It would be a devastating blow to the Wellington and New Zealand film industry should we lose this film.

To all those at the Save the Hobbit Rally yesterday, thank you. Wellingtonians showing their support en masse will help ensure that the films are made in NZ.

This past Saturday I finally got a chance to practise my feeble Russian language abilities. I'd been waiting 14 years for such an occasion, but as a result people were slightly bemused at just why I was telling the audience that "I'm 18 years old" (I learned the sentence when I was 18 - unfortunately I don't know how to say "31 going on 32"). 

Somehow I also managed to be dragged on stage to show case my dancing talents (this despite a previous promise that I would never dance in public - in this instance I promise it was not instigated by me). This was hilarious and I'm sorry to my partner if I stood on your toes.

The enthusiasm shown by participants and attendees was heart warming, the singing and dancing too. We also managed to sample the delicious blini!!

Thanks to Victor Gaiduch for the invitation and putting the event together.

I was extremely pleased to be elected to Wellington City Council on 9 October. The many hours spent on the campaign trial were well worth it and I'm really looking forward to the next three years. The hard work starts now...

This wouldn't have been possible without the support of Liz, my family, friends and the many people who offered words of encouragement along the way. Thank you so much and I hope I'll do a good job.

Congratulations to all the other elected councillors and to Celia Wade-Brown, Wellington's new Mayor.