Category: Fourre-tout

I must be feeble-minded. Despite abstaining from drinking and vaping, I cannot understand why, as planes are getting bigger, seating arrangements are getting smaller. Is it my imagination, or could airlines be hornswoggling us? I am definitely leaning toward the latter.

Naked greed is the reason why the average fellow is not benefitting from new planes’ spaciousness. Logically, as planes are getting bigger, passengers should be getting more legroom.

But when greed rears its ugly head, instead of spreading the wealth, executives will pack Coach passengers like sardines. “Squeeze them, they say, and extract as much juice as you can.”
And it is usually a guy who always travels First Class who decides this.

On a 3 to 5 hour flight, I will reluctantly book a Coach seat, but above 5 hours I want a more comfortable accommodation. I want to be able to lie down and get some sleep.

The only way I can do this is by booking a Business or a First Class seat. But there is a huge price difference between Coach and Business and I am not a plutocrat. So, is it really worth to do it?

Lately, the inner-me has been whispering “you only go around once…” Why don’t you experience flying with unreserved attention at least once before you take the last train to glory?

“If you continue to treat yourself like a 3rd class citizen, you’ll stay a 3rd class citizen.” ― Richie Norton

I don’t want to remain a 3rd class citizen; so I flew Business to Europe once… and it was nice… Very nice. That’s the way airlines should treat all their patrons… in a Business class manner instead of their contemptuous steerage way.
The problem though is that flying this way is expensive… and addictive. Once you have tasted Champagne, it is very difficult to go back to Ginger Ale.

I am waiting for a shrewd entrepreneur to create a level field, and I am counting on the likes of Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos to do this.
After all, who would ever have thought that you could make an RLS (reusable launch system) practical and economical? Nobody but Elon.

But greed is difficult to shake off.

“Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” Janwillem Van De Wetering

It will take an innovative maverick to solve this flying aberration, and this man (or woman) won’t be an old fashion capitalist. It will be an enlightened young entrepreneur who will find a clever way to pamper his followers and still manage to make a nice profit.

Alain

When I was in high school, like most of the French kids, I read a book by Alphonse Daudet, called Tartarin de Tarascon. And like anybody who read that book, I had a good laugh.

Yesterday, talking about the Florida shooting Tartarin of Washington told a gathering of US governors at the White House:

“You don’t know until you test it, but I think, I really believe I’d run in there, even if I didn’t have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too.”

Most of the people in America must have burst out laughing. This man has the uncanny ability to put his foot in his mouth.

As Stephen Colbert remarked in his monologue,

“There’s a lot in there that I doubt, but the part I really don’t believe is that he can run,” said Colbert. “Look, sir, we already know how you react to combat situations. You got five deferments from Vietnam.” 

Bragging is a risky occupation, especially when practically everything you do or say is recorded and cataloged. If you are not very careful, what you declared yesterday will swoop back like a boomerang and hit you hard in the derriere. It won’t kill you, but being laughed at is sometimes a fate worse than death.

Bragging is for people who wish they could but can’t. If you can do it, you don’t talk about it, you just do it.

European democracies have found a better system. They have a Prime Minister who does the talk… and takes the fall if the message does not resonate with the audience. The President then interferes and makes a presidential statement cleverly correcting what he told his right-hand man to say.

The limelight is like a tanning bed. It projects high-energy particles that can cause harmful radiation. The longer you stay in it and the more damaging it is to your health and your political career.

Alain

Yesterday 38 players showed up to compete in the One on One tournament taking place in Sonoma, but they were too numerous to be mentioned in this blog. Sorry!

It was cold but due to the lack of wind, not excessively chilly. Just in case, I came prepared with long johns and 5 layers of garments to protect my priceless body.

Three timed games, with 4 boules for each contestant, were played in the morning to determine who would qualify for the Concours and would play in the Consolante.

Yesterday seemed to be my lucky day, and the Gods allowed me to win my 3 morning games which put me in the Concours finals. As I keep saying “I’d rather be lucky than good” but smart aleck Patrick corrected me by saying “I’d rather be lucky and good” and he is damn right.

In any case I qualified for the Concours and I went ahead despite a painful back pain. Holly Sammons came to the rescue with 2 Tylenol pills and I went ahead with my ride. Thank you Holly, a good deed never goes unpunished.

On my 4th game I still managed another win but my lucky ride came to an end in my 5th game when I was thrown off of my horse by Ed Clay.

In the finals, played on a tricky gravelly court, David Lanter faced Delio Cuneo. Both excellent players. What followed was basically a game of “plumbing.”

What does it mean to “plomber” a boule? The player will throw his boule high in the air to give it more speed and more weight when it lands. This action minimizes the rolling of the boule when it touches the ground and allows it to stay closer to the cochonnet.

Both players were very familiar with this technique and used it almost exclusively. In my opinion Delio proved to be a better “plumber” and David a better “au fer” shooter with some spectacular shots.

Ultimately Delio prevails with a score of 13/7. A great match, evenly balanced.

Final results

Concours
1st place: Delio Cuneo
2nd place: David Lanter
3rd place: Jean-Michel Poulnot

Consolante A
1st place: Joe La Torre
2nd place: Steve Wolf
3rd place: Steve Paulsen

Consolante B
1st place: Antonia Paulsen

A great pétanque day!

Alain

As usual, you can look at photos of this event by clicking on the “My Photos” link located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen.