Shamelessly campaigning for your vote

I've just entered this blog into a competition over at Family Times magazine and I stand to win a spring-free trampoline for our back yard.

All I have to do is to convince you to read my blog every week for the next 9 weeks - via the Family Times site -  and vote for me every week using this voting form.

There's something in it for you too - voters go into a draw to win a lovely noticeboard which would be a stylish way to keep your household organised (there's a picture on the voting form link).

I'm not sure how long it will take for My Serial Obsessions to start showing up over at Family Times , and maybe it won't happen overnight (but it probably will happen). So visit there, read some blogs, vote for your truly and get some good karma.

If I win the trampoline, I promise that my voters will be invited to try it out…I'll also make an effort to be interesting!

News flash! The blog's up there now but under it's old name, Short and Sweet like me. Enjoy.

Accidental fun

I had to force TLM out of the house today. She's been such a homebody - partly because she spends so much time at school or after school care, partly because she loves indoor activities (e.g. watching DVDs and playing computer games), and partly because she can't get to sleeps poorly at night.

We went to Te Papa and went on one of their virtual rides. I wonder how long that's been available...the museum has been around for decades and I only just knew about it yesterday! There are two rides and I chose to the one least likely to cause motion sickness. You get into a capsule which "descends" into the depths of the ocean, into the crater of an undersea mountain. I never realised travelling downwards into the ocean would be so rocky (or maybe they do that on purpose to appease young audiences?).

Then we went out to the wharf where Rugby Sevens high-jinks were still in full swing. We saw Roman gladiators, Smurfs, super heroes, and more. Funny how on certain occasions men like to dress like women and women like to dress like...um...teenagers who've just discovered their girly charms.

A Latin American drum band, also dressed Sevens-style, had everyone dancing along behind them as they progressed along the wharf. Even I broke out some moves, but TLM must have been embarrassed because she kept trying to hold my arms down.

And then, just as we'd got in the car to go home, we passed the park and spotted several highly intriguing bouncy castle thingies. One was a Jurassic Park bouncy castle, and three or four others were rugby-based obstacle course bouncies. TLM and I had a go at the bouncy shark, which is basically a really steep, fast slide. I screamed all the way and thought I was going to overshoot the end and kick some poor kid in the face (but missed).

Also, a shout-out to the boy's aunt and uncle who were in town yesterday. We had a truncated dinner with them at Chow (TLM was restless and fuss-making so we had to leave), but I really enjoyed meeting them and recommended iconic Kiwi foods such as hokey pokey ice cream, fish and chips and roast lamb with kumara wedges.

Happy Hobbit Day!

Today was, of course, the day of the world premiere of The Hobbit. It was a big day for us because we don't get a lot of those around here, nor the celebrities who appear at them (unless you include occasional cast members from Shortland Street.

Yes, there's been the odd sighting of Martin Freeman or Andy Serkus in the last few months (apparently), but they aren't exactly a familiar sight - unless you work at the New World supermarket just down the road from the Stone Street film studio. So it's still a thrill to glimpse a famous face in person.

I wouldn't have minded being there today, up against the barriers protecting the red carpet and the beautiful people who trod on it - except I would have had to camp there overnight to get a good spot (i.e. with a view not blocked by tall people with big hair and loud friends) and have extreme patience and a really strong bladder or some friends to mind my spot while I sought the nearest servicios (that's toilets, if you've watched Dora the Explorer).

But as soon as I found out that there was a statue of three giant trolls displayed down that way, I resolved to walk down there in my lunch break to see it. I did wonder whether it would be too crowded, that I would ended up under some sweaty tourist armpit.

But I went anyway, just for a look-see. The first thing I noticed was how many young people there were. It's not like the city usually looks like a really big retirement home or anything, but there were a LOT of young people. More than I have ever noticed in one place before (well, since my last live rock concert). Maybe it's just because everyone seems young these days 'cos I'm older...

Anyway it wasn't that crowded as there were still a few hours to go until the start of the celebrity runway.

Those trolls are great! Their skins look real and leathery, and even have hairs poking out. I didn't take any photos though because it just seemed a bit uncool when everyone else is doing it. You can check out what they looked like on the link about half way back.