Au Cochonnet Marin

I may be drunk, Donald, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly. Winston Churchill

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The GOP campaign is now reaching critical mass.

Donald Trump, aka the “The Mouth that Roars”, having bullied his way to the top is about to become the figurehead of the Republican Party.
It is an unmitigated disaster for America and the free world. It is an event akin to 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

The party of Abraham Lincoln lost its way a long time ago and is now wandering further and further in political extremism.

America has traditionally been the champion of democratic values that almost every nation on earth is looking up to.
Trump’s anointment as leader of the Republican Party is about to change that perception.

Trump (“I am really smart”) is a crude, rude, ignorant, bombastic, populist egomaniac shooting from the hip.
Here are some of his “intelligent” positions (quoted in in the media) on vital issues:

Immigration
Trump will forcefully deport about 13 million illegal Mexicans, build a gigantic wall across our Southern border to keep them out and make Mexico pay for it.
Realistic, brilliant, constructive! Mexico will definitely oblige.

Abortion
“Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best.”
Trump has flip-flopped on this issue more than once. Now, to secure the Evangelical crowd, he backs the pro-life side without any regard for the mental, physical and financial well being of women.

Guns
“If you had more guns, you’d have more protection because the right people would have the guns. (The Wall Street Journal)
Trump will give guns to everybody to stop America’s endemic killing . Another brilliant solution. Why didn’t we think of that before?

Foreign policy
Trump favors Carpet Bombing our enemies, Russian style. This will definitely stop conflicts and buys us new friends all over the world.

Taxes
“I try and pay as little tax as possible, because I hate what they do with my tax money. I hate the way they spend our money.” (NBC News)
We know that Donald. By the way, could we please see your tax returns for the last 10 years?

Health care
“I would end Obamacare and replace it with something terrific, for far less money for the country and for the people,” said Trump. (KCCI Des Moines)
The next insanely great thing, no doubt about it. Give us some details please.

Environment
“Global warming is an expensive hoax!” (Trump on Twitter)
The Donald of course, knows best. Just trust him and don’t ask stupid questions. Who are you going to believe, your eyes or him?

Lately Trump professed to ignore who or what the KKK stands for. A rather lame answer for a “really smart” guy.

To sum it up, Donald Trump is a dangerous flimflam man, a snake oil salesman who will say anything to secure a shot at the White House.
Once there, what would he do? This is a very scary thought.

If you live in a dump
Tired of being a chump
Don’t vote for Trump

If you have any common sense, Dump Trump while you still can.

Alain

Procaffinating: the tendency to postpone anything until you have had a cup of coffee.

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And a lot of people suffer from this debilitating syndrome.

When it was first introduced in Europe (around 1680), coffee was an exotic novelty served with great chichi in small cups.

Now, thanks to Mr. Howard Schultz the black stuff is poured in extra large cups to keep you going -they say- all day (and probably all night).
The reason for the ridiculous large cups is obvious: the larger the cup, the more Starbucks thinks it can (without blushing) charge you for it.

“Starbucks says they are going to start putting religious quotes on cups. The very first one will say, ‘Jesus! This cup is expensive!’”

In my book, bigger never meant better.

Coffee, like beer or cigarettes is an acquired taste. At first it tastes awful, and later on you don’t mind as much.
In my house, my cat has the most discriminating palate and I can tell you that she would not touch the stuff with a ten-foot pole.
But very often, as a result of peer pressure, you force yourself to accept some unpleasant tastes and you finally surrender.

When I initially tried beer, I felt like a baby sucking for the first time on a slice of lemon. Yuck! But after a while, my body relented and finally didn’t protest at all. Same goes for coffee. Mind over matter.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid, or at least reduce the amount of Black Gold (for Schultz) that you drink.

Among other things, coffee will make you nervous, irritable. Everybody knows that.
It will also cause insomnia and restlessness.
Caffeine will boost your blood pressure and cause blood sugar swings.
It will dehydrate your body and cause wrinkles.
It will raise your LDL cholesterol levels.
It is also notoriously bad for pregnant women.

So before ordering your nth cup of Joe, be aware of what it does to you.
Or even better, drink water. It is still (maybe not for long) cheap.

Many people though don’t come to Starbucks merely for coffee. They come because they need to temporarily escape from their tedious routine.
If somebody could come up with an alternative to coffee (yes it is possible), and sell it (in small cups) in a pleasant venue, we might be able to get rid of the black stuff and send Howard Schultz and his pontificating packing.

I (and probably legions of people) am waiting for this benefactor like believers are waiting for the Messiah.

Alain

Talking about the Messiah…

“The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.”
Herb Caen

Yesterday, La Pétanque Marinière hosted its first tournament of the season.
The attendance was moderate but the atmosphere spirited.

Around 9:30 a.m. the air was a little chilly but the blue sky above promised a more clement temperature later on and it delivered.

The field (cleaned the previous day by professional gardeners) looked good. Sporting a light shade of green, it almost looked like a manicured golf course.
The ground was still soft and proved a little tricky for players unfamiliar with this condition.

The contestants were as follows:

1. Jean-Claude Etallaz & Doug Mcoville?
2. Henry Wessel & Minette Etallaz
3. Rob Everett & Holly Sammons
4. Calvert Barron & Sabine Mattei
5. Les Stone & Eva Lofaro
6. Noel Marcovecchio & Helga Facchini
7. Bernard Passemar & Mireille Di Maio
8. Shannon Bowman & Lillian Sebban
9. Alain Efron & Larry Cragg
10. Bleys Rose & Tamara Efron
11. Christine Cragg & Kathy Stone
12. Brigitte Moran & Charles Davantes

Verena Rytter & Liv Kraft organized and ran the tournament. Thank you ladies.

Two games were scheduled before lunch and two more games after lunch.
The tournament started at 10:00 a.m.

For once I lucked out and was teamed up with Larry Cragg. He proved to be an excellent pointer throughout the tournament and I have nothing but praise for him.

On our first game, we faced Rob Everett and Holly Sammons. Toward the end of the game we were leading 12/9. On the last “mène”, after we had played all our boules and were unable to counterattack, Rob managed to score an astounding four points in a row.
We lost 12/13. We wuz robbed! Damn you Rob and Holly!

On our second game, facing Noel Marcovecchio and Helga Facchini we lost 8/13. I still wonder what happened. As a matter of fact, it confirms my suspicion that Noel is an adept of black magic.

After lunch, with the temperature rising, I removed my Navy wool cap and switched back to my familiar “casquette”.
It seemed to favorably impact our next games.

We won our 3^rd game 13/2 against Jean-Claude Etallaz & Doug Mcoville.

To satisfy their quest for a perfect losing streak and to put an end to their sufferings, on our final game we mercifully subdued Calvert Barron and Sabine Mattei by a score of 13/6.
I am convinced that the hat did it.

While playing, I managed to take some shots of the action with Sneaky Pete, one of my favorite cameras and they are here for you to see. I hope that you will like them.

A good day altogether even though I was outshined one more time by a certain Tamara who managed to snatch the second place while I had to settle for the fourth spot.
Damn that woman.

Final results:

1^st place:       Noel Marcovecchio & Helga Facchini    $30.00 ea
2^nd place:       Bleys Rose & Tamara Efron                         $25.00 ea
3^rd place:       Bernard Passemar & Mireille Di Maio            $15.00 ea
4^th place:        Alain Efron & Larry Cragg                            $12.00 ea
5^th place:        Les Stone & Eva Lofaro                               $10.00 ea

Thank you la Pétanque Marinière for a well run and fun tournament.

Alain

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