28	Saturday MAY

Some breathtaking dance moves and innovative use of locations - and a brilliant song that brings back some fond monged-out memories.

27	Friday MAY

Another feature I wrote for the Daily Mirror appeared today. This one was on the different ways to print digital images. Thanks Casio, Kodak and Canon for the nifty prizes.

26	Thursday MAY

Tonight Tim and I went to see Dogs Die in Hot Cars in Camden. This is a band, not a sick hobby. Luckily the support bands - Si Connelly and Mohair were both superb - considering we were kept waiting until 2315 for the main act. They are terrific, and perhaps it was the fact that they'd been behind the scenes all night, but Craig Macintosh was tending to shout rather than sing.

25	Wednesday MAY

"Billy Elliot is the story of a boy from a humble Tyneside background, whose mother is dead, and whose father and brother are caught up in the bitterly fought community-splitting miner’s strike of 1984. Billy’s father wants his son to learn to box, like him and his father before him. But instead Billy becomes fascinated by the grace and magic of ballet. Billy Elliot is about Billy’s gritty and determined struggle, at first in secret, but then with the wholehearted backing of his family, to dance his way to the brightest of futures by winning a place at the Royal Ballet School."

Amazing performances of well written songs by a well-chosen cast. Elton John has certainly proved that he still has it in him. Some fantastic dance routines and an absolutely astounding performance by George Maguire as Billy.

Perhaps the vitriol against Thatcher was a little over the top, but she did to the country what Elton John enjoys doing to young men behind closed doors.

Book a ticket, it's great.

23	Monday MAY

I've had a varied three weeks working on a wide range of gubbins - hence the lack of updates. It started with presenting the next 'big idea' to the Photo Imaging Council which should be off the ground by the end of the month. I went on to encourage people to visit stately homes for English Heritage along with extolling the nutritional qualities of watercress for National Watercress Week. Yesterday I was working on the launch of an omega-3 enriched milk for Marks and Spencer, and this week I'll be working between Saks and Specsavers. If like me, you have the attention span of a gnat, freelancing could be for you too.

3	Tuesday MAY

The German Nazi leader Albert Speer, born March 19th 1905, died September 2nd 1981, directed Germany's war production using slave labor during World War II. Speer, who joined the National Socialist party in 1931, became Adolf Hitler's architect, designing the Nuremberg stadium and other Nazi monuments. He was made minister of armaments in 1942 and expanded his planning responsibilities over most of Germany's wartime industry in 1943. In 1946 he was sentenced to 20 years in Spandau prison by the Nuremberg tribunal. After serving his sentence, he published the autobiographical Inside the Third Reich (1970) and Spandau: The Secret Diaries (1976)

Interestingly, he was the only Nazi to plead guilty at the Nuremberg trials.

2	Monday MAY

A group of dogs converge on New York in the early 21st century. They make intelligent conversation, walk on their hind legs and wear ultra-formal clothes of the type favoured in 19th-century Prussia. A strange but very enjoyable novel.

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