Category: Fourre-tout

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle

Aristotle said 2000 years ago what I am thinking today.

Excellence is reached by a daily pursuit of mastery. In order to be on top, you have to set aside unimportant things (like work and family) and concentrate on your goal. Rain or shine you need to practice even when you really don’t want to because excellence is a demanding mistress.

“What good is it to look like Tarzan and play like Jane?” – John Welborn

This is a question I have often asked myself. Being good looking is not good enough. In order to win pétanque games/tournaments, you need to practice, practice, and practice.

I am what you might call a journeyman player, fairly reliable but not outstanding. I play once or twice a week, mainly for the pleasure of meeting my mates and shooting the breeze.

This mild regimen, of course, cannot compare with the pétanque devotees who have a single-minded commitment to the game and travel far and wide to satiate their passion.

And you cannot win any competition without any thorough preparation.

This does mean that I am not competitive; like anybody else, I like to win and flaunt my medals, but I started playing this game past my prime and it is hard to catch up with the whippersnappers.

So, I live vicariously through my favorites players. They are my preferred players because they are good and down to earth. Being proficient does not necessarily include being nice, and some skillful players have a tendency to err on the side of hubris.

In soccer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic stands out as one of the most arrogant players in the world. He famously said,  “A World Cup without me isn’t worth watching.” 

I hope that I will never hear “A tournament without me isn’t worth watching”in our fields.

No matter how good you are, don’t get “zlatanized”; humility is an asset, not a weakness, and less is always more.

Alain

Due to family obligations, I was unable to participate in the “remembrance of Tino Lofaro” 2018 Sonoma Wine Country Open, but I managed to show up briefly on Saturday to snap a few pictures.

I was pleasantly surprised by the large turnout. Forty-three (43) doublettes (86 players) registered to play and filled the courts to capacity. I was also told that some true “petanquophiles” traveled far and wide (Texas, Tennessee, Wyoming, etc.) to attend this event.
From the Elysian Fields, our friend Tino must have been beaming.

Before I forget… this intricate tournament was ably run by Patrick Vaslet and co-conspirator Shannon Bowman. Well-done guys!

I left early Saturday but was back on Sunday to watch the heavyweights battle for the heavy purses.

16 teams qualified to play in the Concours, 16 teams qualified for Consolante A and 11 teams qualified for Consolante B

This tournament had everything a Hollywood director would want: action, romance, showboating, pathos, miracles, and an unexpected finish.

In the Concours semi-finals, Peter Mathis and Mickey Coughlin faced John and Tish Harris. If I had been a betting man, I would have put my money on Peter and Mickey. Both are known as excellent players as well as good “shooters” and could switch roles if the situation demanded it.

John and Tish were the unknown quantity to me. I saw them play just 2 or 3 times and I did not really know much about them.

As it turned out, they proved to be tough customers. Tish pointed extremely well and John provided the artillery when needed. On the other side, Peter Mathis also played well, performed a few miracles and even walked on water. But that was not enough.
Mickey’s weak pointing was their undoing. He pointed below par and basically sealed their fate.
After a long match with many twists, John and Tish finally won 13/8.

In the finals, played on the tricky gravel covered court, John and Tish faced Paul Yang and Jer Thao, both excellent and stylish players.

What should have been an evenly matched encounter turned out to be anticlimactic. Paul and Jer inexplicably failed to point accurately on gravel. They were undone by Tish’s superior pointing and John’s shooting.

Final, unbelievable score: 13/0 for the Harrises. This does not take anything from Paul and Jer. They are still great players and very nice people. They just had a bad hair day.

Concours
1^st place: John & Tish Harris – $1700.00
2^nd place: Paul Yang & Jer Thao $700.00
3^rd place: Peter Mathis & Mickey Couglin $350.00
^{4th place: $350.00}
5^th to 8^{th place}: $140.00 (not played)

Consolante A:
1^st place: Nicolas Yang & Ziggy $280.00
2^nd place: Holly Sammons & David Johnstone $160.00
3^rd and 4^{th place}: $100.00 (not played)

Consolante B:
1^st place: David Clark & Chan Xiong $120.00
2^nd place: Ed Clay & Jack Cannard $90.00

And that was the extraordinary day that was.

Alain

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.” –Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I eat, you eat, we all eat… but what do we know about the food that we so innocently ingest? I would venture to say that most of the people do not have the faintest idea (or don’t care) about what they put in their mouth.

They seldom think about preservatives, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and all the nasty chemicals that are now ubiquitous in the “civilized” world. The diners’ main concern is that whatever they chew on should give them (temporarily) pleasure.

Most of the people probably adhere to Mark Twain’s maxim:

“The secret of success is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” Mark Twain

It is said that ignorance is bliss, but I doubt it.

I would bet without any hesitation that the food consumed by the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert is much healthier than any dishes served in any fast food restaurant.

To be truthful, I really never spent much time thinking about what I eat. Generally speaking, I broadly follow accepted rules; but those directives are frequently misleading… and often driven by partisan lobbyists.

What prompted me to reflect on food was a KQED presentation named “What the heck should I eat?” hosted by Doctor Mark Hyman, founder and medical director of the UltraWellness Center.

Doctor Hyman said: “You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet.” I believe it. It is the fuel that powers the machine that corrodes the engine, not the exercise.

The poisoning of the body is insidious but steady, and over time it will take its toll.

Have you ever closely scrutinized a food label? It can be mind-boggling.

Every morning I drink a Maxwell House concoction called Suisse Moka cafe.
Listed under the ingredients: nondairy creamer [partially hydrogenated coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate (from milk), dipotassium phosphate, mono-and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, artificial flavor], maltodextrin, decaffeinated instant coffee, sodium citrate, contains less than 2% of natural and artificial flavor, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, silicon dioxide.
Could all this weird stuff be good for me? Hmm…

And I just noticed: “Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering.”
What the heck does that mean? Are they Frankensteining my food?

One of our problems is identifying where the product comes from, and secondly, what it is really made of. Never forget that profit drives everything and that little “white lies” are inconsequential throughout the food industry.

So, what the hell should we eat? Fruits? OK, but what about those darn pesticides? Organic? But how do we know that it is really “organic”?Vegetables? All right, but where do they come from? What about pesticides?Meat?  but what about those darn hormones?

So?

I really don’t have an answer, but try at least to decipher the label before buying a product, and keep in mind that anything that you don’t understand is not kosher.

“Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” –Ernestine Ulmerow

Alain

PS: I know of a hot spot in the Kalahari Desert