Horseshoe Bay yesterday.

Police, Agriculture and Fisheries officials, the Press, and other curious onlookers gathered to see the unusual object which washed up on the beach.

Waiting quietly and anxiously for the Police explosive ordinance disposal unit to detonate the shell on an evacuated area of the beach, Press photographers set up their equipment.

A siren rings out as a warning that it is a minute before the main event.

Then suddenly there is a loud "Bam!'' But even more deafening than the sound of the failed first attempt is a loud "f...'', let out by ZBM reporter Mr. Tory Creighton who was to say the least impressed by what he saw.

But Mr. Creigton's superiors were probably not impressed with the audio he brought back.

For the broadcaster's microphone was on during both his and the bomb shell's explosion.

Maybe that is why ZBM's coverage of the explosion was without sound last night! *** As if turning 50 does not place enough pressure on someone, lawyer Mr. John Cooper has been challenged to kick a perennial nicotine habit.

But the Bermuda Bar Council president said that unlike his colleague Mr. Saul Froomkin he had not been offered any monetary incentive.

Last year Mr. Froomkin, an avid cigar smoker, won a $1,000 bet against his partners at Mello, Hollis, Jones & Martin.

Fed up with smelling the odour of his cigars, the partners bet him that he would not last six months without a puff.

Confident that he could give up his cigars, the former Attorney General pledged to pay $2,000 if he was caught cheating.

Despite promises of a reward to anyone who turned him in for smoking, and many attempts to trick him into lighting up, Mr. Froomkin managed to overcome temptation until November 30.

Mr. Cooper's family and staff at Hallett, Whitney & Patton would like to see him abandon his deadly vice forever.

In fact Mr. Cooper's family -- his wife Susan, sons Cameron, Adam, and Gordon, and the pet dog, Rebel -- put a birthday notice in the advertising section of yesterday's paper to remind him of this.

It stated: "John Cooper at fifty, still look pretty nifty, a few grey hairs, he can't have many cares. All the cigarettes and caffeine have kept him lean ... But if you see him today, please wish him a happy birthday for we hope he'll agree that tomorrow will be the end of his nicotine friend.'' "I tried to quit smoking for six months about a year and a half ago,'' Mr.

Cooper said from his office yesterday. "But it takes a lot more than six months to kick the habit.'' However, the middle-aged defence lawyer is open to bets.

While a monetary reward would be nice, he admitted that his family would be the major incentive for him to kick his habit.

Noting that the ad was signed "With Love SCRAG'', which represented the first letter of his family and dog's name, Mr. Cooper said: "I'm not too sure if Rebel cares, but I know my wife and children would like to have me live longer.'' Mr. Cooper was expected give his decision today.