Au Cochonnet Marin

 

Yesterday, to everybody’s relief, the temperature finally dropped down to a more normal seasonal level and made our annual event much more pleasant. It was overcast and cool in the morning (excellent weather for photography) and kind of muggy and sticky in the late afternoon.

To my surprise though, only 15 mixed teams showed up for combat, but it made the event feel more like a family affair: informal and friendly. I surmised that some monarchists preferred to stay home to watch Queen Elizabeth’s elaborate funeral pageantry. The Donald (surely watching from his lair) must have been green with envy.

Due to my rather substandard physical condition, and after much internal debate, I finally decided to team up with Tall Nina, a friendly newcomer. It was a wise choice since Nina proved to be an excellent pointer.

As usual, 3 timed games were played in the morning and elimination games in the afternoon. In the morning, Nina and I did rather poorly and were promptly defeated slaughtered (2/13, 5/13, 2/13) by much better teams. I tried to take notes of the names while playing but ended up erasing everything by mistake.

On our first game though, I remembered being pulverized by Tim Wetzel and Holly Sammons. I was going to put Tim on my enemy list, but he proved so photogenic that afternoon that I had to cancel that project.  I decided to put him instead on my “watch” list. Be warned Tim, I am watching you.

Since I am not in my best physical condition, I was hoping to be promptly eliminated in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day peacefully photographing the event. But the Olympian Gods didn’t see it that way.

After lunch, Nina and I played our first Consolante game. As luck would have it, we won that game, mainly due to Nina’s excellent pointing. Damn! We had to play a second game, and triple damn, we won again. Lord, have mercy! Soon we were in the Consolante finals facing Erin and Mike Menefee again. We lost the coin toss and crafty Erin dragged us to the heavily graveled court on the left of the field.

Nina had never played on such a surface, and I am not exactly an expert in this area. Erin and Mike clobbered us 13/2 and finally took us out of our misery, and carried me out on a stretcher… I am kidding.

This long story, to let you know that I had very little time to photograph the event. While we were battling Erin and Mike, the Concours’ finals were taking place at the other end of the field.

Mark and Sandra were engaging Tim and Holly. But as is often the case, the finals proved a little disappointing. Instead of an apocalyptic fight, we witnessed a much watered-down event. Mark and Sandra finally prevailed and won (I believe) 13/8.

Altogether though, a very lovely, friendly event.

Concours

1^st place: Mark and Sandra Shirkey
2^nd place: Tim Wetzel and Holly Sammons

Consolante

1^st place: Erin McTaggart and Mike Menefee
2^nd place: Nina Semenenko and Alain Efron

Alain

PS: watch some pictures of the event in “My photos”. Thank you for your attention.

“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.” — Andy Rooney

Probably true. I never met a dog I didn’t like, but I certainly encountered a lot of dudes (and dudettes) I didn’t care for.

Dogs are much easier to approach than humans. Most of the time, they will greet you with a smile (tongue sticking out) and a wag of the tail. The same cannot be said for people, especially on a first encounter.

Talking about encounters… if you want to meet your soulmate, get a pooch. Dogs are “love ambassadors”. Get a dog and take him/her to a public place. Soon or later, a potential mate will approach you and start a conversation. And often, a simple exchange can lead to many fruitful results.

Dog people have a special bond that allows them to communicate effortlessly with like-minded people. Since I cannot resist petting a furry beast, I do it all the time and I have never been rebuffed.

Dogs, unlike humans, will love you as much (probably more) than when you initially met. In the dog’s world, a “hookup” is unbreakable; after you have formally been introduced, you are bound for life. Words like breakup, uncoupling, or divorce, don’t exist. There are just human-made-up pretexts for betrayal.

“The world would be a nicer place if everyone could love as unconditionally as a dog.” – M.K. Clinton

To my everlasting regret though, I never owned a dog… Life circumstances prevented me from doing so, but I have a lot of canine friends… Of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Each time we meet, no matter how long we have been apart, it is a love fest; in the dog world, time is irrelevant.

I never met a dog I didn’t like, and I have 243 pictures of different hounds on my computer to prove it… More than some members of my family. To me, a dog is as captivating as a human being, and I will keep taking pictures of dogs any chance I get.

Another quote and I will be (temporally) done talking about my four-legged friends.

“Handle every situation like a dog. If you can’t eat it or play with it, just pee on it.

 Alain

I subscribe to TV5 Monde (the French-speaking TV channel) for various reasons. The first one is to prevent my mother tongue from completely disintegrating. After 6 decades in the US, and with limited occasions (once or twice a week) to speak French, it is obvious that I need some regular “refresher” courses to keep up to speed.

The second reason is to remain informed of what’s happening in France. Today, we live in a very unstable world and some extreme factions (including in France and America) are always trying to grab power. Just remember January 6, and what could have happened in America if (fragile) order had not prevailed. What took place in Germany in 1933, could happen everywhere. We must remain vigilant and prevent some unhinged felon from seizing power anywhere.

The third reason is to watch French movies. Most of Netflix’s offerings are boring, and unfortunately, many French flicks, have a dreadful reputation. Numerous end up in “queue de poisson” (in a fishtail) meaning they come to an abrupt, brutal, and disappointing end. The spectator is left hanging with some unfinished business… and there is nothing worse than unfinished business.

This expression, by the way, refers to a sailor who after several months of solitary sailing saw a beautiful woman lounging on a shore. He jumped in the water to meet her but discovered with great distress that she had a fishtail… a cruel and disappointing outcome.

It seems to me that French movie directors were all taught to use sadism in their productions… “the tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting pain.” They probably read Ovid who declared “Pleasure is sweetest when ’tis paid for by another’s pain.”

 To me, nothing is over until it is unequivocally over. Somebody lives or dies… a love story ends up happily or painfully… the thieves are caught or not…  French movie directors, I warn you, no more “queues de poisson” or I will start a campaign to have you all shipped to Siberia.

A “queue de poisson” can happen anywhere, especially on the freeway. Some guy will suddenly cut you off with often disastrous consequences. That’s what usually happens when somebody watches too many French movies and became exceedingly touchy.

Morale of the story: limit your intake of French flicks, and if you must, watch instead animal stories on YouTube. The beasties will never disappoint you and drive you to hysteria.

Alain