Category: Fourre-tout

La Boulange bakery has been my favorite watering hole for years and I just learned with dismay that Starbucks (who bought La Boulange in 2012 for $100 million) intends to close its 23 stores by the end of September.

USA Today wrote “The Seattle-based coffee retailer will close all 23 of its La Boulange bakery-cafes in the next three months, saying the stores “weren’t sustainable for the company’s long-term growth.”

Excuse my French, but what kind of “merde de taureau” is that?

Not sustainable? No businessman would pay one hundred million bucks for an outfit if he did not think that it was profitable!
I smell a giant rat here.

“I never wanted to be on any billionaires list. I never define myself by net worth. I always try to define myself by my values.”
Howard Schultz

Oh Yeah? So why are you closing all 23 of successful La Boulange cafés in the next three months and putting hundreds of employees out of work?
What kind of values are those?

“Profitability is a shallow goal if it doesn’t have a real purpose, and the purpose has to be share the profits with others.”
Howard Schultz

Bollocks!

The trouble with the profit system has always been that it was highly unprofitable to most people.
B. White

In 2012, Forbes magazine ranked Schultz as the 354th richest person in the United States, with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
Is this not enough dough (pun intended) Mr. Schultz?

La Boulange (favorite breakfast and lunch spots in the San Francisco Bay Area) offers a variety of sandwiches, pastries and beverage unequalled in any other competitive outfits.
Especially at Starbucks.
Leave La Boulange alone!

Don’t let greed trump quality of life Mr. Shultz. Keep La Boulange open and keep your reputation as a wise businessman intact.

Alain

“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”
Desmond Tutu

Occasionally, when playing pétanque I am called upon to make a crucial shot.
I then ask a few deities to help me triumph over my enemies.
And sometimes it works. I strike the opponents’ boule out of the way and save the game.
This unequivocally proves to me that when you need help it is better to call on a few friends rather than on a single individual.

So, I wonder why people pray only to one patron saint at a time? It does not make sense to me.
In a battle, you don’t rely on a single horseman; you rely on the entire cavalry brigade.

Whom do people pray to anyway?
The Virgin Mary? Jesus? Allah? Abraham? Satan? Lady Gaga?
I don’t know why, but mortals usually besiege a single deity, and it not very effective.
My advice: when in dire straits, diversify! Don’t be sectarian! Don’t restrict yourself to a single do-gooder. Pray to everybody. This is not the time to be picky!
And it is not more strenuous to do mass-mailing mass praying to half a dozen gods than to a single individual.

By their own admission some people pray constantly. Three or four times a day, even more. The Virgin Mary or Satan must be tired of listening to all those people because as George Bernard Shaw said, “Most people do not pray; they only beg.”

The gods must feel like getting robocalls. “This guy has been calling me 3 times a day every day for the last six months; I am getting tired of his whining…”

My advice: if you pray, do it sensibly. Be brief; go the point. Don’t tie up the lines. Don’t bother the Big Guys with your endless money or marital woes…
Don’t bother them every five minutes, but when you really need help, go for equal opportunity praying. Ask them all… nicely but as briefly as you can.
Time is precious and the gods’ attention is fleeting.

So again, when in need of assistance, address all the deities that you can think of. One of them is going be less busy than the others and might grant you your wish.
Maybe… but don’t hold your breath.

Alain

“Honk if you love Jesus… Text while driving if you want to meet him.”

 

Yesterday’s picnic/tournament was what I would call a successful affair. It was well attended and various club members showed great team spirit by lending a hand to the event.
I also noticed quite a few new faces, and the people who brought them in ought to be commended for introducing these young men and women to the game.

The weather was clement. It was a little cool in the morning but almost perfect (not too hot, not too cool) in the afternoon.

The tournament directors were Verena Rytter and Liv Kraft.

The cooking brigade was composed of Jean-Claude Etallaz, Antoine Lofaro, and Roger Mattei.

The Helping Rockettes were: Sabine Mattei, Mireille Di Maio, Claudie Chourré, Eva Lofaro, Minette Etallaz.

As a welcome change, instead of the sempiternal peas and carrots, potato patties and stuffed tomatoes were served to accompany the steaks.

This week again I did not intend to play but I was ultimately cajoled into participating in the tournament and I was paired with (Holy Mackerel) none other than (ta-da!) Le Facteur.

Jean-Michel is a good, but very emotional player. In fair weather he is an amiable fellow, but when the boat starts rocking he can get a little paranoid.
Nobody likes to lose but regardless how things are going one needs to keep a cool head, and I reminded him of this a few times.
Personally, when playing my guiding principles are:

• If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
• Keep calm and fix bayonets.
• It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.

Ultimately we didn’t fare too badly winning 2 games out of 3 and losing the last one 9/13.

“Le Facteur was so depressed, he tried to commit suicide by inhaling next to an Armenian.” Woody Allen

The tournament’s participants were:

1. Charles Davantes & Claudie Chourré
2. Brendan Cohen & Miguel Cuevas
3. David Katz & Minette Etallaz
4. Francois Moser & Peggy Silversides
5. Ken Lee & Christine Jones
6. Steve Jones & Liliane Sebban
7. Bernard Passmar & Sarah Passmar
8. Louis Toulon & Julie Thompson
9. Anton Vargas & Brigitte Moran
10. Gustav Fisher & Sabine Mattei
11. Henry Wessel & Eva Lofaro
12. Herb Moran & Calvert Barron
13. JC Etallaz & Greg McDonald
14. Frosty Sabo & Mireille Di Maio
15. Philippe Arnaud & Robbie Passmar
16. Alain Efron & JM Poulnot

At lunchtime an enormous black dog appeared. At first sight I wondered if it was a pony or a small bear but it turned out to be a Briard, a dog that originated from the French region of Brie.
This gentle giant (weighing 130 lbs.) is sometimes called “a heart of gold wrapped in fur”. It is a great dog, but definitely not a lapdog and probably needing his own queen size bed.

Three games were played after lunch and the tournament ended around 4:30 p.m.

The final results:

1st place: Charles Davantes & Claudie Chourré
2^nd place: Bernard Passmar & Sarah Passmar
3^rd place: Frosty Sabo & Mireille Di Maio

And that was the way I saw it.

Alain

To look at photos of this event and listen to the accompanying background music, turn your computer’s sound on, and click on the link “My Photos” located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen.

Your comments are welcome.