Category: Fourre-tout

The most dangerous animal in the world is a silent smiling woman… holding pétanque boules.

There was a time (not too long ago) when the pétanque field was ruled by misogynistic old fuddy-duddies. Segregation was strictly enforced and women were not allowed to play with the men. These Cerberus were the keepers of the Faith, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice of the sacred game of pétanque.

Thankfully, times have changed. Most of the grumpy old men are now playing pétanque in the sky (without women) and dames all over the country are now competing with men.
And there are many reasons for that.

First of all, women can do anything men can do… sometimes better. Then, women all over the world have been seeking parity for a long time; they wanted to have the power to choose and they got it (except in Iran I am told).
Pétanque by the way, is not a contact sport; you don’t have to weigh two hundred pounds to qualify. If it was so, few women would meet these requirements.

And finally, “Chicks were born to give you fever…” Men and women obey the laws of physics; their different polarity attracts each other. Wherever you see men, you will find women, and vice-versa. And yes, relationships were and are born on the pétanque field!
I don’t know about you, but I would rather play with attractive women than grumpy old men.

Whenever you see a club in decline, I surmise that it is often caused by a lack of female players. Women bring to the field a certain « je ne sais quoi” that make games more entertaining. When playing with the opposite sex, players are more attentive and when women are absent, games can lack spices.

To paraphrase James Laver, “When women take off their corsets and heighten their skirts, you better watch out.”

I have dug in my vast collection of photographs and chosen the most recent snapshots of young ladies who have performed on our local fields. As usual, I try to pick pictures showing the best form. To me, form is primordial and as a shutterbug, I don’t care if you hit the target or not. As a matter of fact, when I snap a picture, I seldom know what the result of the pitch is.

Your style is what I am interested in. I focus on your throw, on the second the boule leaves tour hand. I want to see your facial expression, and the boule suspended in the air in front of you.
That’s why I like taking pictures of Hans K. so much. There is style and emotion in his game, and for me, that’s what counts.

And don’t believe for a second that pétanque is not a real sport. When you play a tournament and reach the semi-finals or the finals, you have at least 5 or 6 games under your belt and your body is starting to balk. On the average, during a tournament, you spend at least 6 hours on the field and this pastime is not for wimps.
This sport keeps you in shape and is great therapy for many ailments.

Keep on pitching ladies, I am a fan!

Alain

PS: Be sure to watch the pictures!

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

 Absolutely. Right on the money.

As a photographer, I have likes and dislikes and when I take pictures, I focus mainly on what I like. Some people enjoy photographing historical ruins or old buildings, but not me.
I am mainly interested in living creatures, people or animals. I like photographing animals because they are candid. You get what you see. No pretenses there.

People are different. Many try to project an image which is not even close to what they really are. Politicians are famous for that. Many have heard of Tim Murphy, a staunch pro-life Pennsylvania Republicanwho secretly urged his pregnant mistress to have an abortion. Rampant hypocrisy at its best.

As a photographer, I like to shoot what is raw, candid, real. And people are real when they are under pressure. No matter what you want to project, your true personality pops through the mask when you are incapable of pretending.

When you play pétanque, you are under pressure to perform and that’s when I like to catch you. A unique moment in time. I call my camera “Sneaky Pete” because even though it is unobtrusive, it has a respectable zoom and I can catch you from a distance without your knowledge.

My tastes are simple but eclectic.
I like to bag raw emotions, fleeting action shots, elegant playing forms, unusual outfits, and attractive women. Who would not?
Everybody should know (and you learn this fast enough) that life is not fair. If you are tall or good looking your chances of success are much better than if you are short and unappealing.

The lens is irresistibly attracted by curvaceous women and good-looking dudes. If nature was not kind to you, you need to find other ways to be noticed and entice the photographer to look at you.

That’s probably why some people kill or instigate political coups. No matter what a bastard or ugly you are, lenses worldwide will focus on you.

On the pétanque field, if you are not a bombshell and you want to be noticed, you need to perform. I have seen some fairly ugly people who are fantastic shooters. If it is the case, lenses will zoom on you as if you were Lazarus.

So yes, as a photographer I am probably partial and some people get better treatment than some others. If you want to be featured, take intensive private pétanque lessons or get cosmetic surgery.

One of these two ways will probably get you what you want.

Alain

PS: I just posted “the June 4^thmissing pictures” that were in my stray camera. Have a look.

 

Mea maxima culpa! I acknowledge my fault and repeatedly beat my chest in contrition. Mea culpa! I goofed.

I am deeply embarrassed to report that Sneaky Pete, my iconic little camera, was never lost or stolen. It was misplaced in my camera bag and it was hiding in plain sight. You can judge for yourself by looking at the included photo. At a glance, would you spot Sneaky Pete?

I apologize to everybody for any embarrassment I might have caused… but all is well that ends well. I repacked Sneaky Pete II and I am shipping it back to Amazon.

Now that I am forgiven (?) I can talk about yesterday’s 14^thof July & tournament celebration in Sonoma.

Sixty people (20 triplettes) signed up to participate in the tournament. The format of the tourney was mêlée, meaning that we would arbitrarily be paired with strangers, and indeed we did.

The tournament started rather late (about 10:30 am) and ended equally late (7:30 pm).

Two 45 minutes games were played before lunch, and elimination games were played in the afternoon.

The lunch, by the way, was extremely good. The duck confit melted in your mouth and went down well with white or red wine. Good job Marco Ilaria!

Jean-Michel Poulnot, dressed in his usual tricolor outfit, led the crowd for a spirited rendition of La Marseillaise. Some innocent souls tried to understand the lyrics and were shocked by one stance “qu’un sang impur abreuve nos sillons” (that unclean blood water our furrows). Why do you think that fruits and vegetables are so tasty in France? It is the blood.

My team and I lost one game and won one; we were then propelled to the Concours… where we were promptly defeated.

But I am not here to talk about myself, but to praise the unsinkable Tamara Semionovna. That woman had the nerves to win all her games and to top it all win the *$&**# tournament.

She was paired with notorious Ed Clay and mysterious Daniel Daniloff who helped her claw her way to the top. Especially Ed who did a fantastic job of pointing AND shooting. I did not know that this mild-mannered fellow was so talented.

Being busy somewhere else I could not follow all of Tamara’s games but I managed to catch the semi-finals (against Hans Kurz and his gang) and the finals, (against Mike Cooper and his goons).

In the semi-finals, after winning the coin toss, wily Hans took everybody to the most difficult court in Sonoma. A rock-strewn area adjacent to the Bocce ball courts.

If you are not experienced with this kind of terrain you are in big trouble. When pointing you cannot roll the boule and when shooting, it has to be exclusively “au fer’. If you cannot cope with these two hurdles you are a dead duck.

But Tamara did amazingly well and managed to put many of her shots inches away from the “bouchon”. Hans who had been hot through most of the day fired repeatedly and hit some beautiful shots. But Tamara was relentless and wore off Mad Dog Hans and his goons.

In the finals, played in the”pebbly” area  closer to the picnic tables, Ed, Tamara and Daniel faced Mike Cooper, Minette Etallaz and John T. It was a very close game, but by 7:30 pm it was finally over.
Ted and his team prevailed. Final score 13/11.

To the victors go the spoils. Every winning member of Ed’s squad was rewarded with 2 bottles of wine. So were their opponents.

With Tamara getting so many accolades, life is getting difficult for me. Next time you meet me on the field, have mercy; let me win for a few games for chrissakes! I cannot keep losing face all the time. I need to bring some medals home to negate Tamara’s insufferable boastings.
I know that you will understand.

For good measure, mea culpa again!

Concours:
1^stplace: Ed Clay, Tamara Efron & Daniel Daniloff
2^ndplace: Mike Cooper, Genevieve Etallaz, John T.

Consolante:
1^stplace: Jim, Maggie. Tim
2^ndplace: Delio, Don, Bill

That’s all folks.

Alain

Enjoy yesterday’s pictures (no particular order).