Reporter’s diary

Press, 14 March 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

His twin FOUR PRINTS on a wall .of the new United States Information Service office in Christchurch are by the twin brother of Patrick Linehan, the public affairs officer. James Linehan is an assistant professor in the art department at the University of Maine. His brother would like to make occasional exhibitions by unknown (to us) American artists to become a feature of the office, and the first exhibition could be a showing of his brother’s work. The Main artist may visit New Zealand later this year. He is a member of the College Art Association, an organisation of university art teachers, which could be tapped for exhibition material. The U.S.I.S. office, which is awaiting a large library, will be officially opened by Mr Paul Cleveland, the new United States Ambassador to New Zealand, on March 24. Bird watcher AFTER hearing about the Banks Peninsula blue heron that has to keep a look-out for humans in its fishing patch, a Christchurch woman recalled the days when she used to work at the University of California library on the Santa Barbara campus, which is near the Pacific Ocean. She and a friend used to take their lunches to a reserve where herons nested high in eucalyptus trees. They enjoyed watching the daily life of the herons, including the rearing of young birds. One day, as she was standing under a nest admiring Nature in the raw, a heron let loose with a large dropping that fell on her head and suede coat. Her hair was easy enough to clean before resuming work, but the dry-cleaners could do nothing with the coat, which had to be discarded. Scorched WHEN a subscriber to “The Press” found his Thursday edition soaked by yesterday’s downpour, he put the newspaper, in the microwave to dr£jit Unfortunately, he left it in

too long, and it came out burnt. The newspaper was replaced. Feelings outlined IT IS not hard to see what some local councillors feel about new amalgamation plans for the Christchurch area. At a meeting of the Mount Herbert County Council this week, a reporter spotted a front page of “The Press” on a meeting room wall. The page, from the February 20 edition, contained a photograph of Brian Elwood, the Local Government Commission’s chairman, on his way to announce the plans. Someone has outlined the photograph in black, and extended the outline to include a headline: “Wrong man hit by bomb?” on another report at the top of the page. Sticky MR ELWOOD was not stuck for answers when he talked to a radio reporter before a meeting at the Riccarton Town Hall, but he had a bit of trouble coming unstuck

from his seat after the interview. He found that he had been sitting on a piece of used chewing gum. Before going into the meeting, he had to make a quick trip to the dry-cleaners to remove the blob and get ready for the sticky questions to follow. Resemblance IT MAY be an old wives’ tale, but a Canterbury man heard that fresh mint left about the house can keep the flies away during your absence. He tried it recently, leaving a handful of mint on the kitchen windowsill. Because he had been burgled, he had other things on his mind than flies when he returned home a few days later. As the police dusted the kitchen for fingerprints, he realised how much the dried mint look a dead ringer for marijuana. Although no comment was made, he was certain the detective cast sidelong glances in the direction of the fly chaser. —Stan Darling