Au Cochonnet Marin

Yesterday I drove to Sonoma to take part in the VOMPC Octoberfest.
I am not a big beer guzzler or a sauerkraut chomper but I like to schmooze and that’s why I went there.

From our club, I met Le Facteur, Jean-Claude Bunand and Jean-Claude Etallaz.
I didn’t plan to play and I didn’t, but a bunch of people from other clubs showed up ready to rumble.

It looked like the event was organized and run by Alan Brauermeister (which incidentally stands for “master brewer”) and he did his shtick dresses appropriately in lederhosen.
Peter Mathis also looked swell in his leather shorts and suspenders.

As I said before, I didn’t play but indulged in one of my favorite pastime: taking candid shots of people being themselves.
I took a bunch of pictures that came out pretty damn well if I may say so.
But I’ll let you be the judge.

The weather was fair and the mood congenial. There was about an equal number of men and women and everything went swimmingly.

Just after lunch there was a “shooting contest” and young Wolfie Kurz came on top after being the only contestant able to hit a cochonnet resting on a wooden log.
Congrats Wolfie!

I don’t know who won the Concours or the Consolante and it is not important, but what I know is that everybody had a good time and that was the only important thing.

Enjoy the pictures! For best effect, go “Full screen”.

Alain

Fighting spam
Gmail is working very hard to fight spam.
To help keeping this junk off of the Internet, Gmail bounces back mail that they think is spam.
It is for this reason that I cannot anymore send messages to a large number of people at the same time.

Gmail urged me to create a special group (that I called “My Blog Faithful”) and ask each recipient to accept messages that are coming from me.

If you want to keep receiving new postings from me, you need to accept to be on my mailing list.
When you receive the above mentioned message, simply click on “Accept” and you will continue receiving my postings.

Thank you for your attention.

Alain
Cochonnetmarin.com

my-blog-faithful@googlegroups.com

Au secours, ayuda (for my Hispanic friends), help… I have lost my Internet connection… What, oh what am I going to do?
Digging in my large cache of knowledge I have tried everything I know to reestablish contact with the cybersphere, all but in vain… or almost.

My Ferrari of a computer (yes) is now running on 2 cylinders instead of 12.
I can connect to the Internet, but my Mac is presently running as fast as an asthmatic donkey when it should be speeding like a greyhound.
It is pathetic.
What is a true-blue cybernaut to do?

And the Comcast guy can only come in 4 days… Four days… an eternity…
What am I going to do if I cannot use the services of my cyber Jeeves?

The net is my source of knowledge, my advisor, my Mentor. I can talk to it and it can talk to me. And it never (like somebody I know) gives me any lip.
Without it, I am nothing but a shell of a man.

In the olden days, everybody read the newspaper. Now few people (besides octogenarians) do.
I don’t read newspapers anymore but I can ask my computer to read an article to me and it will oblige.

Being without a computer is like flying blind in a snowstorm.
Once you have tasted the delights of Capua (cyberspace), you cannot quit cold turkey. You will need your daily fix every day or you will climb the walls.

As a matter of fact, I feel the urge to climb the curtains of my bedroom right now.



I might start believing in miracles.
This morning, four days after its death, like Lazarus raising from his grave, my computer came back to life.
Alleluia!

I don’t know what happened but you never argue with success.
My baby is back as attentive and affectionate (unlike my cat) as ever.
Everything is forgiven. No questions asked.

I am back in the driver seat ready to fight windmills.
Praise the Lord (or Steve Jobs) for resurrecting my faithful acolyte.

Alain

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Fighting spam

Gmail is working very hard to fight spam.
To help keeping this junk off of the Internet, Gmail bounces back mail that they think is spam.
It is for this reason that I cannot anymore send messages to a large number of people at the same time.
Gmail urged me to create a special group (that I called “My Blog Faithful”) and ask each recipient to accept messages that are coming from me.
If you want to keep receiving new postings from me, you need to accept to be on my mailing list.
When you receive this message, simply click on “Accept” and you will continue receiving my postings.
Thank you for your attention.

Alain
Cochonnetmarin.com

my-blog-faithful@googlegroups.com

“If you’re losing, just be a man; be a man and lose as a man.” Marat Safin



Pétanque is a game that is usually played in formations of 2 or 3 players per team.
In “singles” events though, for better or for worse, you are on your own.
If you lose you have nobody to blame but yourself and you might discover (surprise) that you are not as hot as you thought you were.
For some, it can be a sobering experience.

But no matter what, Lady Luck has to smile on you.
If she is grumpy, boules will behave unpredictably. At the last second they might veer to the right or to the left and miss the intended target by a wide margin.
On the other hand, if the Bitch Lady fancies you, no matter how badly you play you will come ahead.

Mental preparation is very important.
Personally, before a big tournament I lay flowers, food and perfume on the Lady’s altar.
I also shave my head, burn incense and assume the Lotus Position.
It is said that it enhances concentration, increases motivation, boosts confidence and heightens sexual desire (do I need this before a game?). Never mind…
And then I intone a powerful mantra: “the pox on my opponents, the pox on my opponents…”
If I lose (perish the thought), I would like to think that I have done everything to win.

The biggest thing I learned from losing? Winning’s better. Ted Turner

But I am digressing…

In last Sunday’s tournament the men competitors were as follows:

1. Alain Efron, 2. Bee Moua, 3. Ed Porto, 4. Brendan Cohen, 5. Phominik Lee, 6. Yor Lee, 7. Henry Wessel, 8. Noel Marcovechio, 9. Kevin Evoy, 10. Patrick Vaslet, 11. Philippe Arnaud, 12. Paul Yang, 13. Wolfie Kurz, 14. Jean Claude Etallaz, 15. Mickey Coughlin, 16. Paul Moua, 17. Pao Ly, 18. Bleys Rose, 19. Louis Toulon, 20. Brian Williams, 21. Chan Xiong, 22. J.M. Poulnot, 23. Jer Thao, 24. Peter Mathis, 25. Alan Bauermeister.

On the women side we had:

1.Teri Sirico, 2. Holly Sammons, 3. Marie-Anne Curley, 4. Chia Vang, 5. Brigitte Moran, 6. Christine Cragg, 7. Shannon Bowman, 8. Sabine Mattei, 9. Carolina Jones, 10. Lisa Vaughn.

Three games were played in the morning to separate the hot shots from the small fry. The “hot shots” qualified for the Concours and the small fry played in the Consolante.

My personal tragedy odyssey: on my first game I was pounded to the ground 1/13 by Mickey Coughlin, the ogre of the Redwood Empire. Very inauspicious beginning.
On my second game I faced a friendly fellow named Paul Moua and I managed to win 13/4.
On my third game, I faced tenacious Bleys Rose and finally managed to subjugate(?) him 13/10.
I  managed to qualify for the Concours.

In the afternoon I came across Wolfie Kurz and it was a tight game until the end where he was leading 10/9.
At this time, the game could have swung both ways.
On my last hand, I pointed very poorly and Wolfie took advantage of me. He beat me 13/9.
I was out of the tournament.

It was time to put Sneaky Pete and Big bertha to work.

On the men side, in the semi-finals:
Paul Yang beat Mickey Coughlin 13/4
Louis Toulon beat Peter Mathis 13/8

In the men’s’ final, Louis Toulon faced Paul Yang.
It was a great match and the final score was in doubt until the very end of the set.

Louis Toulon (a veteran player) held his own against Paul, a gifted and very nice fellow.
Both players played extremely well and the crowd roared its approval.
Paul Yang finally won by a score of 13/11.

Great match. A pleasure to watch.

The women’s finals were also extremely exciting.
Holly Sammons faced Chia Vang (Paul’s wife) and the game was also extremely close.
Holly finally managed to clutch the title by a score of 13/11.

In the Concours:

1^st place: Paul Yang
2^nd place: Louis Toulon
3^rd place: Kevin Evoy

In the Consolante:

1^st place: Patrick Vaslet
2^nd place: Alan Bauermeister
3^rd place: Brendan Cohen

On the Women’s side:

Concours:

1^st place: Holly sammons
2^nd place Chia Vang
3^rd place: Carolina Jones

Consolante:

1^st place; Lisa Vaughn
2^nd place: Christine Cragg

It was a great day of pétanque. Those who didn’t show up missed a great tournament.

Enjoy the pictures.

Alain

PS: On a more serious note:

Fighting spam
Gmail is working very hard to fight spam.
To help keeping this junk off of the Internet, Gmail bounces back mail that they think is spam.
It is for this reason that I cannot anymore send messages to a large number of people at the same time.

Gmail urged me to create a special group (that I called “My Blog Faithful”) and ask each recipient to accept messages coming from me.
I have sent you (and I will send you again) a message (originating from My Blog Faithful) asking you to accept my mailing.

If you want to keep receiving new postings from me, you need to accept to be on my mailing list.
When you will receive this message, simply click on “Accept” and you will continue receiving my postings.

Thank you for your attention.