Pheaturing Phile Alum Charlotte Sometimes

Hey there, kids, welcome to the fourth Phile in a row. Man, you'd think I'd have something better to do with my time. Well, it's been a week and the government is still shut down. I’m glad the government has shut down. Think about it, for the first time in years it’s safe to talk on the phone and send emails without anybody listening in.  A man in Australia recently found a lost “Three Stooges” movie in his shed. It's annoying though because every time he goes to pick it up, he steps on a rake and it hits him in the face.  Scientists in Italy say that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is slowly getting straighter. Engineers could tell when it stopped listening to Cher.  President Obama has offered to fund the non-existent Museum of Muslim Culture with his own money, according to Fox News host Anna Kooiman who was perfectly willing to quote from an obvious satire site without exercising even the most rudimentary of fact checking skills yesterday. The National Report website... which features headlines such as "Police Barge Into Kindergarten Classroom And Taser Multiple Children 'For The Heck Of It'" and "Jesus Christ Boycotts Hobby Lobby" broke the make-believe story on Friday. Obama says he's exasperated, Fox News pundits rush to look up what "exasperated" means, get bored, assume it's a Muslim thing.  The President weighed in Friday on the vexing issue of whether or not Washington D.C.'s NFL franchise should change its name from the Redskins to something that is not literally the most overt racial slur for Native Americans that one can think of. “If I were the owner of the team and I knew that there was a name of my team… that was offending a sizable group of people, I’d think about changing it." Strong words. Forget the Redskins. I think the Giants should change their name this year. There's nothing giant about them. I cannot believe they lost again yesterday.  New Gomorrah, a.k.a. California, now allows children to have more than two legal parents. Despite the obvious reality that God only intended a maximum of two people to provide unconditional love and care to a child, on Friday Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that allows courts to recognize changes in the modern family structure and certainly puts society on a slippery slope toward full-family orgies.  An illegally-parked car in a university lot was ticketed by campus police despite bearing a pleading note explaining supposed special circumstances. The non-heeded note read: "I was trying to leave camps when bees started attacking me while driving. There may be a hive in my car! I’m not joking! Please don’t write me up!!!!!!" Forensic scientists have managed to approximate the reaction of the car's owner upon discovery his car was full of the flying stinging insects... How long before the GOP just starts voting hives of angry bees into office?  So, I was watching the news yesterday and something really puzzled me.

I don't get that one bit.  Hey, movie fans, did you know they are coming out with a Doctor Strange movie? Working for Disney who owns Marvel has its privileges. Here's a poster for it...

I'll go see that, it looks like it'll be good. Haha. Speaking of Disney, and this is not a joke, this is 100% real, Disney World is gonna start to sell this this fall...

That's so stupid. People will buy it though, those Disney fanatics will buy anything. So, who is a fan of The Wizard of Oz? They just recently discovered a poster for the movie when it came out in the 40s.

So, it' October and that means it's Breast Awareness Month. Google, the owner of Blogspot which the Phile is on, had one of their Google drawings to relate to this month. They are kinda brave in my book.

Those clever bastards. Well, all this month on the Phile I am showing you some breast cancer awareness ads that are creative yet controversial.

One of the things I like to do in my spare time is to go on Twitter and look up different words. One of the words I look up is Foghat, and this is what I found recently

Ummmm... no comment, Christian.  Okay, so, now the government is shut down one of the cool places you cannot go to is the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. The Smithsonian is home to over 137 million objects, specimens, and works of art. So, on the Phile I decided to start a new pheature called...

Makes sense, right?  Here we go, the 16th-Century Mechanical Monk.

One of the earliest automatons of all time, the monk can walk around while beating his chest, lifting his cross, and praying silently. Standing 15 inches (38 centimeters) tall, it was made of wood and iron and manufactured by Juanelo Turriano, the mechanician of Emperor Charles V, in the 1560s. See, you don't need to go to the Smithsonian. You can see it right here on the Phile.

Well, with the government shut down, everyone is pointing their fingers at John Boehner. And I mean everyone. A friend of the Phile wanted to come on and fill us in about him. She says he is afraid. Haha. So, please welcome back to the Phile, Chair of the Democratic National Committee and our good friend... Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Me: Hello, Debbie, welcome back to the Phile. So, you say Boehner is afraid. Why do you think that?

Debbie: Hi, Jason. Because John Boehner can end the shutdown any time he wants.

Me: Really? How?

Debbie: He could have a bill on President Obama's desk in the course of an afternoon.

Me: And he isn't...

Debbie: No, he won't step up.

Me: So, why is he afraid? What is he afraid of, why won't he put that bill on the President's desk.

Debbie: Because he's afraid of challenging the most extreme voices in his caucus.

Me: How extreme, Debbie?

Debbie: I don't need to tell you how extreme some of them can be.

Me: Okay. So, what now, then?

Debbie: We need to make sure that those aren't the only voices the Speaker is hearing.

Me: If I were to get Boehner on the Phile, which won't happen, but if it were, what should I tell him.

Debbie: Tell Speaker Boehner to get the government up and running today.

Me: Okay, so, if Boehner brought a clean bill to fund the federal government to the floor, would it pass?

Debbie: Without any of the nonsense about defunding Obamacare, yes, it would pass in a bipartisan vote. Period.

Me: Do others see that, Debbie?

Debbie: Every day that goes by, more Republicans, even some in Congress, are starting to say exactly the same thing.

Me: Then it's time for John Boehner to do his job and listen to the American people.

Debbie: Yes, we need to tell him to end the government shutdown.

Me: Thanks for coming on the Phile again, Debbie.

Debbie: Thanks, Jason.

Today's pheatured guest is one of my favorite female singers of all time. She was a contestant on season 2 of "The Voice" and her latest EP "Circus Head" is available on iTunes. She'll next be appearing tonight at eMbers Venue in Rensselaer, IN. Please welcome back to the Phile... Charlotte Sometimes.

Me: Hello, Charlotte, welcome back to the Phile. How have you been?

Charlotte: I've been great, thanks!

Me: You're from New Jersey but live in L.A. now, right? How long have you loved there?

Charlotte: Not living in L.A., mostly in the New York area these days.

Me: Oh, that's cool. You were first on the Phile almost five years ago, and since then you have come a long way, releasing a lot of cool music. What has been the biggest event that happened to you in the five years?

Charlotte: Thank you! I think the biggest thing was probably going on "The Voice"!

Me: I told you before, and I will tell you again, you have one of my favorite singing voices ever. Do you think it has kept the same or the more experienced you get you noticed it changed?

Charlotte: Thank you! I think it is better trained and mature these days... or I hope! Ha.

Me: You have been singing since you were a teenager, right, Charlotte? Do you remember what the first song you sang on stage was?

Charlotte: Oh gosh... no clue!

Me: Okay, you know I am a big fan, and tried to follow your career, but I did not know you were on "The Voice" til after you were on the show. I have a screen shot of you on the show.

Me: You were on Blake Shelton's team I take it. LOL.

Charlotte: Yes!

Me: Did Blake pick you or did you pick him?

Charlotte: I picked him.

Me: I watch "American Idol" and "X-Factor" but did not watch "The Voice". How did you come about choosing that show to be on opposed to the other shows?

Charlotte: It kind of just happened and I thought it was a cool opportunity and very artist friendly.

Me: Was "The Voice" a cool experience for you? Did you like being on TV?

Charlotte: I thought it was super positive and fun! And I totally enjoyed it!

Me: You were eliminated after the first live around... who is responsible for that? Does America get to choose? No one on that show could of had a better voice than yours.

Charlotte: Aw, thanks, it's a little bit of everything.

Me: Since that show, I'm guessing your fan base has grown. Do you get recognized in public, Charlotte?

Charlotte: Yes, sometimes. But not that often anymore.

Me: I love your version of "Pumped Up Kicks" which I downloaded from iTunes. If you were to stay on the show, were there other songs you wanted to sing on it?

Charlotte: I was supposed to sing "Without You"... Harry Nilsson's version.

Me: Your song "How I Could Just Kill A Man" is still one of my favorite songs I heard in the last five years. Do you still perform that song in concert, Charlotte?

Charlotte: Yes!

Me: That song is inspired by a Cypress Hill song with the same name. How did it come to inspire you?

Charlotte: My producer came up with the idea and title around Cypress Hill and I wrote the song around the title.

Me: You have a new EP out called "Circus Head". What is circus head? It's not what I think it is, is it? Haha. I apologize.

Charlotte: A Circus Head represents all of the characters that live within me. My anxiety, my moods, etc.

Me: How did that song get to be the title of the EP?

Charlotte: I feel like I am a circus head so it made sense to me.

Me: Your new tour is named after the single "Brilliant, Broke and Beautiful." Well, you are definitely two out of the three. You are not broke, are you?

Charlotte: Ha! I play music, of course I am broke!

Me: Good point. Are you writing for a new EP or new album?

Charlotte: I will be releasing a live EP this fall.

Me: That'll be great, Charlotte. Do you prefer releasing EP's over albums, Charlotte?

Charlotte: What I like about EP's is that they are more cost effective can get more material out more frequently for my fans!

Me: Will you be making a video for the new single?

Charlotte: No plans.

Me: The new EP was made thanks to PledgeMusic. Is that the best way to go do you think for modern artists top get product out there?

Charlotte: Yes!! I love PledgeMusic!! I think it's a great opportunity for the artist and fans.

Me: You're playing all across America but you are not coming to Orlando. Will you be playing Orlando anytime, Charlotte?

Charlotte: No plans as of right now.

Me: I have to mention this, you have an uncle that is a recording artist, right? Do you think he'll wanna be on the Phile?

Charlotte: My french horn playing uncle?

Me: Yeah, that guy. Any other members of your family in the music business?

Charlotte: My cousin plays bass, my uncle plays the french horn, and my cousin also plays the french horn.

Me: Okay, this year on the Phile I am asking random questions thanks to Tabletopics. Are you ready? Would you stop eating all junk food to live five years longer?

Charlotte: My answer would be simply... no. No.

Me: Charlotte, I saw this picture of you shooting fire with your mouth.

Me: Are you crazy? Were you scared? Was that your idea?!

Charlotte: Haha... it wasn't real.

Me: It looks real, I am such an idiot. Charlotte, thanks again for being on the Phile. Please come back real soon when your love EP comes out. Go ahead and mention your websites. All the best, don't change, and continued success.

Charlotte: Thank you!! Charlottesometimesmusic.com, facebook.com/charlottesometimes.  twitter.com/4eversometimes.

Well, that about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Debbie Wasserman Schultz and of course Charlotte Sometimes. The Phile will be back next Sunday with Seth Powell, lead singer and guitarist from the cool band The Charlie Watts Riots. Then on Monday it's Phile Alumni The Breedings. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let alligators and snakes bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Strawberry Blondes Forever!