Reporter's Diary

Press, 20 January 1981, Page 2

Reporter's Diary

Lights, action ... “AND there I was, right out , in the middle of Kansas, facing 500 crazy fanatics heavily armed, and me with only 15 soldiers.” So said United States President-elect Ronald Reagan to Susan Peters in the 1940 “Santa Fe Trail.” Reagan will today be inaugurated as the fourtieth President of the United States, so it seems an opportune time to remind readers of some of the old actor’s memorable movie lines: “My only mistake was in thinking I could run away from my reputation.” (to Dorothy Malone in “Law and Order,” 1953.); “There comes a time in every spldier’s life when he milst stand or fall alone.” (To Susan Peters in “Santa Fe

Trail,” 1940.); “It’s one thing to be a weasel. It’s another thing to be a dirty rotten rat — and a Red besides!” (To Dewey Martin in “Prisoner of War,” 1954.) Reagan-was also on the receiving end of some memorable lines, including one from Virginia Mayo in the 1949 film, “The Girl fronv Jones Beach”: “I don’t understand. Your speech seems to wander all over the world, but your attack is so American.” Reagan' has promised a Hollywood-style inauguration ceremony with a cast of thousands, although if he remembers back to one of his lines in the 1942 movie, “Juke Girl,” he may regret planning such rowdy celebrations. The line, to Ann Sheridan, was: “Noise cramps ray brain so’s I can’t think.” A 7

Beat the blitz A PRIVATE social club has come up with a novel way of avoiding drinking and driving problems. It has hired Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour for an all night disco and champagne breakfast on January 24. For $l5 a person more than 100 people will get a boat trip from Lyttelton to the island and return, as well as plenty of entertainment on the island. The organisers are taking their own electricity generator to provide lighting and power for the “beat” night. They plan a gay and bright 12 hours which will probably see some weary participants returning to the “mainland” on Sunday morning. Mistaken identity THE NORWEGIAN crew of the Timaru based fishing boat Noel Rudkin tell us of a case of mistaken identity when the boat was in Akaroa recently. Two elderly women listening to the crew talk in Norwegian as they unloaded fish on the wharf expressed surprise about the “black Russians” on board. The crew looked surprised but soon realised that the “Russians” referred to were two Maori crew members also hard at work unloading the boat. News of the increasing interest from Norwegian fishermen in New Zealand had obviously not reached the ears of the two elderly citizens of Akaroa.

Information sought A BURNSIDE student researching a parasite which lives in the blood system of eels in Canterbury rivers seeks information from local fishermen. The parasite, Paracardicoloides. Yamagutii, lays eggs in < the gills of short and longfinned eels, and Miss A; L. Holton is investigating the

effect the parasite has on the eels’ life cycles. Any fishermen who have caught eels in the Selwyh River, the south branch of the Waimakariri River, at Timber Yard Point, Taumatu, or in other areas near Lake Ellesmere, and are willing to offer information or survey material, are asked to get in touch with Miss Holton at the zoology department. University of Canterbury.

A woman’s place WE HAVE been informed by the religious studies department of the University of Canterbury that there is a better version of the feminist graffiti about the creation of man than the one we quoted in this column yesterday. The version which has the approval of the university’s academics of religion (all men) is: “When God made man She was only practising.”

Spreading the word NEVER one to miss an opportunity to put in a plug for the achievements of the city council, Christchurch’s Mayor (Mr Hamish Hay) was in his usual form at the opening of the New Zealand and Australian Libraries Associations’ Conference at the Town Hall yesterday. Visiting speakers from Wellington and Australia were full of praise for Christchurch’s new library building under construction. When it was Mr Hay’s turn to speak, he said he was sorry the new library could not be open for the conference. He suggested that once Wellington had finished copying Christchurch’s Town Hall, it might like to begin copying the garden city’s new library. Then for the benefit of the Australian visitor, Mr Hay said: “You may be interested, to know that you could get 25 of these (Town Halls) for one Sydney Opera House.”