Schoolbags weigh how much?

The same as twelve house bricks, apparently. A tough job for a schoolboy, since we could only load Abbas with seven before he began to struggle! More proof that academic study is bad for you.

Hannah Whelan, Champion Gymnast

A young Olympic hopeful who won a gold medal in a national competition. Strong arms. Eyes peeled for London 2012.

The Clothes Show, Earl's Court

A job for a beer company brought me unexpectedly to the Clothes Show, where grumpy models in strange clothes were interspersed with gym-buffed, lolloping performance numbers. I'm no tree hugger, but performing an energetic dance routine to Lily Allen's 'The Fear' ('I want loads of clothes and I want lots of diamonds') in this monument to consumerism must've been a lost irony on this crowd..

Land's End to John O' Groats via Trafford

Don't care if silhouettes are cheating, they're pretty. These cyclists are on a long charity bike ride, stopping overnight at Red House Farm in Dunham Massey. Taken on a new 5d mk2, which is, so far as I can tell, a total stonker.

A Certain Ratio

Manchester band 'A Certain Ratio' photographed for a music magazine in one of those brilliant old mills off the Mancunian Way. In no particular order, Martin Moscrop on guitar, Tony Quigley on sax/keyboard, Jeremy Kerr on vocals and bass, Liam Mullan on keyboard and Donald Johnson on percussion. ACR are playing the Platt Fields Park festival June 11th.

If you're not a pub type of person...

... the Ivy Manchester Church in Didsbury is screening the upcoming England v. US football match on its own hallowed ground. Illustrating the story is pastoral staff member Kristian Tucker, showing just how hard it is to smile AND do keepy ups.

His Master's Voice...

A picture from a recent PR job. Just goes to show the difference a nice prop - a vintage gramophone, in this case - can make. Beats a branded T shirt!