SO YEAH....THE BITCH IS 40. And I see he's now also stolen my Five Songs idea over there on his blog. That's OK. I'm used to inspiring the world with no monetary recompense. But since it's his birthday, I'll let him slide. Oh, by the way, here's a recent photo of him and me. Frolicking. So, taking a page from his EXTREMELY OLD NOW book, I thought I'd make a little listy of songs that remind me of my Doddy -- that reprobate I call my friend. I've known him for 23 years so I think there should be a few. Now, I'm not really gonna go on and on about them -- I'm just going to list them without comment. Suffice it to say that I can't really hear any of these songs without immediately thinking of the Oot! The Donger! Granpa Strohman. The ole Sweet Cheeks. Here they are in no particular order:

• ROCK AND ROLL DREAMS COME THROUGH by Meat Loaf
• MLK by U2 (there's a story behind this one)
• NEVER by Heart
• HURDY GURDY MAN by Donovan
• QUESTION by The Moody Blues
• DROP THE PILOT by Joan Armatrading
• LIL SOMTHIN' SOMTHIN' by Insane Clown Posse
• THE AIR THAT I BREATHE by The Hollies
• BEST OF FRIENDS by Pearl Bailey
• WHISPERING PINES by Johnny Horton
• RUNNING BEAR by Johnny Preston
• CAPTAIN FANTASTIC & THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY by Elton John
• ROY ROGERS by Elton John
• ROCK AND ROLL NEVER FORGETS by Bob Seger
• UNDER ICE by Kate Bush
• GALILEO by Indigo Girls
• GOODBYE by Night Ranger
• FIRE IN THE TWILIGHT by Wang Chung
• NO ONE IS TO BLAME by Howard Jones
• WHEREVER I MAY ROAM by Metallica
• THE CHAUFFER by Duran Duran
• OLD FRIEND by Elton John & Nik Kershaw
• SPIRIT IN THE SKY by Norman Greenbaum
• JUST LIKE BELGIUM by Elton John
• ONE MORE ARROW by Elton John
• PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON by Anyone!

And in the spirit of benevolence, I even spared him mentioning that OTHER song (J.F. and A. B. B.) in order to spare him the embarrassment. I'm sure there are other songs but this pretty much gives you an idea. So once again, here's wishing the Doddy a Happy, Happy 40th -- your "Happy Birthday" in 74 different languages is in the mail!