October 19 and 20 Results

The Cowabungas, including Sticky Wicky, Wick O'Shay, Lefty, Surferino and Mr. Wicket, visited Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California. They established a lengthy course on the day use area lawn each day. As surfers, transients, homeless persons, soccer and volleyball players walked through the course, the Cowabungas managed to play hard hitting games with long difficult shots. No one was injured.

On the 19th, Mr. Wicket came from behind and killed Surferino, who had been way out front, with a long dead-on shot.

On the 20th, absent Sticky who had to catch a train, Wick O'Shay and Surferino played to a mutually agreed upon draw, after missing many long distance kill shots.

Unfortunately, the games were fueled only by water, since alcohol was forbidden by park rules.

The Croquet Player by H.G. Wells: a review.

Written during the Spanish Civil War, the historical context explains the bizarre nature of The Croquet Player. War as a contagion affecting the human mind and behavior is the story's theme.

Satire and hyperbole fuel the telling of the tale. A series of conversations between the emotionally stunted protagonist and antiheros occur at a resort where croquet and other genteel games are played. The protagonist is an accomplished croquet player who learns of a mysterious, remote village where atrocities are occurring. Villagers prey upon each other and their animals. 

The antiheros include a parson, a doctor and psychologist all of whom have become infected with the village malaise. Each conversation draws the protagonist into an unwelcome world of experience and thought that is both fascinating and debilitating. Ultimately, croquet rescues him from the apocalypse (a lesson for all Cowabungas).