pattern matching with dates?

This dubious query worked well previously:
select * from db_log where log_date LIKE '2011-01-%';
(currently works on bluehost.com where they run 8.1.22)

Can someone offer a (preferably ANSI compliant) way to do this on 8.4.5?

I realize that >= and so on work well (which may explain why the docs
are pretty silent about pattern matching with dates) but sometimes it's nice to
treat the (ISO) date as a string.

thanks much,
Tom
--
Thomas Good, Senior Database Administrator
Saint Vincent's Hospital Westchester
A Division of Saint Joseph's Medical Center
Residential Services
75 Vanderbilt Avenue, Room 5-47
Staten Island, NY 10304
718.818.5528