Reporter’s diary

Press, 30 July 1985, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Cheap Cheddar FROM Edmonton, Alberta, comes one example of how New Zealand’s nuclear ships policy is affecting other countries. For cheese consumers visiting the delicatessen of one big supermarket chain, it meant cheaper Cheddar. A newspaper advertisement said that “the Yanks have not exactly been enamoured with the Kiwis” since the Americans were discreetly asked not to dock nuclear ships on New Zealand’s waterfront. “In fact, they recently placed a quota on the importation of certain New Zealand products in retaliation,” said the advertisement. “In fact, we found a shipment of medium Cheddar that was headed for the United States when . the quota was announced.” The supermarkets offered to take the shipment, and were able to offer it at “the impossibly low price of only $2.99 a pound ($NZ4.31).” A Christchurch woman who was sent the advertisement said that cheese normally sells

in Canada for about $5 (NZ7.21) a pound. The Canadian cartoon has a kiwi and a cow saying “Sorry!!” to a warship. Canadians think first of cattle when they think of agriculture. Baa in back K CHRISTCHURCH man said yesterday that he had seen a good example of

changing values going down the street. A new Holden Jackaroo four-wheel-drive vehicle was travelling along with a billy goat in the back, inside the car. It wasn’t too long ago that a valued sheep might have been seen getting luxury treatment, but a goat? Rehearsals A WELLINGTON man who was married to an Ashburton girl last week in a MidCanterbury wedding arrived a bit early, partly so he could rehearse his speech. While he was getting into it with great gusto in a paddock on the bride-to-be’s farm, a flock of Romney sheep gathered with great interest. Either they liked his sweet-talking ways, or they expected all that gesticulating to produce some food. In the end, the groom wrote his speech out on the back of a large sheet of wedding gift wrapping paper, which he produced and spread out when his time came. His brothers did their best to decorate the couple’s getaway car with shaving cream in the timehonoured way, but they missed by a country mile. Their artistry went all over the car of the bride’s father, who had to wash it off before heading home with the gifts to avoid having his Ashburton neighbours think

he was off on a second honeymoon. Not his days CONSTABLE Chris Gladstone, the policeman on duty in Kaikoura at the week-end, had more than one pair of hands full with the flooding and raging seas. Normally, he would not even have been there. He was down from Blenheim, relieving for one constable who was away on leave and another who had the week-end off so he could attend the Pier Hotel’s centenary celebrations. Variation AN OLD saying, slightly changed, was suggested for use by the member of Parliament for Tauranga, Mr Winston Peters, by one of his colleagues at the National Party Conference in Christchurch: “Justices must not only be done, they must be seen to be done.” Coke in orbit THOSE TWO giants of the fizzy drink industry, CocaCola and Pepsi, will be taking their rivalry to the stratosphere and beyond this week aboard the latest Space Shuttle flight. They are going up to test new soft drink cans designed to retain carbonation even in the weightlessness of space. The Coke and Pepsi companies wanted astronauts on the flight to conduct a taste test, but the National Aeronautics and Space Administration thought that was going too far. N.A.S.A. ordered the astronauts to float well clear of the shuttle’s roving television cameras when they were drinking either of the colas. Press bench THE MAKERS of “Hanlon” will have to shoot a few alternative scenes in the courtroom if they want to make honest men of the newspaper reporters sitting at press benches in the new television series. Our observant was watching

closely during the second episode, too, and saw a most uncharacteristic bunch taking down the news during a murder trial. The reporter in the middle was doing nothing, and a reporter on one side of him was making a few scrawls in a notebook, but holding it in one hand, a tipsy way to write shorthand notes. The third reporter seemed to be dozing when he as within camera view, but a closer look showed that he was holding his notebook under the bench, as if furtively jotting something down during the days when some things were off-limits to reporting. The press bench itself came through with flying colours, by the way. It was sitting there ready and willing, but was simply not used. The driver THE RANGIORA trotting race driver shown in Saturday’s photograph was Ernest James Smith, who trained quite a few good horses in his time. Two of them were Sea Rover and Sea Gift. He was a driver for many years, and died about 30 years ago. A grand-daughter identified him from the photograph, which the Rangiora Trotting Club wants to use to help take the place of photos it lost in the 1983 fire. Mr Smith lived on his family farm at Prebbleton. Sniffing round “Goldarn, Martha, maybe we better help this fella out.” Americans abroad may be brash and bumbling, but you have to hand it to them when it comes to politeness. Out at Christchurch Airport last week, a Customs dog was sniffing for drugs on the baggage carousel. His handler was with him, also seemingly sniffing about. An American couple just could not stand to watch their plight any longer. They ask if the man wanted a hand with his bags. They thought he was blind. *