Good evening, kibitzers!
The heat on the West Coast is expected to ease somewhat after today, which is good. We'll see similar temperatures here later this week. For now, it's not as awful as what you're experiencing, but it's still too hot for me, as I don't like the heat. But the 2024 Earth summer will be pretty hot. (Summer hasn't officially started yet, it won't be until next Thursday afternoon. It's still spring!)
In 2015, a young Matt Nelson found that his first semester as a “Golf Management” major at a university in North Carolina was not as engrossing as he had hoped. He had already been on Twitter for a while, but decided to create the now famous account WeRateDogs (“The only source for professional dog ratings”). In a short article of his interview by the San Diego Humane Society, he talks about the origins of the account: In my personal opinion as a grandma like me, it would have been a waste for this boy to manage a golf course. It is fortunate not only for himself but for the world that he found a different path.
At this point, his blockbuster work has appeared on just about every social media outlet, including the YouTube channel that inspired this diary and, of course, a website where you can buy his merchandise. WeRateDogs helped start the 15/10 Foundation, a tax-deductible charity that supports high-care, unlikely-to-adopt rescue dogs. By way of introduction, Nelson describes the organization: [4:19]
They post “Dog of the Week” videos, but luckily their YouTube channel has a clear path forward for anyone looking to narrow down their offerings. dog's [year] Montage video. For some reason, there are a few years missing, but that's ok. So I don't have to choose. Good dogs, Brent.
Dogs of 2016. [3:53]
Dogs of 2018. [5:52]
Dogs in 2020. [6:27]
Dogs in 2021. [5:24]
Dogs in 2022. [4:26]
Dogs in 2023. [8:24]
I'm adding this third-party slideshow collection of WeRateDogs tweets because it's particularly concentrated in the “We only rate dogs. Don't send…” format, which is clever and always makes me laugh. [2:56]
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Well, here's a short collection of dog songs: Add your favorite song (or favorite WRD tweet, or anything you really love) in the comments.
Leiber and Stoller write: Hound It was written for Big Mama Thornton and first recorded by her in 1952. The song was performed at the 1964 American Folk Blues Festival. [2:36]
Harry Nilsson: Puppy SongA photo of a cute puppy I found on the internet. [2:39]
Rufus Thomas: Dog-walking (Sunday Night Live TV Show, Episode #208, 1989. But not on a Saturday night. [5:49]
Paul McCartney: Martha, my dearIt was nominally a Beatles recording, recorded at Abbey Road Studios on October 4, 1968, but, apart from George Harrison's guitar tracks, only McCartney was in the studio that day, recording piano, drums, bass, guitar and vocals himself. George Martin, as always, added brass and string arrangements by studio musicians. Martha was McCartney's Old English Sheepdog, but is apparently the name of a stand-in for Jane Asher, who had recently dumped McCartney, announcing it on the BBC. [2:44]
Finally: the parody project 867-5309/Jenny Tommy Tutone appears to denounce Ginny and her sleazy husband. (Original Video: Tommy Tutone Live on ABC) SNL Copycat shows Friday 1983. [3:51]
