The below video was brought to my attention on my brother's site, but I have to admit that I had to view it twice from the beginning to make sure I'd watched correctly. The advert and the point it makes are quite funny, fascinating and chillingly disconcerting.

Some photographs don't need captions. Ironically this one does. "On the day that the death-toll in Iraq for American troops passed the 4,000 mark (one estimate of Iraqi dead, well north of 100,000) President George Bush was said to be mournful..."

Seriously. Do the people in the White House PR department work for Jon Stewart, does the left hand not know what the right foot is doing or was this a freebie?

Got the second major sniffles of the year over this last week which filled my head with cotton-wool, made me achey and irritable and just made the winter seem more gloomy, though thankfully the sneezes seem to be fading and I'm not in for the long-haul like early new year. I seem to be rattling through my 'To Do' list though my white-board still has a fair few chores that need wiping off in the next week or so.

I've finished typing up the article on LA and the interview with James Kyson Lee and I'll have most of the major news items finished for Impact in the next day or so. Design-wise I'm awaiting event discs from HLWW, but templates are in place so that will be fine once I get started.

On the positive side, I have been commissioned to do more photographs for the new magazine, so I'll be combining a film screening in London with that early next week.

Lots of potential things coming up, but I've learned not to count my easter eggs before they're hatched.

While having a look through my photographs in search of some suitable shots I took in Los Angeles for an upcoming article, I came across some photos I took on one of my old cameras and saved in a TIFF format that I hadn't been able to read until I downloaded the IrfanView program (very useful, I can tell you!). One of the those images was taken quite a while back when the Lord of the Rings exhibition came to the Science Museum in London.

Well, I'm slowly getting through a ton of work. There's three articles for Impact already finished and later today I'm typing up a piece I've just done with James Kyson Lee (Ando in 'Heroes' and one of the stars of Shutter, the upcoming Hollywood remake of the Thai supernatural thriller). I have some photos of him from a quick shoot I did at an event last year, so that should all come together nicely. Then there's two travel pieces for another magazine (for LA and Biarritz)to get done at the start of next week and possibly some photography to do therafter.

It's also less than two months until my birthday and I'm trying to decide what to do for it, as sitting in drizzly Leeds seems a signifcant waste of my time. Finances are, of course, at the forefront of my mind as I'm making a determined effort to finish out this year on a very favourable fiscal footing, so I can't afford to overly splurge. Sadly, there's no conventions to eMCee this year and none of the more far-flung events inspire me to travel.

I was initially thinking of a big meet-up of some of my American friends in New Orleans - which I haven't been to since before Katrina - but that may have fallen by the wayside as May is a packed month of anniversaries and work for a lot of my friends out there. The idea of a multi-centre US trip like last spring is appealling, but expensive without events to attend. Australia is also on my radar, though it's a long way to go. My friend Kerry's currently out there and having a whale of a time in Sydney, Alice Springs, Cairns and heading down to Brisbane soon. I've already done Cairns/Sydney/Brisbane, but the landmass formerly known as Ayers Rock and Sydney itself remain places on my 'would-like-to-be-there' list.

This year was all about managing the work-rest-play ratios and though my energy levels are still pretty low, I think it's all going okay so far.

Almost a year ago, Madeline McCann was abducted by persons unknown while her family had a meal at a nearby tavern in Portugal. It's obviously distressing for her family and in the year that has followed the investigation has thrown up more accusations than it has answers. But the more I heard about it, the more that central question at the heart of the case kept coming back... why would ANY parent be more than a few feet away from their young child at ANY time on a holiday. If it were my child I'd probably be within a few square feet of the room. The McCanns and their friends weren't even in the building or in sight of their accomodation (albeit just a few minutes away), but enjoying drinks around the corner.

This week: another holiday tragedy.

It seems most of the UK is reeling from the 'biggest storm of the winter' (tm pending). However we've barely been touched here in Leeds and, in fact, it was sunny when I woke up. It's now looking drizzly and overcast but if this is the worst we get then I'm sure my stiff upper lip will see me through. I'm sure there HAS been flooding and wind damage elsewhere (the picture opposite suggests so) and I hope everyone's okay, but those weathermen in the south do panic at the merest sign of a snowflake or raindrop, so I wasn't bracing myself. When we do get a big storm here, I promise to moan/gripe as much as anyone.

Thankfully, I also found time to do a little wash and brush up on the site. No major changes, just a slight reordering. Still some changes to tweak, but hopefully it looks just a little better. I still need t0 get around to sorting the photo portfolio etc.

The biggest news-story of recent days is the RAF advising their troops not to wear their uniforms in public here in the UK because they're getting abuse because of the war in Iraq. This is, of course, utterly ridiculous and inexcusable - both on the part of the RAF bosses and the less intelligent members of the public. These people are risking their lives and I don't have to totally agree with the 'cause' to understand the courage it takes so serve your country full-stop. Shout at the politicians, point fingers at the people making a ton of money off the carnage, but don't prod the soldier who's chosen to defend you. They deserve better from their government and us.

Disengage rant mode. Engage article writing mode. Find chocolate.

About eighteen months ago I spent a very cold but rewarding week on the set of Highlander: The Source as it filmed in Lithuania. I went out with Carmel Macpherson and basically spent the week behind the camera, recording activities for posterity, filing a few reports and getting the access most people only dream of. The -10 degree, all-night shoots were worth it, even if the resulting film didn't reflect the passion and energy put into the project by some of the people involved.

A fairly busy week. Though I got a lot of Impact articles done early so as to free up time later, there's always some stuff still left to do, so I've found myself with short reviews to finish that and also chasing up some photos for some of our key features. We'll go to press on time. Probably.

Away from the typing, I was hired to do some photos for a new prestige coffee-table magazine, highlighting some sleek, fast cars and their dealer. This basically meant I got to breathe on cars (Porsche, Ferrari... you get the idea) that I couldn't normally afford to dream about (or perhaps would want to, given the insurance!). Thanks to Dina who nominated me for the job and hopefully there'll be more opportunities down the line, both photographic and article-wise.

Apart from a couple of nights out with wine and food last week, I'm keeping my nose to the grind-stone and fingers to the keyboard. I'm actually just fine with that as I'm generally too tired and achey - and a bit apathetic - to do be very energetic at the moment and the chance for some early-ish nights or, more likely, late-mornings is no bad thing. I'm not as old as that makes me sound - I think it's just a mix of seasonal weather (windy!!!!) and workload.

I did however discover half a filling/tooth has crumbled overnight and I'll need to head to the dentist tomorrow to stop me inpaling my tongue on my molar.

Oh, no end to the excitement here, I can tell you.