Reporter's Diary

Press, 15 July 1980, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

Colourful CHRISTCHURCH’S colour-' ful characters, the Wizard and his bffsider, Sherlock Holmes, were special guests at the Atlantis Market fashion show last Friday evening. They were up on the dais with the compere, dressed in their usual regalia, offering the occasional comment on the clothes and the models as they paraded by. The Wizard, in his black gown, cape, and pointed hat, announced at the end of the show that women should not have the copyright on bright! y-coloured clothes. He favoured much brighter clothes for men, he said, and thought that Liberace’s style of dress would make a good starting point for men to copy. Imagine the Wizard in sequined silver, satin bellbottom pants, and white shoes? Taking part TWO ARMY medics from Burnham are taking part in the eightieth birthday

celebrations for the Queen Mother, which begin in Britain today. The medics are Sergeant-Major Earl McLeod, regimental ser-geant-Major at. Burnham Medical School, and Sergeant John Arnold, chief clerk at Burnham Camp Hospital. They will take part in a Royal Tournament at Earls Court, London, on July 29. The Military Tattoo has been organised by all the British Army units, of which the Queen Mother is Colonel-in-Chief. A number of Commonwealth units, which have the Queen Mother in an honorary appointment, have been invited to send representatives, among them the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps.

Mothers or fathers? WITH all the fuss about sex discrimination and personpower since the enactment of the Human Rights Commission in New Zealand, classified advertising columns were tidied up in no time at all.

and the legislation has been wafting through many aspects of our way of life. But one area seems to be lagging. House chapels (union sub-branches) ir printing establishments, such as newspapers and publishing houses, have always been led by a chapel father — a timehonoured tradition dating back many decades. However, in Christchurch at present, the three journalists’ chapels are headed by women. At “The Press,” the chapel “father” is Miss Vicki Furey; at “The Star,” the chapel "father” is Miss Debbie Hannan; and at Radio Avon, the chapel "father” is Miss Sally Lindsay. Women have invaded and conquered a previously maledominated domain, but the paternal name remains inviolate. Randolph cannon THE CANNON from the Randolph, one of the First Four Ships, which was pictured in Saturday’s “Diary,” is now adorning the entrance to T.S. Cornwall, the Naval training unit at Redcliffs. It is one of three cannons set in the grounds, and has been there for about 20 years, according to a

reader. There are two of a similar size—the one from the Randolph, and the other from near Kaiapoi. where it was once used during the Maori Land Wars. The cannon from the Randolph, as mentioned on Saturday, used to be sited at the Bottle Lake Estate in Burwood. Bulk buying ANYONE who has had to find the extra cash to pay for ever-increasing grocery costs lately will be able to sympathise with the North Canterbury Hospital Board. According to the board’s annual report, Christchurch Hospital alone spent just over half a million dollars on groceries in the last year—an increase of slightly more than $lOO,OOO on the year before. The most expensive items, as any housewife could tell you, were meat, fish, and poultry. Christchurch Hospital spent $141,000 on these last year, compared with a mere $116,000 the year before. Dairy items (milk, cream, butter, cheese, and eggs) cost $lOB,OOO last year, compared with $84,000 the previous year. Fruit and vegetables set the board back $llO,OOO last year ($98,000); bread and cereals cost $22,500 ($22,100);

and other grocery items cost $190,000, compared with $151,000 the year before. An impressive shopping list, with an even more impressive bill. Futuristic? NEWS THAT the agricultural chief of the Common Market (Mr Finn Olav Gundelach) is coming to New Zealand today, has reminded a reader of a joke he heard recently about Mr Gundelach and the other top Common Market Eurocrats. At their headquarters in Brussels, the story went, a new computer had been installed that was supposed to be able to do anything. All the Common Market chiefs and V.I.P.s were gathered about at the unveiling ceremony and it was decided to ask the computer a question to test its efficiency for the first time. They thought about it for a long time, and eventually decided on a suitably testing question. “What will the price of butter be in 20 years time?” the computer was asked. It whirred and clicked for a few seconds and out came the answer: “Two roubles a kilogram.”