By Elvis Duran
August is my birthday month, so Christopher Pape, the wonderful editor of this magazine, thought it might be fun for me to write about my favorite celebration songs. While brainstorming my celebration list, I couldn’t stop myself from singing Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” over and over, which is the absolute LAST song I want to hear on my birthday. Cellllllllllebrate good times- come on! Let’s celebrate. After much deliberation I finally decided my favorite song to rock out to Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance”. I was listening to the song when an email popped up in my inbox, totally distracting me from writing this, and reminded me of my next board meeting for a charity I am involved with, Rock & Rawhide.
Rock & Rawhide was started by my friends, Sean-Patrick Hillman and Kylie Edmond, as stated on their website, rockandrawhide.org, they “aim to increase adoptions and quality of life for dogs and cats in shelters, by providing distraction therapy and noise/stress reduction through the donation of toys, bones, blankets, and more.” With the donation of these items, dogs and cats have something to play with, which reduces stress, and makes them more adoptable!
Kylie recently told me about a dog that was going to be sold to a dog-fighting ring in Brooklyn to be used as a bait dog (which means the owner was willing to let the dog die in order to make a few bucks…that asshole!). A member of Rock & Rawhide was able to save the dog by making up a story about the dog looking like one her grandmother used to have. After a lot of begging, some fake crying, and $350, she finally convinced the owner to give her the dog, which R&R will rehabilitate and find a new (loving) home for. Cue the collective “awwww”.
I obviously cannot focus on anything for long, but these animals have something to celebrate thanks to the efforts of Rock & Rawhide and that really grabs my attention. So anyways…Lady GaGa is my favorite artist to rock out to when celebrating anything! Gaga has a lot to celebrate and she conveys that in her music. She’s come a long way over the last few years and that’s one of the reasons I love her as an artist. This year on my birthday I’ll be listening to her songs as I celebrate another year of getting older! Hey Gaga! Why don’t you come celebrate my birthday with me!?
