CHERRY BLOSSOM GIRL - 1965

The thing the sixties did
was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility
that we all had. It wasn't the answer.
It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.

John Lennon

watch the video/remix - Cherry Blossom Girl - bottom

The End of the Innocence

I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to be a single 30 year old in the U.K. in 1965. Zero friends. Looking into her oval mirror and wondering what it would be like to BE one of them, you know - younger, prettier girls who they fall in love with. Like Paul McCartney’s girlfriend/lover. Making out in a darkened nightclub booth with Mick Jagger or Alain Delon.

The thought stirring shivers … still alone.
Dreaming. 

circa 1944 - Dad - G.J. (Jim) LaMarche (center)

Black & White - Hayley Mills

Mom left Dad in 1966, with a bigger picture in mind and it was devastating to this 10 year old, whilst simultaneously watching the world modulate. There were remnants of a world war still lingering; a dusty aftermath. Woodstock Ontario was very conservative/still is - an unwavering intransigence that persists 70 years later even in those in their 20's/30's now. In the 60's half liked it way better before this wave of liberalism changed everything. Long hair on boys and girls wearing short skirts and speaking their minds? Mom was 32 - in the prime of her life, before she moved out and took us kids too. Dad was toxic, damaged. Out to prove something to those who didn’t care. Men back then just had certain expectations, especially on their wives. A duty to comply. That said, most men got what they wanted. Submission.

Movies, music and attitudes were changing. A quantum shift. OK. Hayley? She killed it. That informed androgyny about to blossom into a beautiful woman. She was older but we were one in the same. Gender was irrelevant other than an overwhelming attraction to the opposite sex. Sexuality was abundantly heterosexual. That said, homosexuality was a hidden non issue to anyone under 30 - like it didn’t matter. Hidden only because those who didn't subscribe to the times saw them as freaks. Puberty was just a word that I had no clue about but the rumblings of something big was right around the corner. A feeling.

The Beatles - Ed Sullivan Show - February 09, 1964

Relevance

On Sunday February 09/64 at 8:02pm it all rotated. It was like everything just got that bit brighter and sharper on my screen; that 12 inch black & white portable TV in my Dad’s office on 980 Sloane Street where I saw the Beatles for the first time. Not just a 'fad' either. It was frikkin' epic! Adults/parents are like, what’s this nonsense? - while everyone under 30 was on fire; sensing an eruption that would transform everything for the better. A permanence that defied established norms brought to us by four mop-tops from Liverpool.

So it was 1965 that I would like to suggest that the world actually changed. Rubber Soul. Vietnam war, the voting rights act, an awakening in America’s youth. A distinct marker or separation between US & THEM, when all of a sudden, people started thinking differently. A new polarization between Conservatives and Liberals; the old way versus the new way that lasted for decades. Older conservative thinkers were 'squares' contrasting the more circular movement of progressive minds, younger/hipper. There was a growing anxiety amongst stoic thinkers that one may just eclipse the other that continues to this day. 

I mean I’d heard ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and ‘She Loves You’ on the radio but seeing them perform live on TV was earth shattering. Mom was stuck in the middle. In a rut of a relationship with a man who wanted her to keep quiet and stay put, and a tsunami of liberation launched by those younger and more alive. Relevance. It makes total sense to me now why she had to step out and make a life for herself. The word suffocation comes to mind. Life is about more than being the good wife who looks and acts accordingly. 

A Hard Day’s Night then HELP was a must see on the big screen followed by 'To Sir With Love' where high school white girls fall in love with their black teacher played by Sidney Poitier was a massive blockbuster that transcended the boundaries of race and tolerance, elevating everyone’s awareness while pissing off millions of sceptics determined to preserve their way of life - threatened by change. Becoming open to new ideas was the hallmark of a new humanity focussing on equality, diversity and acceptance for a growing population embracing peace.

Hayley Mills

Epilogue:

The struggle continues. The tug of war in a push-pull entanglement of opinions and values. Some new, some old and all still gasping for air.

I often think of her and wonder what it was like back then. That spark of inspiration that carried her forward into the unknown, knowing it was something she had to do despite the obvious setbacks. In a new world full of possibilities. Jumping. Taking the plunge.

Risking everything for life and love. 

For Pansy

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jimlamarche.ca

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HOME

 

Home is the place where, when you have to go back, 
they just take you in.

Robert Frost

Sudbury, 1959

One of these days, these boots ...

In 69 years; I’ve lived in 28 places. mostly rentals (even now). Some for a few months, some for a year or more. All (ok most) temporary.
 

For me, parents? Have very little to do with home. Ya - another story for a different day; turbulent. We were mobile; A default. Pack yer shit. Get ready to go. Dad drifting from job to job, skipping rent for a month and bolting. The early 60’s was way cool if you were a kid.  Not so as an adult. Mom & Dad were miserable. Unfaithful. Impotent. These boots are made for walkin’ (Nancy Sinatra ’66). Mom walked that October, 4 months after that song was released. It's not something small town Canadian wives did then. Modern woman - enough bullshit. Little tip for all you guys out there who think you got it all figured out ... you don't.

In the years before and after, moving again & again, month to month never knowing - it sucked. Different schools, different kids. Never time to make friends before moving again. I’m thinking Mom and Dad's relationship was fertile earlier on, then a burden; pain in the ass. Being unsettled? It’s in my nature. So when I see 90%+ of those living on this planet still - in the same place as I was? I feel lucky. 

519 Edward Street, Woodstock, 1963

Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble

In quieter times, Sunday afternoon drives around Woodstock Ontario was a thing we did in the early 60s. Just cruising around, looking at stuff. Fun. Fresh air. In fall ’65, Lester B. Pearson was our Prime Minister. Some voted Liberal and some Conservative but essentially we were one in the same. I vividly remember the four of us in our yellow '63 Chevrolet Impala driving east on Henry Street with Michelle by the Beatles on CKOX radio and Dad saying ‘I love this song’. WTF. Dad saying he likes a Beatles song? No way. It was like a rare awakening/surrender, like the world was becoming liberated, even Dad. I was astounded. Mom a bit surprised. Mom felt like home for a short time after she left him. Dad was never even close to home; abused and abusive - drinker. I lived for my distractions … Looney Tunes on Sat. mornings kept me sane. My younger brother David was a buffer (and he would say the same about me). All good. A serious appreciation with what was coming. Later (ok now).

Those thick black clouds on the horizon moving in incrementally.

Pointe Aux Roches

I’d seen them before as a child. Our home is at risk of calamity, disrepair. That little bit closer each day. Watching. Worried? Na. Concerned? Definitely. A shit-storm unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The distractions continue … a new blog post.  Born into a Canadian winter in northern Ontario has it’s perks in preparation for the blast to come.

 

First Sudbury, London/Woodstock - Toronto, and out in the boonies earlier on (Stoney Point/Pointe Aux Roches) - Essex county was desolate, from ages 11-16 (Lake St. Clair/Windsor) with very little real human contact.  Writing and finishing my remix trilogy/Temple Redux mostly now, documenting my journey. Mom saved me in my late teens. Toronto was eventful. An amazing daughter with her own challenges. It’s all good. Prolific, settled and relaxed. Retired now in 2025. Living through the prime of my life (70s, 80s, 90s) in Canada was essentially winning the lottery.

In 28 places … I’ve lived in 2 homes. Both in Woodstock Ontario Canada. Houses on lots - where magic happened/happens. A continuation.

Sudbury, 1957

Home is where the heart is 

It’s all cyclical. Look at the patterns and it’s not really that difficult to see that when we forget, we repeat. Whole nationalities have no idea what HOME is. In the millennia of their scattered evolution and broken dreams, they can’t even describe it, because they’ve never felt it, been there. What home might feel like is just an idea that they’re still fighting for. Desperate for some sense of it. Most humans now have no idea what being settled and secure feels like. I am fortunate. So many are too even though they don’t show it. Rampant entitlement prevails especially in the west. Entire countries further east having no idea what home is.

Take Israel. They’re still recovering from half a century of humiliation and physical torture/death and a legacy of hyper-reaction in defence - to this day! Ok, I have serious issues around genocide in any way shape and form BUT!  I did not live through that, like they did. Am I angry at them? Yes. Can I blame them? No. Greed spawns hatred that continues to spin generations later. As long as we continue depriving those who we think don't deserve what we have, shall we provoke reaction and resentment. What goes around, comes around.

Overture, Curtains, Lights

We are all in this together. Trump is a symptom not the disease and MAGA is just a reaction to unfettered Capitalism spiralling into chaos going way back. Worse? Absolutely. Necessary? Most of us now believe it is. Greed has no ideology and no remorse. Democrats and Liberals are as much to blame for enabling the billionaire class and protecting wealth. Joe Biden had 4 years to correct our course and prevent the crash and he didn't. Fascism is always the bastard child of a bankrupt liberalism. If democracy cannot exist amicably then maybe we should put it out of it's misery is now the mantra of tens of millions who voted for this massive shift stateside and the millions poised to do the same here later this year. Sad, only in that it just makes it all so much worse. Now, it no longer matters what's true but what's correct in the service of those who matter. Those not subscribing are expendable. A new 'elite' that will eclipse the old, endorsed and enabled by the masses desperate for change, having no idea what they have unleashed. Like it doesn't matter. Are we suicidal? I'm thinking yes. 

In this expanding social inequality and steady erosion of our democratic institutions media, congress, organized labour, academia and the courts leading to an authoritarian christian/fascist state, there is this unsettled alienation purposely designed to distract and withdraw. Corporate Christianity is a marriage between Godzilla and Frankenstein. Unthinkable and yet - here we are - staring into the dark lair of the beast while he watches back in silence, unseen. Maybe I need to get back to safety.

Epilogue: Golden Years

Home is not about owning a house or having possessions others don’t have. Brick & mortar with your name on it does not make it home. My first home was on Edward Street in Woodstock after we moved in w/my deaf grandmother Mona in 1960. I was 4. When I walked into that modest, dark two story Victorian, I just knew that this was home. That musty musky smell, surrounding trees … HER. No, home was her. Grandma Batho. Simple, silent, resilient/fragile and loving. That was the combination that made it home for me. No partisan patriots, no judicial gerrymandering, no mass media manipulations. Just parents going through a rough patch and needing a place to live for awhile; Dad unemployed again. 

God, this feels good!

In my golden years, I’m back in Woodstock and live in a turn of the century renovated Victorian that reminds me of her. My second real home now in 69 years. I live alone with my cat Tippy (that I'm convinced is a reincarnation of Mona) and it feels the same. I’ve learned that it’s all about appreciating this moment. What has been and what will be are just faint echoes of the here and now, ringing truer and truer.

Because I’m home.

Nancy Sinatra, These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

1966

read more of Jim's blog posts here 

http://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/

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see the ONE LIFE album/page here >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/

see the new TWO LIVES album/page here >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/twolives/

see the new THREE LIVES album/page here >>>

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THE SMEAR

There’s nothing new going on here. 
Character assassination has always had a certain appeal.

THE RISE & FALL OF JUSTIN TRUDEAU

Burn Baby Burn

The smear has been around for a long, long time. First, you find someone you don't like, then you smear them and throw gasoline on them, splashing it around like it’s important before lighting the match and watching them burn. Those relevant will be on board; those not don’t matter anyway. A great way to make new friends who are loyal and unforgiving, sharing our animosity and judgements like hot dogs, burgers and beers at the summer barbecue laughing at them because it’s fun. Allies in a just cause. Fucking Liberals. Fuck Trudeau! (pass it on).

Male bonding whether you’re a man or a woman. Stand by your man. Make America Great Again. Make Canada Great Again - Bring it Home to papa. Cheers! Proponents of the smear are often media figures like Jordan Peterson or Tucker Carlson, who jump on the bandwagon/wave knowing they'll benefit from the traction, fanning the flames in a souring scowl that rips them to shreds while watching their social media blow up. An interior, perhaps cerebral introspection lasting several seconds. Na ... I swing both ways ;). To fully participate in the smear you need to be just pre-adolescent emotionally. I'd say 8 1/2 going on 9. Translation? just stoopid.

 

The resentment is a bi-product of our bi-polar mortality and the smear is fallout. Wanting political figures have learned early on that it is so much easier to gain power when they stoke reaction & resentment towards those running the show (and those they represent).
Anger sells. Unfortunately for them, it rarely pans out. A flash in the pan that comes and goes after people realize that it's just posturing with no real substance. Still worth the jab. Look ...

Everything that’s wrong is over there. Zero accountability - zero responsibility. Easy peasy. A slam-dunk bona fide killer. Nasty because it needs to be AND works every time because the masses need a scapegoat; someone to blame. I mean why use an environmentally friendly pest control solution when you can use real poison? It's a process of retaliation then elimination. Plus - it feels good.  Rage has its benefits. Endorphins kick in. A side order of testosterone and a big blast of oxygen from all that huffing & puffing, all brought on by those you despise. Short term gain, long term pain. Bring it ON! Ok, the stress may eventually give you a heart attack but the satisfaction will linger, long after you’re dead and gone.

The Punishment: Tough Love

I’m sure humans in history felt so much better after stoning someone, watching the insidious adversary get crushed by our rising underling, wrestling, boxing - any sport for that matter. The patriot vs. the traitor. Good vs. evil. Right vs. wrong … blue vs. red. That said, I feel a haunting emptiness, especially now (cue Pachabel's Canon - deutsche grammophon - Vienna Symphony 1998). Being in the middle is a lonely place to be, in a world where you have to be one or the other. I mean, if it’s not black it has to be white right? If you’re not a Conservative then you MUST be Liberal and vice versa. Both really love to pull the lever … not one of us? Then you gotta be one of THEM.

Remember Dad servicing you with a proper strapping when you were 5, saying something like 'I'm doing this for your own good'?  Kinda like that. All I ever learned by being smacked around was how to resent. So ya, I’m a moderate with issues. On the political spectrum, I would be considered center leaning left. That said, most Cons see me as FAR left just because I’m ‘leaning’ that way. Nope. Turns out there are some like me who see the flaws on both sides. I have almost as many problems with the left as I do with the right. Justin Trudeau’s time is up after having made so many colossal blunders. WHAT? Ok, just a frikkin' minute. Give me a few seconds to absorb that. You said what?? 

My Conservative friends aren’t sure what to make of me when I agree with them. A silence in confusion. But I thought you were … Jesus man. Pick a side for christ's sakes. Hilarious.  Ok. Let me clarify ... Trudeau's blunders have been blown way out of proportion by the smear. 

Sunny Ways: The Wokey Pokey

Note to pompous 'protagonists'; I really don't need to be told to be careful around making references towards nationalities, using a colour in a sentence, when and when NOT to wish someone Merry Christmas or that it's offensive to be gender specific when the situation demands a variation. I am respectful of all people. Being dictated to is offensive to me.

I don't require being reminded or told 'how' to properly appreciate others.
 

I find woke culture’s need to make their point by sticking it in your eye as offensive as the trucker convoy in Ottawa 3 years ago. Fighting for their right to ‘protest’ when in reality it was all just a lame excuse to burn the barn down, in the name of ‘freedom’. No, it was never about vaccine mandates but about righteous entitlement. That all too familiar ‘fuck you’ to the liberal elites who think they’re better than we are. All about taking our country back and not taking any more bullshit. The mandate nonsense was just a red herring - hapless hypocrisy.

That said, if I had to choose between accepting people for who they are instead of who I want them to be? I'll choose the former. In my humble opinion, in this final chapter of my life now, I honestly think that Liberals in general are far more tolerant and open-minded around our differences; more willing to compromise (despite their strict rules around language). 

We are now in a minority of those who think that way.

Also entertaining and amusing for me is that so many Canadian Conservatives disapprove of Trump yet approve of Poilievre when in reality, they’re basically one in the same ideologically. Welcome to the con. No, Justin Trudeau’s biggest downfall is just one big smear campaign. From his patterned socks, to blackface, to his infamous ‘sunny ways’, it’s all very calculated and thought out, just like it was in the United States … AND it worked! Hook, line & sinker, the classic snow job designed to take down a flawed political ideology in favour of the right one.

Epilogue: 

What most Americans and Canadians still don’t see is that it’s just that. A con that won’t be obvious for several more years after the shit really hits the fan and this new breed of imposters are seen for who they really are. Frauds. In the meantime, the smear has its place in the grand scheme of things. In our upcoming ‘carbon tax election’ so few are actually getting that there is a much bigger picture lurking under the surface. I mean c'mon; carbon tax election? Pathetic. I can promise you this ... in 10 years, even our most loyal Conservative Canadians will look back on the Justin Trudeau years and say that he wasn't so bad after all. 

Out of sight, out of mind and what you don't know won't hurt you ... yet.

jimlamarche.ca

 

THE PERFECT STORM

The end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

“How do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they pass around the whisky? Do they cry?”

Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea

The Presumption: Snatch & Grab

It would be presumptuous to think that 2025 will be just another year. All indicators are pointing to massive changes unlike anything we have seen before.

Super powers will be vying to take claim of territories that up till now have maintained decades, even centuries of independent sovereignty. Land grabs, country confiscations and takeovers will proliferate in that which was and will be forever changed.

Democratic socialism as a practiced system will be phased out in favour of autocratic rule worldwide. Freedom AND free speech will become selective, favouring those loyal to their leaders and excluding those not conforming, even embracing the preferred ideology. Environmental initiatives will slowly grind to a halt in favour of a short term gain, long term pain global acquisition agenda always looking over it’s shoulder. We will see the birth of a new breed of trillionaire who will control economies & governments, shifting cultures to adapt. 

Players like Elon Musk will continue to buy their way into government in exchange for perks/kick-backs and party favours in a military industrial complex on steroids becoming several times larger. Defence contracts, billions to trillions with lots of adolescent head banging, infighting, internal conflict in a slow dismantling of government whilst the masses stew in a complacency/compliance cocktail of crony capitalism gone awry. Perpetually pissed.

All this because that’s what America VOTED FOR!

Axe the Tax: Russian Roulette

Now. That said, I am consistently reminded that I'm an alarmist by friends who think I’m just a few fries short of a happy meal and maybe they’re right. When Pierre Poilievre becomes our Prime Minister maybe everything will in fact get better … inflation will drop back to normal levels, climate will just take care of itself, our dollar will climb back up, smart investors will get rich on bitcoin and our overall standard of living will return to what it once was.

Most importantly? The frikkin' carbon tax will be long gone!

  

Maybe our public healthcare system will make a full recovery and Canadians will celebrate their wise choice to eject a narcissist Trudeau in favour of a new breed of politician who REALLY cares (like the Americans just did) ... OR it could all go to total shit AND Poilievre will blame our previous government for the mess we're in, throwing all of his camouflaged mistakes in there while consistently caving to a tireless tyrant south of the border insisting he continue to bend over. Na. I’m the alarmist. Remember? Hey Jimbo, get with the program. 

Mountain out of a molehill dude.

For me the writing is on the wall. Conspiracy theorist? Nope, just a REALIST. I’m thinking Ukraine will fall to Russia this year before they take eastern Europe and eventually Finland, Sweden & Norway. The U.S. will be making serious moves on Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba (in exchange for Ukraine) and the Virgin Islands (Caribbean) because Trump wants a second Mar-a-Lago and world class golf course there that's HIS … China taking Taiwan, Bhutan, both Koreas, Vietnam, the Philippines and eventually Japan. Britain/UK and western Europe will be dangling by a thread in 5 years, shaking; looking up at the sky a lot and most places south of the equator will be the safest place to be. The further south, the better.

This is just the beginning. 

The Big Bone of Contention

The Arctic will become the most controversial hotbed for territorial disputes as global warming melts most of the ice and shipping lanes open up. Strategic airspace will become a priority for Russia in the north; the U.S. AND China which will create huge tensions for who controls what. NATO will slowly disintegrate and global organizations like WEF & NGO will splinter before dissolving in 3-5 years. Globalism will wane in favour of Nationalism as cultural & religious discrimination (and terrorism) skyrockets in our reinvented draconian new world order. 

It would be presumptuous to think that 2025 will be just another year. All indicators are pointing to massive changes unlike anything we have seen before.

Epilogue

It might be a good time to think about moving to South America, Australia or even better - New Zealand if you’re still young. Me? Na - a bit late for that. The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic representation of how close humanity is to a human-made global catastrophe. 

Dateline January 2025. They're saying it is now 90 seconds to midnight. Tick tock.
It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?

jimlamarche.ca

 

OLD SOUL

“The soul is born old but grows young.” — Oscar Wilde

I’ve met some amazing people from a multitude of nationalities. My favourites are East Indian/South Asians, particularly from the northern Punjab region. There’s a sense of humility that’s in their old souls. It can’t be described accurately and everyone I meet and talk to from the Punjab exudes empathy and generosity.

A childlike innocence that embraces life regardless of the obstacles - an all knowing sense of self randomly drifting in the turbulence. Contentment.

It’s passed on as well. Younger Punjabi Indians born here have the same shimmer, an unexplained aura, temperament and ok - good karma. Mischievous and unpredictable.

Humanity is too vast/complex to even pretend to know what’s going to happen here. I mean it’s a crazy spin or roll of the dice that lands a certain way and we just deal with it. The one thing that remains consistent is our troubling times. I'm thinking this … we got through it before; we’ll do it again. I have faith even though I’m not religious. Faith embodies everything, transcending the limitations of religion. Salvation? Sure. Bring it on. Purgatory? If we must. 

Life is difficult. We humans are cruel. It’s just here and there; it's what we do. 

The Welcoming

In a recent poll, it was determined that around half of Canadian Conservatives would have voted for Trump too and that floored me. Roughly two thirds of us right now are Conservatives so 1/3 of Canadians overall approve of him. That said, we as a country are standing on the same precipice they were just a few short months ago, ready to jump like they just did. I was under the impression that almost all of us despised Trump's arrogant psychopathy but nope. We welcome it! The Lemming Theory comes to mind. It's a 'how could it possibly be any worse' or 'what have we got to lose' mindset having absolutely no idea that the answers to these questions are unthinkable. 

Our complacency is relentless. Oh he's just kidding. That could never happen here. We wallow in mind numbing complicity while perilous provocateurs sow seeds of autocracy and all in the name of freedom. A crime of the century con carried out in broad daylight with those doing the stealing smiling and waving at us while we wave back in awe and admiration.

Our old souls are not amused.

The Imposition & The Reaction

Rage baiting resentment politics, casting that reaction vote is so very much in fashion, in pursuit of justice - empowering entitlement and appeasing anxiety (wishful thinking). That impending threat of being swallowed up by progressive socialist elitists forcing their insipid ideology on those of us just needing to be left alone (or so we would like to believe). 

No. It's the friction, tension and anger that is very much part of the allure. We have been inundated with the idea that hate actually feels good even though it's something most would never admit to. It's a covert agenda shared enthusiastically amongst like minded cohorts who love painful pleasures. Inflicting scorn - eating popcorn.

Imposing Black Lives Matters, LGBTQ/carbon tax, vaccination nonsense on us like rules we’re just supposed to follow now? Time to take a stand. Bring it home (to Daddy). Short term gain, long term pain but hey - it’s what’s necessary to maintain some sense of tradition.

Old souls are detached, wise and gracious. Generally quiet, understated. Always listening and relaxed yet alert. They don’t say much but when they do it’s like a bright light in a dark tunnel, illuminating truth and accepting any challenge presented. No affiliations, no allegiances - no puritan pride. Neutral ...

Responsible. Kind.

Epilogue: 

This imposition of authority is erroneous. Old souls remain detached, knowing this. We're born, we live our lives then we die ... every one of us. The ongoing need to be dominant only hurts.

Any old soul will tell you that those pretending to be all knowing are those who know nothing and that politicians pretending to be 'for the people' care little about the people, only about what they can get from them. In these treacherous times one needn't look very far to make these discoveries.

Hey Canada. The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Time to strap in and drop like a stone.

jimlamarche.ca

 

AN AMERICAN AUTOPSY

Written on Wednesday Nov. 20, 2024 after an extended locker-room chat with a friend at the Southside Aquatic Centre (Woodstock) who is a moderate Conservative and who believes that a Trump presidency will be a good thing for America.

GULLIBLE - easily persuaded to believe something; credulous. 

PERSUASION - in a belief or set of beliefs, especially religious or political ones.

Nighty Night

There is a growing movement that subscribes to a serene sarcasm. A beautiful blend; bold with a crisp, satisfying finish. Safe/secure. Reaction & resentment appears to be on the menu so let’s do one of each. Let’s bring it home shall we? Complacency is a pleasant valley Sunday sermon. Later - looking soulfully into your loved one’s eyes on a romantic night out (that you’re paying for), wondering if she really loves you or is just after your money. 

Time shift. Ah, if only we could go back. NEWSFLASH: WE CAN!

It’s warm, cozy and familiar. It’s that fairy tale we were told as kids by our Moms after our bath, in bed after dark with our flannel daffy duck pyjamas on hugging Teddy. It’s mommy giving me a hug goodnight, while a tipsy Dad yells at her from the kitchen, waiting for his late supper. It is what’s REAL. What I remember; long for. It’s what’s here now. Now back again. 

Praise be.

Reaction vs. Proaction

Denial is so easy. I mean he IS just Daddy; harmless really. Poor man. I don't care about you, I just want your vote - “oh he’s just kidding/joking” or “he’s not being serious”. “He’s a businessman, it’s how he negotiates” and on and on, justifying the jargon, punctuating the platitudes. Ok but what about Project 2025 (asking)?  Strained glare ... “He has denied that, fake news”. But it’s his manifesto, drawn up by all his closest people. Long pause. “There’s no proof he had anything to do with that”. Right. Have you read it? “No. I don’t need to”. 

Awareness and humility is woke speak for weakness and I’m not weak. Black Lives, Me Too, Taking the Knee? Shove it. Transgendered should NOT be in MY vocabulary (because I am TOLD it should be). You’re either a man or a woman. Period. End of discussion.

This anti-system sentiment is a wonderful distraction and why not? I’d rather bury my head in the sand than look at what’s obvious … that we are being conned? No it’s YOU that’s being conned! There are REACTIVE and PROACTIVE Populists. Bernie Sanders is an example of the latter. Not about HIM but a greater good for all. Trump/Poilievre & most others are examples of the former; all about them ... their electorate? Pawns. Their critics? Enemies. Lock them up.

Far more potent and way more dangerous.

Epilogue: Larger than Life

Is humanity committing suicide? My suggestion earlier on and the jury is seriously OUT on that one. Maybe our American autopsy is just another episode on Springer. Like nothing matters anymore so destroy it. Only it’s way more entertaining. I’ve always wanted to be a rock star. Jesus. Hurts so good. This is actually what it feels like, because when you get right down to it

... being larger than life is way better than life itself.

for Brian

jimlamarche.ca