Hard to believe it’s already Hug Your Cat Day. Where does the time go?
Unlike yesterday, today is a great day to shower your kitty with affection.
Hug Your Cat Day is also the purrfect holiday on which to listen to this feline-inspired playlist:
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In 1915, the American Humane Society designated the first full week in May as Be Kind To Animals Week. Its intent was to combat the widespread cruelty that animals—particularly workhorses—faced at the time. The goal was to build a “national culture of compassion” and bring issues of animal welfare to the public consciousness.
While the specific challenges animals face have evolved, the core mission of the week remains the same: to encourage kindness, compassion, and better treatment for all animals, including pets, wildlife, and farm animals.
The need for kindness is as relevant today as it was over a century ago. Some ways to practice this, per the AHS, are to adopt a pet from a local animal shelter or rescue group; ensure your pets are spayed or neutered, have proper identification (like microchips and ID tags), and are given plenty of love and exercise; support companies that are committed to animal welfare; protect wild animals by respecting their habitats, observing them from a safe distance and never feeding them; and educate children about the importance of being kind and gentle with all living creatures.
Celebrate Be Kind To Animals Week by being kind to animals (including your fellow humans) this week and every week. To accompany your celebration here is a playlist of music made by some very talented animals:
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Five years after then president of The Recording Academy proclaimed that women need to step up, the ladies have responded with “How’s this, jerkface?” Women dominate this year’s Grammy nominations. More importantly, all but two of the top 20 songs on my year-end list are led by female artists (with one guy showing up to provide guest vocals). That’s a record, I think, but don’t quote me on that. I’m too lazy to check. I don’t have a deep analysis for this phenomenon, but I do have a deep appreciation for the talent and diversity of these women (not that women have ever been underrepresented in my annual tallies). The highest placing male acts on my 2023 list are none other than The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Yes, you read that right. The legends are back, and they still can show the young-uns how it’s done. With their song “Angry,” The Rolling Stones have achieved a remarkable feat: the longest span from first appearance to most recent appearance in my year-end surveys. In 1981, my first year of making such lists, the group placed with “Start Me Up.” The 80s are also well represented by Kylie Minogue and Madonna, each of whom made a triumphant return to my list after long absences. Welcome back, ladies! And last but not least, let’s give a round of applause to Megan Thee Stallion, who has been in my top five for five years in a row. That’s a record, I think, but don’t quote me on that. I’m too lazy to check. Now, without further ado, here is my list of the best songs of 2023. Enjoy!
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Today’s playlist celebrates the October 20 birthdays of Snoop Dogg, Tom Petty, Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake, Wanda Jackson, The Cribs’ Gary & Ryan Jarman, The Tokens’ Jay Siegel, Eddie Harris, and New Vaudeville Band’s John Carter; and the October 21 birthdays of Dizzy Gillespie, The Cramps’ Lux Interior, The Go-Go’s’ Charlotte Caffey, The Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope, Manfred Mann, The Skyliners’ Jimmy Beaumont, Elvin Bishop, Kathy Young, Doja Cat, and Industry’s Jon Carin.
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Prince, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Kool & the Gang. It must be my list of favorite songs of 198-, uh, 2021. The aforementioned veterans rub elbows with Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Wet Leg, serpentwithfeet, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, The Avalanches, Adele and Little Simz.
Here are my top 100 songs of 2021:
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The Grammy Awards are being presented tonight. Woo. It’s billed as “music’s biggest night,” just as May 7 through May 16 is billed as “the biggest week in American birding,” if only because ten days is a lot for one week. Birders. Am I right, people? Performers at this year’s Grammys include Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak doing their new song, because what better way to celebrate the music of 2020 than with a single that was released last week? Performers I’m looking forward to include Miranda Lambert, Cardi B, HAIM, Megan Thee Stallion, Brittany Howard, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish, whose “Everything I Wanted” is up for Record of the Year. That’s my favorite of the nominees, though I think the award will go to Beyoncé for “Black Parade,” and I have no problem with that. However, if the award goes to that record I never heard of until I started typing this sentence, sneakers will be thrown at my television (though that record may be good for all I know). For Album of the Year my vote goes to Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, as it was handily the best album of 2020. It probably won’t win, seeing as it wasn’t nominated. What was nominated over Apple’s album? That Coldplay album you forgot about and the Jacob Collier album you never heard of until you started reading this sentence (though that album may be good for all you know). Of the albums nominated, I’d pick HAIM’s. It’s very good. Not Fetch The Bolt Cutters good, but very good nonetheless. If HAIM win I hope they hand their award to Fiona Apple live on the telecast, which would be super impressive, seeing as they won’t be in the same room. I’m sure tonight’s show will include a tribute to dead people done by living people who are no match for said dead people. I’d rather want a montage of clips of the dead people performing when they were living people. <Fill in the blank> screaming is not representative of what made Aretha Franklin amazing. No disrespect to <fill in the blank>, but there’s more to being the Queen of Soul than having a mic and ovaries.
It’s easy to shit on the Grammys, as they are so shittable, but to be fair, not every Record of the Year is as terrible as 1988’s recipient, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Here are thirty of the better winners:
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