A French seaweed fisherman retained one of the world's lesser-known sporting titles at the weekend - that of champion snail spitter, propelling the tiny creature a total of 9.38 metres (31 feet).Alain Jourden, 43, beat back the challenge posed by 110 pretenders from 14 countries including Belgium, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, but failed to surpass his own world distance record of 10.4 metres.
Competitors roll the live snail in their mouths to be sure it is propelled at precisely the correct angle, take a running start along a sandy 20-metre track and expectorate. A maximum of three attempts is allowed.
Jourden told AFP he had trained hard for a week before the competition, carrying out "several spits a day".
An antidote to the recent rash of US-import, career-enhancing self-help books by business management gurus, [Hello Laziness - The Art and the Importance of Doing the Least Possible at the Workplace by French authoress, Corinne Maier, a senior economist at Electricité de France] rails against corporate culture and preaches a philosophy of active disengagement.It is an elegantly written call to arms to the "neo-slaves" of middle management and the "damned of the service industry", condemned to dress up as clowns all week and waste their lives in pointless meetings.
Maier cites the recent wave of financial scandals in French business, and argues that since careers are at risk and pensions under threat, employees should shake off their shackles of loyalty and start "footling around" during office hours.
Amid growing concern over obesity in children, all vending-machines that sell sweets and soft drinks in French schools are to be banned under a public health law voted through by parliament Friday.French health officials have warned that obesity has increased by 17 percent in 20 years to the point where one child in 10 is overweight. A recent report by the health and education ministries said that 20 percent of 10-11 year-olds are afflicted.
Taking a little break from hard blogging. Just laughs while our Frenchies are on holiday.
So, beng a socialist country with a mandated month of vacation in August, probably no one is working in France at all this week.
This would be a good time to invade wouldn't it:)
We can even talk about it in the open because Zoomer is off indulging his narsissism.
Should we go the Normandy route or toss them a curveball and go in via Calais?
Just kidding %)
Interest tid bit - the French word for kidding is badiner. Bad diner, get it? LOL
*snail spitting*... Where is PETA protesting such barbaric activities?!?!
This would be a good time to invade wouldn't it:)
I think the Girl Scouts are in the midst of an important cookie drive right now, but maybe we could pencil something end-of-the-monthish in. Their crucial contributions to our society should not be interrupted on a whim!
Forget a beach assault boys. Where do you think all those workers go on their mandated holiday?
Off catching rays and spitting snails at the coast!
I just noticed that they champ is a "seaweed fisherman". I've come up with seaweed on my hook a time or two before - do you mean that I could make a living at that in France??
