Au Cochonnet Marin

Yes, I know… I am fully aware that I am late publishing this report, but like a giant python, I had to digest (and process) over 500 images that I caught last Sunday. This labored digestion required a lot of time and effort and I hope that you will forgive me for being tardy.

But good things come to those who wait…

 Last Sunday, 16 women and 25 men came to Marin to compete against each other and to show who were the top dogs (or the top bitches, if you will excuse this pun). A lot of egos were on the line in this tournament and everybody fought hard.

The weather, with sunshine to spare, was good. But the sun, filtering through leafy trees can be photographers’ enemy; it camouflages the faces and clothing of all the players and makes it very difficult to photograph anything correctly.

You might notice that the pictures taken in the morning are not as good as those taken in the afternoon when the sun had shifted. I tried to photograph as many players as possible, but I preferred to shoot in areas devoid of pesky shade patches.

Since I am (not yet) ubiquitous, I could only cover a few bouts, and I ultimately concentrated on the women’s and men’s finals.

In the women’s finals, Holly Sammons and Carmen Ellis faced each other; both very good players, but with different styles. Holly is a super pointer who can position any boule very close to the cochonnet. Carmen, on the other hand (who is also basically a pointer), had no choice but shoot, and she missed quite a few shots. Altogether, it was a very good game that Holly finally won by a score of 13/12.

The men’s finals pitched Tom Lee against Peter Mathis. It promised to be a hard-fought game but to everybody’s surprise, Tom Lee defeated Peter by an astonishing score of 13/2. Peter was off his game, or maybe tired, and missed crucial shots. We all have one of these days… Tom Lee who played an excellent game deserved to win. No matter what, I think that Peter is a great player with great form (one of the best) and I like to photograph him.

It was good to see everybody, especially those living far away from our field. By the way, you are never too old to learn anything. Last Sunday, thanks to AnhHuy Phan from San Jose, I learned something that could improve the quality of my pictures. She works for SanDisk, the memory cards manufacturer, and besides being a charming individual, she gave me some very good tips that I will follow. Thank you.

But enough chit-chat…

Women’s Concours
1^st place: Holly Sammons                $130.00 + medal
2^nd place: Carmen Ellis                     $87.00 + medal
3^rd place: MaryAnne Curley             $65.00 + medal
4^th place:  Ann Krilanovich             $22.00

Women’s Consolante
1^st place: Ashlee Dencklau                $65.00
2^nd place: Sandra Shirkey                  $44.00
3^rd place: Tamara Efron                     $22.00
Colette VD Meulen

Men’s Concours
1^st place:        Tom Lee                        $217.00 + medal
2^nd place:       Peter Mathis               $145.00 + medal
3^rd place:       Chan Xiong                  $109.00 + medal
4^th place:       Paul Moua                    $73.00

Men’s Consolante
1^st place:        Tinh Dinh                      $84.00
2^nd place:      Andrew Loi                    $56.00
3^rd place:       B. Passemar                   $35.00

Alain

Plenty of pictures under “My Photos“. Watch on “full screen” for better results. Avoid watching on smartphones.

All mothers, Jewish or not, want their daughters to marry a doctor, or a healthcare professional… because that’s where the status and the Big Moolah are.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, fifteen of the top 25 highest-paying occupations are healthcare positions. And at the top of this vertiginous pyramid, you have anesthesiologists, making over 300K a year. A little less than the President of the United States, but with much less sniping and worries.

But this does not mean that, due to a shortage of healthcare professionals, your daughters are destined to remain single. Besides healthcare, plenty of other occupations provide a good income. Manual labor, for instance, once spurned by mother hens, can also deliver good wages… and it does not take years of study to master their trade.

Electricians and plumbers have always been the butt of many jokes, and for good reasons. Even little jobs like replacing a faucet or an electric switch can be expensive, and I am pretty sure many people are familiar with the following joke.

“A pipe burst in a doctor’s house. He called a plumber. The plumber arrived, unpacked his tools, did mysterious plumber-type things for a while, and handed the doctor a bill for $600. The doctor exclaimed, “This is ridiculous! I don’t even make that much as a doctor!”
The plumber waited for him to finish and quietly said, “I know, neither did I when I was a doctor.”

When you are buying a house, it will behoove you to take a few classes in plumbing and electric work. It could save you a bundle when common little problems arise. They might not be major crises, but they are inconvenient, and the missus does not like to be inconvenienced.

So, to keep your marital vessel sailing smoothly, you have two options: do the job yourself, or hire a professional… and get a second job. If you don’t feel totally confident, I would recommend the second option… or maybe solicit the hidden talents of your mate to perform the operation. Remember, a woman can do any job a man can do… and often better.

“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.” Margaret Thatcher

Someday, an electrician (or a comedian) will run the country, and I would rather have that than a fly-by-night “businessman”.

Alain

When you get a little older, you often get, as we used to say in my old neighborhood “les portugaises ensablées” (oysters/ears full of sand).

Yes, because of the accumulation of sand in your “oyster” canal, you don’t hear as well as you used to, and it becomes important to listen more carefully to the person who is talking to you. But often, despite your best efforts, you don’t catch much of what is being said. And it is not entirely your fault, as some people would be quick to point out.

It has something to do with phonetics “The production of speech that looks at the interaction of different vocal organs, for example, the lips, tongue, and teeth, to produce particular sounds.”

 Many, many people don’t speak properly. They mumble, they slur their words, they don’t articulate, they ignore syntax, they speak too low, too fast, or like Eliza Doolittle, they speak with an unpleasant accent. These poor souls are often unaware of this flaw, and unfortunately, it is not something that you would mention in polite society.

And then, there is also the pitch factor, the degree of highness or lowness of a tone. Women and children speaking in higher pitched voices are sometimes difficult to hear and understand.

Even on television, where it is extremely important to be clearly understood, many presenters don’t articulate properly. Many of them would do themselves a big favor by taking a few lessons from Professor Henry Higgins. They would have to attend daily classes until they could properly say “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!”

And to get a passing grade, Professor Higgins would have to finally say, “By George, she/he got it.”

 So, as you can see, we “les durs de la feuille” are not entirely to blame for some awkward conversations. In a perfect world, everybody would speak with a mellifluous voice and there would not be any misunderstandings anywhere. There would be no wars.

I feel that since Ukrainian and Russian don’t sound exactly alike, Vladimir Putin might have misunderstood Volodymyr Zelensky and decided to grab a chunk of his territory to teach him how to speak Russian correctly. Actually, any excuse would have done.

Do you see how far this problem could go? So, I urge all the unskilled speakers to carefully watch their mouths, clean their teeth and exercise their tongues before uttering anything. We, the people with a standard pitch are tolerant, but you should not push us too far.

Thank you for your valuable cooperation.

Alain