Reporter’s diary

Press, 19 February 1988, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

On Ballance ABOUT $255,000 is needed to restore a house in Ballypitmave, near Glenavy, Northern Ire : land — and the Irish are looking to New Zealanders for help. The reason is simple: the house was the birthplace, in 1839, of John Ballance, destined to become New Zealand’s first Liberal Premier, in 1891. An organisation, the Ulster-New Zealand Trust, has been formed to raise money to restore the house and to maintain it, as a memorial to the Ulsterman and to foster Irish-New Zealand links. The house will be open to the public and will be a centre for exhibitions, trade and industry displays, advice on genealogical research and, diplomatically, a tearoom with ‘Ulster and New Zealand

food. Any Ballance memorabilia or donations would be welcomed by the trust, which can be reached in this country care of Dr T. Mclvor, 39 York Street, Moera, Lower Hutt. Good example FROM the “Nursing Times”: “The Hallam Medical Centre, an infertility clinic in central London, requires registered general nurse to replace nurse leaving to have a baby. Work involves all aspects of infertility — enthusiasm more important than experience in this field.” Selling point REAL estate agents have convenient file cards on every property for sale. Apart from useful information such as cost,

number of rooms, and whether the house has a roof, helpful tidbits are often added. A Christchurch agent was puzzled by one cryptic piece of advice on a card, which said: “Dog Crumby — doesn’t bite.” Experiment proved this to be true, but the dog was unimpressed with his appellation, Crumby. The agent was later told the card really said, "Dog grumpy — doesn’t bite.” Operatic area OF ail the subjects that have been used for operas and musicals, surely the most bizarre is the visit of President Richard Nixon to China in 1972. A work, “Nixon in China,” by an American composer, John Adams, has caused a diplomatic row, being labelled by the Chinese

authorities as a “preposterous characterisation and ridiculous misrepresentation of the visit.” The authorities are vitriolic at the way Chairman Mao, cast inappropriately, they feel, as a high tenor, is depicted as a sick man who can hardly move. In fact, they say, “Mao was still ,very healthy when he met Nixon.” The opera has had a mixed reception in the United States, and was dismissed by one critic as “static quasi-documentary non-drama.” Warning A grim reminder of Israeli militarism is displayed on T-shirts sold in shops along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem: ‘‘Visit Israel before Israel visits you.”

—Jenny Feltham