Myths of Our Time

Some common myths we live with today:

• A car can be considered beautiful
• It's possible to win a war on terror
• It's better to drive than to walk or ride a bike
• Leaf blowers are necessary
• Meat is essential to our diet
• Time can be wasted, or lost
• Water is better if it's packaged in plastic bottles
• Growing hemp to produce the myriad products it is capable of will lead the world down a perilous path toward heroin addiction
• McDonald's, Coca Cola, WalMart and their ilk need to expand into international markets
• We need more highways
• We need more housing and commercial development
• We need to find more oil
• We need an economy that relies on the production of material goods to continue to grow
• One person's god can be better or different from another's person's god
• Religious faith can justify hatred or violence
• A TV series that celebrates a serial killer is OK
• A movie that shows consensual sex is not OK
• Heterosexuality is normal; anything else is not
• Everyone has the same opportunity to succeed in a capitalist society
• A wall between the U.S. and Mexico will stop poor people from seeking a better life
• Ann Coulter can be considered beautiful

Kingpin

From the cartoon strip Kingpin by Dean Davidson

The Art of Peace

As soon as you concern yourself with the "good" and "bad" of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with and criticizing others will weaken and defeat you.

One does not need buildings, money, power or status to practice the art of peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.

The divine does not like to be shut up in a building. The divine likes to be out in the open. It is right here within this very body. Each of us is a miniature universe, a living shrine.

-- Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, founder of Aikido (pictured above)

The Essence of Tao

Book One - I

The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observe its secrets;
But allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.
These two are the same
But diverge in name as they issue forth.
Being the same they are called mysteries,
Mystery upon mystery -
The gateway of the manifold secrets.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (translation by D.C. Lau)

Launch!

On Thursday, Oct. 12, 2007, an Atlas 5 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral and carried the first Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft into orbit above earth. Shortly after launch, contact was made with the next-generation communications satellite, one of which is equivalent to the entire fleet of vehicles currently circling our globe. Guess who is working in the heart of the operation that manages these mission-critical space vehicles. Yep, none other than USAF Airman First Class Christopher Ross Davidson. Yep, his dad is proud.

Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now

On Leadership

Book One - XVII

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
Next comes the ruler they love and praise;
Next comes the one they fear;
Next comes the one with which they take liberties.
When there is not enough faith, there is lack of good faith.
Hesitant, he does not utter words lightly.
When his task is accomplished and his work done
The people all say, "It happened to us naturally."

-- Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching (translation by D.C. Lau)

Typographer

My son Dean Davidson is a graphic designer living in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and he has a penchant for typography. He likes to create it, use it in his design work and lay down metal versions to print with. He created Cambie while he was a student at Art Center College of Design. Check it out: It's a beautiful font. While you're at it, check out his portfolio, too. If you need a talented designer, give him a call!

Worldchanging

I enjoyed the opportunity to meet author/futurist/visionary Bruce Sterling when he visited Harvey Mudd College (HMC) in October 2006. During his talk (which is available in the video archive at HMC), he held up a copy of the book "Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century" and said, "Buy three copies of this book: One for yourself, one for someone 14 years older than you and one for someone 14 years younger." He wrote the introduction and Al Gore wrote the forward. Sterling also calls worldchanging.com the most important website on the planet. While I didn't adhere to his 14-year recommendation, I have given several copies of the book to my friends. Changing the world depends on you and me, so get the book, read it and get to work! "Valorize the extremes!"

The Soundtrack of My Life

Here are a few of the guitar performances in my iTunes "Favorites" playlist, or often heard emanating from my DVD player. You'll have to buy, beg, borrow or steal to hear them (I recommend the first in order to reward these geniuses for what they created). There is no particular order to this list and it's a work in progress, with posts added as the auditory and expository spirit moves. If you're interested, check back regularly to see the latest. Use comments (at the bottom of this post) to offer your suggestions.

Musician: Mick Taylor
Song: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"
Band: The Rolling Stones
Album: Sticky Fingers
Comments: Thank you, Keith, for turning Mick loose on this one!

Musician: Gary Moore
Song: "Surrender"
Band: Gary Moore
Album: Different Beat
Comments: There is more feeling in these nine and half minutes than some people generate in a lifetime.

Musician: Gary Moore
Song: "Lost in Your Love"
Band: Gary Moore
Album: Different Beat
Comments: The last minute of this song is absolutely amazing...and fast. Whew!

Musician: Mike Campbell
Song: "Out in the Cold"
Band: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Album: The Great Wide Open
Comments: Campbell coaxes more out of a Rickenbacker than anyone I've ever heard. He is the master of the guitar solo outro.

Musician: Eric Clapton
Song: "Let it Rain"
Band: Eric Clapton
Album: Eric Clapton (self-titled)
Comments: There will be much more by E.C. to add here, of course, but the solo at the end of this Delaney and Bonnie-backed song is superb.

Musician: Joe Bonamassa
Song: "Pain and Sorrow"
Band: Joe Bonamassa
Album: So It's Like That
Comments: Joe is absolutely amazing and everything he does belongs here. On this song, I could swear I was sitting a few feet behind Jimi Hendrix at the HIC Arena in Hololulu again, like I did during the summer of 1970.

Musician: Gabor Szabo
Song: "Breezin'"
Band: Gabor Szabo
Album: High Contrast
Comments: George Benson is better known for this song, but few people know Bobby Womack wrote it for Gabor Szabo, who recorded it first. Every song on this album is outstanding, but this one sets the sets the stage for the greatness to come. It sounds like a Sunday evening walk on the beach.

Musician: Doug MacLeod
Song: "The New Panama Limited"
Band: Doug MacLeod
Album: A Little Sin
Comments: It's ironic that I used to take the Blue Line train from downtown L.A. to hear Doug ("Dubb") play at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach during happy hour. One night, he pulled this song out of his hat and it blew me away. If you've never heard a National guitar sound like a train coming into the station, give this a listen. It's all Dubb, too; check out the percussion, which is his heel tapping on the floor.

Musician: Pete Townshend
Song: "Magic Bus"
Band: The Who
Album: Live at Leeds
Comments: Much has been written about how this song was digitally repaired (the original was loaded with extraneous noise) and how Keith Moon and John Entwistle hated playing it, but this is one of Pete Towshend's finest moments.

Musician: Kimberly "K.C." Allison
Song: "Beyond Blue"
Band: Kimberly "K.C." Allison
Album: Beyond Blue
Comments: Unfortunately, women guitar players are rare. Fortunately, Kimberly Allison numbers among them. When I used to drop in on her Tuesday night gigs at First Cabin in Arcadia, Calif., I always requested she play this song. It's got a hint of the blues, a big dose of jazz and a ton of great energy and talent behind it. She's an excellent guitar teacher, too.

Musician: Coco Montoya and Walter Trout
Song: "The Last Time"
Band: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
Album: Chicago Line
Comments: Mayall has done this Jimmy Rogers song many times, but this version features then-young guitar-slingers Coco Montoya and Walter Trouth in alternating solos. The entire album is a fascinating glimpse into the styles of these two guys, both of whom went on to legendary careers on their own. What a treat it would have been to see them on stage in '88, the left-hander Montoya and right-hander Trout bookending the master Mayall and taking turns wailing with their Strats.


Musician: Kal David
Song: "I'll Play the Blues for You"
Band: Kal David and the Real Deal
Album: Live at Blue Guitar
Comments: It's hard to pick a song from Kal's albums because they don't really capture how great he is to watch perform on stage. This rendition of Albert King's classic is about as close as they come, however. Catch him and his wife Laurie Bono when they're in Palm Springs or Connecticut, where they seem to divide their time. Unfortunately, they don't own Blue Guitar in P.S. anymore, where you used to be able to catch them every weekend. That was a huge loss for Inland Empire music lovers like me. I used to chat with Kal at Blue Guitar and found we have something in common: We both own signed prints of a beautiful photograph of Lucille, B.B. King's legendary Gibson guitar, signed by the legend himself. I have number 374/585 hanging in my office at home. I don't recall which number Kal owns, but it was given to him by his employees at Blue Guitar and used to hang proudly on the south wall of the club. It's a gorgeous photo of the back of Lucille, lying down horizontally and lit so the shape flows like the smooth curves of a woman.

Musician: Neil Schon and Carlos Santana
Song: "Song of the Wind"
Band: Santana
Album: Caravanersai
Comments: This song is nothing more than two guitar geniuses taking turns emptying their minds and letting their hearts sing through their strings. It's so simple, but says so much.

Musician: Joe Satriani
Song: "The Traveler"
Band: Joe Satriani
Album: Strange Beautiful Music
Comments: What is there to say about Satch? He is simply the best -- and a great guy, too. He has said he thinks of Jimi Hendrix everytime he gets on stage. I chose this song from among the many Satch songs on my favorites list because of the way it invokes Jimi at the end. Check it out. And thanks, Joe, for both the times you took your pen to my Ibanex JS100 guitar. If only I could play it like you!

Musician: David Gilmour
Song: "Comfortably Numb"
Band: Pink Floyd
Album: Delicate Sound of Thunder
Comments: Gilmour is amazing on this song, as he is on every song he plays. His bends are unbelievable.

Musician: Carlos Santana
Song: "Incident at Neshabur"
Band: Santana
Album: Abraxas
Comments: This album contains many memories of my days in college, but there is a point about two-thirds into this song when Carlos slows it down and takes us above and beyond.

Musician: Eric Clapton
Song: "My Father's Eyes"
Band: Eric Clapton
Album: Pilgrim
Comments: Written in the wake of the death of his son, this song is hard for me to listen to. Losing one of my own sons is a fear that's haunted me since they were born. Clapton confronts that loss here and strips it right to the bone. Is he talking about his father's eyes--or his own? Are they different--or the same?

Musician: Peter White
Song: "Bittersweet"
Band: Peter White
Album: Caravan of Dreams
Comments: If was possible to wear out a CD, I would have ripped this album to shreds playing it on my Apple Powerbook 3400 while traveling to work at Claremont Graduate University on the Metrolink train in 1997.

Musician: Eric Johnson
Song: "When the Sun Meets the Sky"
Band: Eric Johnson
Album: Venus Isle
Comments: Also from 1997, this song rang true for me and brought tears to my eyes when I turned it up on my PC's speakers during lunch hour while gazing out the window of my office at Harper Hall. It's been written that Eric Johnson was notoriously late in delivering this album because of his obsession with making it perfect. Man, oh man, is it ever! Thank you, Eric--it was well worth the wait.

Musician: Rick Holmstrom
Song: "Pee Wee's Nightmare"
Band: Rick Holmstrom
Album: Hydraulic Groove
Comments: Rick is a fellow University of Redlands alumnus I first met when he was playing for Rod Piazza's band during a concert in Solvang (what a night!). Since then, he's gone out on his own, thankfully. I say that because he's created some amazing stuff, including this tune. I once asked him to play it at Cafe Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach and he told me, "It's way to psychedelic for this crowd, man." OK, Rick, I can dig it.

Musician: Keith Richards
Song: "Gimme Shelter"
Band: The Rolling Stones
Album: Let It Bleed
Comments: Words can't explain what Keith's first few notes of this song does. Just listen and let it carry you away. As Keith might say, "Holy fucking shit!"

Musician: Robben Ford
Song: "When I Leave Here"
Band: Robben Ford & The Blue Line
Album: The Authorized Bootleg
Comments: What can I say about Robben Ford? He played with Miles Davis, for crying out loud, and can play the blues like no one else. The word is versatile. There are tons of great songs he's done I could list here, but this one shines because Robben is on acoustic and makes every note shine like a brand new set of strings. Buy the entire album and listen to "Help the Poor," too. It's also acoustic and like no version you've ever heard. The man has a voice as sweet as the sound of his guitar.

Musician: T-Bone Walker
Song: "Stormy Monday"
Band: T-Bone Walker
Album: Rare
Comments: Every bluesman (and woman) has paid her/his dues by playing this one. Among my favorites are Gary Moore's and the Allman Brothers Band's versions. But nothing can compare to the man who wrote it. This version has a string section backing him and every time I hear it, I wish I could get out my guitar, plunk down at my desk on Monday morning and lament facing another dumb-ass day of work.

Musician: The Edge
Song: "With or Without You"
Band: U-2
Album: Joshua Tree
Comments: Another song that tugs at me. Listen to The Edge's guitar sing out over the top of Bono's vocals. I always recall Bono's retort to B.B. King when he said he needed someone to play the rhythm parts in "When Love Comes to Town" during the recording of the DVD "Rattle and Hum." To paraphrase: "I think we can find someone." David Howell Evans, you rock!

Musician: Walter Trout
Song: "Girl From the North Country"
Band: Walter Trout Band
Album: Walter Trout Live (No More Fish Jokes)
Comments: Walter is the salt of earth and if you don't believe me, go to one of his gigs and introduce yourself. This Bob Dylan tune features his signature volume knob tone modulation that others have emulated (Joe Bonamassa does a fine job), but few can do like you'll hear here. You'll swear he's playing a violin, it's so sweet!

Musician: Billy Gibbons
Song: "World of Swirl"
Band: ZZ Top
Album: Antenna
Comments: This album features some of Gibbons' best work. This song makes me want to ask the girl in the cowboy hat across the room to dance. But first, buy me another Long Star, will ya?

Musician: Shannon Curfman
Song: "True Friends"
Band: Shannon Curfman
Album: Loud Guitars, Big Suspicians
Comments: This girl's playing brings to mind other teen prodigies like Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang. Great song, amazing voice, superb guitar playing.

Musician: Craig Chaquico
Song: "Sacred Ground"
Band: Craig Chaquico
Album: Acoustic Highway
Comments: Yes, Craig, we forgive you for most of that Jefferson Starship stuff. Thanks for delivering this album, and the ones that followed. And about that tone you get out of those Carvin guitars...! If anyone says, "It's too over-the-top 'new age,'" tell them for me, "OK, then, you try to play it!"

Musician: Big Bill Broonzy
Song: "I Can't Be Satisfied"
Band: Big Bill Broonzy
Album: Big Bill Blues
Comments: This song is so simple, it's brilliant. The recording is as primitive as they come, but the guitar work is perfection. Broonzy and his contempories are the real deal--the blues incarnate.

Musician: Greg Carmichael and Nick Webb
Song: "Same Road, Same Reason"
Band: Acoustic Alchemy
Album: Reference Point
Comments: Carmichael and Webb were alchemists in the best sense of the word and we lost something very special when Nick died. I never got to see this original duo perform, but have enjoyed the pleasure of meeting Miles Gilderdale, who took Webb's place and keeps the flame going in his inimitable way. What can you say about Greg Carmichael, whose gentle presence on stage and at the guitar is inspiring? I own every bit of music this band has ever produced (that you can buy, anyway). This song holds a special place from one occasion when I heard it. It was sometime in the mid-90s and I was on an American Airlines jet returning from a trade show for my company, Health Data Sciences Corporation. As the jet skimmed the trees east of Big Bear Lake in Southern California and descended toward Ontario Airport, this song came on in my airline headphones. At the time, my sons were in their pre-teen years and they were my primary reason for living. I loved them so much (and still do, of course). I recall hearing this song and thinking, "Please get me home safely so that I can have at least one more day with my boys."

Musician: Keith Richards
Song: "Out of Control"
Band: The Rolling Stones
Album: No Security
Comments: There are many version of this song out there, but this one is my favorite, by far. The build-up in the intro is incomparable. "Lord, help me now."

Musician: Keith Richards
Song: "You Got Me Rockin'"
Band: The Rolling Stones
Album: No Security
Comments: Like the previous, I think this is the best live version of this song out there. Keith is on fire and demonstrates why he and his mates are indeed the kings of R & R.

Musician: Sonny Landreth
Song: "Congo Square"
Band: Sonny Landreth
Album: Grant Street
Comments: Landreth will blow you away with his slide technique and if some part of your body isn't jumpin' and jivin' when you listen to this, then you need to put a mirror to your nose to see if it fogs up. If not, you ain't livin'.

Musician: David Lanz and Paul Speer
Song: "Reverie"
Band: David Lanz and Paul Speer
Album: Bridge of Dreams
Comments: There is no guitar in this song, but it doesn't matter. When I die, play this when all my friends are gathered and thinking (hopefully) good thoughts about the ways we made the world a better place through love.

Musician: David Arkenstone with Andrew White
Song: "Carnation Lily Lily Rose"
Band: David Arkenstone with Andrew White
Album: Narada Decade: The Anniversary Collection
Comments: This song transcends description. Listen, see, feel; then listen again.

Musician: Laurie Morvan
Song: "That One Little Thing"
Band: Laurie Morvan Band
Album: Cures What Ails Ya
Comments: This album is chock-full of great songwriting, singing and guitar work. Thanks, Laurie, for having the courage to put it out there. It's doubly difficult for a woman, which makes your work so special.

Musician: Carlos Santana, Neal Schon, Greg Rolie, Jose Chepito Areas and Michael Schrieve, among others
Song: "Every Step of the Way"
Band: Santana
Album: Caravanserai
Comments: The layers of percussion and guitars that begin this song are incomparable. This is one of the greatest tributes to Santana's ability to inspire his fellow musicians to demonstrate sonic trancendence.

Musician: Carlos Santana, Neal Schon, Greg Rolie, Jose Chepito Areas and Michael Schrieve, among others
Song: "Batuka"
Band: Santana
Album: Santana III
Comments: I'll never forget the first time I heard this in Janie's apartment off University Avenue in Redlands in 1971. It rocked like nothing I had ever heard before. Neal Schon was 17 years old. Unfreakingbelievable! The entire album is a time capsule of my junior year in college.

Musician: Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather
Song: "The Pump"
Band: Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather
DVD: New Morning: The Paris Concert
Comments: When I spotted this DVD online, I couldn't resist. Whoulda thunk it? The genteel and legendary jazz/rock guitar legend Carlton and the metal/rock powerhouse Lukather on stage together. It turns out they're long-time friends and went on the road together in 2001. I was mystified about what I was about to see and hear in this concert from the New Morning club on Paris. I saw Lukather tear up the House of Blues in Los Angeles with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert in a benefit concert for Cliff Cultreri. What was this tatooed and pierced Toto veteran cum metalhead doing with the guy whose signature style graced many a Steely Dan album? Get the DVD and check it out -- it's phenomenal! This tune is a great opener: a classic Carlton piece that Lukather shreds in a lengthy solo, then turns it over to Carlton. In his inimitable way, he pauses, clears his head, turns it down and slows it down -- then soars.

Musician: Angus Young
Song: "Thunderstruck"
Band: AC/DC
DVD: Live at Donington
Comments: There in little to say about this one except turn it on, turn it up and watch Angus rip at Castle Donington. Monster of Rock, indeed!

Musician: Neil Schon
Song: "Urban Angel"
Band: Neil Schon
Album: I on U
Comments: This CD is incredible, from title cut start to finish. In September 2005, I spent two weeks in a cabin in Red's Meadow west of Mammoth while training for the Everest Challenge State Climbing Championships. I plugged my iPod into my JBL On Stage sound system (it's a marvelous little device that looks like a bagel but emits sound like you can't believe) and set the iPod alarm to wake me every morning with this album. Every time I hear "I on U," I think of the wonderful experience of listening to this album every morning while slowly waking up to a day with nothing to do but ride my bike anywhere I wanted in the Sierras. Every song on the album is a gem, but "Urban Angel" stands out because there is a point in the song when Schon uses his guitar to cry out with a sound that is from deep in his gut. It echoes in my head, reminding me of things I wanted, but could not have.

Musician: John Jorgenson
Song: "Ultraspontane"
Band: John Jorgenson Quintet
Album: Ultraspontane
Comments: I first saw John Jorgenson perform at the Redlands Bowl and was blown away by his style. In 2008, I had a front-row seat to see him perform at Glenn Wallichs Theatre at the University of Redlands, his alma mater (and mine, too). After numerous gigs with different bands and artists (including six years with Elton John), he has settled into the narrow niche of Gypsy jazz guitar, as exemplified by the late, great Django Reinhardt. This song is smokin'! Unfortunately, it is bundled as two separate songs on iTunes (the introduction is well worth the 99 cents -- but get the full album). If you get a chance to see him perform live, don't miss it. His stage presence is incredibly warm and genuine (he tells great stories) and his band is very talented. His percussionist gets more sound out if a simple snare drum, hi-hat cymbal and tambourine setup than anyone I've ever seen.

A Question of Balance

No, I don't mean the Moody Blues album from 1970, although it is one of my favorites. I wore out my vinyl copy the year it came out, when I lived in the Kappa Sigma Sigma house at the University of Redlands. My favorite song is "Question." Here is a sample (lyrics by Justin Hayward):

Between the silence of the mountains
And the crashing of the sea
There lies a land I once lived in
And she's waiting there for me.

But in the grey of the morning
My mind becomes confused
Between the dead and the sleeping
And the road that I must choose

I'm looking for someone to change my life
I'm looking for a miracle in my life
And if you could see what it's done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me to
The land that I once knew
To learn as we grow old
The secrets of our souls

The question of balance was posed last night at Aikido practice by our instructor Dave. As we worked through a new set of exercises, he talked about being able to perform them equally well on both sides of our body. As I learned the techniques of rolling after a throw, I realized how much I favor my right side. He referred to our sides as children: one of them has been neglected -- never allowed to throw the ball, for example. Now, suddenly, this child was being asked to do something he was never asked to do before. And he was clumsy at it.

When I got home, I sat at my drum kit and sensed the differences in how I used each side of my body when keeping a beat. I spent an hour drumming with only my left hand. It took a while for the neglected child to get the hang of it, but after a while, he was pretty damned good!

Your Life, My Life

Your Life, My Life

No more
No less
Significant

Than the other
Six billion
Seeking significance

Queued up
To provide
Fossil footprints

Your life, my life
Galactic, microbial
The difference?

None, of course
Yet it is, it does
Matter, this motion

Copyright Don Davidson 2007

Beginning Aikido

Tonight was my first night of training in Aikido at Musubi Dojo in Claremont. My instructor Alex was good in explaining the proper etiquette in bowing in and the other things we need to know. I've already forgotten most of the terminology and salutations, but they'll come with time.

Ron Rubin and Susan Perry senseis, who are married and own the dojo, are wonderful people. They make Aikido seem so effortless, which is the way it should be. As I learned at the demonstration two days ago, Aikido requires a very different kind of strength from what we are accustomed to. Ron sensei compared it having water flow through your body. In Aikido, you don't meet an opponent's energy head-on in a test of muscular strength.

"Opponent" not an appropriate term, actually; she or he is not someone in opposition to you, but instead a partner in redirecting energy. In addition to our own safety, Aikido teaches us to provide for our partner's safety, too. It truly is not a martial art, but rather, an art of peace. I had the opportunity to watch Ron sensei demonstrate some techniques with the black belt class tonight. They appeared effortless and at the end of each one, the gentle flow of energy from his hands was almost visible.

During our beginners lesson, my fellow "newbie" Joe and I bumped into and tripped over each other constantly. As he said, "I didn't know which left foot to put forward!" I hope I do better on Monday!

Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), also known as O-Sensei, was the founder of Aikido. According to the Musubi Dojo website, "His gift was to marry effective martial technique with a deep spirituality. A master of many martial arts, he brought out of budo (the martial path) a deep philosophical element. His influence on philosophical thinkers as well as martial artists has been profound." I am excited to be taking the first step in a journey with O-Sensei and his followers.