Reporter’s diary

Press, 5 October 1987, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Naps in the chaps’ ACKNOWLEDGING that the American family today is a far cry from the nuclear family of even 30 years ago, the main airport at Windsor Locks, Connecticut, has adapted its facilities. There are now nappy-changing tables in the men’s toilets as well as in the women’s. Misplaced animals MEMBERS of Operation Raleigh are moving at such a pace they can sometimes become confused about just what creatures are to be met, where. The expedition recently presented the Chilean Ambassador in London with a specially commissioned water-colour which showed Raleigh volunteers at work with camels in the Atacama Desert The diplomat admired the picture, coughed discreetly and said, “But there are no ■camels in Chile.” The artist, who had been briefed for the picture by Operation Raleigh leader, Colonel John BlashfordSnell, immediately sent a radio message to the exptorer z»ho was, by then, somewDere deep in the. jungle in Borneo. A day

later the reply came back: “Wrong desert. Delete camels, insert llamas.” Hasty subsitution of beasts was arranged. In spirit SOMEONE in the travel industry has not yet heard that the composer, George Gershwin, died 50 years ago this year. Members of, Jazz South will fly from : Auckland to Christchurch on October 10 for part of a tour honouring Gershwin. The travel printout shows that Jazz South members Elaine Delmar, Brian Dee, and Mario Castronari are booked alongside one Gerswhin, G. At least George will be with them in spirit

Spiritual absence THE first Russian branch of Alcoholics Anonymous has been established as a way of helping Mikhail Gorbachev’s stringent anti-drink campaign. Until now, A.A. has been eschewed by officials because of its independent non-corporate structure, its exhortation to members to turn over their lives to “the care of God,” and its principles of selfhelp. After a recent trip to New York, Soviet officials returned to Moscow armed with A.A. literature, which has been translated into Russian — with all references to God amended to “Higher Power.”

Stock taking THE “Sydney Morning Herald" noticed a sign outside a Sydney University childcare centre which said: “Please shut the gate. We are losing valuable' stock who tend to wander.” Whodunnit? A New Zealand newspaper ran this intriguing paragraph in a feature last Thursday: “Nothing in the Kellys’ home or conversation suggests they are terrorists, criminals or Marxists. A photograph of Jesus Christ hangs over the living-room mantle ...” Who took the photograph?

Beer trends IN the West, meanwhile, beer consumption is fading. Although the leading beer drinkers, the West Germans, are down a staggering 257 pints a person each year, this is only 11 pints less than 10 years ago. The great British appetite for warm ale ■*- well, ale, anyway — has also declined to only 190 pints a person compared with the 208 pints of a decade earlier. The onty Western countries to imbibe more beer than 10 years ago are Austria, Italy and Portugal. —Jenny Feltham,