Au Cochonnet Marin

I am sick and tired of hearing about the Super Bowl but I am even sicker of hearing about an odd duck named Donald.

Being a fairly unsophisticated political bumpkin and desirous to further my education I checked Wikipedia for further details about Donald Duck.

Here is what I found:

“Donald is most famous for his semi-intelligible speech and his mischievous and temperamental personality.

His anger is a great cause of suffering in his life. On multiple occasions, it has caused him to get in over his head and lose competitions.

There are times when he fights to keep his temper, and he sometimes succeeds in doing so temporarily, but he always returns to his normal angry self in the end.

Donald is also a bit of a show-off. He likes to brag, especially about how skilled he is at something.”

 Blimey! Is this the character running for president? No?
Is there another Donald?

Excuse my French, but the above description fitted mister Trump so well that I thought they were really talking about him.

Wanting to know a little more about mister Trump I went back to the Internet and I found that this is what the man said while campaigning for the highest office in the land:

• “I’m the most successful person to ever run for the presidency, by far”
• “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
• “I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
• “One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government.”
• “The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear “yamaka”s every day.”
• “Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the United States. There’s never been a Secretary of State so bad as Hillary. The world blew up around us. We lost everything, including all relationships. There wasn’t one good thing that came out of that administration or her being Secretary of State.”
• “You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”

After carefully reviewing his background and profanity laden tirades, I reluctantly (not really) came to the conclusion that Donald Trump is egotistic, bombastic, crude, racist, sexist, prejudiced.
Am I leaving something out?

And this is the man who is going to “Make America great again”. I don’t think so.

I cannot help thinking that this guy reminds of Benito. Do you remember him? Il Duce. “Il Duce ha sempre ragione” (The Duce is always right).
This fellow also wanted to make Italy great again. If I remember correctly, it did not work too well for him.

But like all bullies, Donald has a tongue of steel and feet of clay.
I predict that by mid-summer this duck will stop quacking and return to live in splendid isolation in his golden pond.

Alain

Photography is the only language that can be understood worldwide.
Bruno Barbey 

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People like to look at photographs.
I can testify to this. Each time I display pictures on my website, the subsequent traffic jumps up significantly.

For there is a universal fascination with photographs, and interestingly people looking at the same snapshots will see widely different things.
Women for instance will notice details that men totally don’t care about, and vice-versa.

I have been an informal photographer for a very long time. I started in my twenties and I am still at it.
I never took any course; I am entirely self-taught.
I have learned throughout the years (by trial and error) what makes a good shot.

To take a good snapshot, you have to be alert, fast and unobtrusive.
That’s why I favor carrying a small, good quality camera. Something that you can quickly hide in your pocket after the dirty deed is done.

“You can easily recognize a professional photographer in a herd of tourists: he is the one who hides his camera.”

You also have to be mindful of the light. Light is extremely important.
It is not widely known, but pictures look best when taken in overcast weather.

A wise photographer always takes multiple shots of a single subject.
As the saying goes, you have to kiss many frogs to find a prince, and similarly you have to take many photographs to come up with a good one.
I usually take at least three shots of the same subject and keep the best.

My favorites pictures are candid shots. Pictures taken when a person’s official mask is temporarily down and when the subject is totally unaware of what is happening.
But I will never publish an unflattering picture. I leave this underhanded demeanor to politicians.

Nowadays when I show up at some event, people expect me to be there with my camera and I am glad to oblige. The following day they rush to my website to see who was there and if they compare favorably with the competition.
Don’t deny it. I know that you do it.

Finally, you cannot be a Sunday photographer and expect great shots. Like any discipline, you have to practice almost daily to achieve a respectable level and take pleasing shots.

It is not easy, but it is fun trying.

Alain

There are no rules for good photographs; there are only good photographs.
Ansel Adams

 

 

Exactly 3 weeks after the rain interrupted our tournament, I am happy to report that yesterday (Sunday, January 31^st) the action finally resumed.

Upon hearing the good news the city of San Francisco immediately went into high gear and adorned its streets and building with flowers and tinsel.
I think that there might even be a parade on Market Street next week to honor the winners of this tournament.

The weather confounded the naysayers. Upon arriving in the Golden Gate Park we were greeted by a cloudless blue sky with absolutely no hint of rain. The climate was pleasant but still a bit chilly.

The field was fairly dry but still very spongy. To be sure to hit his mark, a shooter had to shoot “au fer” (to the iron). Any shot landing a few inches in front of the target would inevitably bounce on the ground and fly over the target.
It happened to me a few times.

The survivors of the previous encounter were as follows:

1. Christine Cragg
2. Alain Efron
3. Tamara Efron
4. Calvert Barron
5. Henry Wessel
6. Claudie Chourré
7. Joss Krauer
8. Paul Kos
9. Jack McKinnon
10. Scott Cole
11. Jean Bogiages
12. Christopher Ferris
13. Michael Martuscello

Missing in action were Noel Marcovecchio, Liv Kraft and Charles Davantes.

A little controversy erupted at the beginning of the tournament. Some people who were not present at the original contest demanded to play. They were rightly rebuffed (in my opinion) by Joss Krauer, the tournament organizer.
The scores from the 2 previous games were kept and despite the fact that some of the original players didn’t show up, no substitute for missing contestants was allowed.

The first game started at 11:00 a.m. and the second game was played after lunch.

My partner (Claudie Chourré) and I lost our first game 6/13. It was mainly due to the fact that I didn’t shoot “au fer”. A spongy field is unforgiving and it took me too long to adapt to the field’s conditions.

My partner for the second game was Calvert Barron. We won our second game by probably becoming more familiar with the field’s peculiarities.

Around two o’clock the tournament was over and the Paniers de Noel were presented to the highest scorers.
It was also the end of an era. After decades at the helm of the club, an emotional Joss Krauer passed the leadership baton to Jack McKinnon.
He is now the new president of La Boule d’Or. Best wishes to him and his club.

As a good omen for the welfare of the club, we had the pleasure to welcome 3 young new players to La Boule d’Or.
I don’t know their names but you cannot miss them. If you look at my pictures, they are the only players walking without a limp.
When you see them (in San Francisco or anywhere else), please make them feel welcome.

The best players of the tournament were:

Shooters:
1^st place: Mike Martuscello
2^nd place: Alain Efron
3^rd place: Henry Wessel

Pointers:
1^st place: Tamara Efron
2^nd place: Christopher Ferris
3^rd place: Calvert Barron

Alain

 

PS: I hope that the results of this tournament will be reported on Mexican TV. They have bar none the best-looking female broadcasters in the Americas.

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.