Au Cochonnet Marin

When there is a will there is a way.

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If you have not seen our pétanque field for a while, you are in for a (nice) surprise. It looks different, manicured, rejuvenated.
Like the face of a movie star after a Botox treatment.

We owe it all to a dynamic duo who, in spite of being relatively new to the club, is doing a heck of a job.
The names of these excellent people are Henry and Calvert. I don’t need to say more. Everybody knows them and appreciate them.

French writer Jules Romains wrote between 1932 and 1946 a legendary series of books called « Les hommes de bonne volonté » (men of good will).
Henry (aka La Bête Noire) and Calvert are such people. They are friendly, helpful, cooperative and to top it all excellent players.
At La Pétanque Marinière, we are extremely fortunate to have such individuals.

Our field, created approximately 1975 AD, had seen better days.
The fine gravel that once covered the ground had been washed away by years of winter rains, and wild grass was steadily annexing the playing areas.

There had been talks for years of resurfacing the field but nothing ever materialized.
Nothing until Henry and Calvert took it upon themselves to do the job.
Quietly, without any fanfare, they have been steadily hauling and pouring fine gravel on the field for the last few weeks.
It now looks as smooth as a baby’s behind.

And I understand (correct me if I am wrong) that they refuse to be compensated for it. That’s not right. The least we can do is to reimburse them for the material and publicly recognize a job well done.

Chapeau bas! Chapeau bas!
Doff your caps! Hurrah! Hurrah
For these noble people.

In my fleeting moment of praise, I also want to mention the Davantes gang (Charlie, Liv -how could I forget her- Brigitte and Herb) who also did a tremendous job of beautifying our field.

A club with such “people of good will” is a fortunate club indeed.

Alain

“Whoever is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast a stone at her.”

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The other day around the dinner table politics crept into the conversation.
Somebody said, “I won’t vote for Hillary; she lies”.

She lies? Give me a break.
Of course she lies. Not all the time, but occasionally, like anybody else. I lie, you lie, everybody lies.
Show me a man who doesn’t lie and I will show you a corpse.

And can you imagine for a minute a world without lies?

 

“For people who say they hate being lied to, just start telling them nothing but the pure truth–about everything. That will teach them”
Seth Adam Brown

I don’t condone lies, but I understand their usefulness. Lies are the lubricants that keep the world spinning. Without them we would all kill each other.
And like mushrooms, they come in a great variety. Some are digestible and some are highly poisonous.
Lies can be offensive, defensive, soothing, merciful, compassionate, funny …

“Because everybody lies. It’s part of living in society. Don’t get me wrong-I think it’s necessary. The last thing anyone wants is to live in a society where total honesty prevails. Can you imagine the conversations? You’re short and fat, one person might say, and the other might answer, I know. But you smell bad. It just wouldn’t work.”
Nicholas Sparks

If lies didn’t exist, we would have to invent them.

But there is a big difference between an occasional fibber and a chronic liar.
We can forgive an infrequent fibber but we should not excuse nor believe a compulsive liar.
So yes, Hillary has probably lied a few times. BFD! Don’t we all? Aren’t Cruz or Trump spouting cock-and-bull stories on a daily basis?

When choosing between a seasoned professional and a carnival huckster, I will definitely side with the professional… even if she occasionally errs on the side of inaccuracy.

But winning an election is the easy part. Taming a dysfunctional Congress will really be what separates a woman from the boys.

Alain

“Life is all about Ass. You’re either covering it, laughing it off, kicking it, kissing it, bursting it, or trying to get a piece of it.” 
Unknown Author

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Every four years American politicians vying for at shot at Pennsylvania Avenue engage in a gigantic ass-kissing contest that is watched with incredulous amazement by the rest of the world.

This League of Extraordinary Gentlemen men dudes (and dudette) shamelessly engages in a bunch of unnatural acts to secure votes.

Wearing plastic smiles, they will mingle with and glad-hand commoners (yuck), kiss drooling babies (gross), eat crappy foods (yech), play checkers, pretend to ride the subway, in short, perform all sorts of deeds that are as flagrantly phony as a three- dollar bill.
They will even try to rope in a reluctant pope to enroll him as a Facebook friend.

As usual, an obscene amount of money is fueling this farce. For money is power. It is an “extra-strength” lubricant that behind the scene can and will unfreeze the most obstinate frozen bolts.
Candidates are not above cajoling, bribing even blackmailing (especially if there is a skeleton dangling in your closet) the so-called “undecided”.

But if victory is achieved, will there be gold at the end of the rainbow for Joe Sixpack and his buddies?
I very much doubt it. Joe and his chums will get bupkes, nada, rien.
Only a few in the immediate entourage of the candidate will be rewarded for their steadfast support.

For when this long humiliating courtship comes to an end, everything changes. It is now the former ass kisser who wants to be the “kissee”.

“I want real loyalty. I want someone who will kiss my ass in Macy’s window, and say it smells like roses.” Lyndon B. Johnson

So, why should we vote for any of these brownnosers?
Because USS America needs somebody at the helm. Somebody preferably presidential looking, reasonable, experienced, pragmatic, not some pathetically laughable, uninformed pompadoured braggadocio.

Demagogues are dangerous fellows. They generally promise what they cannot deliver.
Promise me less, but if possible, give me more. Not the opposite.

Speaking for myself, I cannot trust anybody who blows his own horn harder than famously arrogant (“There are not enough Indians in the world to defeat the Seventh Cavalry”) George Armstrong Custer.

Alain