Au Cochonnet Marin

As you probably know, lately I have been under the weather and unable to attend the club’s annual Sausages & Lentils picnic/tournament.
But even though I stayed home, I was with you in spirit.

According to my sources, 42 players showed up to compete and feast on Jean-Claude Etallaz famed “diots” (sausages) “a la Savoyarde”.
And indeed they looked scrumptious on the photos taken by a certain Tamara Efron.
It would be remiss of me not to mention Antoine Lofaro who did a great job assisting Jean-Claude.

 

 

14 triplettes competed for the top spots, and after the dust settled the following people came to the podium to be kissed by the local miss and receive their purses.

 

1st place:     Patrick Vaslet, Sabine Mattei, Jean-Michel Poulnot:  $48.00
2nd place:    Benji Tosi, Christine Jones, Larry Cragg:  $24.00
3rd place:      Brendan Cohen, C. Davantes, Mireille DiMaio: $12.00

Let’s not forget that “Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half.” Bum Phillips

The tournament was run by Verena Rytter assisted by Liv Kraft who was gracious enough to sit through the entire tournament to keep scores and allow Verena to compete.
Thank you Liv. You are indeed the genuine article.

I won’t speak at length about what I didn’t witness and I will let instead Tamara’s photos speak for themselves.

Congratulations to the winners and best luck next time to the rest of the pack!

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”.

 

“Those who’ll play with cats must expect to be scratched.”
Miguel de Cervantes

I know Miguelito and I have many scars to prove it. But those are love bites and cannot be held against my client.

A cat’s life is generally rather mellow.
It revolves around three main occupations: sleeping, eating and playing, not necessarily in that order.

Sleeping is an important (if not the most important) pastime and it is taken very seriously by felines.
First, the cat has to decide where to snooze. There are plenty of nice spots around the house, but given a chance, a cat will preferably pick a very small box to slink in and relax.

Because a cat is vain. We all know that.

What do you mean, “I won’t fit into that box”
Are you implying that I am too fat? I will show you…
Sounds strangely familiar.
No matter how small the box, the cat will squeeze in.
And then look at you with (what else?) a Cheshire cat smile.
Told you so!
As you well know, it is pointless to argue with a cat.

Eating is special too. There are no regular hours. All a cat wants to know is that there is an all-night buffet readily available somewhere around the house.
Because a light midnight snack is not uncommon.

Sometimes, like human beings, cats cannot sleep. So they roam the place looking for something to do.
That’s when you usually hear a loud crash in the middle of the night. Here goes another flowerpot.
In the beginning you get startled and immediately get up to investigate, but after a while you just curse, turn around in your bed and go back to sleep.
What’s the use of getting up?

Cats love to play. And they will play with anything. Unlike slow-witted human beings, cats will have fun with anything that can be batted or tossed around.
And cats can play fetch like dogs. And they are much more acrobatic than canines when doing so.
A cat is a coiled spring that can be released in a fraction of a second. If you can watch this in slo-mo it is a rather spectacular thing to see.

A cat constantly patrols its domain. It is part of the original deal. I agree to live with you, but I am in charge of security. I will check every nook and cranny to make sure that there is no enemy infiltration. I promise you that no bug or rodent will ever break the perimeter.
And that I believe.

Even though our cat has been living with us for the last 4 months and has explored every recess of our abode, she still feels obligated to patrol looking for potential enemies (or victims).
But no rodent (unlike suicidal) would be foolish enough to venture in a place knowing that a cat dwells there.

Cats are amazing creatures. They can be mellow, but when cornered they become as fierce as lions. An angry cat is a rather frightening sight and many dogs have fled (with their tail between their legs) when confronted by a claws wielding cat.

The Irish have a saying:
“Beware of people who dislike cats.”
I totally agree with you laddies. I would not confide to anybody who disapproves of cats.

Meow for now.

Alain

A long time ago a seven-headed monster terrorized the Greek countryside. It was known as the Hydra of Lerna.
It killed many people and was feared by everybody.

Hercules (Heracles) was tasked to rid the country of the beast.
Not an easy assignment, considering that each head of the monster would grow back immediately after being chopped off.
Hiding in his lair, the monster also exhaled a poisoned breath making it difficult to even approach him.

Hercules, protected by the fur of the lion of Nemea, attacked the Hydra with a golden sword but struggled to overcome the monster. Each chopped head grew back immediately after being cut off.
Hercules called his nephew Iolaus for help.

He asked him to get a torch and immediately cauterize the wound after a head had been cut off. They worked together assiduously and managed to finally do away with the beast.

But the world is now faced with a new monster. It is the Islamist Hydra and it is more vicious and bloodthirsty than the original monster. It doesn’t have seven but a thousand heads.
And just like the Lernaean Hydra it regenerates itself after one of its head is cut off. It spreads noxious fumes through the Internet and poisons everybody who comes in contact with it.

Its sympathizers have to be fought vigorously wherever they are found.
But many western countries are too timorous to act. They prefer to keep their head in the sand and remain “politically correct”.
They do not want to be perceived (God forbids) as “Islamophobic”.
They are deadly wrong!
Hundreds of reasons come to light every day to be Islamophobic.

The violent brand of Islam preached by ISIS is nothing but a new form of “National Socialism”.
Its barbarity, cruelty and misogyny are well documented.

The first step to fight the multi-headed monster is to control Muslim immigration everywhere.

The second step is to stop the construction of new mosques, for these are the outposts of an insidious Islamic infiltration fostering Fifth Columnists (future Jihadists).

Dalil Boubakeur, the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, called on Saturday, during the annual gathering of the Muslims of France, to double the number of mosques in France within 2 years.
Totally ridiculous!
How about 50 new churches in Saudi Arabia?

Detain or kick out extremist proselytizers (and their lawyers). Send all the sympathizers to Saint Helena, South Atlantic Ocean. It has been done before.

There are about 6 millions Muslims living in France today. Almost a tenth of its population.

The main question to ask these people is “are you Muslim first and a French citizen second?”
If your allegiance to Islam comes first you don’t rightly belong to this country and be entitled to its extravagant welfare system (30% of its GDP).
If you place Islam above the law of the land, it should be up to Allah (instead of the state) to provide for you.

Keep in mind that what’s happening in Syria today is a foretaste of what might happen in Europe tomorrow.
If you don’t want to live under barbarous Sharia law, you better get your head out of the sand do something about it.

The question is not what Islam will do for you, but what Islam will do to you.
And judging by when happening in Syria, it is not a happy prospect.

In view of all the horrible exactions committed by ISIS worldwide,
I am unabashedly islamophobic!

Alain