Au Cochonnet Marin

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

Sunday July 23^rd 2017 will remain a glorious day in the annals of local pétanque. On that day, the 6 major pétanque clubs of Northern California met in San Rafael to compete for their annual inter-club tournament.

Petaluma, Fresno, Sacramento, Sonoma, Lamorinda and San Rafael sent players to defend their respective colors and vie for the coveted cup. Ultimately, the total number of competitors came to 68.

This pétanque tournament, let’s not forget, was organized by the Petaluma Valley Pétanque Club and under the aegis of Ed Porto and Rob Everett they did an excellent job. They even managed to get the show on the road no later than 9:30 am.

Three 50 minutes games were played in the morning to determine everybody’s individual ranking and who would play in the Concours and who play in the Consolante. According to each individual score, eight triplettes teams were then selected to play in the Concours and 8 teams in the Consolante.

A slight digression here if I may…
One the problem afflicting this reporter was to identify all players and even though I am familiar with many of them I could not recognize them all. So please excuse me in advance for misspelling your (sometimes unfamiliar) names.

The second major problem for my alter ego was the weather. It was sunny and bright but there was a catch. In San Rafael we enjoy a fabulous shaded playing area but it is a blessing and a problem at the same time. It is very difficult for a photographer using a zoom lens to take decent pictures in “clair-obscur” conditions. So I apologize in advance for the quality of certain shots.

In the tournament’s Concours finals, Sacramento faced Petaluma. Two good teams. A balanced game. Each side could have won, ultimately though thanks in good part to Brendan Cohen, Sacramento won by a final score of 13/9. The losing team has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

In the Consolante, despite our warriors’ best efforts, the Fresno juggernaut demolished La Pétanque Marinière 13/2.

A great day for pétanque lovers!

Concours:
1^st place: Brendan Cohen, Mone Lee, Kue Lee (Sacramento)
2^nd place: Bleys Rose, Albert Woodbury, Dennis Zerbo (Petaluma)

Consolante:
1^st place: Jer Thao, Bruce Yang, Janice Bissonnette (Fresno)
2^nd place: Henry Wessel, Mark Shirkey, Charlie Davantes. (Marin)

Alain

PS: Our good friend Gustave Foucher who just celebrated his 90^th birthday was recently hospitalized. He will be released soon. Please wish him well. He will appreciate it.

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. Feel free to send me comments.