Category: Fourre-tout

Last Sunday La Pétanque Marinière of Marin County hosted its annual California Commemorative Cup tournament.
Members of various local clubs were invited and some braved the chilly weather and the heavy fog that blanketed most of Marin County in order to compete.
Croissants and hot coffee helped to keep spirits high.

The Contestants were:

• Doug Colleville & Nancy Jencks
• Herb Moran & Brigitte Moran
• Brendan Cohen & Linda Evans
• Albert Woodbury & Caitlin Woodbury
• Francois Moser & Henriette Matocq
• Jean-Michel Poulnot & Colette Van Der Meulen
• Charlie Davantes & Helga Facchini
• Marco Ilaria & Peggy Silverside
• Kevin Evoy & Holly Sammons
• Carlos Couto & Beth Lysten
• Jean-Claude Etallaz & Genevieve Etallaz
• Gus Foucher & Liliane Sebban
• Larry Cragg & Christine Cragg
• Jean-Claude Bunand & Mireille Di Maio
• Ed Porto & Carolina Jones
• Bernard Passmar & Sabine Mattei
• Wolf Kurz & Julie Thompson
• Joe La Torre & Teri Sirico
• Ken Lee & Susan Holbert
• Patrick Vaslet & Shannon Bowman
• Antoine Lofaro & Eva Lofaro

The LPM circus was kept under control by Christine Cragg (our exalted leader) ably assisted by charming Swedish beauty Liv Kraft.

The tournament was billed as Select Mixed Doublettes (1 man & 1 woman) and men as usual scrambled to assure the services of the ladies.

There would be 3 qualifying games in the morning and Concours and Consolante A and B after lunch.
A raffle (worth $200.00 of groceries) was advertised and a nice prize was up for grabs.
My sources tell me that the generous food basket was donated by the Marin Farmers Market (through the good offices of newly minted member Brigitte Moran).
Thank you Brigitte. You are accumulating good karma.

I opted out of this tournament. I chose instead to spend the day memorializing this event. I took 551 photographs that I agonizingly whittled down to around 240.
I tried to take at least one picture of every participant but I don’t know if I succeeded. I gave it the old college try, but my college days are now just a fading memory and my try might not have been as effective as in my  salad days.
I might have missed somebody. Sorry about that.

The first phase of the tournament (3 qualifying games) started slightly after 10:30 a.m. and ended around 1:00 p.m.

During the lunch break ,  a drawing was held and the winner of this grocery piñata was nobody else but Teri Sirico. Congratulations.
The tournament resumed around 2:00 p.m.

The following teams qualified for the Concours:

• Kevin Evoy & Holly Sammons
• Brendan Cohen & Linda Evans
• Albert Woodbuty & Caitlin Wood bury
• Francois Moser & Henriette Matocq
• Joe La Torre & Teri Sirico
• Carlos Couto & Beth Lysten
• Jean-Michel Poulnot & Colette Van Der Meulen
• Ed Porto & Carolina Jones

In order to win a team event, the partners must be in sync. If partners squabble they will fail. Some did and were quickly eliminated.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “a game is 90% mental and the other half physical.”
Some contestants failed the mental test.

To make a long story short, the Concours’ finalists were Ed Porto & Carolina Jones and Brendan Cohen & Linda Evans.
And they totally deserved to be there.

They were equally matched and they gave us the most exciting finals that I have seen in a long time.

I knew that Carolina and Ed were good players but I knew very little about Brendan and Linda.
They proved to be both formidable competitors, especially young Brendan who in my opinion was the MVP of this event. He graced us with amazing, extremely accurate shots.
Linda Evans, under an unassuming appearance, displayed remarkable pointing skills. She contributed mightily to the game.

The game proved very entertaining and drew many appreciative oohs, aahs and applauds from the crowd.

It was an even contest with scores seesawing between the 2 teams.

In the final hand, the score was 12 vs. 12.
The fate of the tournament was decided when Brendan missed a critical shot.
Ed Porto (slightly handicapped by a new hip) held his own and mightily contributed to the final victory.

The new names on the 2015 California Commemorative cup will be Ed Porto & Carolina Jones (loved them yellow socks) who finally won the tournament with a final score of 13/12.
Congratulations to all. Either side deserved to win.

A very long but very entertaining day.

Alain

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

 

I just watched a movie about somebody being dumped and it made me reflect on my own storied life.

Don’t deny it. We all have been through this rite of passage, the abrupt transition from bliss to hell.
We have all been dumped or have ditched somebody. It is a fact of life. And better being dumped early than later in a relationship.

Dumping (the disposal of unwanted material in an often hurried way) is usually initiated by one partner. It is seldom mutual.

It is like a post Bar Mitzvah, or maybe like a rehearsal for the future mandatory divorce. It means that after that ritual you have (hopefully) become an adult and ready to play the game again, but in a more cautious and mature way.

A breakup often comes as a surprise to the dumpee.
It can be brutal “Piss off wanker” or mild “it’s not you, it’s me”, but it is always traumatic.

Now thanks to technology, breakups can be expedited with text messages or through Facebook. “You have 6 days to remove your stuff from my place. Have a nice day”. Your 6000 friends will know right away that you are finally available again.

Dumpees never see it coming. It comes out of the blue… like a sudden spring shower tornado.

And the nagging question is always, why?
What did I do? Is it my fault?
Did I drink too much? Did I eat too much? Did I gain weight? Did I fart too much? Was singing “Le Cantique des Cantiques” (the Song of Solomon) during our lovemaking over the top?

You are racking your brain trying to find the answer to this question (and maybe a parade to this blow) but things are usually too far-gone.

Of course, it is always better to be the dumper than the dumpee and some people anticipating a breakup will take the initiative and become the dumper before becoming a dumpee.
It is much less traumatic and much more satisfying.

But even 10, 20 years after the facts, the memory of a breakup still haunts you.
Because the dumper never really tells you the reason for the breakup.
It is probably better that way, but you still would like to know.

There ought to be a formal process for breaking up.
There ought be a form to be filled by both parties explaining clearly what prompted this fateful decision.

“One woman is not enough for me” or “she refused polygamy”, or “he sleeps with a Glock pistol under his pillow and he fondles it more than he fondles me”.

It would be nice to know for future reference and to avoid making the same mistakes again.

So, if you have been dumped, do not despair. It happened to the best of us.
And in your next relationship, dump that bastard/bitch before he/she dumps you.

Famous dumpees:
Josephine de Beauharnais (dumped by Napoleon I)
Lady Di (dumped by prince Charles)
Nicolas Sarkozy (dumped by Cecilia Attias)
Valerie Trierweiler (dumped by Francois Hollande)

Have a pleasantly mellow day.

Uncle Alain

Watch Tina S. the amazing French prodigy:

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
Terry Pratchett

My cat is not quite a teenager but she already behaves like one (and I fear that the worst is yet to come.)
She is wild, impulsive, rebellious, highly energetic, adventurous and emotional.
In one word, a true juvenile.

It won’t be long before she starts sniffing glue, smoking pot (I better hide my stash) and demanding her own cell phone.
And of course begging for the car keys and spending the night out.
But not so fast dudette!
I am seriously considering fitting her with a GPS so that I will know where she is at all times. And I want to meet her “friends”.
She is not crazy about this idea.

Because of her inbred inquisitiveness, I think that when she grows up, she might be a journalist, a private investigator or maybe (because of her amazing athletic skills) join a circus for a flying trapeze act.

“The performance was invented in 1859 by a Frenchman named Jules Leotard, who connected a bar to some ventilator cords above the swimming pool in his father’s gymnasium in Toulouse, France. After practicing tricks above the pool, Leotard performed his act in the Cirque Napoleon (now known as the Cirque d’hiver). The traditional flier’s costume, the leotard, is named after him.”

I bet you didn’t know that!

Despite her young age, she can reach any spot in the house. And to my chagrin, she does. Nothing is safe from her inquisitive mind or sharp claws.
During the night, she moves like a ghost, her eyes occasionally glowing in the dark. And regardless of the situation, she always wants to be on the other side of the door.

While an occasional couch potato, she is also a deep thinker and spends a lot of time mulling over different mischief possibilities.
When relaxing, she prefers her martini shaken not stirred.
Unlike her royal relatives, she is easily amused and will play with anything loose or not chained to a wall.

For a feline, the call of the wild (the common ground area behind my house) is irresistible.
Kate is a naturally canny hunter and I dread the day when she is going to catch (and she will) one of the little birds feeding in our garden.

She is rowdy but good-natured, affectionate and not averse to an occasional tummy scratching session. She then purrs almost as loudly as I snore.

As May Sarton once said:
“Time spent with cats is never wasted.”

I totally agree with this.

Alain

http://youtu.be/OnqnCoPLdyw