November 12, 2017

Despite a fairly low tournament attendance, there was plenty of action yesterday at the Marin Pétanque court.

Christine Cragg & Gilbert Sonnet

The field was extremely well groomed and we owe it in great part to indefatigable Charlie Davantes and Liv Kraft. On Saturday, they did a herculean job of removing at least 20 large bags of dead leaves from the field. My hat off to this likable hard working couple.

The format of yesterday’s tournament was “panaché” and I borrowed the following definition from the Oakhurst Pétanque Club.

Panaché Doublette: Two person teams. Individuals are placed in groups of pointers and shooters and assigned numbers by lottery. Teams are formed at the start of each game according to an officially sanctioned number sequence, pairing a shooter and a pointer. Each player plays with a different partner for each game. Individual scores are maintained to establish tournament winners.

Our organizers (Sandra Shirkey, Mark Shirkey and Liv Kraft) divided all the contestants into two groups: shooters and pointers, and they were as follows:

Shooters:
Mark Shirkey, Francois Moser, Noah Sonnet, Jacques Rattaire, Bob Crossley, Bleys Rose, J-C Etallaz, Evan Falcone, Brigitte Moran, Christine Cragg.

Pointers:
Larry Cragg, Gilbert Sonnet, Alain Efron, Tamara Efron, Liliane Sebban, Akira Okawa, Claudie Chourré, Genevieve Etallaz, Christine Morier, Charlie Davantes.

By the way, all the people who played as “shooters” were not necessarily the real article. Due to a lack of genuine shooters, some innocent people were shanghaied into acting as shooters… as a result, they struggled but they did pretty well.

Two games were played in the morning and three additional games in the afternoon.

The field was still partially wet, spongy and extremely challenging. This was the ideal terrain for “plombers” and “au fer” shooters. Pointers had to put some extra oomph in their throws to reach the cochonnet and many (myself included) missed the mark.

Due to almost 3 months of forced inactivity, I opted to play as a pointer and managed fairly well (3 wins out of 5), despite a persisting cold and a stubbornly stiff spine.
I had the pleasure to team up with young Noah Sonnet, Brigitte Davantes, Evan Falcone and Bleys Rose, who by the way has become an excellent shooter.
I also played with J-C Etallaz against mighty Jacques Rattaire and ? He demolished us in minutes with a score of 13/3. Curse you Red Baron!

Seeing my good friend Francois Moser and my wife Tamara on the winning podium was an added pleasure to an excellent day of pétanque and camaraderie.

I feel confident to say that a good time was had by all.

Final results:

1st place: Christine Cragg & Gilbert Sonnet
2nd place: Tamara Efron & Francois Moser
3rd place: Evan Falcone & Charlie Davantes

Alain

To look at photos of this event, click on the “My Photos” link located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen.

 *The excellent group photo by the way, was taken by Tom Moran.

 

Yin and Yang

When there is a Yin, there is a Yang. That’s the way it is.
I know this first hand. My wife is always hot while I am usually cold. She likes it spicy, I like it mild. She is fond of shoot ‘em up movies, I prefer comedy.
Basically we are direct opposites. She is Yin and I am Yang. That’s probably why we are together. The chances are that she will deny it, but she needs my serene Yang to counterbalance her tumultuous Yin.

The principle of Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture in general dating from the third century BCE or even earlier. This principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young.”

 There is no such thing as a unilateral force. For each push, there is an opposing pull… and a consequence. That consequence can be immediate or belated, but just like a stretched rubber band, it will snap back.

The current frenzy about sexual harassment is a prime example of Yin and Yang. People who have been abused (even a long time ago) are finally hitting back at their tormentors, with devastating effect. Powerful, seemingly untouchable individuals are now tumbling down like bowling pins. It is a celestially improved version of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Even when you think that you got away with murder, the immutable forces of Yin and Yang dictate that some day you will be held accountable for it. Yin and Yang is a close cousin of Karma. Soon or later your misdeeds are going to catch up with you and lay waste to your life.

It is wise to remember that Yin and Yang is basically a give and take exercise.The underlying clause of the game is that you cannot have it all. You will win some and you will most definitely lose some. Deal with it!

Hubris is a bad counselor. The higher you climb, the heavier you fall.  

Alain

The right to do harm

Good morning America and welcome to another mass shooting sponsored by the NRA… and perpetrated by nothing but a “mentally deranged” individual.

Judging by the last 6 months, it looks that this country has a large number of nutcases on the loose… but If I had a choice I would definitely prefer more deranged people running around and way fewer guns, because it is not the demented who kill. It is automatic weapons.

An unarmed madman might club or stab somebody to death, but without an automatic weapon he could never inflict the kind of damage that a Stephen Paddock or Devin Patrick Kelley did.

After another shooting, we get teary speeches, candlelight vigils and futile prayers. And that’s it. No official has the nerves to talk about the elephant in the room: the gun lobby.

Is this madness ever going to stop? Will our legislators ever muster the nerves to tackle the Second Amendment? We should remember that unlike the Ten Commandments, the Constitution is not cast in stone. It can and should be amended.

But “now is not the time” has said our “extremely intelligent” leader. I really wonder when the right time is going to be?

Here is the amendment as ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson:

“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

The right to bear arms, OK, but definitely not automatic weapons! Do you need an AR-15 assault-type rifle with a 50-round drum magazine to protect your family or go rabbit hunting?

Ultimately though the problem lies with Congress. Due to the fact that these officials are elected, they are highly susceptible to blackmail; especially the members of the House of Representatives who are in office for just two short years. They constantly chase money to get reelected.

If they want to keep their lucrative jobs ($174,000 annually) and their precious perks, they have to swear fealty to their Godfather, the NRA. Failing to do this will jeopardize their lofty status and could possibly get them kicked out of office. Horror!
Sticking with the NRA and its deep pockets is the safest way to keep their jobs.

Senators (elected for a six-year term) are a little less vulnerable, but still susceptible to corruption. As proven by the Russian investigation, a politician is not below accepting a (discreet) bribe in exchange for influence peddling.

Finally, a “brave” congressman might be willing to buck the system, providing that he is not going to run for office again. With nothing to lose he can finally feel free to vote his conscience, not his self-preservation.

I favor term limits. A legislator should not die in office. He should croak in his bed, after completing a maximum of two terms (just like POTUS) in office. With little to lose, he might vote candidly.

Alain

Congress has 535 voting members: 435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a “district”.

Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators. Currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a six-year term, with terms staggered, so every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election.”