Time::Piece rocks at this kind of stuff.

If you don't supply a year, T::P picks 1970:

use Time::Piece;

my $date = localtime->strptime("Thu Jan 8 07:01:01",'%a %b %d %T');
print $date . "\n";
[download]

You can default to the current year (or any year for that matter) like so:

use Time::Piece;

my $year = localtime->year;
my $date = localtime->strptime("Thu Jan 8 $year 07:01:01",'%a %b %d %Y
+ %T');
print $date . "\n";
[download]

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)