THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060152
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
Wednesday, Sept. 27
5:25 p.m. - Laskin Road.
While stopped at a light, two young drivers flirt across the lanes.
A woman, hidden behind a pair of silver sunglasses and the wheel of a red Mitsubishi, flashes a few shy smiles at a handsome blond in a tan Honda Accord.
They continue to exchange glances once they accelerate, but the next red light stops more than their cars.
With his left hand, the fellow scratches his eyebrow and the sunlight reflects off the gold band on his finger.
At that, the woman turns away.
- Holly Wester
Friday, Sept. 29
7:40 p.m. - Boardwalk and 14th Street.
After buying a chili dog and a hot Italian sausage, a man and his daughter sit down under a tent on the Boardwalk.
As the man unwraps the sausage, piled high with grilled onions and peppers, a strong gust of wind sends the toppings airborne and much of the garnishing lands in the little girl's lap.
Dad and daughter stare at her lap in shock. Then both laugh uncontrollably.
- David B. Hollingsworth
Saturday, Sept. 30
12:45 p.m. - Bennigan's Restaurant.
A bubbly waitress approaches three middle-age men who have just been seated at a corner booth.
``Hi, I'm Heather and I'll be your waitress today,'' she says with a big smile. ``Can I get you something to drink - iced tea or coffee, maybe?''
The men sit back and think for a moment.
``I'll have an iced tea,'' says one.
``I'll have a cup of coffee,'' says another.
``Give me a Budweiser,'' the third and oldest-looking one says.
Heather nods after each order but stops after the third man.
``Well, OK, but are you sure you're old enough?'' she teases.
The man laughs delightedly along with his friends.
``Put another 10 percent on her tip!'' he says.
- Pam Starr
Sunday, Oct. 1
2:15 p.m. - South Bayshore Drive, overlooking a cove.
Two bicyclists brake as they descend a dip in the road that is awash in an outgoing tide.
They see a pair of mallards - a male and female - that have been feeding in a tidal lake north of the road, make practical use of the flow.
Paddling to the road surface, they splash quickly across on webbed feet, launch into the cove on the south side without breaking stride and tread smoothly out into open waters.
It's something like the duck equivalent of the run-swim-run contest that humans often engage in at the Oceanfront on mild, sunny days such as this.
- Bill Reed
2:50 p.m. The beach at 7th Street.
Seven master sand sculptors are frantically trying to finish their creations before the 3 p.m. deadline.
John Gowdy, an Atlantic City fire captain, is focused on his impressive H.G. Wells Time Machine. King Neptune is sitting behind a control panel and in front of a ``parabolic'' box. A few weeks earlier, Gowdy had dreamed that he saw a former competitor make the exact time machine he was now replicating.
Wife Judy watches as Gowdy races around the entry. This is his best work, she says.
The other sculptors think so, too. They judge each other's work later that afternoon and choose Gowdy's time machine for the $2,000 first-place prize for the two-day event. Damon Farmer of Lexington, Ky., comes in second ($1,000) with his rendition of King Neptune in a 1927 motor car; and Richard Varano from Sea World in Orlando takes the $500 third-place prize with ``King Neptune and his 20 Roaring Sea Lions.''
- Pam Starr
Tuesday, Oct. 3
12:55 p.m. - Regent University.
Nelson Happy loves the irony.
It's standing-room-only at Regent University Law School. About 300 students and faculty pack the moot courtroom, awaiting the Simpson verdict. A big-screen TV sits in the middle of the courtroom, tuned to Cable News Network.
``Show of hands,'' a TV reporter shouts to the nearly-all-white crowd. ``How many people think the verdict will be guilty?'' The hands of half the crowd go up.
``How many not guilty?'' The other half raise their hands.
Happy, the law school dean, jumps to his feet. ``And how many people think he did it?'' Happy asks. Nearly every hand shoots up.
``Now, how many think he didn't do it?'' Two hands rise.
Happy guffaws. ``That shows faith in the legal system!'' he booms, then sits down.
Minutes later, the crowd is hushed as Judge Lance Ito appears on TV. When Ito remarks that there are too many lawyers to hold the usual pre-verdict hearing in his chamber, the crowd of would-be lawyers bursts into laughter.
Then they hush again, waiting tensely.
Finally, a clerk on TV reads the verdict: Not guilty. The crowd groans.
The clerk reads a second verdict: Not guilty again. The crowd gasps.
As the crowd disperses, Happy nods sagely. ``You can't convict 10 million dollars,'' he says. ``That an old trial lawyer's expression.''
- Marc Davis
1:13 p.m. - The Grille at Virginia Wesleyan College.
Packed with students and faculty who left class early for the O.J. verdict, the usually noisy dining area is now a professor's dream - pure quiet.
Only half a second after the first ``not guilty'' announcement, the room comes alive. The majority of viewers celebrate with screams and applause, while a few scattered others shake their heads in disgust.
Within minutes, the place clears out and it's back to business.
- Holly Wester
1:13 p.m. - Buoy's Restaurant 17th Street.
In the hushed, packed restaurant looking completely stunned, waitress Stacy Johnson stares at one of two television sets tuned to O.J. news, turns to a customer and says, ``I thought they were going to convict him!
``I was so nervous, it was like I was there!''
Then she turns to seated customers and pleasantly smiles and takes their orders.
- David B. Hollingsworth
Wednesday, Oct. 4
11:30 a.m. - Barnes and Noble Booksellers parking lot.
Bumper stickers on a burgundy Honda: ``I Brake for Amazons,'' ``In Goddess We Trust'' and ``Subvert the Dominant Paradigm.''
- Gary Edwards ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Where were you when . . . ?
Like most TV sets in the nation, the tube attracts attention at Chi
Chi's restaurant on Lynnhaven Parkway as the verdict in the O.J.
Simpson trial is read. Stunned by the news are restaurant general
manager Jimmy Quinn, April Pavlak and Denise Riffle.
by CNB