Reporter’s diary

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Fiat de Lux MAXINE is an Italian lady of some distinction in Canterbury in general, and Hinds in particular. She was bought jointly by the Rev. Craig Dixon and the Rev. Dugald Wilson, the Anglican and Presbyterian clergy in the Hinds co-operating parish. Now six months old, the wee Fiat Bambina sprouted wings on her roof the day before Christmas. Her fame as the official courtesy car for the Hinds Ministers’ Association has spread, although Craig Dixon says she has not carried anyone of note, apart from ministers. As a kind of metallic guardian angel, Maxine is chaplainelect to the next moderator of the Presbyterian Church, and she will carry her first Very Important Parson when the Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Rev. Maurice Goodall, visits the furtherflung regions of the diocese later this month. ’ And yes, Maxine’s wings (made by Clearwater Surf of Ashburton) do flap in the wind.

Piece of pizza, in peace LUNCHING with a boisterous nine-month-old lad who is accelerating from a swat-swipe-tug phase into a jiggle-pummel-squeal mode is neither easy nor very pleasant. So a young couple were delighted when the solecharge assistant in an inner-city pizzeria took the child from them and walked round with him while they finished their own lunch in peace. “She even accepted the removal of her earrings with good grace,” said the grateful father. Wicked writers SALMAN Rushdie is not the only author to receive death threats for his allegedly scurrilous writings. Dante, Italy’s thir-teenth-century - poet, has been the target of two letters sent to a Ravenna newspaper. The author threatened to blow up Dante’s mausoleum because, in his “Divine Comedy,” Dante had con-: signed the prophet Muhammad to the inferno. As Italian police

mounted a 24-hour guard on the bard’s mausoleum, a former Ravenna businessman, Vicenzo Strocchi, confessed that he had written the letters as a prank. Never say diet LETTERBOX drops of leaflets offering diets (“weight control program” (sic) as it is put) have begun to irritate some Christchurch residents who, after a series of persistent notes, are feeling slightly hounded. The leaflets did amuse one recipient though. She found one stuck under the door of her ever-so-scrumptious, tummyexpanding, naughty-but-nice Theatre Royal sweet shop. Holmes, not sweet Holmes? A 20-minute straw poll of 91 stereo ZM listeners yesterday morning found that out of 146 calls taken, only 44 voted for Paul Holmes as the victor in the Holmes versus Conner television fight; and 102 saw Dennis Conner as the winner. Holmes has made

a shaky start in other ways. Ken Ellis says, that the radio station has decided to test Holmes’ assertion that regions outside the known world of Auckland would not be neglected under the new regime. The radio station will give $lOO to the first person from Christchurch who appears on the show in his or her own right. Never-never quotes PANIC not. The Things They Never, Ever Said is alive and well, thanks to the following for their ideas: Natalie M.; Dan Gooder (2); Enid Ray, Cheryl Gascoyne and Anon: “Bring on the dancing girls,” (Patricia Bartlett); “Kiss and tell - who, me?” (Bob Hawke); “Winston Peters? We are just good friends,” (Ruth Richardson); “Sorry, I never touch pork,” (Sir Paul Reeves); "I meant what I said,” (Any politician); “Well, whoever did your hair before made a wonderful job of it,” (any hairdresser). —Jenny Setchell