Enough Stripes?

The 'Not-so-good-at Bocce/Pathetic' group.....

Well, here they are! Drum roll please......bum-bum-bum-bum.....The King and Queen of Pathetic at Bocce! A hearty applause for this couple, Robyn and Marty, who lost all their seeding round games. And not by a little bit either! Ha! They lost one of their games 0-9. Holy mackeral, they were bad. Their goal differential was something like -19. Oh heavens. Well, they excelled at being really bad. Kudos to you Robyn and Marty!

OK, but here's the funniest thing. After studying the boards and seeing that Marty and Robyn were the worst team ever, and needing a third game, the Graffers.....you know, the ones who'd already cleared their mantle for the trophy, that Terry, who'd bought a new shirt for the Championship photos (nice shirt, Terry), the Graffers (on left) begged Marty and Robyn to play them. But then, hahahahaha! LOST to the worst team of the whole tournament. Not by a little either....by a lot....1-9. So much for that spot on the mantle.

Here, they are, pictured with Fran and Denny, who yes, were last year's champs, and yes, who made it into the Championship round by the skin of their teeth.....8th seed. And then proceeded to fall off the cliff. They lost 0-9.....Oh My Gosh! From the stars to the stables as the old Italian saying and insult goes.

These two teams representing the younger crowd both went down in flames! It must be noted that the two Annas placed second in the tournament a few years ago....2nd!, not too shabby. But alas, hmmmm.......guys, what do you have to say about this.....

This could be the cause of it all as far as Anna C. and Tyler were concerned. I've never seen such a lame throw! I'd call it more of a "thunk" release than a throw. This is the form you don't want to take. This is the throw you don't want to perfect. Doesn't work at all.

Here's Gary and Grace (center of photo)....another pathetic team. But we can cut them some slack; it was their first year, they'd never played before etc., etc., etc. Yeah, yeah, those excuses will work for this year, but next year you'll have to work on some different ones.

Yes, Nancy and Tim fell into that shaky area of winning two games, but then falling apart. Too much pressure. When they lost their 3rd game 0-9, well, it was sayonara trophy. I have to say, I think these two sweeties are so cute, they win the "cute couple" award this year.

Well, Bruce, with a wife who got her Bocce chops by learning to play with coconuts, I'd have to say, you don't EVER stand a chance.....unless Rosetta practices up with those cabbages.

Ah the Kumer group, Will, Lorie and Joe plus Nick, oh yes. All that stair-stepping, Lorie.....I guess you need to find more stairs. Will thought he was gonna take it. HA! Oh yes, Bocce is a funny sport. You can train all year long, but a weird bounce, an inconvenient divot.....it's a hard field out there. Next year, guys.....

We think the problem with the Diem "B" Team is all the bubble blowing. I mean, really, how can you focus and concentrate while chewing bubble gum, much less blowing bubbles. The funny thing here, this is another team that won their first two games (not by much) and then lost their third game (by about the same).....causing their goal differential to be....... O my gosh! O man, Cody! What a talented bubble blower! You blew a bubble in the shape of your goal differential.....O! Amazing talent! Whoa! Marcy, for a sporty gal, we're all wondering if you're EVER gonna make it into the final round.....

Hahaha! Oh yeah! This team, George and Kathy, finally won "a" game this year.....after a pathetic season last year. That game gave them hope. That win felt so good, they thought they were on to a win streak. But the streak was short lived. Maybe next year they'll take a couple more. Kathy and George remind me of the Cubbies....haha!....a team that perpetually stays in the cellar but lives with the hope that one day, they'll rise into glory. Could happen, ya never know.

Bocce 2011!

The Winners, The Champions of the Bocce Trophy of Glory, the Winners of all the marbles and the Whole Shebang are: The "A" Team, Ariel and Alyssa! Well done! Such focus, such determination.

Runners up, Close-but-no-cigar, the Diem Dream Team got to the Championship Game with dash and distraction. Brittany's wonderful flash of a lovely smile distracted all competitors. Tim was just determined not to be in the "pathetic" catagory for another year. Good job, Dream Team!

Frankie posting his score. O ho ho, right there, at "ball" level, that cute bulldog, Bert, is poking his muzzle.....full of teeth and slobber....right through the fence....congratulating Frank on his great score and ball tossing. Yiyiyi....yikes!

Mary, the Boot, and Sebastian, give the Lucky Boots their full credit. Sebastian, our French competitor, must think we're all nuts. I mean really.....Those lucky boots got Mary and Sebastian into the Finals, but they only went so far. It's odd, you'd think boots would work best in rainy conditions....

Rosetta and her Mona Lisa smile won the "Best Excuse for Pathetic Play" award by telling the story of learning to play Bocce with coconuts. Hahaha! Heck yeah! That'sa REALLY good excuse. Rosetta, practice with cabbages this year, and maybe eventually, you be able to move into the upper eschelons of Bocce play.

More on bocce to come......

BOCCE BOCCE BOCCE 2010!!

Here they are, the Champions of BOCCE 2010, the King and Queen, Denny and Fran 'Kick-Butt' Hines, BOCCE team extraordinaire!! Congratulations!! What skill! What focus! What concentration! What a lot of trash talk! Fran and Denny, we know that's what really won it for you, the trash talk....

The runners-up, Frank and Chris 'Lucky-Atmospherics' Browns, hey, they were in the zone, it wasn't no lucky fluke this time, they were smokin'!

Haha, and Sharon and John 'I-don't-know-if-we-should-play' Riegels, holy cow, 3rd place! This game takes a LOT of practice....and skill. Maybe they've been practicing on the sly.

Here's what we're all playing for.....Le Grande Trophey of BOCCE, enhanced this year by Kirk, it now has a walnut base, sanded, stained and polished for posterity. It is getting grander and grander every year....and more coveted. Thanks, Kirk, the trophy looks....ahem....professional, at least the base.

Last year's Champs, Amy and Kirk.....going for the 'Cutest Couple' Award. Amy, you ARE so cute. Well, I don't know, Kirk, nice try anyway.....

Now, let's talk about form from our top performers at this year's tourney.....check out Fran, our champ. I think it was the tongue-in-cheek manoever that was the winning ticket.

Denny, that's some kinda weird throw, but hey, you won! So! The off-balance, leg-behind, putzing-it-out-there throw is something to strive for.

Skippity-do-da....the crookedy-leg, more upright throw works for Frankie....

OMG, would ya look at that focus. Chris be the e-pit-o-me of focus and concentration! Talkin' bout the ZONE!

Our 4th place team......the only Roth team (of 4!) of the stacked Roth contingent....Ellen wouldn't allow them to play each other....it was a scheme to return the glory of the BOCCE Trophey to someone in the Roth familia.....Brian and Jean did their best to uphold the tradition....but alas, 4th place is pretty good but no cigar.

This is the inscrutable John Reigel form.....whether he was just standing around or throwin the BOCCE ball, this is the John Riegel form.

OK! Ha! Here's Fran teaching the unsure Sharon how to play BOCCE. Ha! Here is Fran talking trash to Sharon trying to intimidate the already underconfident Sharon. Ha! Here is Fran telling Sharon she's gonna Kick Her Butt!

Sharon's getting her fire up though, that girl can play BOCCE!

Alright! Now Sharon's into! Oh yeah! She loves this feeling of smacking other people's balls out of the way! Sharon loves threading her ball right to the sweet spot. Sharon is on fire now, baby!

The Roth gang.....I LOVE it! The whole fan-damily is there....boyfriends and girlfriends too. Young and not so young. Even though this family had 4! teams entered and the TOP 3 seeds....3 teams that didn't lose one game in the opening round.....they faded to obscurity with only Jean and Brian carrying the torch into the Championship round. Jean and Brian did quite well, making it to the semis....next year, Roths, more friends, a few ringers maybe......

Ahhhhhh.......it was a lovely night! Ahhhhhhhh.......the weather was perfect, the competition sizzling, the cheers of the crowd electrifying. Friends, conversation, laughter....trash talk. The lights, hey, we could almost see in the final rounds this year. What a glorious night!

Souper Soup One More Time

Oh the celebrating! Carol CANNOT believe that she's won such a prestigious contest! The excitement! The glory!

Now we turn our attention to the BACKGROUND of the photos.......notice the Nuns bowling behind Kathy....hoopla, hoopla, oh my. Kathy looks pretty good giving out the prizes....love the glasses!

Again, look past our jubilant winner and her delighted friend, Nancy, and you'll see Veena. Oh yes, Veena!, our very own professional Belly Dancing instructor. Veena and Neena, you guys were the best! I wonder what the Nuns have to say about this.....probably bowling strikes just thinking about it!

Oh Mona, poor Mona.....up on the wall watching this exuberant display of fun and frolic, Mona Lisa really wishes she could get in on the dancing action.

Ah yes, these ladies are our role models. They've been dancing for years....colorfully! They remind us to dance, dance, dance.....and love life!

Souper Soup 2010!! Yippee!

Oh gosh, what a FUN day!!! Souper Soup 2010.....

And the winner is.....drum roll please!......Queen Carol!!!

With a wonderful, delicious, limey, Mexican Soup! Whoa!! Good job, Carol!

The other winners........excellent, superb and fantastic soups all.

Going through the Soup Contest photos, trying to figure out which ones to post, I was quickly jotting down brief descriptions....haha!....here are some of those quick jots of all the photos I wanted to include....

---Ellen pours

---Ellen pinches

---Ellen, just right

---Jacqueline, secret ingredient

---Jacqueline yum

---Frances....eyes closed again

---Lorie the Trinity

---Terry, yikes!

---Chris and prizes

---Terry growls

---Nancy shakes it

---Sharon dancing

---There's Veena

---Everyone leans right with Veena

---Ladies on wall dancing

---More dancing

---Terry growls

---Serious Amy

---Sun goes down

---Nuns bowling in background

---Everyone laughs

---Frances laughs, eyes open

---Lights come on

---Still dancing

---More laughing

---Mono Lisa watches dancing

As you can see.....so many photos, such a marvelous time. Let's see if we can post a link to a SLIDE SHOW.....hoho....wouldn't that be awesome!

Ooooh....Can't do it, don't know how.....hmmmmm.......that slide show is so much fun....pooh....let me work on it....

Living in Pink

Oh my gosh, she was cute! It makes me smile to think of it now, oh gosh.



We were in Paris, most rococococo city in the world, enjoying the scenery, the architecture, the parks.....and the World Cup.



We'd stopped at this tiny little pub/bar after a day of walking around, going by many of the regular and popular sites of the city. It was chilly sitting out there on the sidewalk but it felt good to sit down and enjoy a beer after a long day of hiking about. Our waitress was a very friendly young Asian woman.



We went inside to pay but decided to stay when we realized a World Cup game was on the TV inside.



Ahhhh......it wasn't just our waitress who was Asian.....the family that ran/owned the pub was Asian. The menu was Alsatian (here in Paris) so here we were in a Parisian Alsatian Asian pub watching, I don't really quite remember, probably Paraguay play Slovakia in the World Cup.



I love it! Paris, is, of course, an international city, but this was the best!



When I was younger I worked as a waitress at the Chinese restaurant owned by the family of my friend Brenda. The whole family was there every night.....grandmother, father, mother and four children, all working to make the restaurant successful.



The Number One Booth was always reserved for Brenda and her brother and sisters to do their homework. They popped out of Booth Number One whenever they were needed to greet and seat customers or clear tables. It seemed to me such a comforting and cozy family affair.




The pub in Paris was like this.....a family affair. There was a man and woman, two teenage girls and a little girl about 8 years old. And a dog.....a happy little Jack Russell-y type dog who hung out behind the stepped-up bar, back legs lying down, front legs standing up over the step.




The little girl was the one living the Pink Life. She skipped in and out of the pub through a side door.....I suspect into where her family lived. She played with the dog or gave him a belly-scratch.



She hiked herself up between the bar and the counter behind the bar, swinging her legs back and forth. And she did her homework there at a table, probably the Number One Table, just inside the door of the bar. She recited a poem to her father and got a brief nod of approval after completing it correctly.



Oh gosh she was cute! She was in pink from head to toe. Her two braids, of course, of course!, hair parted in the middle, were held together with rubber bands decorated with clear pink plastic balls. Her shirt, pants and sweater were pink or white with pink print. The sides of her glasses, the stems, were pink. The best part, though, were her sneakers. They were primarily white, but the grommets, those little metal circles that the laces fit through, these were pink, bright, hot pink. And the sides of the soles of these shoes had three racing stripes of hot pink completely encircling the edges of her shoes.



She was definitely living a Pink Life, that time when giving your dog a scratch, swinging your feet up between the counters and getting a nod of approval.....dressed totally in pink.... is the best, everything-is-right-with-the-world-best, time of life.