Wandering through the past with Weird Al

My original Weird Al cassettes. Missing from this photo is WEIRD AL YANKOVIC IN 3-D. I’m pretty sure it’s down there in those bins, but I couldn’t find it. Now that I think about it, I also have ALAPALOOZA. I didn’t see that one down there either.

It’s been said that smell is the strongest of the human senses in terms of its connection to memory; that a smell can bring back a person, place, or emotion more effectively than any of the other senses.

But I’d argue that music is right up there with smell in terms of evoking certain memories. How many times have you heard a song and thought, “oh man, every time I hear this I think of [insert memory here]”?

While my mother was a musical person (this is really an understatement since music was her career), she was also very careful about what kinds of music she’d let her kids listen to. We were pretty much relegated to show tunes, orchestral and choir pieces, film scores, and the Maranatha! brand of Christian music that was on the rise in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Anything outside of that—and especially secular rock music—was pretty much a “no-no.”

This doesn’t mean, though, that we kids didn’t find clever ways to get everything from Madonna to Def Leppard into the house. We used to put the stuff on cassettes and give it some moral-sounding label, like “Children’s Hymns.” No one had any idea.

Until one of our babysitters gave us the cassette Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D and someone didn’t hide it well.

My original Weird Al cassettes. Missing from this photo is WEIRD AL YANKOVIC IN 3-D. I’m pretty sure it’s down there in those bins, but I couldn’t find it.

Somehow—perhaps it was because I was the oldest—I was the one that was responsible for smoothing the waters. I explained to her that this was funny; that it was completely innocent because it made fun of modern songs. She not only bought it, she was open to listening to it.

To my surprise, she enjoyed the album. What shocked me most was that her favorite song was “Nature Trail to Hell”; the tune not only had the word ‘hell’ in it, it was pretty graphic in skewering the gory slasher movie phenomenon that was all the rage in the mid-1980s.

There was some kind of irony in that, I thought. The least innocent song on the album turned out to be the one she not only heralded as the most humorous, she made me put it on in the car everywhere we went. The memories of those quick trips to the pharmacy, bank, or grocery store remain some of the strongest of my mother—probably because of that song.

As years went on, Weird Al remained a part of my life. “Yoda” championed my days on the Honor Society with my friend Susie Brush. “UHF” was that song I blasted on the highway back and forth between my early days at the University of Rhode Island and home. “Jurassic Park” was with me when I lived in Narragansett and waitressed at the now-abandoned Larchwood Inn, “She Drives Like Crazy” was my summers on the lake, and “Skipper Dan” was the theme for serving as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding.

When I met my husband Nathan, I discovered he was a huge fan of Weird Al as well. I was over the moon when I was able to get tickets to the Connecticut stop on his Strings Attached tour, and we had a blast creating new memories with old songs.

The final moment of Al’s performance on the Strings Attached tour featured a confetti cannon. I love this shot! Nathan took it.

Our getaway to the Weird Al Strings Attached tour

For information and a review of the concert itself, visit here: https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2019/07/08/Weird-Al-Yankovic-benedum-center-strings-attached-tour-review/stories/201907080068

Our car is packed and ready to go!

A start-the-road-trip photo of Nathan and I.

The Hilton Garden Inn in Preston, CT. It’s just about a mile from Foxwoods, is convenient to get to, and has the most on-time shuttle service I’ve ever seen. I usually take crappy photos of buildings, but I took this one and I think it’s actually good enough to be on a brochure! I’m very proud of myself.

We had a drive that was a bit longer than it should have been, but you know, it’s Connecticut, and the traffic here is always gridlocked for no reason (which is why you shouldn’t drive through it if you can avoid it. You can never get anywhere in a timely fashion around here). SO…even though we listened to our favorite Weird Al songs on the road, it was definitely time to crash!

Our room number. I always photograph the room number so I remember it, because sometimes I’ve booked again at the same hotel and gotten the same room. It’s nice to know!

A pre-concert cocktail–and always refreshing after a dip in the pool.

Nathan and I in the bar having dinner before the concert.

The garlic parmesan fries were fantastic, and they were very accommodating when I asked for melted butter!

Nathan and I on the hotel shuttle to Foxwoods. We’ve stayed a few places that have shuttles to various attractions. By far, this is the most prompt and reliable service we’ve ever experienced.

Foxwoods Grand Theatre view from Orchestra Left Row P

Our seats were in Orchestra left Row P, and it was a great view. We were also very surprised to find out we were sitting in a section with cup holders and a cocktail server.

For some reason I just really wanted a photo of us on this plastic cow, which is a photo opp spot at Foxwoods. Kinda weird, but whatever.

We were done by about one in the morning. That’s pretty good for a couple of old timers who were up at 6 a.m.

When we woke up the next morning, we were treated to lots of cool stuff on TV about the anniversary of the moon landing! (When we arrived home, we spent the rest of the day doing nothing but watching HBO’s miniseries FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON). There was something very magical about this.

Nathan stalks birds on the hotel property. There were a bunch of barn swallows with nests about.

Pool selfie -- Hilton Garden Inn Preston CT

While Nathan was birding, I enjoyed the pool.

Here’s a list of my top favorite Weird Al songs (and a couple of my husband’s favorites, too!) and where you can listen to them on Weird Al’s official YouTube channel.

“The Brady Bunch”

(Parody of “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats)