Reporter’s diary

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Cbix in Space WHEN the space shuttle, Discovery, blasts off on February 23, 32 chicken embryos will be on board. The embryos are not a kind of stellar lunch, but part of an experiment to find out whether gravity has an effect on embryology, and whether the weightlessness of Earth orbit changes the way organisms are put together. Called Chix in Space by its student designer, John Vellinger, the experiment was not his first. An earlier consignment of chicken embryos was aboard the doomed space shuttle, Challenger, in January, 1986. The greatest challenge for Chix in Space was how to stop the eggs breaking. Vellinger’s incubator easily passed the vibration tests for the space shuttle. But real refinements had to be made so it could be safely transported on ordinary airlines. Business proposals FINGS ain’t wot they used

ter be — well, not in the world of Japanese courtship at any rate. The Attack Agency (a curious name for a start) which has just been founded in Tokyo, will, for about $240, propose on a young man’s behalf to a girl he is too shy to approach. Trade, as they say, is roaring. Just a suggestion RUMMAGING through old clippings recently, a reader found an “anonymous suggestion for a new national anthem” which is topical in spite of its age. Hence, “God of nations, we entreat, find us markets for our meat, set New Zealand on her feet, God defend our free land.” It continues: “Hear us when we call to thee, Treat us preferentially, Make our markets tarifffree, God Defend New Zealand ... Where the Tasman waters boil, Help the drillers in their toil, ’till they strike the dinkum oil, God Defend New Zealand ~. God of

nations, hear our call, Make inflation figures fall, ’till there’s almost none at all, God defend our free land ... HCed, O Lord, our hymns of praise, Give, us plenty all our days, With our creed of user pays, God Defend New Zealand.” And finally: “Give us strength, Lord, to pretend Things will come right in the end, God Defend New Zealand.” Naked flames win DINERS in Pittsburg will be able to have romantic, candlelit dinners after all. Fire inspectors there wanted to ban candles in restaurants because of the fire hazard. Last month they began visiting restaurants to warn owners they could be fined SNZI626 unless they stopped using candles, oil lamps or other open flames without first getting fire department approval. Restaurateurs rebelled and the Public Safety Director, Mr Glenn Cannon, admitted: “It would seem we’ve

given this a higher priority than necessary.” Rocks or rolls? A Hoon Hay resident, Mr Charles Rudd, became increasingly confused in his efforts to track down the Rock Shop. He had brought back a few rock samples from the United States but he was' frustrated in his attempts to find the shop to take them to. Finally he was given what seemed like a certainty: The Rock Shop, in Cashel Street. “Do you buy rocks?” he asked. “No, we sell musical instruments,” said the voice. The shop he really wanted — and eventually got — was Hetty’s Rock Shop in Beckenham. And that’s rocks as in stones, not rolls. Great expectations BUMPER sticker seen round Christchurch: “The Govt, is as reliable as copulating panda bears.” —Jenny Setchell.