1. Cassidy – Suzanne Vega 2. I Love My Dog – Cat Stevens 3. Sweet Georgia Brown – Ella Fitzgerald 4. A Dog’s Life – Nina Nastasia 5. Long May You Run – Neil Young 6. The Dog Song – Nellie McKay 7. She’s My Best Friend – Of Montreal 8. Dogsong 2 – The Be Good Tanyas 9. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison 10. Canis Lupus – Aquabats! 11. Atomic Dog – Funkadelic 12. My Best Friend (The Dog Song) – Heidi Winzinger 
Eight years ago, in a dusty town in western Georgia, our beloved Cassady was born in the home of our saintly friend David, who had taken in Cassady’s mom as a stray, unaware that she was days away from giving birth to a litter of 10 puppies. The poor mom wasn’t strong enough to survive the exhausting birthing process, but she managed to find a loving soul who would care for her pups like they were his own and find suitable homes for each and every one of them. We were lucky enough to be deemed worthy of one of these tiny treasures, and for that we are eternally grateful. Today’s play list is our second annual tribute to our best friend Cassady (and her brother Buster and their 8 siblings.)
Vega covers the Dead classic for a 1991 tribute album, Deadicated. A little cultural trivia tidbit, Vega’s hit song “Tom’s Diner” was used as the reference track for an early trial of the MP3 compression system, making her in some ways the Mother of the MP3. Also, the song takes place in Tom’s Restaurant at 112th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, which is the same diner at which Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer hang out in episodes of Seinfeld.
An admittedly odd choice for the first release of a man named Cat, but this simple, sweet song is heartfelt and lovely and probably sounds a lot less surprising performed by Yusuf Islam, although we’re not suggesting that it had anything to do with his name change.
This song fits Cassady like a glove – a brownish dog, born in Georgia, sweet as the day is long. And you’ll never go wrong with Ella.
From the debut album of the super talented Nastasia, who sings “I wanna lead a dog’s life, run in the woods, dig a hole, just him and me.”
Although it’s actually written about a well loved car, we feel that this classic song expresses the proper birthday sentiment for our beloved pooch, and we hope she runs as long as Mr. Young, whose newest album is set to be released later this month.
Nellie McKay flexes her prodigious songwriting muscles in this great song that could serve as an ad for any pet adoption agency, with lines like “because I don’t care ’bout your hatin’ and your doubt and I don’t care what the politicians spout. If you want a companion, well just go right to the pound and find yourself a hound and make that doggie proud.”
Indie darlings from the musical hotbed of Athens, Georgia cover a Velvet Underground classic that is a fitting tribute to our lovely hound, except for the part about being better than a dog or car.
A sad and dreamy lullaby steeped in the Americana influences that are something of a trademark for this terrific acoustic trio.
Bill Clinton’s number one iPod choice, this is another perfect fit for our brown eyed girl, who always loves for us to take her “down in the hollow… laughing and a-running, skipping and a-jumping.”
Crazy costumed Californians take a break from saving the planet to record an homage to our canine companions.
George Clinton and the members of Parliament Funkadelic delve into canine philosophical questions while having what sounds like a super fun dog party.
A sweet, simple reminder to appreciate our four-legged friends. We’ll take this opportunity to find the birthday girl and give her a nice long belly rub. We suggest that you find the nearest friendly dog and do the same. It’s really quite therapeutic.
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“As we’ve built our bags to last, we wouldn’t mind the planet being around a little while longer, too.” Thus quoth the nice folks at Apple + Bee, a new line of organic bags. In our continuing quest to show off the new + cool loot we have for you, here’s a peek at their fresh prints, their functional design, all put together with the aim to do no harm. The glycerin in Further products (Megan & Marshall Dostal’s brainchildren) is derived from making biofuel: Marshall picks up gourmet vegetable oil from restaurants, processes it in their garage, uses the biofuel in the Dostals’ cars, and uses the remaining purified glycerin to create their products (liquid soap, hand lotion & candles). A sweet, sustainable circle.
Their 11 oz. candles are made from purified oil from Mario Batali’s MOZZA Restaurant, and the fresh signature fragrance is made from essential oils of bergamot, olive and exotic grasses.
Now, relax and erase “waste grease” from your memory bank. 1. Sweeney Todd – My Friends – Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter 2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Veruca Salt – Danny Elfman 3. Big Fish – Man Of The Hour – Pearl Jam 4. Nightmare Before Christmas – Jack’s Lament – Danny Elfman 5. Alice in Wonderland – The Lobster Quadrille – Franz Ferdinand 6. Corpse Bride – Remains of the Day – Danny Elfman 7. James and the Giant Peach – Family – Randy Newman 8. Sleepy Hollow – Tree of Death – Danny Elfman 9. The Nightmare Before Christmas – Sally’s Song – Catherine O’Hara For your next rainy craft day: There’s nothing but change around here these days. Like: Kindergarten. Starting TODAY (in the middle of summer, as far as we’re concerned), for a child who was just born last week (as far as we’re concerned). Well. You’d better believe it was recorded for posterity. (And there’s more over here at The Georgetown Dish.) Because change is apparently just gonna keep coming, dagnabbit. Gather ’round, friends! We’ve been doing some big dreaming: Friends and customers would be welcomed to throw private parties and events, too. {You know we’re suckers for a good cause.}
And picture Proper Topper, in hog heaven, right at the center of the space.
The dream felt so close. The building was being purchased, the plans were underway. The working title: Proper Gathering.
Then … the seller’s plans changed, and SO, we’ll be packing up and closing shop in our current Georgetown location this fall (exact date still being worked out), but the next episode will be Bigger, Better & More Exciting!
In the meantime, we will be having lots of fun in our soon-to-be-gone garden (let us know if you have an event you want us to host!) And we’ll be working out our plans, so we welcome your ideas. Tell us — where do you picture our new venture? What neighborhood? Who would you want to find there? What are you dying to see come to your neighborhood? Dream big … you never know when they might just come true.
(Photos, by the way, are borrowed from this cool place over here ~) 1. Rock ‘N Roll High School – The Ramones 2. Never Miss A Beat – Kaiser Chiefs 3. Baggy Trousers – Madness 4. We Rule the School – Belle and Sebastian 5. Another Brick in the Wall – Pink Floyd 6. Be True To Your School – Beach Boys 7. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces – Ben Folds Five 8. Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police 9. Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani 10. Hot For Teacher – Van Halen 11. Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus 12. School Days – Chuck Berry It might seem a long way off, but autumn approaches and brings with it cooler temperatures and leaves and…school buses full of excitably nervous children gearing up for another year of learning. Change is afoot, and so, we celebrate: 1. Smithsonian Institute Blues – Captain Beefheart 2. Walk the Dinosaur – Was Not Was 3. Modern Art – Art Brut 4. Pablo Picasso – Burning Sensations 5. Space Oddity – David Bowie 6. The Shot Heard ‘Round the World – School House Rock 7. At the Zoo – Simon and Garfunkel 8. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight – The Postal Service 9. Mona Lisa – Nat King Cole 10. Amazing Grace (in Cherokee) – Walela |
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Loyal readers of this blog already know that we adore filmmaker Tim Burton. We hosted a premiere party for his latest blockbuster film, Alice in Wonderland, and have employed our forum to take every opportunity to sing his praises. Today is his 52nd birthday, so it should come as no surprise that we devote our play list of the week to his body of work, especially since most of it has been written by Danny Elfman, who has also long been a favorite of ours. Happy birthday, Mr. Burton: May you keep making films for the next 52 years! Here are nine songs from eight terrific films.
Picture an inspiring space where local designers & artists & creative folks show-and-sell their creations. A place where out-of-town talent can drop in for hands-on fun. Imagine 
This week marks the last official week of summer vacation for DC students. By the time our next play list is published, public schools will be midway through their first week of the new school year. While we feel like we’ve been swindled out of the last few weeks of summer vacation, with Labor Day still weeks away, grumbling about it isn’t going to make it go away. That said, we shake our tiny fists at the makers of the school calendar and offer up our Back to School Play List, along with some wisdom and witticisms about school and education in general. Hopefully we’ll all learn a little something:
Yesterday was the 164th birthday of the Smithsonian, one of the crown jewels of our fair city. President James Polk signed into law a bill establishing the Smithsonian Institution on August 10th, 1846, nearly a decade after President Andrew Jackson announced the unusual bequest from James Smithson. Despite the fact that Smithson had never set foot on American soil and didn’t really even know any Americans, his will stipulated that his fortune should be assigned to the United States in the event that his sole heir, his nephew, died childless. Thankfully for us, he did, and the Smithsonian was born. Here are 10 songs to honor 10 of our favorite attractions in the world’s largest museum & research complex.