David LaMotte

Speaker • Author • Musician

Blog

A Brief Article on Heroes

Dec 27, 2009
I was asked to write a short piece for the Eagle, a quarterly magazine published by the Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane, on Desmond Tutu. Here it is… From Tutu Desmond Tutu speaking at the Rotary World Peace Symposium Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu is a hero of mine. I make that statement with full awareness that […]

A Brief Article on Heroes

by David LaMotte

I was asked to write a short piece for the Eagle, a quarterly magazine published by the Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane, on Desmond Tutu. Here it is… From Tutu Desmond Tutu speaking at the Rotary World Peace Symposium Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu is a hero of mine. I make that statement with full awareness that […]

Pictures and captions from India

Dec 14, 2009
Here are fifty+ pictures and captions showing our first couple of weeks in India and some of the work that ASM is doing. It’s been quite an adventure thus far. Click on the picture below to go to the photo album: India One

Pictures and captions from India

by David LaMotte

Here are fifty+ pictures and captions showing our first couple of weeks in India and some of the work that ASM is doing. It’s been quite an adventure thus far. Click on the picture below to go to the photo album: India One

Of AIDS education and office space

Dec 8, 2009
Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India Our first full day in Srikakulam is drawing to a close and Deanna’s taking her turn going down to dinner. There are two volunteers from a non-profit in the U.K., Becky and Hannah, who are teaching English here, and we all usually have meals together. Since Mason goes to sleep before […]

Of AIDS education and office space

by David LaMotte

Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India Our first full day in Srikakulam is drawing to a close and Deanna’s taking her turn going down to dinner. There are two volunteers from a non-profit in the U.K., Becky and Hannah, who are teaching English here, and we all usually have meals together. Since Mason goes to sleep before […]

Arthik Samata Mandal

Dec 8, 2009
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India From India One As I write this note I am sitting under a ceiling fan in a simple room with concrete walls and screenless windows on a bed that is covered by a mosquito net. Mason is sleeping in his little tent/crib just beside the bed. The room is on the […]

Arthik Samata Mandal

by David LaMotte

Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India From India One As I write this note I am sitting under a ceiling fan in a simple room with concrete walls and screenless windows on a bed that is covered by a mosquito net. Mason is sleeping in his little tent/crib just beside the bed. The room is on the […]

An Interview

Nov 29, 2009
From blog pix About a week ago I received an interview request from Rebekah Tucker, the Editor of Longwood University’s newspaper, the Rotunda. She sent a few questions along and I thought it would be appropriate to post the answers here. They are good and important questions, and I’m glad that people like Rebekah are […]

An Interview

by David LaMotte

From blog pix About a week ago I received an interview request from Rebekah Tucker, the Editor of Longwood University’s newspaper, the Rotunda. She sent a few questions along and I thought it would be appropriate to post the answers here. They are good and important questions, and I’m glad that people like Rebekah are […]

Hair Changing 101

Nov 23, 2009
It’s been some time since I’ve checked in, and much has happened in the meantime.  I’ve finished the second semester of my Masters program, Mason turned one, I’ve made trips to Newcastle and Canberra for Rotary, friends have visited from the U.S. and New Zealand, and yesterday Deanna had her thirty-fifth birthday, just to name […]

Hair Changing 101

by David LaMotte

It’s been some time since I’ve checked in, and much has happened in the meantime.  I’ve finished the second semester of my Masters program, Mason turned one, I’ve made trips to Newcastle and Canberra for Rotary, friends have visited from the U.S. and New Zealand, and yesterday Deanna had her thirty-fifth birthday, just to name […]

The answer, my friend…

Aug 24, 2009
A few weeks ago I heard a man speaking about aid work. At one point, in the middle of a litany of problems in the world, he spoke of “countries where the winds of political change are blowing.” I don’t know whether anyone else noticed what was happening through the plate glass windows behind him […]

The answer, my friend…

by David LaMotte

A few weeks ago I heard a man speaking about aid work. At one point, in the middle of a litany of problems in the world, he spoke of “countries where the winds of political change are blowing.” I don’t know whether anyone else noticed what was happening through the plate glass windows behind him […]

Eunice Shriver

Aug 11, 2009
Eunice Kennedy Shriver died yesterday. To call the Kennedy family influential is kind of like calling Coca-Cola a pretty big company, and Ms. Shriver was born into that. She didn’t have choices in whether she had that power or not, she simply did. What she was free to choose was where to point that power, […]

Eunice Shriver

by David LaMotte

Eunice Kennedy Shriver died yesterday. To call the Kennedy family influential is kind of like calling Coca-Cola a pretty big company, and Ms. Shriver was born into that. She didn’t have choices in whether she had that power or not, she simply did. What she was free to choose was where to point that power, […]

Seeing and Being Seen

Jul 29, 2009
“He made us realize that dance is a way of seeing as well as a thing to be seen.” – choreographer Margaret Jenkins, reflecting on the life of Merce Cunningham, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle I came home from campus this evening and, after rolling around on the floor with Mason a bit, […]

Seeing and Being Seen

by David LaMotte

“He made us realize that dance is a way of seeing as well as a thing to be seen.” – choreographer Margaret Jenkins, reflecting on the life of Merce Cunningham, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle I came home from campus this evening and, after rolling around on the floor with Mason a bit, […]

New Rotary Peace Fellowship video

Jul 11, 2009
Rotary International recently released a new video about the Rotary World Peace Fellowship, of which I am a recipient. I got to see the video in Birmingham, England a couple of weeks ago, and I’m happy to be able to share it with you now. If you’d like to know more about what I’m doing […]

New Rotary Peace Fellowship video

by David LaMotte

Rotary International recently released a new video about the Rotary World Peace Fellowship, of which I am a recipient. I got to see the video in Birmingham, England a couple of weeks ago, and I’m happy to be able to share it with you now. If you’d like to know more about what I’m doing […]

Mason at and approaching eight months

Jul 11, 2009
By popular demand, here are thirty recent Mason pictures. Click here for a slideshow, or on the photo below to peruse the album at your own pace. Mason @ 8 months Deanna and I celebrated our fifth anniversary yesterday— best move I ever made. It’s such a joy to see this little guy who is […]

Mason at and approaching eight months

by David LaMotte

By popular demand, here are thirty recent Mason pictures. Click here for a slideshow, or on the photo below to peruse the album at your own pace. Mason @ 8 months Deanna and I celebrated our fifth anniversary yesterday— best move I ever made. It’s such a joy to see this little guy who is […]

Police Covers

Jun 25, 2009
On my most recent record, Change, I covered a song by the Police, Walking In Your Footsteps. I was just alerted to a cover song blog that featured that track in a collection of Police covers, and another that features Police and Sting covers by folk artists specifically (that site didn’t feature my track, but […]

Police Covers

by David LaMotte

On my most recent record, Change, I covered a song by the Police, Walking In Your Footsteps. I was just alerted to a cover song blog that featured that track in a collection of Police covers, and another that features Police and Sting covers by folk artists specifically (that site didn’t feature my track, but […]

The Real World

Jun 24, 2009
the Dubai airport, complete with indoor palm trees It’s five in the afternoon in Brisbane, and about 10 AM here on this airplane. According to the flight information on the little screen embedded in the seat in front of me, I’m flying over Damascus right now, on my way to England. I spent a few […]

The Real World

by David LaMotte

the Dubai airport, complete with indoor palm trees It’s five in the afternoon in Brisbane, and about 10 AM here on this airplane. According to the flight information on the little screen embedded in the seat in front of me, I’m flying over Damascus right now, on my way to England. I spent a few […]

Remembering Columbine

Apr 25, 2009
From random blog photos News stories about the ten year anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings seemed to jump out from every corner of the internet in the last week. The academic journal Psychological Review gave a whole issue to “Lessons of Columbine.” That experience is etched in our national memory, and though it’s […]

Remembering Columbine

by David LaMotte

From random blog photos News stories about the ten year anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings seemed to jump out from every corner of the internet in the last week. The academic journal Psychological Review gave a whole issue to “Lessons of Columbine.” That experience is etched in our national memory, and though it’s […]

New Faces of Peace at UQ

Apr 15, 2009
by Naomi Smith For some, the word peace conjures up images of hippies and free love. Not so for the new 2009 cohort of UQ Rotary World Peace Fellows. For the nine new scholars housed at UQ’s Rotary Centre for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution in the School of Political Science and International […]

New Faces of Peace at UQ

by David LaMotte

by Naomi Smith For some, the word peace conjures up images of hippies and free love. Not so for the new 2009 cohort of UQ Rotary World Peace Fellows. For the nine new scholars housed at UQ’s Rotary Centre for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution in the School of Political Science and International […]

New Header Picture

Apr 8, 2009
I took the picture above last weekend in a park in Brisbane. Kind of works here, I think.

New Header Picture

by David LaMotte

I took the picture above last weekend in a park in Brisbane. Kind of works here, I think.

My First Paper

Apr 8, 2009
From random blog photos I turned in my first paper of my post-grad career today. I’ve been deeply immersed in it for the last couple of weeks, and have learned a great deal. The education has come not only from wrestling with the content, though, but also from wrestling with writing an academic paper, which […]

My First Paper

by David LaMotte

From random blog photos I turned in my first paper of my post-grad career today. I’ve been deeply immersed in it for the last couple of weeks, and have learned a great deal. The education has come not only from wrestling with the content, though, but also from wrestling with writing an academic paper, which […]

A Taste of My Old Life

Mar 26, 2009
From random blog photos Let your voice ring back my memories 
Sing my songs to me – Jackson Browne It’s a strange thing to suddenly be a student. My life is filled with writing papers and reading articles and books, other people’s schedules and agendas. That’s very, very different from the last eighteen years of […]

A Taste of My Old Life

by David LaMotte

From random blog photos Let your voice ring back my memories 
Sing my songs to me – Jackson Browne It’s a strange thing to suddenly be a student. My life is filled with writing papers and reading articles and books, other people’s schedules and agendas. That’s very, very different from the last eighteen years of […]

A fascinating article

Mar 9, 2009
Joseph Hongo, my fellow Fellow from Kenya, handed this article to me a couple of days ago. It’s an interesting read, and outlines some of the great ideological and practical challenges faced by those who would work for peace. So what do you think?

A fascinating article

by David LaMotte

Joseph Hongo, my fellow Fellow from Kenya, handed this article to me a couple of days ago. It’s an interesting read, and outlines some of the great ideological and practical challenges faced by those who would work for peace. So what do you think?

First week of classes

Mar 7, 2009
From random blog photos It’s Saturday morning here in Fig Tree Pocket, our little corner of Brisbane. Deanna was up with a restless Mason through much of the night, so she’s getting some sleep while he is, and I’m watching the morning in a quiet house. I’ve finished my first week of classes at the […]

First week of classes

by David LaMotte

From random blog photos It’s Saturday morning here in Fig Tree Pocket, our little corner of Brisbane. Deanna was up with a restless Mason through much of the night, so she’s getting some sleep while he is, and I’m watching the morning in a quiet house. I’ve finished my first week of classes at the […]

How the World Changes

Mar 1, 2009
From random blog photos Deanna and Mason on the bus It’s Sunday in Brisbane, and yet another warm, clear day. The quick update is this: Mason turned four-months-old yesterday, we’ve been here for a month, all of the campus orientation events are through and classes start tomorrow. I’ve met all of the fellows, and they […]

How the World Changes

by David LaMotte

From random blog photos Deanna and Mason on the bus It’s Sunday in Brisbane, and yet another warm, clear day. The quick update is this: Mason turned four-months-old yesterday, we’ve been here for a month, all of the campus orientation events are through and classes start tomorrow. I’ve met all of the fellows, and they […]

Class VII Fellows

Feb 19, 2009
I’m going to meet up with a few of the Fellows with whom I’ll be studying at the University of Queensland. Some have yet to arrive and some are here and looking for places to live (we’re lucky to have figured that out already). It’s a fascinating looking group of people. Rotary has posted our […]

Class VII Fellows

by David LaMotte

I’m going to meet up with a few of the Fellows with whom I’ll be studying at the University of Queensland. Some have yet to arrive and some are here and looking for places to live (we’re lucky to have figured that out already). It’s a fascinating looking group of people. Rotary has posted our […]

22 New Mason Pictures

Feb 17, 2009
By popular demand from the folks back home, here’s the Bub… From latest Mason Pix More pix here.

22 New Mason Pictures

by David LaMotte

By popular demand from the folks back home, here’s the Bub… From latest Mason Pix More pix here.

Fig Tree Pocket

Feb 4, 2009
It’s 82 degrees (28 C) and sunny in Brisbane today. From first week I thought I’d better just get that out of the way. If you haven’t just turned off the computer in disgust and you’re still reading then you must love us a lot, so I’ll feel free to wax on about our Brisbane […]

Fig Tree Pocket

by David LaMotte

It’s 82 degrees (28 C) and sunny in Brisbane today. From first week I thought I’d better just get that out of the way. If you haven’t just turned off the computer in disgust and you’re still reading then you must love us a lot, so I’ll feel free to wax on about our Brisbane […]

Breakfast in Fiji, the adventure begins…

Jan 21, 2009
It’s 8:39AM in Black Mountain, 5:42AM in Los Angeles (where we were last), 12:43AM in Brisbane, where we’ll be in eleven hours, and 2:44AM in Fiji, where we’ll be having breakfast, watching the sunset and switching to our last airplane of the trip. I’m typing in the dark while most of the passengers are sleeping, […]

Breakfast in Fiji, the adventure begins…

by David LaMotte

It’s 8:39AM in Black Mountain, 5:42AM in Los Angeles (where we were last), 12:43AM in Brisbane, where we’ll be in eleven hours, and 2:44AM in Fiji, where we’ll be having breakfast, watching the sunset and switching to our last airplane of the trip. I’m typing in the dark while most of the passengers are sleeping, […]

Gaza

Jan 13, 2009
This is a long blog, and I apologize for that. I’ve been sitting with my sadness and frustration about current events in Gaza for over two weeks now, and I’m glad to have taken some time to distill some of my feelings. This is as short as I could go, and I’m sure it will […]

Gaza

by David LaMotte

This is a long blog, and I apologize for that. I’ve been sitting with my sadness and frustration about current events in Gaza for over two weeks now, and I’m glad to have taken some time to distill some of my feelings. This is as short as I could go, and I’m sure it will […]

Something I think is worth doing

Dec 18, 2008
This summer I spent two weeks in Israel and Palestine, mostly in the West Bank. The group I traveled with, Interfaith Peace Builders, met with people from all sides of the conflict there, and had first-hand experience of the way people are treating each other. It left me somewhat radicalized, but not necessarily in the […]

Something I think is worth doing

by David LaMotte

This summer I spent two weeks in Israel and Palestine, mostly in the West Bank. The group I traveled with, Interfaith Peace Builders, met with people from all sides of the conflict there, and had first-hand experience of the way people are treating each other. It left me somewhat radicalized, but not necessarily in the […]

My Baby Is All Grown Up

Dec 14, 2008
No, not that one. Mason is unquestionably still an infant, as proven by the fact that I’m sitting in the dark typing up a blog at 4:30 AM while the Squirmy Wormy sits beside me and the two of us try to leverage a bit of sleep for his mom. He had his six-week birthday […]

My Baby Is All Grown Up

by David LaMotte

No, not that one. Mason is unquestionably still an infant, as proven by the fact that I’m sitting in the dark typing up a blog at 4:30 AM while the Squirmy Wormy sits beside me and the two of us try to leverage a bit of sleep for his mom. He had his six-week birthday […]

Of Baby Bling and Basil

Dec 9, 2008
It is possible to buy some seriously ridiculous stuff for babies. A recent wander through Babies R Us led to the discovery of endless expensive entertainment options for newborns, including those roughly the age of ours, who is still working on vision at the six-inch range. Slightly more disturbingly, though, it also leads to the […]

Of Baby Bling and Basil

by David LaMotte

It is possible to buy some seriously ridiculous stuff for babies. A recent wander through Babies R Us led to the discovery of endless expensive entertainment options for newborns, including those roughly the age of ours, who is still working on vision at the six-inch range. Slightly more disturbingly, though, it also leads to the […]

The farewell show

Dec 2, 2008
…and suddenly it’s Sunday night. My last show is no longer something I’m getting ready for. It happened. And it was a wonderful time. People came from all over. People were there from many states, including Alaska, (though I don’t think the show was the only reason for their trip). But people came from Missouri, […]

The farewell show

by David LaMotte

…and suddenly it’s Sunday night. My last show is no longer something I’m getting ready for. It happened. And it was a wonderful time. People came from all over. People were there from many states, including Alaska, (though I don’t think the show was the only reason for their trip). But people came from Missouri, […]

Words and Music

Nov 28, 2008
A couple of things have popped up from unexpected sources that I thought folks might like to be aware of. The ‘words’ part has to do with a couple of articles; one is in the Mountain Xpress, Asheville’s indie newspaper. It’s written by Jason Bugg, who called to interview me a couple of weeks ago. […]

Words and Music

by David LaMotte

A couple of things have popped up from unexpected sources that I thought folks might like to be aware of. The ‘words’ part has to do with a couple of articles; one is in the Mountain Xpress, Asheville’s indie newspaper. It’s written by Jason Bugg, who called to interview me a couple of weeks ago. […]

A Change Is Going To Come

Nov 26, 2008
David LaMotte calls it a career Mountain Xpress by Jason Bugg in Vol. 15 / Iss. 18 on 11/26/2008 The word “change” has been thrown around a lot these days as a slogan, an idea, a mantra for some and even a source of derision for others. But for singer/songwriter David LaMotte, change isn’t just […]

A Change Is Going To Come

by David LaMotte

David LaMotte calls it a career Mountain Xpress by Jason Bugg in Vol. 15 / Iss. 18 on 11/26/2008 The word “change” has been thrown around a lot these days as a slogan, an idea, a mantra for some and even a source of derision for others. But for singer/songwriter David LaMotte, change isn’t just […]

A quick post-election blog

Nov 10, 2008
… in between all the baby photos (more soon, you can be sure). My sister Kathy, who is a first year law student at Cornell with a focus on working on our broken death penalty system, wrote a piece on her blog entitled “Now What? A Note to my Co-Liberals.” It’s a good read, whether […]

A quick post-election blog

by David LaMotte

… in between all the baby photos (more soon, you can be sure). My sister Kathy, who is a first year law student at Cornell with a focus on working on our broken death penalty system, wrote a piece on her blog entitled “Now What? A Note to my Co-Liberals.” It’s a good read, whether […]