principles from around the Commonwealth. But do they get out enough? Guyana-born Mr. Justice Vincent Meerabux prompted giggles from jurors this week when he was stumped by a commonly-used term.

Although he has spent nearly 18 months in Bermuda, the Puisne Judge's eyebrows were raised when a man accused of sexually assaulting his wife told court he went to visit his "ace boy'' on the day of the incident.

Lawyer Mr. Archibald Warner rushed to the aid of the judge. His client had visited "his friend,'' Mr. Warner explained.

Things were going smoothly at a recent Supreme Court trial as Police officers, friends and relatives took the witness box to give evidence.

"Miss Gordon,'' called out the Court clerk.

A woman appeared from the back of the court room. She climbed into the box, took the Bible in her hand and began to make her oath when a hush descended over the court room.

"That's not her,'' someone whispered from the back. Following a hasty conversation, the woman was ushered off the stand only to return again under a different name.

Her testimony completed, the clerk announced the next witness.

"Don't worry,'' quipped Crown Counsel Mr. Peter DeJulio. "I know what she looks like. She's about five foot ten.'' They say journalism is a terminal condition because it is full of meandering false starts, serpentine twists and dead ends.

No one epitomises this trend better than VSB news hound Bryan Darby. Tasked with the uncertain job of covering TNT Halley's inaugural flight from Connecticut, Darby arrived at the Civil Air terminal ready to roll.

However, on his way through Customs an officer asked him to operate his camera.

A simple enough job for the veteran reporter, after all he has worked at every news organisation in Bermuda except the Bermuda Times.

But Darby seemed unequal to the task which left the officer with no choice but to try to operate the gizmo herself.

The result? Darby's camera was rendered inoperable because the eject mechanism refused to budge.

And this threatened to curtail his trip before it had even began. Not even the technical expertise of Royal Gazette photographer David Skinner could get him out of this bind. He was stuck.

Fifteen minutes of pushing, pulling and shoving produced no favourable results.

But Darby was unflinching. He merely exchanged the batteries and Presto! The stubborn mechanism slid back in place.

Video camera zero, Darby one.