"Happy Solstice, one and all...the days are getting longer now...and the chilly Cape is where I'll be for the next little while, with van trips to Woodstock NY (where I've begun recording my next CD projects) sprinkled in between. Speaking of van trips, I'm finally in the market to replace my 10-year old Dodge Caravan, so if you know of a folk-friendly car dealer in the northeast, lemme know.

     Have you seen "Bowling for Columbine" by Michael Moore (www.michaelmoore.com)? Michael first came to prominence with "Roger & Me", his documentary about the auto industry and economic conditions in Flint, Michigan. Now he’s taken a look at how guns affect our culture, and this film is at once compelling, enlightening, and outrageous. He calls it "a devastating indictment of the violence that’s done in our name for profit and power." One film "critic" labels Michael as bombastic and egocentric. The way I see it (as with anything in life), take what you need and leave the rest...and the substance of what this filmmaker is doing strikes me as important and deserving of more attention/examination. One interviewee in the film said (I'm paraphrasing) "If more guns make you feel safe, then America should be the safest place in the world, and it’s anything but..." Begs MY question - can I live by example to bring about peace in the world, disruption in cycles of violence, and the embrace of diversity?

     In a recent issue of "New Directions for Student Services" academic publisher Jossey-Bass has included excerpts from "I Have Learned" - the journal contains reflections from 9 student affairs professionals on the subject of practical wisdom and leadership...interesting reading, and nice that they would deem song lyrics educational! But we knew that, look at all WE’VE learned from a LONG list of songwriters over the years...

     Just wrote an article for the National Wellness Institute's quarterly e-newsletter...if you're interested in hearing a prose version of one of my old story songs, follow the links:

www.nationalwellness.org
member logon :"guest"
password: "4wellness"
"Wellness Management E-edition (second link, top left)
MENU: Lighter side of Wellness - "Ego Trip Cancelled"

     Appreciations of the Month go to November’s sponsors including: Sonny Ochs and the Scoharie County Food Pantry (Scoharie, NY), the Cornell Folk Song Club (Ithaca, NY), Laurie and crew at the Main Street Cafe (Homestead, FL), Russ, Leddy, et al at Unity of Clearwater (FL), Robby Greenberg (Ft Lauderdale, FL), Karen Bonnell (Naples, FL), Erika Rogers of Soundwaters (Stamford, CT), Polly O'Brien and Sue Rigano at Pitney-Bowes world headquarters (CT), Kim Kaplan (Silver Spring, MD), the Kennedy Center (DC), Pam Burns/Freedom Road Productions (Havre de Grace, MD), and Steve Coccia at the Mansion (Middletown, NY)...

     Hope this finds you and yours well and warm, that you're enjoying this new website (thanks Bear!) and that you've noticed you can now get my recordings right here (better for me than thru Amazon.com, other middle-merchants)...thanks as always for your support and interest.

David

Little Christmas Song © 2002 David Roth/Maythelight Music (ASCAP)

Here’s my little Christmas song
It’s new so I might play it wrong
But that’s okay, it’s not like I could say
Or sing one single thing

That’s never been expressed before
Like "peace on earth" and "no more war"
That’s easier to say than do,
Just read the paper, watch the news

DON’T read the paper, walk in nature
That’s what we did last Thursday
When six or seven inches fall down from the sky
It’s time to play

We slapped our boots on, grabbed the dog
We bought him in some catalogue
That’s what they send this time of year
How did they get my address here?

We took a stroll around the pond
Of Tricia I am very fond
Last summer she made me a blonde
I looked a bit like Eminem

Our nieces’ very favorite rapper
Swears a lot, that whippersnapper
Strikes some kind of chord it seems
For certain disaffected teens...

Here’s my little Christmas song
Might play it wrong, it’s kinda newish
Don’t expect too much in Christmas songs
When sung by someone Jewish

Except for maybe Adam Sandler
Nightly lights Menorah candles
Merry Christmas, Hanukkah
Solstice, Ramadan, and Kwanzaa

I know I left some holidays out
So choose that to which you’re devout
That's what the Dali Lama does,
When asked what his religion was

Replies with just one single word
"Kindness" is what he prefers

And so do I, so now I ask

Is humankind up to the task?