#3 on Sirius

Fishnet Sailor is # 3 on Sirius OutQ's hot20 countdown.
This is the 3rd single from the album to make it on the chart.
Open Wide and Marlboro Man both went to #1!

Please request Fishnet Sailor by sending an email to
jhovies@siriusradio.com

You can request the song more than once, so don't be shy.

The Cherry Falls

Excerpt

I was 13 years old
in a small kansas town
he said keep your eyes closed
keep your head down

Brooklyn Musician Arrested After Chaining Himself To A Giant Fiberglass Bee in a Desperate Attempt to Save Coney Island

Photo by Carrie Thomas

Brooklyn Singer/Songwriter, Robert German was arrested late last Friday evening after a standoff with local authorities. German, a 28 year old resident of Brooklyn dressed up in a hotdog costume and tied himself to a large fiberglass bee, that was part of a complex of rides being demolished by Thor Development.

This is German's second arrest, having been part of the mass protest last month at the location of the now demolished cyclone rollercoaster and current location of the sunny shore high rise luxury condo development.

German was held for questioning and determined to be an enemy combatant. He will be shipped to Guantanamo Bay Cuba later this week, where he will be tortured outside of the public eye until he confesses to every terrorist act ever commited. He will then face secret military trials and execution as set forth by the patriot act and regulated by our fearless commander, the honorable George W. Bush.

Don't let this happen.

Save Coney Island!

#5 on Sirius!!

Fishnet Sailor is # 5 on Sirius OutQ's hot20 countdown.
This is the 3rd single from the album to make it on the chart.
Open Wide and Marlboro Man both went to #1!

Request Fishnet Sailor by sending an email to
jhovies@siriusradio.com

You can request the song more than once, so don't be shy.

You can hear the song being played on
Last Call with Jeremy Hovies
Sirius Satellite Radio
Channel 106
Tuesday-Saturday 1am-7am EST.

Funneling My Frustration For a Better Tomorrow

Thank you Mister S. for the very sweet email and phone call born out of concern for my well-being after my last blog post.

I got a fairly good night of sleep last night and feel a little less frustrated with the world. From time to time, it does bog me down, and I vent. I start this day with a renewed sense of purpose from a calmer more centered place, a bit closer to temporary emotional stability.
At times, that's the best we can hope for.

I am channeling my frustration and nervous energy into the new album, the new video and into a couple of other little projects that are happy funtime surprises for you all.

Yay!

70% Shot, 30% Done

I only have 2 hands, when I really need 20.
My nerves are about 70% shot. I am only one person trying to do the work of 10 people and not lose my mind. I feel lied to and cheated of my money. What little money I make goes back into my music. It is like a child that never stops crying to be fed. I am a sleepless parent, pacing with bloodshot eyes wondering when this baby will tire itself out and go to sleep. When will I tire myself out and fall asleep? Will I just suddenly collapse, the result of months without sleeping? I am restless. I am stretched thin. I am lonely and loveless. I am overwhelmed by the state of the world, the state of my room and the statements that dripple out of my mouth like inappropriate spittle.

I went into the studio this weekend and worked on two songs, Mr. Carpentier and Flapjacks.
Mr. Carpentier is very very close to being done. At this point, it is nit picking. Flapjacks still has a bit of work, but should be close to completion soon. I would say that the album is about 30% done.

In other news, my first music video will be filming in the next couple of weeks.

This album,this video, this world is bigger than me, and it may just crush me.

Two lovers entangled on my tongue

Something strange happened last night. I was reaching for the plain yogurt when it every so delicately brushed up against the jar of peanut butter. The next thing I knew, I was watching sliders while my tongue was engaged in a threesome. I threw my pants over the dresser, curled under the covers and let the confusing sensation of this unholy union enrapture my every cell. It was so wrong, but so right. You should try it sometime.....

And in case you were wondering, it was chunky, not creamy and I'm not going to apologize.

The United Corporations of America

Photo by Carrie Thomas

There has been a lot of talk lately about who we will elect as our next president.
This always ends up being a lesser of two evils conversation, because let's face it, rarely does anyone in the running overwhelmingly shine as a brilliant mind. Most of all, There isn't anyone stepping up to the plate with the best interests of this country at heart. Everyone has his/her own agenda.

Most people I know are disatisfied with the way this country is being run. For the past 6 years, however you get labeled as an unpatriotic asshole undermining the security of our nation by not going agreeing with the president and his power-hungry/self interest serving actions.

I often feel helpless wanting to know what I can do that might make a difference. How can we cause a shift in this country? How can we regain power? Some of you are under the belief that voting, especially on a local level is the most effective tool for change. Though voting is important, I do not think that it is the most effective tool.

In reality, we live in a country that is run by money. Laws are made over dinners with lobbyists. Very rapidly our country has shifted to rule by corporation. You are constantly spending money if you are a good citizen, running on the capitalist treadmill of earn and spend. Companies have stopped making quality products for the most part across the board. A sweater that falls apart will have to be replaced next year. A computer's harddrive will fail. It is only a matter of when, not if. Companies for the most part don't even stand behind their products. They give you a 90 day warranty. What ever happened to the lifetime warranty? When did we stop caring about quality and start pumping out disposable products to litter the landfills?

So, these corporation making sub-par products in sweatshops overseas, effectively undermining our economy in the long run, want your money. They will give you a song & dance to get your money. They don't have the luxury of taking money directly out of every paycheck like the very successful corporation we call the US Government.

When you give your money to a corporation you are effectively supporting their policies. They will control the making of laws. Their decisions will trickle down to your everyday life. So, support companies whose policies are sound and just. Boycott companies who are not. Of course nothing is that simple, but we as consumers, especially organized are more effective than we are as voters.

We live in a country led by a man who did not win the popular vote and has essentially wiped his ass with the constitution, a document that had great meaning at one time. Father knows best in times like these when we cannot falter in our war against terror. We must fight for and protect freedom, by limiting freedom. It all makes perfect sense, right?

Recommended Reading for today:
Animal Farm
by George Orwell

Sally Struthers, We Need Your Help!

As I wander through this world shoving doughnuts and bacon down my spoiled American throat, I sometimes worry about all the starving children in Africa. In all seriousness, there is no excuse for a huge chunk of the African continent going without food.

It is then that I realize we have a problem of our own, right here in this good nation.
It's Terry Hatcher. We've watched her blossom as an actress first on Lois and clark, then those wonderful Radio Shack commercials with her hubby. She has finally found her place in the spotlight with Desperate housewives and let me just say, that spotlight shines right through her bony frame like a japanese lantern.

I think it's time to call our good friend Sally Struthers and get her a guest spot on Desperate Housewives. Someone needs to feed Terry Hatcher and though I do suspect that some of the food ends up in Sally's Trailer, in the end a good portion still makes it to those children.

If you really care about Terry Hatcher, you will join me in sending her cookies, doughnuts and protein bars. Don't let this bright star burn out long before her time. We need you healthy, Terry. We care about you.

The Hierarchy of Communication

Photo by Carrie Thomas

Recently I received a fan letter in the mail. Yes, people do still write letters. I was so excited by this. I have received fan-emails before, but never an honest to goodness letter that someone took the time to actually write. For some reason, the receipt of this little paper love nugget, brought me back to an earlier thought process I was having regarding levels of communication. There are many ways that we communicate with each other at the dawn of the digital age. I believe that different forms of communication hold different weight.

Just so we are clear, I have created a hierarchy of communication as I see it.

1. Personal face to face communication
2. Handwritten letter
3. Landline phone call
4. Cellphone call
5. Email
6. Instant message
7. Text Message
8. myspace message

In addition to the hierarchy, there is the lowering or raising of the communication bar.

If someone calls you on your cellphone and you respond with a myspace message, you have essentially dropped the status of communication by responding at a level that is lower on the scale and less connected.

If someone sends you a myspace message and you respond with a landline call, you have upped the bar of communication showing that you really want to connect on a higher level.

As, I sit writing a response to the recently received letter, I know there to be a great deal of truth to this. I would not respond to a handwritten letter with an email after someone took the time to carefully choose words and permanently press them to paper.

Though there are no hard rules or etiquette for communicating as the many ways in which we can do so keep rapidly changing, I do know that we are all becoming more an d more disconnected from each other. We walk through life in individual self-induced sensory deprivation chambers with headphones firmly attached, calloused thumbs sore from texting.

We shuffle from one machine to the next, plugged into a network where we feel we are able to communicate freely. Do not forget that a cellphone is a tracking device. We communicate through text messages and email and order everything online in a country where our government has openly admitted to illegally gathering information and spying on its own citizens for the greater good.

People disappeared in the middle of the night in the fall of 2001. Men in suits carried them away. We didn't discuss it. They were neighbors. We didn't know them that well. What happened to these people? I sat at a bar after a performance in 2005 speaking with a man who worked for the military and whose job it was to go through files and figure out who had been detained in Cuba for 4 years mistakenly in the frenzy surrounding 9-11. You don't hear about these people on the news. This isn't as important as why Britney Spears might have shaved all the hair off of her mis-shapen head. Something has gone terribly wrong.

So, I type these words in a free nation where communication is at its height.
If I am whisked away in the night, I hope there will be someone to take off their headphones, put down their cellphone and fight.

Shame on you

Why can't politicians focus on what they might actually be bringing to the table to help
plug some of the holes in this sinking ship?

I have no tollerance for negative campaigning. Tell me what you can do, not what the other person can't do.
Tell me why I should vote for you, not why I shouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton. Shame shame shame on you. If 1984 imagery should ever have been used, George Bush would have been a much more appropriate target. Maybe Obama had nothing to do with this ad. I'm not sure. Regardless, it is quite tacky.

*See The Video*

This, btw is not an endorsement for Hillary Clinton, but rather a comment on negative campaigning.

# 18 on Sirius

Fishnet Sailor is # 18 on Sirius OutQ's hot20 countdown.
This is the 3rd single from the album to make it on the chart.
Open Wide and Marlboro Man both went to #1!

Request Fishnet Sailor by sending an email to
jhovies@siriusradio.com

You can hear the song being played on
Last Call with Jeremy Hovies
Sirius Satellite Radio
Channel 106
Tuesday-Saturday 1am-7am EST.

Cafe Ole' Set List

Here is the set list from Cafe Ole'

Set1
Walking
Mr. Carpentier
Flapjacks
Sirens of Brooklyn
Single File
Glitters and Sparkles
Marlboro Man
Life Was Simple
God in the Telephone Book

Set 2
Lemon Scented
Follow Me Home
Follow
Hiding From Your Pain
Before You Go
Duct Tape and Superglue
Down So Low
This 2 Shall Pass
Fishnet Sailor

Thank you So much for the very warm reception. Most of all, I want to give a warm thank you to Errol who gave me a ride back to Brooklyn. You have a kind soul, good sir.