Au Cochonnet Marin

Nowadays, surgery is almost like a rite of passage, a ritual bearing many similarities with the Pacific Line-crossing ceremony. At least once in your lifetime you will have to cross this line ( i.e. go under the knife) and get a fancy certificate attesting to it.

There are basically 2 kinds of surgery, benign and major. But regardless of the procedure, one always looks at it with some apprehension. You seldom worry about the procedure itself, but you often feel more uneasy about the sequels and the recovery period.

A surgical procedure is performed to improve the well being of a patient and it is sometimes humorously compared to Photoshop; it removes the unsightly or the unwanted. But such is not always the case. Depending on the dexterity of the surgeon, the results might not be as satisfactory as expected.

Prior to the surgical procedure you should consult with the surgeon and this individual should inspire confidence. He should sound reserved but self-assured and not over eager to tear into your flesh. Personally I would prefer a mature individual who has done at least one hundred similar procedures before working on me.

Surgery is an unpleasant but ultimately a necessary endeavor. When you have clear evidence of a significant problem, you cannot procrastinate. Neither God nor the Devil can help; you must put your faith in the hands of a surgeon and take the plunge.

The man wielding the scalpellum must be confident and clearly explain why and what he intends to do. And it would not hurt to double-check with him to confirm on what part of your anatomy he intends to proceed.
Some women worry about the scars. I don’t. Scars are like tattoos; they can be fascinating and under good lighting conditions they can even look cool.

I will go under the knife August 4^th for “Thoracic Fusion for Spinal Stenosis“. It is a major operation and according to the surgeon I might be out of commission for 2 or 3 months. I hope to be fully operational by November, before Thanksgiving.
But after this procedure, I definitely expect to emulate the moves of the  Kizomba group shown below:

Alain

https://youtu.be/PPuK9GZpR

In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte had the clever idea of creating the National Order of the Legion of Honor. This prestigious award was intended to pay tribute and reward soldiers who distinguished themselves or died for their country on various battlefields.

Just like the Order of the Garter, or the Order of Malta, l’Ordre National de la Légion d’honneur is a highly respected decoration coveted by many. Wearing the prestigious “rosette” on his lapel is the culminating ambition of many young upstarts.

I, like Napoleon Bonaparte am toying with the idea of creating a new Pétanque Order that I would call the National Order of the Emmerdeurs.
Like any other order, it would single out individuals who distinguished themselves on the pétanque field. Not necessarily by doing good, but by causing troubles. And I am sorry to say that I might be partly responsible for that state of affairs.

I have always encouraged all our members to practice the noble art of “shooting”. Some took my admonitions at heart. They practiced and practiced, until some day, lo and behold, they shot one of my boules out of its exquisite winning spot.
And they committed this sacrilegious act more than once.

In my book you don’t shoot at your coach’s boules! Out of respect for his counseling, you miss your Mentor’s boules. You can come close, but you have to miss! It is the honorable thing to do. Those rogue players who continue to disrupt games with their ridiculous feats become prime candidates to be nominated “emmerdeurs”, notorious scalawags who are known for rattling someone’s cage.

Nobody likes a troublemaker, especially when he does things better than you do. Nobody cares for a chick lecturing a rooster. Right?
All right then… In our club, who deserves to be inducted in that Order?

I nominate Noel Marcovecchio who has had the audacity to knock my boule out of place more than once. He is a traitor and what’s worse a recidivist! Do not let his mild-mannered appearance fool you. This man is dangerous.
On the women’s side I would also induct Verena Rytter who has disrupted many games with her shooting stunts, and some outrageous woman named Tamara who has been trying to emulate her husband’s heroic accomplishments… in vain.

If you agree with me, and I am sure you do, wear a sign on your pétanque bulletproof vest saying “Make Missing Great Again”.

Alain

A good snapshot is an informal photograph taken rapidly, sometimes without the subject’s knowledge. It is a photo opportunity with an extremely short lifespan, available only a brief moment. A snapshot is a metamorphosing, emotional instant. It glows a briefly and disappears like a ghostly apparition. It is up to the photographer to catch that ephemeral moment at the right time and memorialize it.

“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

I am a self-taught photographer without pretensions. I just like to take pictures and what I know I today was instilled in me by my numerous failures.
A snapshot to me is different from a “conventional” photograph by the mere fact that it is taken on the fly, often surreptitiously. No serious photographer is keen to show people staring at the camera with a frozen smile on their faces. He wants to catch them unaware of the camera’s glaring eye.

The best way to take candid snapshots is by using a zoom lens. This way you can catch people in a natural state, totally unaware that their faces and their actions mirror their most inner emotions.

A lot of things can go wrong when shooting with a zoom lens. The most obvious is unwanted people or animals bursting into your field of vision. That’s why, when I spot a potential target I keep my finger on the trigger ready to unleash a volley of shots.

The light is also extremely important. Shadows will maim faces and limbs. My favorite time to shoot, especially sporting events, is under overcast skies. It gives you a clear view devoid of camouflaging shades of your subject.

A resourceful photographer should not be afraid to use creative camera angles. Shooting from the rear of the subject rather from the front can reveal some interesting aspects of a person.
If you can catch emotion in a shot, even if the picture is slightly blurred, you can call it a good snapshot.

No use running away; some day unbeknownst to you, you will find yourself in my gunsight viewfinder.

Alain