Category: Fourre-tout

Yes I went to Sonoma yesterday, yes I played, and No, I didn’t score any medal.

I arrived at the field around 9:00 am and it was a bit chilly; many of the people present were wearing wool hats and I didn’t feel too much like a freak for wearing one. I also came equipped with 5 layers of garments.

By 10:00 a.m. 19 “doublettes”(38 contestants) had been put together. The organizers who probably know everybody by name did not bother to list the surnames, so my guess is as good as yours.

Early on, I discovered that I was paired with none other than “Le Facteur” and this did not perturb me a bit. Jean-Michel is a good player and when he can control his emotions he can even be a great player. He is a semi-pro, having played regularly on practically every Bay Area field. He is much more experienced than I am, so I gladly let him take the lead.

Three (3) eleven (11) points games were played in the morning.

On our first game, we faced Peter Wellington and Robert (?); we lost the coin toss and our opponents had the option to pick the court. They chose the North-East (?) corner of the field, the one usually reserved for the finals. This area is blanketed with pebbles and is challenging for people (like me) unfamiliar with it. We lost that game 7/11.

On our second bout, we played against Hans Kurz and Francois Moser. We lost the toss again and Hans insisted on playing on the very same field we just left. He won the toss, it was his choice.
We lost that game again 8/10 due for a great part to Moser’s excellent pointing.

On our 3^rd game, we came across against a couple of unknown players. They won the toss again and demanded to play on the graveled area again. This time though, after becoming more comfortable with the field, we won.
With 2 losses under our belts, we ended up in the Consolante.

After lunch, we played (on another court) against Jean-Claude Bunand and Renaud (?) and we won again.

On our 5^th game, we came across Steve Paulsen and a certain Tim, both good players. They clobbered us and sent us packing.
By 2:30 pm we were out the tournament. It was time to grab my camera and shoot some pictures, which I dutifully did.

After a while though, the weather becoming increasingly cold and windy, I chucked my reporting duties and called it quit.

I cannot tell you who won.

Sorry! Check the VOMPC site of Facebook for additional results.

Alain

PS: You still can watch a few pictures on my site.

Addendum

It looks like I left a little early and I am sorry to say that I missed a good story.
According to Maggie Lane, the tournament ended in a hail storm with (I assume) everybody running for cover. I would have loved to be there to record the scene!

In the finals, John Dalmau (unsure of the spelling) and Mark Shirkey faced Maggie and Holly Sammons.

John and Mark came on top. Congratulations!

Pictures of the winners were added to my photo album.

Yes, I subscribe to Facebook and I am not ashamed of it. It might look puerile, but part of my daily routine is logging in and finding out what my “compadres” are up to.

In these days of globalization, some of my friends are living far away and this is the best way to keep in touch with all of them in a single swoop.
Be it the US, France, England, Spain or Russia, I can communicate with them globally and feel the pulse of things abroad. Because yes my fellow Americans, there is life outside the United States.

I am not a troll, and I seldom rant about politics, but data mining would definitely indicate where I politically stand.
And there lies the danger. In a repressive regime, I would probably be classified as an “enemy of the state” and it would not be long before “security” people would knock at my door and bring me in for “questioning.”
Have you ever heard of the telephone book method?

Can you imagine for a minute what the Nazis would have done with Facebook?

But let’s not fool ourselves; our private data cannot be called private anymore. Just about anybody can find out in a few minutes who you are, where you live, if you are married, if you are gay, what your political affiliation is, if you own your house and even if you are having an affair with your next door neighbor.
And despite indignant claims to the contrary, businesses are using this gamy data on a regular basis.
So don’t ever volunteer any superfluous information on social media.  Just name, rank and serial number, according to the Geneva Convention.

Am I going to cancel my subscription to Facebook because of the Cambridge Analytica scandal?
No. You cannot live in fear; otherwise, you would never leave your lair.

I am a fatalist! Que sera, sera!
The Greek philosopher Aeschylus was told that he would die when a house would fall on his head, so he decided to never sleep inside.
He died when an eagle dropped a tortoise (a house) on his head and killed him.

Despite anything you will do to protect yourself, the Gods will eventually decide what your fate will be. Sacrifying a virgin might help a little, but not much.

So, what should I do?

Keep your head in the sand and continue pretending that all is well on the Western Front.

Alain

Like it or not, the world is awash in Fake News and the trolls are having a field day. Incidentally, our Twitter in Chief did not invent the term; few people believe that he is capable of conceiving something that original.

Nazi Germany used the term lüegenpresse extensively in the 1930’s before it became fashionable again in the US. As today, anything that did not walk in step with the Führer was labeled Fake News.

At about the same time (1938) Orson Wells terrorized America with some Fake News of his own. According to his infamous radio broadcast (The War of the Worlds), a Martian invasion was taking place in New Jersey prompting widespread panic.

Now, with the Internet’s ubiquity, any Dick Tom or Harry can create some “News” and post it on social media. And unfortunately, Fake News travel at light speed while Facts use snail mail; depending on your political affiliations, you are going to swallow it whole or reject it.

When you read something outrageous on the Internet, check the source. Is it a right-wing outfit or a liberal publication?
Before swiftly dispatching the scandalous news to your bosom buddies, scrutinize the facts. And fortunately, there are a few impartial sites that will help you to debunk some stories and set you straight.

My mother used to say, “if it is in the newspaper it must be true.” Similarly, many people will quote the Internet as gospel truth. It ain’t so! The distinct line between fabrication and truth has become so blurred that it has become somewhat difficult to assess anything you read or anything you hear.

Instead of labeling something Fake News, any politico would be much more convincing if he/she came up with credible arguments proving that it was not so.

Before believing what you read, think impartially and the scales will fall from your eyes.

Alain