KEY POINTS:
Gold Coast Winner - Out of 800 entries, Trish Winks' contribution has won the trip for two to the Gold Coast flying Air New Zealand with five nights accommodation at the Marrakesh Resort near Surfers Paradise. Trish shared this story, in which her teenage son shows concern about the anti-smacking bill:
"My husband and I are still laughing about what our 16-year-old son came up with when the anti-smacking bill was getting a lot of press. He is going through that non-communicative phase so we were pleased when he pulled himself away from his internet game to ask about the bill. He seemed very concerned. We were explaining when he interrupted with, 'Oh, it's only about smacking is it?' He thought it was the anti-snacking bill."
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As a Social Studies teacher of year 9 classes at a boys school in the early 90s, David Squire started a diary to record some of the pearls the students came out with. Here are some of the best:
Q: What were the pink and white terraces?
A: That's where the homosexuals sit at Eden Park.
Q: Why was the NZ Government angry with the French in 1985?
A: They beat us in the rugby.
Q: In terms of nineteenth century history, what do Central Otago and Coromandel have in common?
A: They are both in the South Island.
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Everywhere else it is considered a fruit, but in Oklahoma the watermelon has been officially declared a vegetable. And not just any vegetable, Oklahoma's House of Representatives yesterday voted to award the watermelon the honour of official state vegetable. The official state fruit is the strawberry. (The Guardian)
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Keely Dickson overheard her daughters talking about what jobs they would like when they grow up. "My 8-year-old said, 'When I grow up I want to be a vet'. My 5-year-old said, 'When I grow up I want to be a Mummy' ... Awww, for a fleeting moment I felt quite proud until ... The next thing out of my 8-year-old's mouth was, 'Stink. What do you want to do that for?' My-5 year-old replied (rolling her eyes) 'So I can drive the car'."
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A Florida appeals court has upheld the child pornography conviction of a 16-year-old girl. The girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend took photographs of themselves engaged in "sexual behaviour". They sent the photos from her computer to his. Though sex between the two is legal under Florida law, photographing it isn't. (Source: Reason.com)
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Mark Dumble of Taupo has worked out how to speak to a real person when phoning a call centre ... "I have just got off the phone after investing an hour of my working day with Telecom's helpdesk attempting to set up a cellular secretary on my mobile phone. They now use a Virtual Person to protect their very busy operators from Very Real People who wish to speak to another Very Real Person. When I stumbled across a Very Real Person at Telecom by mistake, the advice - when I complained about trying to circumvent the Virtual Person - was to, "Swear at her twice and you'll be put straight through". Now, how many times do I need to swear to reach the CEO?"
