I met Michael Yuen (left above) and he is a nice guy as well as a terrific player from Vancouver BC. He got on my good side right away when he said he likes the photos on my blog, lol. I kibitzed him twice. He was in the final of the Blue Ribbon Pairs and the final of the North American Swiss Teams.
I already knew Jonathan Steinberg (second from left) who's from Toronto. He was on the ACBL Board of Directors representing District 2 for many years. He's not a blogger, but has a bridge web site you can see here. Besides being a good player, he takes more photos than I do. He probably has carpal finger syndrome or whatever from all the shutter snapping.
Third from the left is Daniel Korbel of Waterloo ON. He's a terrific player who won the team trials to select the Canadian national team last summer. He's also a poker player (mostly online). Korbel doesn't blog as much as he used to. There's a new Korbel in the family -- Matthew Alexander Korbel is only two months old. There's no word yet as to whether he has learned how to execute a trump coup.
The old guy on the far right is somebody who calls himself MOJO.
Mark Horton of Bath, England, was in San Diego, and we went to dinner several nights. He's a well-known bridge author and player. Besides his books and his editorship of Bridge Magazine, he writes on the uber-blog BridgeBlogging.
I also went to dinner with blogger Ray Lee of Toronto ON. He is a humorous guy and we had a good time. He moved to Canada from England, and he and Mark Horton knew each other back then. I didn't have my camera, so no photo. Ray and Linda Lee are the owners of Masterpoint Press, the leading publisher of bridge books. You can read Ray's blog here. Linda was there, but she was playing, and I missed seeing her again. She blogs here.
I was disappointed that I missed bloggers Bob Klein and Jennifer Jones. They are Californians who have a nice bridge blog called Jennbridge. Check them out.
Another blogger who was there. but I wasn't able to hook up with is Drew Becker who is an up-and-coming player from Chicago. He has a real life so only blogs occasionally. When he does, the pieces are interesting problems, usually from a tournament.
Seen on a tee shirt:
I bid, therefore I am.
Images by MOJO and taken with my P&S.
I'm pretty sure that I've crossed paths with Mike Yuen at some point, seeing as how he lives in my hometown ... I hope my memory kicks in. I think I still have some functioning little gray cells.
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Nice to meet you Mojo, glad we had time to chat. Appreciated your work, enjoyed reading the daily bulletins. Congratulation on the pairs.
ReplyDeleteNice write up, MOJO. Your enjoyment came through.
ReplyDeleteNicely done, Memphis! Those little point-and-shoots come through when you need 'em. And these do look like fine gentlemen, which is not surprising as bridge is a gentleman's game (well, gentlewoman's game, too!)
ReplyDeleteIt was also fun to put a face to Memphis MOJO! Old? Nah. You've got to be a lot younger than I am and I'm not old. Well, not too old. I'm still blogging!
The Internet is of real benefit to bridge players. It used to be to poker players, but I'm afraid the U.S. government is about to shut it down in 6 months - that's what the poker magazines say.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good time - is that photo of the empty bridge tables with your P&S? Real sharp.
I went to Jonathan's link..wow he does post a lot of photos!
ReplyDelete@Shrike: Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDelete@Michael: It was great to meet you, too.
@TenMile & Jacob: Thanks, yeah, it was a grind, but I had a good time.
@Wolynski: I hope it (shutting down online poker) doesn't happen. The shot was taken with my Canon.
@Jusdealem: He has a P&S and carries it with him.
I suspected it was too sharp for the P&S - nice shot.
ReplyDeleteYou look kind of cute and innocent.
That's how he gets women to pose for him in the parks!
ReplyDelete@Wolynski: the empty room with all the chairs was shot with the Canon. The shots of bloggers was P&S.
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