First let me say that I realize not all Republicans are the same and do not all agree with everything the republican party stands for. Likewise I realize the that Democrats are not that much better but they are better from my point of view. If there was a viable third party that supported my points of view I would join it.

1) Global warming is real. I have a very hard time believing there is actually controversy over this. The vast majority of the scientific community agree. The evidence is overwhelming. And while the cause seems clearly to be human activity it really doesn't matter. Whether it's caused by us or not it's happening. We are loosing species at a rate never seen before on the planet. We can't possibly know the outcome of this except that it can't be good. We are not being good stewards to the world be live in. The 19th century attitude that the world exists for our exploitation is morally corrupt. This follows from Buddhist teaching. I realize the Democrats have done little more than the Republicans on the issue but we still have a better chance to address it with the Dems. In general environmental protection is very important to me. The Dems are marginally better in this regard.

2) Foreign Policy. I believe unilateralism is destructive. It is the height of arrogance to try export our culture and form of government to other nations. Such attitudes are not those of a constructive member of the world community. An approach based on cooperation is more sensible. We need to protect our interests no doubt but we need to loose our inflated ego. It doesn't serve anybody. This leads me to:

3) Militarization: I am a pacifist. My heroes are Jesus of Nazareth, Lao Tse, The Buddha, Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King to name a few. Non-violence is not something one practices only when convenient nor only at home. I am particularly appalled by remote drones. The farther away from the actual killing we get the easier it is to do it. We spend far to much of our resources on warfare. The Dems are only marginally better than the Republicans in this regard but they are better.

4) Health care is a right in a civilized society. I do not think that health care should be for profit. It puts the incentives in the wrong place. We need single payer universal coverage like the rest of industrialized world. This is a moral issue. No doubt we need to improve health care and make it cheaper. But we should do it in the context of socialized medicine.

5) Education should be affordable and available to all. An educated citizenry is essential in a functioning democracy. As education becomes more exclusive the spilt between haves and have nots is exacerbated. The recent controversy over for profit colleges leaving students with huge debts and no career prospects is only one example of the problem. Education needs to be properly funded. It isn't and the Republicans are largely responsible for that.

6) The Bible is not a good basis for a modern democracy. The Bible is an amazing collection of works written over millennia for different purposes and different audiences. The sections in the Pentateuch that contain the laws were written for a bronze age monarchy in which women were property and nobody voted for anything. As a Buddhist who has studied the Bible extensively I find it absurd to base our lives on a literal interpretation of scripture. Many things in the Bible are abhorrent to modern sensibility. For instance slavery was totally acceptable as was capital punishment for disobedient children. Adultery was punishable by death. One of my favorites is a man was stoned to death for gathering wood for a fire on the Sabbath which – for all my Christian friends – was from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The “morality” that some religious conservatives espouse amounts to picking and choosing which parts of the Bible apply to them in a fairly arbitrary manner. I realize that not all conservatives are religious fundamentalists. But the Republican party has adopted several positions consistent with the religious right and courted the religious right. The Dems have not done so.

7) I don't trust big business to have my best interest at heart. The purpose of corporations is to accumulate wealth for their owners. More often than not the attitude of management towards workers, the environment, and government is “what can we get away with?” rather than “how can we benefit society?” I know this first hand. I worked in a factory for 17 years. My experience confirmed what I see in society at large. Without regulation many companies have no regard for the longterm health of our environment or the safety of their workers. Without labor rights such as collective bargaining and restrictions on working conditions corporations have little incentive to treat workers well.

8) Trickle-down economics doesn't work. I'm a fan of Robert Reich: “Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both sliced taxes on the rich and what happened? Most Americans’ wages (measured by the real median wage) began flattening under Reagan and has dropped since George W. Bush. Trickle-down economics is a cruel joke.” Robert Reich.

9) Civil rights should extend equally to ALL! Everyone should have the right to marry anyone they want. It's none of the governments business who I marry. Everyone should enjoy the legal protections of marriage. (see “The Bible is not a good basis ...” above).

10) Women must have the right to decide how to take care of their own bodies. Decisions about pregnancy are between a woman, her spouse, her doctor and her God. The government has no business deciding. Let me be clear. I am not in favor of abortion. I feel it is horrible. I'm just saying that the government shouldn't the moral arbiter of our lives. I find it interesting that the republicans want government off our back except when it comes to issues surrounding sexuality.

"... the sun don't shine anymore and the rains pour down on my door ..."
It Makes No Difference by Robbie Robertson

I heard The Band live numerous times. Perhaps most memorable was in 1976 at Stanford's Frost Amphitheater in Palo Alto, CA. The Flying Burrito Brothers opened and they were hot. Sneaky Pete was on fire! Then Robbie and company took the stage starting off with The Shape I'm In. Everybody was really rockin'. I've heard The Band's music described as "etched in stained glass and pounded in stone". The description really fit that day. I remember The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down in particular. Levon's clear Arkansas tenor sent chills through me. His simple, clear delivery moved me to tears. I can hear it in my head to this day.

Levon sang some of The Bands most memorable tunes including the aforementioned Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up On Cripple Creek, Baby Don't Do It and Ophelia. His drumming anchored the group. In his post-Band life he's most well known for The Barn, a recording studio and intimate live venue on his farm in upstate New York. Performers and fans alike were drawn to the place. Many hours of great music were made there.

Above all Levon was a generous and loving soul. When he played and sang the shear joy that poured out was obvious to anyone watching. Levon, you are dearly missed.

I spend a good deal of time alone. As some of you know my wife splits her time between Portland and Santa Clara, CA so I'm alone in the house a lot. A good part of playing music is solitary. Several hours a day I practice alone. I don't mind it. For the most part I'm happy being by myself. There are times however when I feel lonely and isolated. At those times I try to remember all the great people in my life. It's easy to forget they are there. I'm blessed with a wonderful life partner and lots of great friends many of whom, including my wife, are musicians. Getting to play music with my friends is one of the great pleasures of my life. There's nothing new about this. People have been getting together to play music, sing and dance for thousands and thousands of years. Playing music together predates commerce of any kind by millennia. I try to remember this when I'm hustling gigs or fretting over my music income for the month. The simple act of playing music in a group grounds us to our ancient past and helps us face an uncertain future. I'm so lucky to make music with people every week. So I offer a deep and heartfelt thank you to everyone I get to play music with. You really are the glue that holds me together.

Everyone knows there's lots of great live music in Portland. Our town is silly with musicians, clubs, coffee houses, open mics and the like. If you want to hear music on the cheap (less than $5) it isn't hard to find. But if you want a really great listening experience how do you know ahead of time? Here are two organizations that put on monthly musical events that always have great performers. On the first Monday of each month the Portland Guitar Society holds its meeting at 3350 SE Francis Street, Portland in a converted firehouse. The evening starts at 7 pm with an open mic like no other - everything from classical guitar to folk to fingerstyle blues. The quality of the performances is top notch. After the open mic there is always a featured performer. At the April meeting local fingerstyle blues legend Terry Robb wowed the crowd. The environment at PGS is more like a concert than a night club - chairs in rows, everyone is very quite, cell phones off. If you looking for a more casual affair the Cascade Blues Association has it's monthly meeting every first Wednesday also at 7 pm at the Melody Ballroom - 615 SE Alder St., Portland. There's food and a full bar! The evening starts with a solo act followed by a band. Once again the music is first rate. If you're a CBA member the event is free if not it's only $3. I hope to see you at PGS and CBA soon.

As many of you know I went to Secret Society Studio in northwest Portland a couple of weeks ago to record my first CD. I've heard it said that an artist works his whole life to make his first CD. I don't know about that but this is certainly a four year effort. It was then that I started working on a solo repertoire of fingerstyle guitar music. Since then I've built up a catalog of some 40 songs including 7 originals. I've played at numerous bars and coffee houses around town. I've taken two workshops with the great Jorma Kaukonen and I've study for the last year with Mary Flower. What a ride.

Over the course of four days we recorded 14 tunes - seven originals, seven covers. Here are the tunes:

Last Go Round
Just Can't Keep From Cryin'
Mississippi Blues
Crucifixion
Spike Driver Blues/99 Year Blues
Old Country Rock Variations
Trouble Down Here Below
Ring That Bell
Nine Pound Hammer
Shadows on the Wall
Stumptown Rag
Without You
Leave the Blues Behind
Hard Times Come Again No More

With me were my friend and mentor Mary Flower, who produced the session, and engineer Jordan Leff.

The session went extremely well. I really had a good time and the songs are sounding great. Secret Society is a very homey place. It really felt like recording in your living room. Jordan did a fantastic job of getting the sounds recorded. Mary was an invaluable coach. Here she is laying down a slide guitar track:

I really love recording. It's like a laboratory for musicians. Jerry Garcia put it like this "Playing live is like being in a row boat on the ocean. Recording is like building a ship in a bottle". I couldn't describe it better.

We'll mix the tracks this week. Then off they go to Dave Glasser in Boulder, Colorado for mastering. If you don't know Dave just listen to any number of award winning acoustic music recordings including the latest Hot Tuna release "Steady as She Goes" and Mary's latest "Misery Lovers Company" to hear his work.

My old pal Mikel Parker (aka Zavijava) is doing the cover art. Release is planned for November. See my event calendar for the release party details on November 3 at Artichoke Music.

The adventure continues.