Category: Fourre-tout

 

As you all know yesterday was Mother’s Day and that most probably accounted for the fairly low attendance of the Marin tournament.
In spite of this, eight select triplettes trekked to our field and they were:

1. Henry Wessel/Calvert Barron/Sandra Shirkey
2. Jean-Michel Poulnot/J-C Etallaz/Dello Cueno
3. Bob Crossley/Akira Okawa/ Stephan
4. Hans Kurz/Honor Woodard/Dave Katz
5. Patrick Vaslet/Shannon Bowman/Hallie
6. Charlie Davantes/ Brigitte Moran/Herb Moran
7. Peter Mathis/Wolfie Kurz/David Lanter
8. Teri Sirico/Nancy Jencks/ Evan Falcone

Marin fielded only 2 teams.
Personally, I declined to play due to a stubborn backache. To remain in your good graces, I endeavored to take plenty of photographs. I hope that you will like them.

Sunday morning was unusually chilly with a cold wind that persisted until late in the afternoon.
The field was impeccably groomed due I surmise to Henry Wessel and Calvert Barron, Mark and Sandra Shirkey and as always Charlie Davantes.

In the absence of our president who is at the moment gallivanting in France, Mark Shirkey (vice-president) carried the atomic football and ran the tournament with the help of Liv Kraft.

Two games were played before lunch, followed by elimination games in the afternoon. Sonoma fielded two very strong teams while Marin did its best to fight the intruders with weaker forces.

Both Sonoma teams reached the finals and ultimately the Mathis team prevailed over the Vaslet team by 13/8. A very honorable loss.
Both teams played very well, but Sonoma fielded stronger artillery.

The 3rd place was highly contested with finally the Sirico team prevailing over the Kurz team by a very slight margin.

Final scoreboard:

1^st place: Peter Mathis/Wolfie Kurz/David Lanter
2^nd place: Patrick Vaslet/Shannon Bowman/Hallie Cohen
3^rd place: Teri Sirico/Nancy Jencks/ Evan Falcone
4^th place: Hans Kurz/Honor Woodard/Dave Katz

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. No more music, sorry.

 

“Freedom lies in being bold.” –Robert Frost

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What is the difference between a herd of cows and airline passengers?
Practically none. They are all rounded up, confined and mistreated.

Flying used to be fun and glamorous. We had plenty of legroom, free meals, free drinks and pretty, smiling flight attendants to please us. Not anymore. All these time-honored perks are gone.

For most of us flying is now an ordeal (historically an ancient test of guilt or innocence by subjection of the accused to severe pain, survival of which was taken as divine proof of innocence”)

Since most of us survive this unpleasant experience, it convincingly proves that we are innocent and should be treated as victims rather than offenders.

Lately we have witnessed, personally or on television, a string of incidents featuring flying rage. Passengers are becoming increasingly unruly and fight with flight attendants or other passengers at the slightest provocation.
It is hardly surprising since caged animals are seldom in a jolly mood. Put a bunch of beasties in a cramped area, and you can bet your bippy that fights will break out.

I have flown in all kinds of aircrafts, but it seems that over the years (probably due to climate change) the legroom between passenger’s seats has melted at an alarming pace. I am a rather small fellow and I should not feel constricted when flying “economy class”. But I damn do!

Like a fair-minded citizen I was naively thinking that, since aircrafts are becoming larger and larger, the legroom allotted to each passenger would also increase accordingly.
Fat chance!
I forgot “profit”, the Holy Grail so ardently pursued by airlines executives.
“Let them eat cake” is their secret slogan!

I am a capitalist. I believe in profits… but decent profits. Gobermouch CEO’s should not swindle passengers to pay themselves exorbitant salaries. And what about those obscene “golden parachutes”?

I feel that the time has come for the sons and daughters of the Boston Tea Party to board airplanes and throw excessive seats on the tarmac.This is the only way to convince airlines’ honchos to be more reasonable and put passengers’ well being ahead of that doggone “profit”.

Don’t be helpless lemmings anymore and complain, loudly. Flood airlines headquarters with forceful demands for increased legroom and comfort.
You would be amazed by the steep decrease of fighting aboard airplanes.

Have you ever seen fights in First Class? I rest my case.

Alain

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. Will Rogers

 

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. ~Christopher Reeve

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Is it just me or did I really hear a universal sigh of relief when it became officially known that Emmanuel Macron had just been chosen by the French voters to become the next president of France?

It was a decisive rejection (65% vs. 35%) of extremes in favor of moderation. It was also an oblique rebuff to Trumpism and its ill-thought-out policies. The pathetic Utopists of the Left and the rabble-rousers of the Extreme Right were convincingly turned down by the French Electorate.
Nobody is quite sure if the vote was more a rejection of the malodorous National Front or a seal of approval for the newcomer, but this is totally immaterial. He won the Presidency fair and square.

The French have been an unhappy lot for quite sometime. High unemployment (up to 13% in some areas) high cost of living and insecurity have significantly dimmed their vaunted “joie de vivre”.

They (like anybody else in the world) aspire to basic necessities: full-time employment, decent wages, reasonably priced housing and affordable healthcare. None of those are a reality today. The main culprit is thought to be unemployment.

Due to its ridiculously litigious labor code, it has become extremely difficult for any Frenchman to secure a permanent job. No job translates into unhappiness, restlessness and ultimately, lawlessness.

The main obstacle to reforms have been the unions but “Earlier this year, the moderate CFDT overtook the militant CGT as the strongest union in the private sector. For the first time there is a possibility of a reformist majority within the French unions,” said Moec of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.”

 If Macron can convince the unions to loosen up their headlock on labor laws, everything is possible. Macron’s style is a gradual approach to solving problems but without quick results on the economy, he could struggle to deliver.

To his credit Macron is also a proponent of “equal pay for equal work” (requirement that men and women be paid the same if performing the same job in the same organization).
He also promised to have an equal number of men and women in his cabinet. This is refreshing, especially in notoriously macho French politics.

Some people have been wondering about his marriage to his wife Brigitte who is 24 years older than he is. In my opinion this was an extremely gutsy decision for both of them, for not everyone was so accepting of their relationship. And guts are what are needed for the extremely difficult task of managing the French presidency.

Best wishes to a daring young man and his equally daring and stylish missus!

Alain