Au Cochonnet Marin

My beloved TV set had a stroke. The sudden attack left it half paralyzed: the sound is still there but the image is gone.
I immediately called emergency and a TV clinician showed up equipped with a black bag, a defibrillator and a thick foreign accent.

After charging me $135.00 for a house call, he told me that my telly needed an organ transplant. A transplant?
Is this operation necessary doctor?
Yes it is.
Will the patient recover all its faculties?
Maybe…
Hum… How long will it take?
Just a few days.
All right, let’s do it.

The good doctor then grab my set and absconded.

Two weeks later, my boob tube is still waiting for its transplant.
I am starting to experience BTWS (Boob Tube Withdrawal Symptoms.)
As you probably have heard, any kind of addiction is difficult to shake.
Right now, I am experiencing difficulty concentrating, short-term memory loss, anxiety, irritability, disturbed sleep, muscle pain, stiffness and Irregular heart rate.
Not a pleasant state of affairs.

In desperation I started looking for a replacement set. Not an easy task. I counted at least a dozen of different brands (practically none American) and an equal number of different sizes on the market.

All merchants claim that their contraptions are the greatest.
But you know this is not so.
Again what differences the men from the boys is the price of their toys.
If you want a decent machine you will need to shell out the big bucks.

It is also increasingly difficult to find medium size (40-43”) sets. All the merchants are advertising jumbo sets. It is easy to understand why. A large set (starting at 60”) costs about three times the price of a smaller set.
But a big set requires a large area and my bedroom (although grandiose) is not Albert Hall.

I finally located what I thought was a decent 43” set. I summoned Amazon and two days later the contraption arrived.
I set it up and pushed the power switch.
Big disappointment. Instead of he vivid tones that I expected, I was presented with sickly, washed out colors. Obviously, I did not dish out enough coins for my toy.

I sent it immediately back to Amazon (at a personal cost of $65.00).

Called the TV witch doctor again. He is still waiting for a part. Jeez… aren’t there enough donors out there?

I cannot live 2 weeks without watching the news. It is election time for chrissake!
I need to know on a daily hourly basis what the Republican Mundunugu is concocting and what can be done to save the Republic.

I reordered another set. Bigger, more expensive.
It arrived a few days later. Setting it up was a cinch. The resolution and the colors are splendid.

I don’t have any reasons to beat my wife anymore. Life is good.

Alain

“I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar.”

“Nothing happens by chance, by fate. You create your own fate by your own actions.”

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The idea of karma always appealed to me.
Karma as I understand it, keeps track of a person’s deeds and records everything in a big accounting ledger in the sky.
So always keep in mind that your actions, whether good or bad, will have consequences.

I often imagine karma as a big shaggy dog snoozing in the shade.
He has a keen hear and a very sensitive nose, even when he seems to be sleeping. He is very patient, but if some people try to camouflage some inconvenient truths, this big hound is very likely to sink his teeth in their derrière.

That’s why so many people are recusing themselves from pursuing a political career.
The rattling noise or the smell of hidden skeletons might wake up Karma and as the saying goes, it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.
Skeletons you see, feel very uncomfortable in the limelight.

It is definitely a bad idea for public figures, criminals, or politicians to seek higher office if they have something to hide.
The vetting process (or pesky journalists) will most probably unearth some long forgotten misdeeds and force them to beat a hasty retreat.
They then will quit running “to devote more time with their families”.

Some people (like former Nazis) have managed to camouflage their past and keep their shady or criminal deeds in the past.
It is ambition that usually brings them down.
When they seek higher office the harsh glare of public scrutiny shines on them and unmask them. And they are often unable to keep the lid on the sometimes-putrid smell of their past actions.

A few years ago an Austrian man named Kurt Waldheim who had a successful military and political career was suddenly accused of being a war criminal.
Although he strenuously denied it, “throughout his term as President (1986–1992), Kurt Waldheim and his wife Elisabeth were officially deemed ”persona non grata” by the United States.”

Similarly, the Donald  who was always thought (or promoted himself) to be an astute businessman is suddenly revealed as an ignorant, unscrupulous blowhard.

So watch what you do or say. If you don’t you might wake up Karma and his big teeth at the most inopportune moment.

Alain

Once in a while, when my blog’s ratings are sagging (yes it sometimes happens), I grab my cameras and go hunting.
I don’t stalk animals mind you. I love the critters too much to do such abhorring thing.

When I hunt, I pursue images; I creep like a ninja toward my intended prey and silently do the deed.
To me, a good photograph is always a candid snapshot: when the subject is not aware of the proceedings.
The minute the wind shifts and the target gets aware of my presence everything changes. The subject freezes and becomes a different person.

The minute I  post pictures on my site, the vertical bar of my popularity graph shoots straight up proving that nobody can resist the lure of a good photograph. It is often the hook that attracts hesitant readers.

People are basically curious, and no matter how good a story, the picture is what coaxes people to read the accompanying story.
A good tale can bring about some comments but a good picture can generate a storm.

Napoleon supposedly said: a good sketch is better than a long speech.
I have no doubt that if he were living today the Corsican Fiend would be running around carrying a camera around his neck.

If you have ever logged into a dating site, the first thing you would look for would be the photograph of the postulant. No matter what the person would say about himself/herself the picture is always the deal clincher.

I believe that if Trump changed his haircut (switch to a crew-cut or a Mohawk) and kept his mouth tightly shut he would vastly improve his dismal ratings.
It is the mop man, the hair!

Somebody said “Once photography enters your bloodstream, it is like a disease.”
I agree.
I was infected a long time ago and even though it is a serious disorder I have learned to live with it, even enjoy it.

Next time you visit my site, take a leisurely walk through my “pic patch”. I think that you will like it.

Alain

PS: Warning: when you least expect it, you could be the target of a candid shot.