GARAM MASALA

it's almost hypnotic

a playful innocence if you will

India is magic, dangerous

innocent yes, and yet - naughty
like kids sneaking out of bed
after dark, and playing

G A R A M   M A S A L A

a Diwali 21 teaser

3 part series

coming November 03

volume up, 720p

a jim lamarche remix

assembled in logic audio and final cut

voices by alla kadysh

featuring the Roland System 8

source music w/Luke Chable & Philipp Krokidis

"Chammak Challo Ra.One" 
with ShahRukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor

TWO LIVES/21

PLAY THE WHOLE ALBUM in youtube
  >>>  HERE (PLAY ALL)

or in the blog compilation/experiment (in progress)
https://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/2019/04/two-lives19.html

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
the story behind garam masala


I lived and worked in North India/Punjab in late 2008
it was a whole new world - like on another planet
I was a fish out of water but loving this

a  2 day recovery from jet-lag in my hotel room, slowly waking
to this smell, no fragrance of a cumin and curry blend  
these sounds outside even the birds sounded different - surreal
getting up, looking out my window - clear blue sky
need coffee - squinting, sun is still tilted like it is in Toronto
 yet it's summer here - wow, a lot of street people, ok
and holy shit ... DOGS everywhere
and frikkin' dirty

diwali is tonight
I'm invited to a ritzy wedding reception in Sector 10 in Chandigarh 
a better caste shall we say, a sizable staff, band/dj

  
and massive fireworks

ornate room

warm/cool shower

because hot is intermittent

having shampooed/conditioned my hair 
turning on the large flatscreen in my hotel room
channels upon channels of this dancing and singing crap
annoying the first day or two, all there was
then I just started watching it, mostly because
that's all there was, it seemed
provocative, hypnotic even

allowing myself to be pulled
into a gentle transition, but once IN?
no words

I was offered a job with all the perks in Mohali
invited to come and live there full-time

my own apartment, driver, cook 
and a decent compensation package
easy/simple and I turned it down 
now wondering why did I do that?

maybe it was because I wouldn't be able
to see my little girl grow up

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jimlamarche.ca

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 >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/threelives/

read more of Jim's blog posts here 

http://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/

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project credits/contributors/links listed below

listen to the youtube album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)

special thanks to GRADO LABS in Brooklyn NY

for understanding how headphones

should be made

https://gradolabs.com/

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MUMBAI

just watched Delhi Crimes on Netflix

I am so in India r/n

soothing curry chocolate

smearing

derelict dogs dangling

smells like curry

M U M B A I

volume up - 720p 

optimized for night vision

a jim lamarche remix

from the 4 part mini-series DIWALI 20

assembled in photoshop, logic audio & final cut

featuring the Roland System 8

video: courtesy of Explore India

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiPpjfWaWpSibmc8Y_JgSPQ

source music by ben böhmer

https://www.instagram.com/benbohmermusic/?hl=en

DIWALI 20

a celebration of India & the world

https://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/2020/10/diwali-20_25.html 

read more of Jim's blog posts here 

http://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/

listen to the album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)

see the TEMPLE REDUX album/page here >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/jimlamarche-templeredux/

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 >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/threelives/

jimlamarche.ca

THE FREEDOM FORCE

unmask the truth

the freedom force

needs you!

T H E  F R E E D O M  F O R C E

volume up, 720p

optimized for night vision

a jim lamarche remix

from the album ONE LIFE

assembled in logic audio and final cut

featuring the roland system 8

source music w/grandyzer

https://soundcloud.com/grandyzer

the suicide collective - blog

https://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-suicide-collective.html

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 >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/threelives/

read more of Jim's blog posts here 

http://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/

.

project credits/contributors/links listed below

listen to the youtube album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)

special thanks to GRADO LABS in Brooklyn NY

for understanding how headphones

should be made

https://gradolabs.com/

jimlamarche.ca

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HOLD MY HAND

ok like
one minute, she was there
then the next, she was gone
and now I am lost


H O L D  M Y  H A N D

volume up

optimized for night vision

think of it like it's a painting, that moves
and sounds cool - turned up 
after dark

a jim lamarche remix

from the album ONE LIFE

assembled in photoshop, logic audio & final cut

read more of Jim's blog posts here 

http://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/



listen to the album ONE LIFE 
http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/
 

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

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

jimlamarche.ca

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TOSHI LIVES HERE

TOSHI LIVES HERE

volume up, 720p

optimized for night vision

a jim lamarche remix

from the album ONE LIFE

assembled in logic audio and final cut

featuring the roland system 8

source music w/amani friend & treavor moontribe

https://www.youtube.com/c/DesertDwellers/about

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 >>>

http://www.jimlamarche.ca/threelives/

read more of Jim's blog posts here 

http://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/

.

project credits/contributors/links listed below

listen to the youtube album ONE LIFE  >>>  HERE
(play all)

special thanks to GRADO LABS in Brooklyn NY

for understanding how headphones

should be made

https://gradolabs.com/

jimlamarche.ca

.

MEMES 2 (a collection of jimlamarche.ca memes)

 MEMES 2 
(a collection of jimlamarche.ca memes)

It's a hobby of mine
creating memes (mostly political satire)

I've taken some and am posting here
Feel free to share (one or all) if you wish.

MEMES 1 HERE

https://jimlamarche.blogspot.com/2020/10/memes-collection-of-jimlamarcheca-memes.html

jimlamarche.ca

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PRIME DIRECTIVE

 they look so small and frail

but they are so great and magnificent

they are born of the same womb

that birthed the cosmos

and knitted together the galaxies

if you could see them as they are

you would be astounded

you would see not little children

but dancing clouds of light

energy in motion

swimming in an ocean of love

they are so much more than what you see

as are you

William Martin

The Parent’s Tao Te Ching

I used to love Star Trek (still do).  Ok, removing all the goo, Gene Roddenberry was really onto something with that show that evolved into many wonderful segments, like a jigsaw puzzle eventually becoming a clear picture.  One of those brisky bits that really moved me was the idea of a Prime Directive.  

The Directive ultimately came to fruition during the Next Generation series with Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frake in the early 90s and lasted 7 seasons.  In short, it’s a guiding principle of Starfleet, prohibiting its members from interfering with the internal and natural development of alien civilizations.  It is almost biblical in its’ depth and fundamental understanding of human nature; coming from a place of timeless wisdom and humility.  I became fascinated with the idea rivalling the allegorical musings of Tolstoy or Huxley and all presented in an entertaining one hour television show on Sunday nights.

You see, within the Star Trek universe, The Prime Directive is a crucial regulation that has all encompassing ramifications in terms of how humanity can sustain itself and evolve peacefully over many millennia.  That said; it is rarely practiced.   

It is in our primal nature to interfere with other countries, cultures, families, friends and lovers.  To recreate them in our own image … to change them in order to fulfill our basic needs because we are fundamentally at the center of our own universe; omnipotent and oppressive.  Going ‘where no man has gone before’ means making them one of us and has become a more pragmatic premise.  In the practice of foreign relations, acquisitions in commerce, or even in the day to day running of a family, the Prime Directive is nothing more than a lofty idea lacking in practicality and absent of common sense.  

With little regard of self or mission; no interference with the social development of said planet (or person), no reference to shared space, other worlds or advanced civilizations can we actually live together.  Ok, looks great on TV but doesn’t work in the real world.  Right?  Ironic, that such an iconic principle can be relegated to mere fiction but that’s just how it works.  Better to fantasize than realize. 

The Directive reflects both a consequentialist commitment to reducing harm and a Kantian commitment to respecting the autonomy of others.  Built into it is an assumption that cultures are better off if left to their own devices (whether those “devices” are social practices or concrete technologies). Interference by Starfleet, even if well-intentioned, is judged likely to mess things up in unanticipated ways — and if the culture in question is to deal with unintended harms, it would be better if they result from the culture’s own free choices. This embodies a kind of anti-colonialist ethos, a commitment to respecting a civilization's own values, beliefs, and practices rather than forcing “better” ones upon them. (Recall that the original run of Star Trek coincided with the Vietnam War, American involvement in which made a policy of non-interference look pretty good to many viewers).  It's in our nature to be helpful.

Maybe this is why the Prime Directive is not an exceptionless rule:  Even if Starfleet ought not to play God, nor to use its superior technologies to correct with coercion, ultimately ethics may require that we trust members of other civilizations to choose their own paths even as they grapple with the possibilities presented by contact with Starfleet.  Sharing a universe is in itself a kind of intervention. The trick is finding a way to share it on equal terms, but as long as our interests become myopic, will there be conflict and thus the constructive conclusion.  A benign benevolence just isn't practical.  That said … there is something quite liberating in non-interference even though the practice is often difficult to sustain.  It is in our intrinsic natures to express our opinions and to impose our wills on others … especially our children - those we 'love'.  Finding that balance between guidance and imposition is easier said than done.  

I was an education counsellor at a private vocational (post-secondary) school for 4 years a decade ago.  I hated it but learned one thing.  In sales (as in life itself), there’s persuasion and there’s manipulation and there’s really no way of measuring where one ends and where the other begins and ... resistance is futile. 

What comes up for me in this careful closure is my first ‘zen experience’ (circa 1985) … 

yet another tall tale (true story).

My younger brother and I bought two kites and on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we trekked down to the Thames River near Woodstock to fly them.  Dave always had a way with these things as his kite went up effortlessly and in minutes.  He laid back on the grass, lit up a smoke and watched it sail beautifully over the river.  I struggled with mine for at least an hour.  It crashed several times in a plowed, muddy field and when I finally did manage to get it up (no pun intended) … it wasn’t positioned right.  It was over the field, not the river.  

I continued to struggle with it until I eventually lost my patience and tied the damned thing to a bush, not caring if it crashed again.  Frustrated, I went for a walk along the rivers edge and when I turned to look a couple of minutes later; I was shocked to see that my white kite was gliding beautifully … over the river!  

My life hasn’t been quite the same since.

P R I M E  D I R E C T I V E

a covid lockdown production

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