Fresno Petanque on a roll

Only 3 months old, but very alive and kicking.
And whenever they travel they come back with medals & prizes!

Have a look at their October newsletter (pdf)

Also, they are talking to their Parks Department about public courts and got kudos for the proposal they submitted. A good source of inspiration for other groups. Thanks to Tim & Co for sharing it!

Fresno Parks Dept Proposal (pdf - 6.6 Mb)

Vanity plates drive

After driving around for years with our bumper sticker, I thought it was time for something more original....



Most likely the DMV people looked it up to make sure it wasn't a bad word.

Coincidence, the same day I received it there were a lot articles in the press about the vanity plate phenomenon. 9.3 mio cars now have vanity plates, or 3.83 % of a total fleet of 243 mio.
Virginia (where they cost only $10) ranks first in the nation, followed by New Hampshire and Illinois.

How about getting the first (and de facto only) "petanque" plate in your state?
To offset the DMV charge, and to help explain to your significant other or neighbors that you have not become deranged, we will give you a $ 75 discount on your next order (of min. $75). And of course your plate will appear on this blog as - why not - another salute to Petanque 100.

AAMVA - Press release
Cool licence plates!
AP article about personalized plates
Wikipedia on vanity plates

UPDATE
Bad luck -- apparently most states allow only 7 letters. In those cases, how about "PETANQE"?

Balls in pairs

For the growing number of folks who always play in teams of 3 or 4 players, and never need more than 2 boules, we now have Match competition boules available in pairs.

In 180 different combinations! That's right: five diameters (72-73-74-75), eleven weights (from 700 to 800 grams) and four patterns (1, 2, 3 & 4).


A nightmare from an inventory point of view, but we have already made many people happy, from Yuma, Arizona to Zephyrhills, Florida. And that's what counts.
If you want to feel what it's like to play with heavy boules, without paying the out-of-range extra, this is your chance.

Match2 - $ 54.00

Carolina Petanque

And ... speaking of North Carolina, some more news!
On October 21, nine of us decided to start Carolina Petanque, a club that will have multiple "home" bases throughout the Carolinas and sponsor gatherings at each location on a rotating basis.

Incidentally, Super Mario was visiting from Florida and witnessed the founding meeting, which took around 5 minutes. But the idea had been brewing for months so there was no need for lengthy discussions. There was however need for brew and for another game, in which Mario got his butt kicked for the first time on Carolina soil.

Whether it was his sudden appointment as president, or the tension of the last game, Bob - whom many of you met at the NY Open - had to have his arteries urgently checked the next day (as in "stent") . And Gary left the same day, so our flying start slowed down a bit.
But since then Bob is playing again, the blog is up thanks to Gary, and François of Chapel Hill became member # 10! And next week I will be in Charleston to meet with Louis and his die-hard players.

Carolina Petanque Blog

Petanque in Texas

Speaking of Texas, our dear North Carolina friends Gary & Shirley are over there right now visiting family and - needless to add - petanque locations!
Gary is known for making sure he finds petanque terrains anywhere they travel.
It so happens that their friend Jeanne, near Spicewood in Texas Hill Country just added a second terrain and they were there for the inauguration.
Thanks a lot for the pictures, and looking forward to more reports of games and petanque spots in & around Austin.

First Nexius have arrived

Even before we had them up on our site - for the lack of good pictures -, our friend Bill in Texas was on the phone to get the very first Nexius set rushed to Dallas.
So now you can all see what it looks like up close.
I must say the hype is justified. They look very nice, and the presentation is A1. Obviously I couldn't try them out.

Bill did get them today and promptly addressed this hilarious note to our Customer Service department, which as most of you know, is the same as the Accounts, Purchasing, Marketing, Maintenance and Cleaning department. At first I freaked out, then cracked up, and hàve to share it with you!


Dear Sir,
I have received a package from your company which contains 3 metal balls of some mysterious metal of an antique bronze color which may be made of some type of steel alloy possibly of stainless origin. These balls are housed in an attractive leather bag of blue suede and natural leather.
My problem is that to the best of my memory I had ordered a set of Bocce balls from your company these being made of poly-urethane plastic or in some instances of bronze and not of this mysterious metal. Also, Bocce balls tend to be of a larger diameter than the balls I received. Please note that the pallino is smaller than the standard size of 35 - 50 mm. Again, as I have said, my memory is not what it used to be so maybe I didn't order Bocce balls and indeed did order these balls which after doing some research I have determined to be used in a game of French origin called Pétanque. I will report to you the results of my endeavors in trying this new French game. Furthermore, thank you for your prompt attention and for accepting payment in Lira and exchanging them for Belgian Francs and then doing the further calculations and conversion into Rubles to US dollars (please note that the word "dollar" is in lower case due to its present low value against other Major Currencies such as the Ecuadorian Sucre or the Icelandic Krona).

OBUT Nexius - $ 295.00 Delivery time 2-3 weeks.