Au Cochonnet Marin

Yesterday’s picnic/tournament was what I would call a successful affair. It was well attended and various club members showed great team spirit by lending a hand to the event.
I also noticed quite a few new faces, and the people who brought them in ought to be commended for introducing these young men and women to the game.

The weather was clement. It was a little cool in the morning but almost perfect (not too hot, not too cool) in the afternoon.

The tournament directors were Verena Rytter and Liv Kraft.

The cooking brigade was composed of Jean-Claude Etallaz, Antoine Lofaro, and Roger Mattei.

The Helping Rockettes were: Sabine Mattei, Mireille Di Maio, Claudie Chourré, Eva Lofaro, Minette Etallaz.

As a welcome change, instead of the sempiternal peas and carrots, potato patties and stuffed tomatoes were served to accompany the steaks.

This week again I did not intend to play but I was ultimately cajoled into participating in the tournament and I was paired with (Holy Mackerel) none other than (ta-da!) Le Facteur.

Jean-Michel is a good, but very emotional player. In fair weather he is an amiable fellow, but when the boat starts rocking he can get a little paranoid.
Nobody likes to lose but regardless how things are going one needs to keep a cool head, and I reminded him of this a few times.
Personally, when playing my guiding principles are:

• If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
• Keep calm and fix bayonets.
• It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.

Ultimately we didn’t fare too badly winning 2 games out of 3 and losing the last one 9/13.

“Le Facteur was so depressed, he tried to commit suicide by inhaling next to an Armenian.” Woody Allen

The tournament’s participants were:

1. Charles Davantes & Claudie Chourré
2. Brendan Cohen & Miguel Cuevas
3. David Katz & Minette Etallaz
4. Francois Moser & Peggy Silversides
5. Ken Lee & Christine Jones
6. Steve Jones & Liliane Sebban
7. Bernard Passmar & Sarah Passmar
8. Louis Toulon & Julie Thompson
9. Anton Vargas & Brigitte Moran
10. Gustav Fisher & Sabine Mattei
11. Henry Wessel & Eva Lofaro
12. Herb Moran & Calvert Barron
13. JC Etallaz & Greg McDonald
14. Frosty Sabo & Mireille Di Maio
15. Philippe Arnaud & Robbie Passmar
16. Alain Efron & JM Poulnot

At lunchtime an enormous black dog appeared. At first sight I wondered if it was a pony or a small bear but it turned out to be a Briard, a dog that originated from the French region of Brie.
This gentle giant (weighing 130 lbs.) is sometimes called “a heart of gold wrapped in fur”. It is a great dog, but definitely not a lapdog and probably needing his own queen size bed.

Three games were played after lunch and the tournament ended around 4:30 p.m.

The final results:

1st place: Charles Davantes & Claudie Chourré
2^nd place: Bernard Passmar & Sarah Passmar
3^rd place: Frosty Sabo & Mireille Di Maio

And that was the way I saw it.

Alain

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.

Your comments are welcome.

“When our spelling is perfect, it’s invisible. But when it’s flawed, it prompts strong negative associations.”
Marilyn vos Savant

If you don’t believe this, try sending a job application laced with misspelled words to a prospective employer.
Chances are that you will remain “between jobs” for a long time.

Good spelling is the mark of a learned lady/gentleman and in an increasingly competitive world it has become more important than ever.
With many traditional jobs quickly fading away, it is imperative to keep up your writing skills just in case you need to reinvent yourself.

Unfortunately, many kids are now using SMS to communicate among themselves and it is one of the greatest disservices ever offered to them.
SMS relies on a crude phonetic language (with a total disrespect for syntax or grammar) to convey ideas or instructions, and it is bad news.

Thanks to SMS (and a collection of varied electronic devices) we are raising a bunch of kids who will be thoroughly illiterate (and probably unable to compete) when they grow up.

By the way, if you didn’t know, SMS stands for “Shoddy Muddled Spelling”.

And kids, if you try to entice a bookish girl with a weird SMS, you might get the following answer:
“Sorry I don’t date outside my species.”
Ouch! That hurts!

The art of letter writing is quickly disappearing but e-mail doesn’t give you license for sloppy spelling.
Just remember that facility borders on incivility.
Instead of hurried, slapdash messages, take the time to think and use basic grammatical rules and correct spelling.
And beware of Spellcheck and autocorrect. If you are not vigilant it can easily lead you astray.

Now, as the kids would say,

Cul8r; luwamh
(See you later; love you with all my heart)

Isn’t this romantic?

Alain

Yesterday we went to Sonoma to participate in the Council on Aging/Wine Country Games, a competition for athletes over 50.

Upon our arrival we were surprised to see so very few people on the field.
Only 16 individuals (8 doublettes) lined up to participate in the tournament.
In retrospective, this low attendance might have been caused by the rather steep entry fee ($40.00 per person, lunch not included) and a lack of sustained advertising.
It was for a good cause but the price was still rather high.

The participants were:

1. Jean-Claude Etallaz & Bea Moua
2. Peter Wellington & Mike Cooper
3. Joe La Torre & Dave Katz
4. Antoine Lofaro & Teri Sirico
5. Jean-Michel (Le Facteur) & Bernard Passemar
6. Alain Efron & Tamara Efron
7. Higgins & Barbara Howard
8. Carl & Linda Motshielder

The games smartly started around 9:00 a.m., because that early in the day the temperature was sill bearable.
Later on in the afternoon the temperature shot past 90 degrees and it became rather uncomfortable to stand in the sun.

Three timed games were played in the morning, with more games in the afternoon.

There were many good players among the contestants. I particularly noticed a certain Bee Moua (JC Etallaz’s partner) who is an excellent shooter showing great concentration.

When I started playing I realized very quickly that familiarity with the field was a determining factor. The Sonoma terrain is quite different from the San Rafael field and quite treacherous for the non-initiated.
It is dusty and the dust masks the ground’s irregularities and slows your boules.
Tellingly, we lost our 1^st game 3/13 against Bee Moua and JC Etallaz

We won the 2^nd game 12/11 against Joe La Torre and David Katz. Joe managed a superb “carreau sur place” and really deserved to win the game.
We lost our 3^rd game 6/13 against Peter Wellington and Mike Cooper
We lost our 4^th game 1/13 to Antoine and Teri.
Finally, after becoming a little better acquainted with the field, we managed to win our 5^th game 13/3 against Higgins and Barbara Howard.

Around 3:00 p.m. the heat was intense and people were desperately seeking shady spots.

In the semi-finals

Le Facteur and Bernard P. beat Carl and Linda Motshielder 13/5
Antoine and Teri beat Peter Wellington and Mike Cooper by the amazing score of 13/1.

In the finals (played on the new court) Antoine Lofaro and Teri Sirico faced Le Facteur and Bernard Passmar.
Both teams played well.
The scores seesawed back and forth until the end when Antoine managed a superb “carreau sur place”.
The appreciative crowd burst into a spontaneous round of applause.
Two “carreaux sur place” in a row are extremely rare but Antoine did it.
He shot again and managed another unbelievable “carreau sur place” that clinched the game.
The crowd went wild.

Antoine and Teri beat Le Facteur and Bernard Passmar by a final score of 13/10.
A magnificent conclusion to a very good game.

When the dust settled:

1^st place: Antoine Lofaro & Teri Sirico
2^nd place: Le Facteur and Bernard Passmar
3^rd place: Linda & Carl Motshielder
4^th place: Peter Wellington & Mike Cooper

Every contestant was awarded a bottle of sparkling wine, with top finishing players getting more substantial prices.
Antoine and Teri both received a bottle of Pastis, a bottle of sparkling wine and a $25.00 gift certificate from Central Market in Sonoma.

Alain

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

For sake of portability, all the pictures in this event were taken with an iPhone5 and mostly with a Canon Powershot S120 camera.