Vermont town begins search for mayor…a dog mayor!
Homeward Bound, Addison County's Humane Society has asked our Forever Home series to help them launch a search for the first-ever Dog Mayor for the Town of Middlebury. We are proud to announce that the nomination process is underway and will last two weeks. This official business of Middlebury has been approved by the Town Manager at a recent board meeting. Nominees must have a professional headshot, a campaign slogan, and a few more qualifications if they are seeking this top spot in the marvelous, magical Town of Middlebury.
We are so ecstatic about this, but we also find it to be a privilege and honor to be a part of this whole process. There has only been one other pet mayor in Vermont and it was in Fairfax where there was a goat elected mayor, then eventually a dog. Starting spreading the news, get your friends with 'viable candidates' involved, and let's help Homeward Bound raise a pretty penny in the process! What do you say? Each vote cast will cost five dollars with all the money going back to benefit the animals in Homeward Bound's care. Talk about having fun while doing good at the same time. We'll have more updates about the nominees and news about the winner of this election when they become available, so stay tuned!
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San Francisco Chronicle
20-07-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Paul Simon's quiet power remains strong in San Francisco concert
Witnessing singer-songwriters mature over decades can often reveal the true substance of their work. For Paul Simon, his light, nuanced tenor — that first emerged as part of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel to help define the sound of the 1960s — has changed into something lower and softer at age 83. It commands that you lean in at times. His growl is like the grain of the wood barrels that age whiskey. It colors and underlines Simon's abilities as a songwriter, the stunning poetry that's been a part of American culture for seven decades. More Information Davies Symphony Hall Setlist Act 1: 'The Lord' 'Love Is Like A Braid' 'My Professional Opinion' 'Your Forgiveness' 'Trail of Volcanoes' 'The Sacred Harp' 'Wait' Act 2: 'Graceland' 'Slip Slidin' Away' 'Train in the Distance' 'Homeward Bound' (Simon & Garfunkel song) 'The Late Great Johnny Ace' 'St. Judy's Comet' 'Under African Skies' 'Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War' 'Rewrite' 'Spirit Voices' 'Mother and Child Reunion' 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard' Encore One: 'Father and Daughter' '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' 'The Boxer' (Simon & Garfunkel song) Encore Two: 'The Sound of Silence' (Simon & Garfunkel song) That lived-in voice, shaped by time and experience, met a fitting match in the intimate setting of Davies Symphony Hall where Simon — onstage just a few weeks after his emergency back surgery — performed the first of three shows on Saturday, July 19, as part of his A Quiet Celebration tour in support of his latest album, 'Seven Psalms.' One of the most affecting moments of the two hour-long concert came when he sang 'Homeward Bound.' About a young man who seeks his calling in the world but eventually feels the pull back to where he came from, the song has a different poignancy. You feels the miles he's traveled in his voice, and there's a new wisdom Simon now imbues into the 1966 Simon & Garfunkel classic. Tears welled in the eyes of many in the largely baby boomer audience. It was a moment that made clear that some great storytellers and their material can get better with age. A member of the Rock & Roll and Grammy Halls of Fame, Simon helped form the soundtrack of 1960s counterculture with folk-rock hits written with Art Garfunkel, including 'The Sound of Silence' and 'Mrs. Robinson' — the latter forever tied to the Bay Area thanks to its use in the 1967 film 'The Graduate,' where it plays as Dustin Hoffman drives across the Bay Bridge. Albums 'Graceland' (1986) with its Southern African influences and 'The Rhythm of the Saints' (1990) drawing from Brazilian folk traditions were best sellers and artistic successes. 'This tour is the first opportunity I've had performing with my band since before COVID,' he told the audience referring to his excellent ensemble that included Caleb Burhans (viola), Jamey Haddad (percussion), Gyan Riley (guitar), Mick Rossi (piano, keys), Andy Snitzer (saxophone), Nancy Stagnitta (flute), Mark Stewart (guitar), Eugene Friesen (cello), Steve Gadd (drums) and Bakithi Kumalo (bass) Then he went on to explaining the first act of the evening would be his 'Seven Psalms' showcase; he promised 'the greatest hits' would come later. The 'Seven Psalms' acoustic set was performed on a mostly dark stage, the lighting suggesting a campfire. The material, inspired by the Book of Psalms, is nuanced and reflective, with a quiet intensity. The opening track, 'The Lord,' set the mood with lyrics like 'Tribal voices old and young. Celebrations a history of families sung. The endlеss river flows.' It conjured a sense of looking back, tinged with melancholy but also with a sense of eternity. The night came alive in a new way when singer Edie Brickell, Simon's wife, took to the stage for a transcendent 'The Sacred Harp.' The bends and curves of Brickell's voice gently wounds its way around Simon's lyrics, her sweetness giving lovely contrast to Simon's rougher sounds. The couple finished the first act with 'Wait,' whose lyrics — 'I'm not ready. I'm just packing my gear. Wait. My hand's steady. My mind is still clear' — remind you that 'Seven Psalms' is a powerful late-career album by Simon that contemplates bigger mortal themes. Act two began with a spirited 'Graceland,' the title track from Simon's seventh solo studio album released in 1986. 'Slip Slidin' Away' (1977) and 'Train in the Distance'(1983) are among the songs that feel very different in Simon's mature vocals. The lightness on these and others are gone, but a new character colors them. The ayahuasca-inspired 'Spirit Voices' (Simon joked about the song's source in one of his sparse addresses to the audience) was another smooth, joyful highlight of the second act. So was the concluding 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard' from his 1972 self-titled album, which has become such a shorthand for a certain kind of cool in pop culture (especially after its use by Wes Anderson in his 2001 film 'The Royal Tenenbaums') that it got a roar from the crowd. For his encores, Simon was joined by his band to sing 'Father and Daughter,' from the soundtrack to 2002 animated film 'The Wild Thornberries,' followed by '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' (1975) and the Simon & Garfunkel hit 'The Boxer'(1970). Then, on stage by himself, he performed 'The Sound of Silence,' a fittingly gentle way to bid us goodnight.
Los Angeles Times
17-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Paul Simon delivers a commanding incantation at Disney Hall
In 2018, Paul Simon walked onto the Hollywood Bowl stage for what most in the crowd believed to be his last tour stop in Los Angeles, ever. Simon expected that too — he'd billed the event as his 'Homeward Bound — Farewell Tour.' After 50 years of performing, a then-record three Grammy wins for album, a catalog of some of the most sophisticated and inquisitive American songwriting ever put to paper — he'd go out in full garlands. So what a shock and delight when Simon, now 83, announced a few years later that he was not quite done yet. In 2023, he released a new album, 'Seven Psalms,' an elliptical, gracious invocation for the arc of his life, drawing on biblical imagery and intertwined guitar fugues. But even better, Simon would also return to the stage for a new tour, including a five-night run at Disney Concert Hall. For L.A. fans, these shows were one last chance to reconnect with Simon, who now had a profound late-career album to bookend his catalog. Those songs spanned from his years in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the '60s and '70s to a Sabrina Carpenter duet on 'Saturday Night Live's' 50th anniversary special. Wednesday's show — the last of the Disney hall stand — got to all of it, with Simon still in exquisite form in the last light of his performing career. If Simon, seven years ago, had any doubts about his interest or ability to perform live at this exacting level, they must have disappeared the second he got a guitar in his hand at Disney Hall. The set opened with a full run of 'Seven Psalms,' a short yet profound song cycle in which a dense, ornamental acoustic guitar figure recurs over several songs in an intimate valediction. 'Seven Pslams' belongs alongside David Bowie's 'Blackstar' or Johnny Cash's 'American Recordings' albums in the canon of wide-lens looks at the mystery of late life. Simon's music was wise before its time even when he was a young man. But the perspective he has at this vantage, on the backside of 80 with a rejuvenated muse, was especially moving. 'I lived a life of pleasant sorrows, until the real deal came,' he sang on 'Love Is Like a Braid.' 'And in that time of prayer and waiting, where doubt and reason dwell / A jury sat, deliberating. All is lost or all is well.' Simon's band members for this stint — a dozen or so strong, spanning percussion, woodwinds and guitars — were mostly impressionists during this portion, adding distant bells and chamber flourishes to the patina of these songs. While he kicked up his heels a bit on the bluesy 'My Professional Opinion,' there was a trembling power in 'Trail of Volcanoes' and, especially, 'Your Forgiveness,' in which Simon took stock of his time on Earth and whatever lies next. 'Two billion heart beats and out / Waving the flag in the last parade / I have my reasons to doubt,' he sang, followed by a gracious incantation: 'Dip your hand in heaven's waters, god's imagination … All of life's abundance in a drop of condensation.' The hit-heavy back half of the show was a little rowdier. One fan even made a bit of history when he tossed a $20 bill onstage, which was enough for Simon to gamely oblige his request to play a verse of 'Kodachrome.' Simon and his band had looser reins here. 'Graceland' and 'Under African Skies' still radiated curiosity for the world's musical bounty, with the fraught complexity of that album nonetheless paving a stone on the road for African music's current global ascent. (He introduced his bassist, Bakithi Kumalo, as the last surviving member of the original 'Graceland' band.) An elegant 'Slip Slidin' Away' led up to a poignant 'The Late Great Johnny Ace,' which took a tale of rock 'n' roll self-destruction and pinned it to a generational sense of cultural collapse. Simon didn't reference any current events beyond the John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and John Lennon assassinations, but you could feel a contemporary gravity in the song. Veteran drummer Steve Gadd reprised his jazzy breaks for '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,' and the fatherhood ballad 'St. Judy's Comet' was a sweet, deep-cut flourish. (That mood continued when Edie Brickell, Simon's wife and vocalist, slipped in from the side stage to whistle the hook on 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.) But the band hit full velocity on a pair of songs from 'The Rhythm of the Saints.' 'Spirit Voices' conjured an ayahuasca reverie with its thicket of guitars and hand percussion, while the sprawling and time-signature-bending 'The Cool, Cool River' showed Simon the musician — not just the poet — still in absolute command. Simon's set never got to 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' or 'You Can Call Me Al,' but the final encore wrapped with just him and a guitar and the eternal hymn of 'The Sound of Silence.' His guitar work retained all its original power in the opening instrumental runs, and Simon looked genuinely grateful that, perhaps even to his own surprise, the stage hadn't lost its promise or potency for him just yet. Who knows whether Wednesday was the last time Angelenos will get to see Simon perform live (this tour wraps next month in Seattle). If it was, then it was a beautiful benediction for one of America's defining songwriters. But if it wasn't, take any chance you get to see him again.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Yahoo
Ragdoll Cat Makes Sweetest Attempt to 'Bathe' Human Baby
Ragdoll Cat Makes Sweetest Attempt to 'Bathe' Human Baby originally appeared on Parade Pets. Babies are kind of controversial when it comes to pets. They either love them or they hate them, at least at first. They'll get used to it after a while... usually. My cat ran away and never came back when my sister was born. That's pretty extreme, though. Apparently, some cats just love babies from the jump! On Saturday, July 12th, one sweet little Ragdoll kitten was described by his mom as "baby obsessed." She caught him trying to give her a bath, despite mom's wishes. She couldn't get too mad, though: Pearl's Ragdolls have varied feelings about the new baby. Otis doesn't, though: he loves the baby, plain and simple. He'll be trying to bathe her until the moment he goes to his forever home!Otis is one of several kittens in this litter, and they've just started trickling out to their forever homes. He still had a little bit of time left, luckily. He has to make sure this baby is as clean as she can be before he goes! He also has to clean in secret, because mom doesn't love that. If you ask me, she should love it! It could be worse: she has another Ragdoll who literally rolled her eyes when she met mom's new baby! Otis went the other way completely: he never wants to leave her side. He must think that baby is his, mom's totally just borrowing it! It's officially time for Otis to go to his forever home. Hopefully the baby was totally clean before he left: Cats grooming babies is not unusual at all. Grooming is how they show affection, plus babies are producing all kinds of oils they've never smelled before. It's natural for them to want to groom them. While it's very sweet, you also need to make sure that the cat isn't licking the baby excessively: it can cause skin irritation. Cats should be completely barred from licking a baby's hands, feet, arms, or legs, too. Anything that they can put in their mouths needs to be clean at all times. Not that that meant anything to Otis. He was totally devoted to cleaning that baby! 🐶🐾🐾 Ragdoll Cat Makes Sweetest Attempt to 'Bathe' Human Baby first appeared on Parade Pets on Jul 14, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade Pets on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
