Hey beautiful people.  It’s been a busy few days.  We had a great time at the Oscars.  Thanks to the folks at the Academy for inviting me to fill in for Peter Gabriel.  It’s always a little strange performing someone’s song as they sit in the audience, but I hope I did it justice.  Regardless, we had a blast, and I’m glad I had the opportunity.  And, pardon the Kanye moment, but I think Chrissy and I may have been the best dressed couple of the night!  :)

Now my international journey begins.  I won’t be home for about 50 days!  This will be my longest stretch of not sleeping in my own bed.  I’m writing from Dubai.  We play here for the first time in my career tomorrow at the Dubai Jazz Festival.  I’m excited to play here and see the city.  I’ve heard so much about it.  From here, we go to Europe then to East Asia.  We’ll visit some familiar cities and some we’ve never been to before (like Manila, Seoul, Shanghai, Macau and Beijing).  I’m excited to meet some of my Asian fans who’ve never been to a JL show before.  It should be a fun trip.

Dear Editor:

I’m trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?