Category: Fourre-tout

You gotta have style. Without it you are nobody. Diana Vreeland.

In the last 10 years, I must have taken at least 30,000 pictures. I have photographed just about everything under the sun including men, beasts, and pétanque players.

During this time, I have shot the same individuals multiple times and I have noticed that every person has a very distinctive way of casting his/her boules. This is called style, and a photographer is very partial to form. The more graceful you are and the more the camera will like you, increasing your chances to be seen in various publications.

Style is inimitable and often defines a player. Having style though does not necessarily mean that you are a top-rated player. You can be photogenic without being effective, but generally speaking, a stylish individual is usually a good player. Style and outcome go hand in hand.

By the same token, a bland player can be extremely accurate and as capable as a flashy player; he might not be stylish, but this does not prevent him from scoring.

Skills can be learned, but style is innate. You are born with. It also partly depends on your morphology. It is also not exclusively a man’s attribute. Au contraire! Some women can be very stylish and when they are, they draw larger crowds than men players.

Style is definitely crowd-pleasing; to be popular you need to win games, but it is the way you do it that will shape your reputation.

Style is whatever you want to do, if you can do it with confidence. George Clinton

Tennis pro Anna Kournikova was not a particularly successful player; she never won a single title but she had style and the crowds cheered for her.

Moral of the story:

Winning games is great, but winning with style is the cherry on top of your achievement.

Alain

 

We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. – Immanuel Kant

Absolutely! I won’t respect anybody, regardless of his/her position, who does not treat animals kindly.

Most animal lovers have pets and treat them like family members. They love them, and when you love no price is too great to provide comfort… and health insurance for your kin.

Because once in a while our furry friends are indisposed and need professional attention. You then have to take your pet to the vet, and it can be a very painful experience… for your wallet. A single visit to a veterinary hospital can cost between $500.00 and $1000.00 with no guaranty of a favorable outcome.

A trip to a doctor in comparison (providing that you have medical insurance) is usually much cheaper, and many of the costly subsequent medical procedures are covered. The only way to prevent constant financial hemorrhaging is to get medical insurance for your pet. But it is tricky. Pet insurances have a yearly deductible and will cover only a portion of your expenses. And they know very well that you might skip a visit to the doctor but never a visit to the vet.

A human can rationalize his behavior, but since animals cannot talk (yet) and explain what ails them, you will always take your pet to the clinic because you cannot bear to see your friend suffering.

In my book, pets should be covered under your own medical insurance. I would be willing to pay a little more each month to insure that my pet would also be taken care of.

If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. – James Herriot

Pets are not just breathing playthings. They provide love and emotional support for a great number of people and if they did not exist, you would have to invent them. Pets deliver the same support (I would say superior) that religion provides for believers.

If a dog could be elected president, I would vote for that dog. I am certain that he would provide medical coverage for all, not just for his rich friends. He would deliver for all American dogs, regardless of their origins.

A vote for a dog would be a vote for humanity… and I am pretty sure that he would look damn presidential.

Alain, certified animal lover

I suspect that this particular tournament (Home vs. Home) came to be when one Petalumian challenged a Marinite this way:

“Let’s step outside to have a man-to-man conversation.”

 That’s one of the reasons Petaluma met Marin in the arena last Sunday. It was a clash of titans giants gentlemen bad hombres with raging testosterones.

This encounter consisted of four (13 points) round-robin games, with accumulated wins and points determining the final outcome. The club with the most wins (and points) will take first prize.
La Pétanque Marinière fielded the following grunts:

1. Sandra Shirkey, Mark Shirkey, Noel Marcovecchio
2. Alain Efron, Francois Moser, Claudie Chourré
3. Henry Wessel, Calvert Barron, Marc Davantes
4. Brigitte Moran, Charlie Davantes, Liv Kraft

The Petaluma Valley Pétanque Club deployed the undernamed doughboys:

1. Bleys Rose, Dennis Casad, Dennis Zerbo
   2. Albert Woodbury, Caitlin Woodbury, Hans Kurz
   3. Ed Porto, Dougie Coleville, Stu Rabinowitz
   4. David Hale, Larry Brown, Joe La Torre

The weather was sunny, a little cool in the morning, but absolutely beautiful in the afternoon. Due to the recent rain, the field remained a little “spongy” and unpredictable

One game was played in the morning and three games after lunch.

The first game was a total disaster for our team. We faced Albert Woodbury, Caitlin Woodbury and Hans Kurz and they sent us packing in a few minutes with a 1/13 score. We left the field with our tails between our legs.

After lunch, we met Bleys Rose, Dennis Zerbo and Dennis Casad. We did not fare much better, losing 4/13 to the enemy. Bleys’ impressed me with his shooting ability and handling of his team. A cool dude that Bleys dude.

On our 3^rd game, we faced David Hale, Larry Brown and Joe La Torre. At this point, we were seething with pent-up outrage and we finally won our first game routing our opponents 13/1. It was a much-needed shot in the arm.

On our 4^th and last encounter, we came across Ed Porto, Dougie Coleville and Stu Rabinowitz. We started well, lost a little steam midway and finally, due to the superb pointing of Francois Moser and Claudie Chourré, we scored another win 13/6.

The Petaluma folks are experienced players. They played very well and won more games than the Marinites. At the end of the day, they had won 11 games, versus 5 wins for Marin.

In 3 weeks we will meet Petaluma again (on their own turf) and the total number of combined wins of these 2 encounters will determine what club will be entitled to bragging rights.

It was an excellent day, full of action and brotherly love. Due to the flu epidemic, we avoided embracing or kissing, but some people could not help themselves and oblivious to the marauding germs smooched heartily. Containing passion is always a difficult task.

Around 4:30 p.m. it was all over. Petaluma had decisively beat us, but as we say in French “on leur réserve a chien de notre chienne” (an interesting expression meaning something like “we will have our revenge”).

Alain

PS: I managed to take some interesting pictures. Have a look.