Wednesday, July 16, 2014

think of me, think of me fondly

Unless you spent yesterday enjoying the quiet peace of some remote monastery tucked away in the Alps, far from the reaches of internet of any sort...you probably saw this:


Weird Al (um yeah, totally didn't realize he was still around...) released a new song parody. To the tune of Blurred Lines, arguably one of the catchiest and most offensive songs of this decade, Weird Al gives us Word Crimes, a diatribe against the most offensive and pervasive grammar mistakes of our generation.

It. Is. Hilarious.

What makes it even better is how I 'discovered' it. Here I am, minding my own business, going about my work day...and suddenly I had notifications popping up EVERYWHERE. My phone was dinging with texts, my Facebook and Twitter apps had red flag notifications...I thought surely some sort of life-changing event was happening. Like you know how when there's something terrible that happens in some random city, say...wildfires or something. You see it on the news and you suddenly think of that girl you knew in high school that you're pretty sure lives in that city (or maybe it's just the state...or region...?? it's not like you've talked to her in 10 years anyway, you just remember seeing something on Facebook once...) and you're compelled to look her up and make sure she's okay?? I thought something like that might have happened in Athens, causing people to suddenly need to contact me via all methods of social media to make sure I was okay.

Turns out that wasn't it. It was that a snarky grammar video went viral and apparently people who know me well know that if there's anything I like, it's someone telling the truth about grammar (especially if it's funny). Just like the Grinch, I felt my small heart grow three sizes as people thought of me and shared the joy of the video with me. 

As awesome as the video is, I still fear that the people that need to be watching it (and taking copious notes) probably aren't. This is probably the kind of thing that only appeals to people who already love grammar and know how to properly use it's and literally. But that's okay. It's nice to have something new to rally around. It's also nice to have a much-less-offensive version of Blurred Lines to add to my workout playlist. The 'real' song is so perfect for running...and yet so wrong. So this new version perfectly mimics the beat and feel of the original, while changing out all of the offensiveness for humor...nicely done, Weird Al. High five.

PS. Bonus points if you catch the reference in the title. Just doing my part to keep the dementia at bay!

16 comments:

  1. I think the "demetia" is already sneaking up on you! :) And Phantom was the first Broadway musical I ever saw. My parents took me for my birthday one year and I LOVED it!

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    1. DANGIT. We're going to call that a 'typo' because obviously I would never make a spelling or grammar mistake ON MY OWN BLOG TALKING ABOUT GRAMMAR...sheeeesh.

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    2. I just watched this and the first words out of Dave's mouth were, "Has Erika seen this?" Even our husbands are thinking of you. (I was going to add "fondly" to play off your title but then it just sounded way wrong! Hahaha!!!)

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  2. This has you written all over it!! Too funny! I didn't see this one yesterday but I did see his version of Happy called Tacky, that was cute as well.

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  3. I saw this video this morning when one of my teacher friends tagged me in it on Facebook. I immediately cruised over here to give you a link to it in a comment on your most recent blog post (whatever its topic might have been). Lo and behold, you had already discovered the video!

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  4. I love this!! I am totally playing this for my students when school starts back.

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  5. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!

    And now I'm going to watch the video because even though I DID see it all over the place yesterday, I neglected to watch it...

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  6. I've seen this on facebook a ton and hadn't watched it, but now that you posted it I felt compelled, it is actually really funny and now I get why all of my teacher friends are posting it. I also loved your Battle Hymn video on facebook yesterday...your youtube recommendations are on point!

    Love the title! Now I need to find phantom of the opera online to watch, it's been too long!

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  7. Phantom reference! And now that song will be stuck in my head all day.

    Loved the video, and if I still had a myspace page, this would totally be my background song!

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  8. This is the FIRST time I have seen or heard of this new fantastic song. Apparently, I am not friends with the cool kids on social media. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Phantom of the Opera reference! I haven't seen this one yet but I kept hearing about his other new song, Tacky, yesterday.

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  10. Sorry to panic you! I always forget you're on East Coast time so what's new to me is old news in Athens :) Hey, what happens 3 hours from now, future girl?

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  11. That song is SO freakin catchy.... catchy AND hilarious?

    Win. (for weird al? I never thought I'd say that.)

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  12. Haha glad I was one of many to think of you when I first heard it!!! :)

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  13. Ok, so I teach a night class at Concordia University in Portland and it's on English Language Acquisition and a student totally showed this tonight in class and I instantly thought "ERIKA!" It was pretty funny and I found myself guilty of many things. Sigh.

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  14. I saw this and immediately thought of you - especially for the oxford comma (or whatever the official title is). :)

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