Free “Weird Al” Yankovic!

NPR has an interesting story about “Weird Al” Yankovic’s attempts to parody James Blunt’s song You’re Beautiful on an upcoming album:

In a career spanning more than 25 years, pop-music parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic hasn’t exactly ranked among the music business’ fiercest iconoclasts: He doesn’t release his song parodies without the consent of the artists being parodied, and he’s rarely used the Internet as more than a tool to promote his projects and connect with his fans. But a music label’s efforts to block a (relatively tame) parody of James Blunt’s ubiquitous hit You’re Beautiful has Yankovic fighting back publicly, and using his Web site as a tool to do so.

Although Yankovic supposedly got an OK from James Blunt, Atlantic Records, Blunt’s record label, refused to give its permission. Rather than get his own record label involved in a pissing match, Weird Al is taking the high road and releasing the song to the masses on his official web site as as a free, DRM-less MP3. Go Al!

Best Anti-419 Scam Ever

By now, I’m sure you’ve come across a 419 scam in your e-mail inbox. If not, you’re quite lucky. I’ve come across a couple of sites documenting instances where people struck back by duping the scammers, but none as original and entertaining as this one by 419 Eater, who posed as an art dealer and managed to get the scammer to carve a full-size replica of a Commodore 64. Definitely worth the read… 🙂

Amanda UnBoomed

For those of you who aren’t regular Rocketboom viewers, Amanda Congdon, the star of the vlog (video log) will no longer be the star. Why this happened is a bit unclear, although obviously there has been some kind of fallout between Andrew Baron and Amanda Congdon, 51% and 49%, respectively, partners in Rocketboom.

I first found out about this in a video post at her new vlog, Amanda UnBoomed. However, there is a somewhat different story on the front page of Rocketboom. <!–Amanda Congdon has decided to move to L.A. to pursue opportunities that have arisen for her in Hollywood.

We wanted to meet her demands to move production out to L.A., however, we are a small company and have not been able to figure out a way to make it work, financially and in many other ways at this time. While we continue to remain with open arms, Amanda has in fact quit and left Rocketboom. So sadly, we bid Amanda adieu and wish her all the best.

Rocketboom goes on.

Andrew Baron, the founder and creator of Rocketboom, will stay with the company in New York and will continue to produce and direct the show. We are in the daunting process of recruiting a replacement for Amanda.

While Amanda will be sorely missed, we have big plans for Rocketboom and are determined to make the show better than ever.

After Field Week and a week on hiatus, we know that you are hungry for the news! Rocketboom will be back with a news episode and an interim host this MONDAY, JULY 10.–>Amanda responded on Unboomed, posting her chronology of events and some correspondence between herself and Baron. Although I tend to side with her, it’s too much of a mess to be sure.

In any case, Rocketboom will not be the same without Amanda Congdon, which I hope Andrew Baron realizes. Hopefully, Unboomed will continue in the entertaining, informative tradition of Rocketboom, and I look forward to seeing it. In the meantime, you can always check out the Rocketboom Archives for your fix of Amanda.