By David Finegold, Ho-Kyung Kim

Summer fun for a Supreme Court Justice does not necessarily mean hitting the beach for swimming, tanning and frisbee. With the high court now on vacation, Justice John Paul Stevens, 64, chose a more deliberative form of relaxation last week. Wearing a well-practiced quizzical expression and a lawyerly bow-tie, Stevens captained a team of politicians and judges at a Washington contract-bridge tournament against several British parliamentarians. Stevens, a life master, plays his cards not too differently from the way he decides cases--"a little on the conservative side but with dash," said one expert observer. The Americans lost the charity contest, but Stevens did pick up more than one trick. After the players were ushered into the game room by a fife-and-drum corps, Stevens joked, "I enjoyed following the pipers and will recommend to my colleagues on the Supreme Court that we change our procedures."

Greetings Dearest Mother, I hope you have not been believing all those nasty reports about the capitalist beauty pageant here in Miami. Of course, the messy dish they call "tacos" does not compare with your kielbasa, but I can't believe that is why some of the girls got sick and had to go to the hospital. And I must admit that poor Miss Sri Lanka left early; she was so homesick. I missed Poland too, but oh how I wish you could have seen the wonderfully decadent Western luxuries bestowed on the new Miss Universe, a sweet 21-year-old nurse from Sweden named Yvonne Ryding. She started with breakfast in bed and will soon get all new clothes to go with her beautiful new mink, a car and a boat and so many other things I can't list them all. I wish it had been me, but I am still proud to have been the first to represent our country in this great spectacle.

Your loving daughter

He was not about to sign on as an added--if unrelated--Jackson. Sure, Jesse Jackson, 42, could use the millions (campaigns are costly), but the two top touring crowd-pleasers just happened to be in Kansas City at the same time. The minister has known Michael Jackson, 25, and his brothers for years. And after taking in the show, he dropped by the hotel suite of Promoter Don King, 52, for some barbecue and a little talk about such shared experiences as getting a dose of bad press and their responsibility as symbols for black Americans. "It was said for a while that the only way you could appeal to the masses was to be decadent, but that's not true," observed the candidate. "No dope-oriented album ever sold as much as Thriller, and no vulgar artist ever became so famous as Michael has." That being so, the Reverend made sure he would be welcome at home, by getting Michael's autograph for his daughter Jackie.

It turned out to be fitting that Carl Hubbell, 81, perfecter of the screwball, tossed out the first ball for the All-Star game in San Francisco. Fifty years ago to the day, he had tossed his prized screwball first by Ruth, then Gehrig; he struck out five future Hall of Famers consecutively in that second All-Star game. During last week's 3-1 National League victory, Hubbell's record fell before his eyes as Los Angeles' Fernando Valenzuela, with that same screwball flick of the wrist, mowed down the American League's best in the fourth inning. His victims were Yankee Slugger Dave Winfield, then the Angels' Reggie Jackson and finally George Brett of Kansas City. Enter Dwight Gooden, at 19 the youngest All-Star ever. The fast-balling New York Mets prodigy struck out Detroit's Lance Parrish and Chet Lemon and, with the record on the line, Seattle Rookie Alvin Davis. Of course, it took two men and 50 years to catch King Carl. --By David Finegold and Ho-Kyung Kim