Category: Fourre-tout

Yes it was hot indeed in Sonoma last Saturday; 100 degrees Fahrenheit according to the weather bureau. It was so hot that ‘the best parking places were determined by shade instead of distance.” 

Despite this inauspicious condition, between 80 and 100 people attended this traditional Bastille Day picnic/tournament sponsored by The Valley of Moon Pétanque Club.
Granted, everybody did not play but many did in spite of the tropical heat. The VOMPC wisely set up 4 large tents throughout the field to provide some cooling spaces for players and guests alike.
Due to a persistent back problem, I declined to play.

The “mèlée » tournament was organized by Peter Mathis, assisted by Shannon Bowman. Two 11 points games were played in the morning and two in the afternoon. Despite these supposedly short games, some contests lingered and lunch (prepared by chef Marco) was only served around 1:00 pm.
To avoid long waiting lines, tables had been numbered and were called 3 at a time at separate intervals. An excellent idea that worked out very well.

All the attendants were too numerous to be mentioned but I spotted Brendan Cohen, Antonia Paulsen, Patrick Vaslet, Mike Cooper, John Morrison and his wife Linda, Bernard Passemar and his son Robert, Jean-Claude Etallaz and Minette, Gustave Foucher, Bleys Rose, Teri Sirico, Holly Sammons, and a bunch of people whose names I don’t know or escaped me.
Talking about Gustave Foucher, this sturdy gentleman is 90 years old and still going strong. Wish him well.

Jean-Michel Poulnot a.k.a Le Facteur donned his tricolor outfit and (entre la poire et le fromage) sang La Marseillaise with his usual enthusiasm. His fiery call to arms was fortunately ignored.

I don’t know what happened after lunch. Around 2:30 pm, to escape the heat, my wife and I boarded our sweltering batmobile and headed back to the relative coolness of Marin.

If you are curious, you can probably find the results of this tournament on Facebook. Congratulations to the “hot” winners whoever they are.

In the meantime, enjoy my pictures.

Au revoir et a bientôt!

Alain

PS: The winners of the tournament

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.

Lately, compliments of our commander-in-chief, Russia has been mentioned almost daily in the evening news. So what is it really like to live in Moscow or St Petersburg?
To get a better idea, I have turned to YouTube and I have screened a large quantity of Russian series and movies. I realize that they are only movies, but they often closely mirror reality.

Russian productions can basically be divided in 2 distinct categories: films made during the communist era and those produced in the post-communist period. During the Communist era, the country produced an abundance of war movies featuring the undeniable prowess of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War.
When the country transitioned from socialism to capitalism, the emphasis shifted from patriotism to the pursuit of happiness wealth. Love took second place.

The first time you watch a modern Russian movie, if you didn’t hear the soundtrack, you could easily believe that the protagonists live in an affluent European or even American environment. Everybody (especially the women) is well dressed, live in nice quarters and drive fancy cars. All the women are unabashedly flirty and looking for a “good man” (unmarried and wealthy… married will also do). Look is not too important. A man driving a fancy foreign car looks good in any environment.

Status and wealth are extremely important and one needs to be “well connected” to be respected. Elbowing with oligarchs is a must.
What is also very apparent in Russian movies is the almost daily practice of vzyatka (bribe, payola). If you want anything done, you need to grease somebody’s palm. It can be anything, money, vodka, but something has got to switch hands for things to happen.

In Russian movies men also seem to consume a considerable amount of vodka and they usually drink it in one gulp, or as the French would say “cul-sec » (bottoms up). They also all seem to have maids, “chauffeurs” and bodyguards. Ironically, 100 years after the Bolshevik Revolution, due to the income gap, modern Russia bears many similarities with tsarist Russia.

It seems that life can be very good in the Russian Federation. All it takes is a few lousy billions. But for the millions of “budgetniki” does not look so hot.

Alain

For interesting insights about Russia, follow Alexey Mikheev at

https://www.rbth.com/author/Alexey%20Mikheev

In the Middle Ages very few individuals were literate.  Reading or writing was the uncontested prerogative of the nobility and the Church, and their common bond was Latin.

The masses of yesteryear saw very little usefulness in written materials and were purposely kept in the dark by the ruling classes.
Nothing much has changed since that period. Today, a few men and women are computer language literate while most are not. And as in the old days the uneducated are easy preys for swindlers.

Computer driven devices are now ruling the world. With proficiency in programing a hacker in Uzbekistan can penetrate any network in the world and wreck havoc with its infrastructure. He also can ransom individuals and businesses and do all of this while sipping a cup of tea in his yurt.

As yesterday the world belongs to a new priesthood, the computer literate minority that speaks the coded language of secret societies. Today it is not good enough to be able to read and write. You must also speak a foreign language and be able to understand computer syntax. When seeking gainful employment you will most likely be asked, “Do you speak Sequel (SQL) or JAVA?” And your answer better be yes.

A few decades ago people were politely asked to sign a document; today they are directed to click on a link, but few people understand the hidden dangers that lurk under that innocent looking line.
Even if you have bucolic aspirations, beware of phishing and pharming. Contrarily to what you might think, these two innocent sounding activities will harm you. Think twice before you commit. The key to safety is to pay close attention to the URL you are about to click on for it could be booby-trapped.
If in doubt, abstain… or ask your junior high school children to check it.

Coding is the new Latin of the elites and it would not hurt you to become familiar with the rituals of their mass.

Alain