful than ever.
I’ve also enjoyed seeing him all over the media lately. It’s interesting to see how smartly he deals with stupid interviewers and how much he enjoys the intelligent interviewers. I met Al once and he was a very nice person (as far as celebrities go). He seems to genuinely appreciate his fans, and so I’m glad he’s collecting more fans.
Clearly, the album sales will plummet after this #1 accomplishment (it’s not like people are going to start buying the album as if they were unfamiliar with it), but while it lasted, it was pretty cool. And this scene on the Tom Green Show (who even knew he had another show?) when he was presented with this plaque was quite touching.
[READ: July 29, 2014] Meanwhile
This book is like a culmination of cleverness from Jason Shiga. As the cover states: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities. And while I did not count them all, I did run through all the possibilities. And it is a crazy, time bending, mind-swapping fun ride.
And is it really a choose your own adventure? Indeed it is. Each page has a tab and each panel in each cartoon has a tube. The tube runs from one panel to another, sometimes going to a tab so you go to another page. The author’s note at the beginning of the book says it began as a series of 7 increasingly complex flowcharts, then he used an algorithm to determine the most efficient way to make each story line. And wow, what a doozy.
The story starts simply enough with the main character getting an ice cream. And your choices are chocolate or vanilla. The choices lead down a series of deepening paths, bringing you to a scientist who has created the Killitron 2000 (which does what it says), the SQUID (which transfers memories between people) and a time machine. As you can imagine each of these thing leads to very different results.
And as Jimmy (you) explores these different options, you transfer memories with other people or you go back in time–maybe you run into yourself and call yourself an idiot. Maybe you try to convince yourself not to eat the ice cream at all. Maybe you see yourself being born! Who knows what could happen.
Well, since it is the mind if Shiga, most of the time you eventually destroy the world. But occasionally something different happens. You may even discover…well, I won’t give it away.
As with Shiga’s other books, the cartoons are funny and simple–I love his round, wide-eyed drawing style. And the over all tone is pretty dark. But it is really quite a fun experiment. And be sure to look for the secret page in the middle with the very cool and exciting drawing.
My book came with a duplicate page and with a book like this its hard to know if it was intentional or not, but I assume not (and yes I checked very carefully to make sure it was a duplicate).
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