Elianna

I just saw Transamerica. I really enjoyed it. I thougt that it would be a really sad/tragic film like "Boys Don't Cry", but it was much more upbeat.

Both of those articles seem to be by the same author. (Not to deny that two newspapers picked it up.)

Me too. If you said it outloud, and asked me to count as you said it, I can understand getting less.

My initial interpretation was as yours, but on further reflection, I think that East was saying that if HE (East) had a weak NT, he was supposed to pass. This seems like an incorrect explanation (it's not describing the bid, but describing required actions), but that's not so unusual.

I like Drury, but I like inverting the 2♣ and 2♦ bids for several reasons: 1) We (Adam + I) play a weak 2 in diamonds but not in clubs, making it slightly more likely that one would have the hand that would want to bid 2♣ natural over 1M than 2♦ natural. 2) We don't need the extra step over 2♣ to show an absolute crap hand because we have moved away from opening absolute crap. basically, we use drury as a lower level invite (so can play 2M w/10 opp 10 or even 12 opp bal 11). We still allow a second invite with a good hand by responder.

Usually, in my experience, the novice is the one that is a stranger to the club, and the experienced player is the one the director knows (at least here in LA). And I HAVE seen this used as a bullying tactic. There are several pairs that call after a three second hesitation by opponent, thereby rattling the opponent and causing them to misbid/misplay.

It's Exclusion when your partner wants it to be, and a cuebid when he wants it to be that, instead.

Your partner should have rebid 2♠, which doesn't necessarily show extra spade length (more like a waiting bid). The reason he can wait to raise your diamonds is because you're forced to rebid, so he knows that he can bid diamonds later. I think that the auction should go: 1♠ - 2♦ 2♠ - 3♦ (or 2NT depending what you think of Qx of hearts) pass (or 3♦ over 2NT)

Replying to hidden quote:

"Gonna pave Paradise, and put up a parking lot.." - Joni Mitchell I thought this was a Counting Crows song, but I looked it up and I guess not. :P Re: fires. The other problem is that there's a lot of dry brush near very built-up territory, and that helps spread the fires.

You pick one of those options, (I think show old style might work out best) and then pick "load" at the very bottom. You then pick "use". I may have the specific words wrong (not logged into BBO) but it's something like that.

Accused of made-up crimes? Like what? Marijuana possession? Good thing they don't do that here. Here they don't accuse you of anything, they just lock you up and throw away the key. Much tidier that way. And do you think that letting Cheney/Bush invade Iran will make your students' families' lives easier? I don't support invasion of Iran, and my students don't, either. I never said that. You just were arguing that Iran has been maligned, and I'm pointing out that I know people from there who don't agree. I also have yet to meet people in the US who have been accused of a crime solely for their religion. I'm not saying there aren't, I'm just saying I haven't personally met any. I haven't seen situations in the US where they forbid the head of a religious school to be a certain religion (maybe the US forbids certain schools, but that's a different topic).

I know people from Iran. I've sympathised with my students while they wonder if their relatives will be ok, or if they'll be accused of made-up crimes, like others have in their communities. I know many who are so grateful that they were able to get out, and have had parents so desparate that they send the kids out in the care of relatives or older siblings if there's no one else.

f9, and then choose option 9.

In my local clubs, they avoid them, because of the extra cost.

I would like an option that was just about filtering by partner. That's why I voted for the option that includes that, but frankly, I couldn't care less about the other parts (I wouldn't mind if choices were included, but I'm not clamoring for them).

I guess I just don't think it makes sense to have a convention card as a single person, instead of one as a partnership.

I understand your point of view, but as the others, I disagree, for a slightly different reason. It seems that your purpose in wanting people to fill out a convention card is that it will let you know what they know how to play, so you have an idea of what conventions to play with them. And maybe (perhaps? guessing by your second post) tell what level they are at by what conventions they know. If these aren't your reasons, I apologize. Anyway, getting them to fill out a convention card, without even agreeing to a system, is not helpful. People may play 2D as different if they're playing 2/1, SAYC, or precision, or even have two ore more preferred meanings for each system, depending on other facts. If they filled in "multi" for that bid, it doesn't mean that they don't know how/won't play a Mexican 2d, for example. The 2♦ bid was just an example, there are many more. As others have said, it may just be easier to discuss it with a potential partner, and start developing a group of people you enjoy playing with. Finding out their level and then guessing what they play won't help a lot, either, because people vary greatly in what conventions they know, and what they're willing to play. Even assuming that people are correct about their level, one advanced player may be more familiar or willing to play certain conventions than others. Again, it would be nice if there were a way to instantly agree with partner on what to play, to get the software to automatically pop up with what you both play, but I believe this is not feasible. Many people play certain conventions slightly differently, and so even agreeing on certain things doesn't mean you're on the same page.

In the beginning, to make my grandparents happy. That remained a part for a long time, because it gave me something to do with them. I always found it fun, but I find some other things more fun. Now I play bridge for a combination of: It's fun I like to compete (and I'm not good at physical sports anymore) Most of my friends play (so I get to see them at tournaments) My boyfriend plays and I don't think that I'd have a choice to quit. :P

What's it about? Many of my students saw Across the Universe and said that they really liked the music, but that was all.

I expect most who objected would have had no problem if any of the women had worn a necklace with a religious symbol on it (a symbol that was large enough to be recognizable by the audience). Nor do I think most of them would have had a problem if one of them wore a yellow ribbon (support for troops) or a pink ribbon (support for a cure for breast cancer) or the like. Nor would I have minded if they wore a ribbon whose meaning was anti-Bush. There is a difference between wearing a subtle symbol as opposed to carrying a sign. Or even a small pin that's anti-Bush. I guess the size matters to me. In general, I basically agree who were saying that this was innapropriate. Not necessarily saying that they should be sanctioned, but that I found it inappropriate, but I wasn't there personally. I can't imagine what goes through the mind of someone who's just played a gruelling bridge tournament, and probably had to explain/apologize for their country to everyone they met. I have lots of sympathy. I've definitely met people who decide they need to lecture me about the politics of my countries of citizenship. Off-topic: I just don't get that need. It's actually funny, because one of those countries, I know nothing about, another I completely disagree with most of the people in power (on both sides), and the third I'm so conflicted emotionally, that I would never get in a debate with anyone about. And the only one that I've ever even gotten to vote in was the second!

I'm not sure about BBO tournaments, but in regular club games, you can only get them from one year ago.

That's new to me. I learned that you can view where atoms ARE, but not the atoms themselves.

I think that he's too busy figuring out how to win a Tony

this is nothing new. most (i'd say all, but i'd get flamed) mathematicians can't do arithmetic. when i was in college and went to a restaurant with friends (a lot of whom were math majors) the check usually went to a non-math major to figure out, or, if none were available, to the youngest math major on the assumption that they had yet to forget arithmetic. This is also the Harvey Mudd rule. I'm sure that many other places have it. :P