Briefs are a type of short, tight underwear and swimwear, as opposed to styles where the material extends down the legs.

In the case of men's underwear, briefs, unlike boxer shorts, hold the wearer's genitals in a relatively fixed position, which make briefs a popular underwear choice for men who are participating in athletic activities or who feel they need more support than loose-fitting underwear can provide. In addition, boxers often ride up the body when the wearer is running.

Briefs often feature a fly - a covered opening on the front of the garment which allows for convenience at urinals. There are several different fly designs in common use, including but not limited to the standard vertical fly, the horizontal fly, and the y-front fly. The use of a fly is optional, and many styles do not utilize a fly at all.

Traditional size briefs for both sexes cover the upper part of the thigh and extend upward up to the navel. This style is often referred to as "full rise" or "full cut". There are also "low rise" and "mid rise" styles whose measurements vary between manufacturers.

History

Briefs were first sold on January 19, 1935 by Coopers, Inc., in Chicago, Illinois. They dubbed the new undergarment the "Jockey" because it offered a similar degree of support as the jockstrap (one style of which is also called Jock brief or Support briefs). Thirty-thousand pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. In North America, "Jockey shorts" or "Jockeys" is often used as a generic term for men's briefs.

In the UK, briefs were first sold in 1938. Soon, shops were selling 3,000 briefs per week. They were so popular that in 1948, every member of the British Olympic team was given a free pair of briefs.

In Britain, the term "jockeys" has not caught on and briefs are often referred to as "Y-fronts". The term derives from the inverted Y-shape formed by the seams at the front of the underpants which purports to allow easy access to the penis for urination. The colloquialism is used even when the fly opening may differ in style, and not actually form the shape of the inverted letter "Y" fly on Cooper Jockey brand briefs.

In Australia, briefs are referred to as "jocks", but should not be confused with jockstraps (more specifically used by athletes) which expose the buttocks. Australians generally use the word briefs to refer to the bikini-style underwear for men, which do not have the Y-front opening.

In the United States, a slang term for briefs is "tighty-whiteys". This is due to their being tighter than boxer shorts, and generally white in color. It was originally meant to be degrading, but it is no longer considered a condescending remark, as many brief wearers also refer to them by this slang term.

In recent years, a hybrid called boxer briefs has become popular. Like boxers, they have short legs, but like briefs, they are made of elastic, snug-fitting material. A shorter version of boxer briefs are called trunks.

Other languages

In various continental European languages, such as Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek and Polish, briefs are not called by a word indicating shortness, but rather by the English word slip, which in American English is rather used for a type of lingerie. However, in Canadian French, the word bobettes is used instead of the International French.

Women's briefs

wears a costume with attached briefs under the skirt]] Briefs also refers to a style of women's and girls' panties that is typically cut with a high waist to provide full coverage of the hips and buttocks. A control brief is a kind of high-waisted panty girdle. French-cut or high-cut briefs expose more of the front part of the thigh, while boy briefs have short legs, similar to men's boxer briefs, often combined with a lower waist.

Briefs is also the name given to costumed outerwear worn by female dancers and athletes in sports such as cheerleading, figure skating, and tennis. These briefs are typically worn under a short skirt; they may be attached to the skirt or dress body, or a separate garment ("cheer briefs").

Briefs and fertility

Tight briefs have been blamed for negatively affecting the sperm count, since they may interfere with the cooling of the testes. However, not all research has come to the same conclusion. A study in the October 1998 Journal of Urology, for example, concluded that underwear type is unlikely to have a significant effect on male fertility. There is a reduction in living sperm due to heat, but healthy sperm output is not affected.

References

External links

History of Men's Underwear, from Internationaljock.com

Category:Underwear

Name	"Weird Al" Yankovic
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Alfred Matthew Yankovic
Alias	"Weird Al" Yankovic
Born	October 23, 1959 born October 23, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he had sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007), recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and has performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him three Grammy Awards among nine nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the United States. Yankovic's first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single ("White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career.

For the Poodle Hat Al TV special, Yankovic raised the question of artistic expression in a fake interview with Eminem. As Yankovic has always done for his Al TV specials, he edited the footage of a previous Eminem interview and inserted himself asking questions for comic effect.

Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers expressed disappointment of Yankovic's parody of "Under the Bridge" and "Give it Away" called "Bedrock Anthem", saying that while he "[likes] Weird Al and everything", he "didn't think it was very good".

Refused parodies

On numerous occasions, Prince has refused Yankovic permission to record parodies of his songs. Yankovic has stated in interviews that he has "approached him every few years [to] see if he's lightened up." Yankovic related one story where, prior to the American Music Awards where he and Prince were assigned to sit in the same row, Yankovic got a telegram from Prince's lawyers, demanding he not make eye contact with the artist. Yankovic was, however, allowed the very rare opportunity to re-record a sample of "Black Dog" for a segment of "Trapped in the Drive-Thru".

Paul McCartney, also a Yankovic fan, refused Yankovic permission to record a parody of Wings' "Live and Let Die", entitled "Chicken Pot Pie", because McCartney is a vegetarian and found the parody to be in bad taste.

In 2006, Yankovic gained James Blunt's permission to record a parody of "You're Beautiful". However, after Yankovic had recorded "You're Pitiful", Blunt's label, Atlantic Records, rescinded this permission, despite Blunt's personal approval of the song.

Live performances

", on August 8, 2007, at the Ohio State Fair.]]

Yankovic often describes his live concert performances as "a rock and comedy multimedia extravaganza" with an audience that "ranges from toddlers to geriatrics." For legal reasons, video clips (apart from those for Yankovic's own music videos) could not be shown for the home release, and unreleased parodies were removed from the parody medley for the performance.

2003 saw Yankovic on tour overseas for the first time. Before 2003, Yankovic and his band had toured only the United States and parts of Canada. Yankovic returned to Australia and toured New Zealand for the first time in 2007 to support the Straight Outta Lynwood album.

On September 8, 2007, Yankovic performed his 1,000th live show at Idaho Falls, Idaho. However, it was unsuccessful in theaters.

The film has since become a cult classic, with out-of-print copies of the VHS version selling for up to $100 on eBay until the release of the DVD in 2002. Yankovic occasionally shows clips from the film at his concerts (to which MGM, the film's current owner, initially objected in the form of a cease and desist letter). In an apparent attempt to make it more accessible to overseas audiences, where the term UHF is used less frequently to describe TV broadcasts, the film was titled The Vidiot From UHF in Australia and parts of Europe.

UHF shows the creation of Yankovic's signature food—the Twinkie Wiener Sandwich. The snack consists of an overturned Twinkie split open as a makeshift bun, a hot dog, and Easy Cheese put together and dipped in milk before eating. Yankovic has stated that he has switched to using tofu hot dogs since becoming a vegetarian, but still enjoys the occasional Twinkie Wiener Sandwich.

Notable television appearances

Yankovic had a TV series called The Weird Al Show, which aired from September 1997 to December 1997 on CBS. Though the show appeared to be geared at children, the humor was really more for his adult fans (as such, it is often compared to Pee-wee's Playhouse). The entire series was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on August 15, 2006.

Yankovic has hosted Al TV on MTV and Al Music on MuchMusic many times, generally coinciding with the release of each new album. For Poodle Hat, Al TV appeared on VH1 for the first time. A recurring segment of Al TV involves Yankovic manipulating interviews for comic effect. He inserts himself into a previously conducted interview with a musician, and then manipulates his questions, resulting in bizarre and comic responses from the celebrity.

VH1 produced a Behind the Music episode on Yankovic. His two commercial failures (his film UHF and his 1986 album Polka Party!) were presented as having a larger impact on the direction of his career than they really had. Also, Coolio's later disapproval of "Amish Paradise" was played up as a large feud. Much was also made over his apparent lack of a love life, though he got married shortly after the program aired.

Yankovic has done voice-overs for a number of animated series. He appeared in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons, singing "The Ballad of Homer & Marge" (a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane") with his band. The episode, "Three Gays of the Condo", in which Marge hires Yankovic to sing the aforementioned song to Homer in an attempt to reconcile their marriage, later won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)". Yankovic also had a cameo in a 2008 episode, entitled "That 90's Show", during which he records a parody of Homer's grunge hit "Shave Me" entitled "Brain Freeze" (Homer's song, "Shave Me", was itself a parody of Nirvana's "Rape Me") making Yankovic one of only a handful of celebrities to appear twice on the show playing themselves. He has had one notable appearance in the animated Adult Swim show Robot Chicken voicing a kid who becomes a giant robot. The episode also featured Al's music video, "Weasel Stomping Day". Yankovic is the voice for Squid Hat on the Cartoon Network show, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. He is also the announcer of the cartoon's eponymous video game adaptation. Yankovic had a guest appearance voicing Wreck-Gar, a waste collection vehicle Transformer in the cartoon series; previously, Yankovic's "Dare to Be Stupid" song was featured in the 1986 animated film , during the sequence in which the Wreck-Gar character was first introduced; as such, the song is referenced in the episode. He also plays local TV talent show host Uncle Muscles on several episodes of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job along with other appearances on the show. Weird Al has also supplied the voice of one-shot character 'Petroleum Joe' on The Brak Show. He also voiced himself on a Back at the Barnyard episode.

An exhaustive list of television shows on which Yankovic has appeared is available on his official website.

Directing career

"Weird Al" Yankovic has directed many of his own music videos; he has directed all of his music videos from 1993’s "Bedrock Anthem" to his latest, 2006’s "White & Nerdy". He also directed the end sequence of 1986’s "Christmas at Ground Zero" (an original piece juxtaposing Christmas with nuclear warfare) from his Polka Party! album and the title sequence to Spy Hard, for which he sang the title song. Yankovic wrote, directed and starred in the short 3-D movie attraction "Al's Brain: A 3-D Journey Through The Human Brain", which premiered at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California in 2009. The $2.5 million project sponsored by the Orange County Fair, including a brief cameo by Sir Paul McCartney that Yankovic directed during McCartney's tour at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Fair CEO Steve Beazley, who supported the project, considers the project a success and is considering leasing the exhibit to other fairs; the second appearance of the exhibit will be at the Puyallup Fair in Washington.

In addition to his own, he has directed several videos for Hanson (the Titanic sequences in "River"), The Black Crowes ("Only a Fool"), Ben Folds ("Rockin' the Suburbs"), Jeff Foxworthy ("Redneck Stomp" and "Party All Night"), Blues Explosion ("Wail"), and The Presidents of the United States of America ("Mixed Up S.O.B"). Although Yankovic previously wrote the script for UHF, this was to be the first movie Yankovic directed.

Writing

Yankovic wrote When I Grow Up (ISBN 0-06-192691-4), a children's book released on February 1, 2011 and published by HarperCollins. The book features 8-year-old Billy presenting to his class the wide variety of imaginative career possibilities that he is considering. Yankovic stated that the idea for the book was based on his own "circuitous" career path. The book allows Yankovic to apply the humorous writing style found in his music in another medium, allowing him to use puns and rhymes.

Other media

In 2008, Weird Al joined Michael J. Nelson as a guest on the RiffTrax treatment of Jurassic Park.

On November 10, 2009, Weird Al was a guest "internet scientist" on Rocketboom's "Know Your Meme" video series, in the installment on the topic of Autotune, hosted by Jamie Wilkinson.

Eric Appel produced a Funny or Die movie trailer for "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story", a fictional biographical film that parodies other films based on musicians; Yankovic (played by Aaron Paul) is seen hiding his "weirdness" from his parents (Gary Cole and Mary Steenburgen), making it big using song parodies with the help of Dr. Demento (Patton Oswalt), falling in and out of love with Madonna (Olivia Wilde), and fading into alcoholism and being arrested, where his father finally admits he is "weird" as well. Yankovic himself plays a music producer in the short.

Weird Al joined the band Hanson in their music video for "Thinking Bout Somethin" in which he plays the tambourine.

Yankovic contributes backing vocals for the song "Time" on Ben Folds' album Songs for Silverman.

Yankovic also appeared in the recent Halloween II as himself on a news channel.

Yankovic was also one of many celebrities who took part in the NOH8 Campaign against Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California.

Yankovic was approached by a beer company to endorse their product. Yankovic had turned it down because he believed that "a lot of my fans were young and impressionable." Yankovic later posted on his Twitter account that he never regretted the decision.

Misattribution and imitators

PRO, showing a large number of parodies misattributed to Yankovic, as well as numerous misspellings of his surname. ()]] Songs posted to file sharing networks are often misattributed to him due to their humorous subject matter. Often, his surname is misspelled (and thus mispronounced) as "Yankovich", among other variations. Much to the disdain of Yankovic, these misattributed files include songs that are racist, sexually explicit, or otherwise offensive. A young listener who had heard several of these offensive tracks by way of a file sharing service confronted Yankovic online, threatening a boycott due to his supposedly explicit lyrics. Quite a few of the songs, such as "Star Wars Cantina" by Mark Jonathan Davis (later of Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine), "Star Wars Gangsta Rap", "Yoda Smokes Weed", "Chewbacca" and several more have a Star Wars motif. Some songs misattributed to him are not songs, but spoken skits, such as "Sesame Street on crack", which is also widely misattributed to Adam Sandler.

Yankovic cites these misattributions as "his only real beef with peer-to-peer file sharing sites": }}

A list of songs frequently misattributed to Yankovic can be found at The Not Al Page and a list of all commercially released songs recorded by Yankovic can be found on his website.

Fan-driven campaigns

The Weird Al Star Fund is a campaign started by Yankovic's fans to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their mission is to "solicit, collect, and raise the necessary money, and to compile the information needed for the application to nominate "Weird Al" Yankovic for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." Fans worldwide have sent donations to raise the US$15,000 needed for a nomination. In addition to the preferred method of cash donations, many methods were used to raise money for the cause, such as a live benefit show held April 11, 2006, and selling merchandise on the official website and eBay, including T-shirts, calendars, and cookbooks. On May 26, 2006, the campaign hit the then-$15,000 target, just five days before the May 31 deadline to submit the necessary paperwork. On February 9, 2007, the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce raised the price to sponsor a new star to $25,000

Similar to the Weird Al Star Fund, a second fan-driven campaign called "Make the Rock Hall 'Weird'" has tried to enshrine him into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, for which he has been eligible since 2004. Previous attempts to raise awareness for the campaign and support Yankovic's nomination included a petition drive from 2006 to 2007, which raised over 9000 signatures; an art competition in 2005; additionally, a documentary film about the campaign is currently being developed. In addition to these efforts, an ongoing campaign is underway in which supporters of Yankovic's nomination are requested to send "sincere, thoughtful" letters to the Rock Hall Foundation's headquarters in New York.

Discography

Studio albums

Cameos and special appearances in film

1988: Tapeheads

1988:

1991:

1994:

1996: Spy Hard

1997: Safety Patrol

2000: Nothing Sacred

2002: Desperation Boulevard

2003: Haunted Lighthouse

2008: Nerdcore Rising

2009: Halloween II

References

External links

Official website

Category:1959 births Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Accordionists Category:American accordionists Category:American comedy musicians Category:American male singers Category:American members of the Churches of Christ Category:American music video directors Category:American novelty song performers Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:People of Yugoslav descent Category:American satirists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American vegans Category:American vegetarians Category:American voice actors Category:California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo alumni Category:Christian vegans Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Nerdcore hip hop artists Category:Parody musicians Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Lynwood, California Category:Polka musicians