Cancer Bats: Take Two! Did a rerun of yesterday as the weather was so bad. Much better today!! Had a few guests stay at the hotel in the form of the band and once we finally checked out it was off to the Sunshine Diner where it was all about the Big Breakfast and the home fries!!

We headed out to the same deserted road for some pics and after a quick pit stop at Tim Horton's it was time for the band to head to the next city which was only an hour away... They dropped Simon and I off at the mall where we wandered around for a few hours before catching a cab to the airport. Got there way too early but luckily they had a good Internet connection so did a little work before getting on our flight to Halifax... Now I'd never flown in a prop plane before, I must say it was nothing like the frightening flight we had from Toronto to Fredericton. Very smooth and it cruises not too high so you get a great view of everything.

Got to Halifax with a 3 and half hour layover, and had it not been over $50 for a cab into town we would have taken it in to go and drink in town. Ended up sitting in the only bar restaurant in the airport and again it was lucky they had the Internet to keep us occupied... Finally got on our flight to London around midnight and for some reason the wall kept changing colour so pulled my hood down low and tried to block it out by sleeping...

Jet lagged as usual waking up at whatever time is noon in the UK!! Did get a few hours of sleep and met up with the Cancer Bats around 11.

The rain and wind was non stop but we still managed to do a few shots after going to the Sunshine Diner. (the Bats favorite local Fredericton restaurant!!) Drove past the flooding St.John river and to the middle of nowhere for a setup before heading to the Canadian classic of Tim Horton's. Had a few Timbits and then went to the venue. Did another quick set-up in the bingo hall and then hung out till showtime. It was a classic punk rock show with no stage or barrier and we watched while the crowd slowly approached closer to the drums the whole set!!!

Finished the night off with some classic Canadiana... Ended up at the Snooty Fox (billed as a British pub) with all the bands eating 30 cent chicken wings and drinking beer!!

Here's the cover of Kerrang! this week with Slash on the cover which comes out tomorrow.

Left the packing to the last minute, as I always do and caught up on a few things before catching a bus over to Heathrow. It seems that every other terminal is so quiet now that number 5 is open. No complaints, until the day I travel through it I guess! Met up with Simon and we got on our flight to Toronto which went fairly quickly. We had to be well behaved as Simon was sat next to a sleeping General Zod!! (pictured) Didn't fancy being put in the Phantom Zone!

Once we landed in Toronto and sorted all the baggage we sat around a couple of hours waiting for our flight to Fredericton. Picked up the latest Rolling Stone which has a shot of Mastodon in it I did in New Jersey last year. Nice to see Retna doing some work...

When the flight finally took off Simon fell asleep instantly and didn't wake up till we were about to land. This flight had to be the most turbulent flight I've ever been on. Even the flight attendant had a worried look on his face which is never good! Maybe we would have been better off travelling via the Phantom Zone? Finally landed close to midnight while the airport played hide and seek with my bag. What is it with AC, they like to play games and really after being up for 22 hours I'm not in the mood. Enter pass out comment from too much travel here. ________

Up early and went out for a roller blade today, biggest obstacle being the pavement in England... It's nothing close to smooth! Today was pretty mellow, little bit of wandering and working. Needed to get everything done for this week as I am off to Fredericton, New Brunswick tomorrow. Should be great fun as it's with the Cancer Bats who are always up for a good shoot...

Pulled the chute for the first time in a while and decided not to go to Opeth in Brixton. Bailing is not my style but was way too tired from the past week and could really do with hanging at home. Went and bought a Wii Fit today which is basically a glorified scale which I would prefer to call a Wii Fat! I think I would rather do outside exercise!

Here's a shot of Shaped By Fate in Wednesday's Kerrang! which I thought turned out well. Check out their great video if you get a chance...

Last day of a killer week, and of course it was the easiest as everything was finished and most people went home early. I still put in a full day as I met up with Simon from Retna UK after work for a few drinks at the Ben Crouch's. Had a great chat about everything, a very good night and we realized we need to do it more often!! Perhaps next week??

Got home fairly early, had some Chinese and ended up passing out to American Psycho. Heard there was a Banksy right around the corner from K! Towers so wandered to the Post Office and had to get a photo...

Beyond tired!! Had a fairly productive day at the office so no complaints. The Fish and I met up with Anna for a nice Thai dinner in Camden and then onto the Underworld.

It was an evening of ROCK that featured Skirtbox. They sounded like they were the missing opening act for Steel Dragon the band from the Rock Star movie!! They even had the typical groupie types doing the sexy dance upfront, very entertaining. (pictured) Took a late train home, but had the opposite of last night as we talked with Tony who was a fascinating member of the fashion industry and B'ton local!!

Another very long day of p-shop, even managed to fall asleep on the Energy drink machine in the office! Slowly getting everything finished which is always great, even if it took staying way late at the office.

After a great curry at Gaylord's caught a late train and had some drunk lady touching the computer screen and offering advice on the retouch, how about no! Luckily the Fish diffused the situation nicely... Tomorrow looks to be another long day on the cards!

Very tiring day of work and the p-shop but the Slash shoot looks great. Fingers crossed the printers don't butcher it now!! Here's a look at what's on the next week page in this week's issue. If that makes any sense at all!!

First day back at the office went great as Scarlet had done most of what needs to be sorted!!

Finished the day off with a shoot of Dexter and Noodles from the Offspring. The shoot reminded me of Pearl Jam a few years ago with all these rules and not being able to go anywhere. Nice guys but a weird cloud of don't do anything or you might get in trouble was written all over it! American PR's were present, hahahaha!

Found out I am off to Canada next Monday although going somewhere that is probably the furthest away from Vancouver possible!! Fredericton, yeah I had to look it up too...

The shoot of the Dead Swans which will be in this week's K!

Drove almost to Southampton where Marwell is located. Had a quick bite to eat near the African part and then carried on around. Was quite impressed with the Leopard and even saw a couple of Zebras mating, blinked and you would have missed it though!! Saw a father and son team of photographers who kept eyeing up my camera. Funny I've never been one of those gear nerds. To me gear a pain to keep up and you are left to the mercy of it when it decides not to work!! As you can see, the Fish doesn't understand the appeal of gear either. (pictured!)

Was pretty tired out after seeing a few tantrums and all the animals so headed home but had a quick tea break in Chich with the School. Once finally home started on a few of the many images that need to be done for this week. Looks like it is going to be a very busy one!!

Didn't really get up to much today. Which was nice as I was pretty tired from the past week. Wandered around the shops and spontaneously bought a PSP which I was told is great for watching movies on planes... Now I just need to find the software to sort out all the conversions!!

We may go to Marwell tomorrow as it's another zoo we have been to in the area, a shot from the last visit to Drusillas!

Came into town a little later for two shoots today. After going to Hamleys for a few props with the Fish, headed over to Fulham for an afternoon at Retna Studios. The first shoot was with Simple Plan which should be an interesting read when it comes out as they absolutely laid into another Canadian band. Guess you don't mess with the French Canadians!!

The second shoot was with a new Welsh band called Shaped By Fate who were much more mild mannered. We based the shoot on their video which I think is fantastic. Ran into Simon Sarin at the studios and we are sorting drinks for next week as I will be doing the in town everyday office job filling in at the photo desk.

So a nice relaxing weekend looks to be ahead as I have just had a shoot cancelled that was supposed to be tomorrow...

A sneak peek of a Good Charlotte shot that is in next week's Kerrang!

Went into K! towers to do a shoot with Tom Delonge today. Did it in the TV studio bit which was small but it had really high ceilings so no complaints! Tom was on good form doing a self portrait and then hilarious answers to the funny questions that fans had sent in.

He mentioned he liked what he had seen the last time we did a shoot and said come down to the show and get some of the band together. We did a quick shoot before they went on and Tom asked me to shoot he whole show. The evening kept on going with AVA as we went for a few drinks back at the hotel where I had a great chat with David and Matt. Managed to get the last train home after a poorly timed cab that left me waiting around the station for ages!!

Behind the scenes shot by Alex Shellim...

Spent the morning finishing a few things for next week. Had a shoot at home with the Pilgrim Fathers today who were a great bunch of guys. They were well up messing around on the exercise ball which was handy... They were even asked for their autograph when we took to the street to do a few shots!

After the shoot caught the train into London and headed straight for the Roundhouse. Was there to do a shoot with Guardian Theatre critic Michael Billington. Very nice man and because he had been watching Shakespeare all day and still had an evening of it we did the shoot very quickly. Funny hadn't done a portrait like this for a while but I still think it turned out not too bad. With the deadline I'm guessing it will be out in the Village Voice next week.

Stopped in Borders before heading home and the Fish pointed out this horrendously photoshopped poster!! The headline is awful too as it reads both ways!!

Another boring day at the computer... Had a call from Melissa at Retna today about doing a last minute job for the Village Voice tomorrow. It is with the theatre critic from the Guardian which definitely intrigued me! Also have another shoot tomorrow so hopefully the timing matches up.

Here's a shot of AVA in this week's Kerrang! Put this one up as I am doing a shoot with Tom DeLonge on Thursday which should be entertaining.

Spent the day doing the boring catch up at the computer... Realized that way too many things are piling up and need to get on it before I start drowning in digital files!! Started to work on the Slash pics which are looking great.

A shot of Iceland from the air...

Didn't wake up too early but had to rush to get ready so we could go for a smoothie and steak sandwich!! Had to eat fairly quickly in the center of the snow covered Reykjavik and we all piled into a cab to the airport. Checked in and relaxed before the plane ride which left late but arrived almost on time. So managed to get home by midnight when all was said and done!!

A pic taken by Soley from yesterday with the Sign guys...

Not up too early which was nice as the shoot wasn't until 2pm. Paul, Simon, and I had to go down the road for our usual Steak Sandwich and a smoothie. They do the best Steak Sandwiches in the middle of town no idea what the cafe is called though!! After lunch Soley and Zolberg picked us up and took us to the location with was an amazing dominatrix dungeon.

Easily one of the craziest set-ups I've ever seen. Came complete with all the accessories which were hidden away in drawers and nice porn collection which had the classic Fist and Shout! Simon had no choice and was put in the swing contraption and while he hung helpless I think he was burnt and paddled a few times by the excited Gis!! Huge thanks goes out to Soley for doing all the make-up, sorting out the location, and even sourcing some lights for the shoot!! When we finally left the dungeon we finished the shoot with Sign down by the windy water with a great view of the mountains.

After the shoot Gis then took Paul, defiled Simon, and I out for an amazing meal. Had a proper sized portion of halibut which was fantastic. Nothing like the one that was served in Brighton when I went out with the school of Fish! Went on to a few different bars and then finished the night at the horrendous Bar Eleven which was like a mosh pit at a metal show. Didn't last too long there, I think it was this girl who was beating up a guy for no particular reason that put me off! Wandered back to the hotel and it was snowing like mad. Hopefully our plane can take-off tomorrow...

Today was the start of a weekend in Iceland. It was a rerun of 2 months ago as the company included Paul and Simon again. We met early at Heathrow Terminal 1 which was so quiet! Now that BA has put all their eggs in the confused terminal 5 basket there was no one around in Terminal 1!!

When we landed Gis picked us up and took us straight to the Blue Lagoon. While the Paul, Simon, and Gis went in the lagoon I wandered around the gorgeous country side. I didn't fancy the sulphur, gross looking water of the lagoon to be honest. (This is how close I came, pic: Scantily Clad Simon Young!)

After that drove into Reykjavik and checked into our hotel and went for a dinner which overlooked the water and mountains. After that it was onto a bar called Nasa to see Sign play. Did some photos of the show and we drank way into the evening. Even bumped into Krummi from Minus who was doing guest appearances on stage which I'm sure he won't remember in the morning!! Didn't go completely mental as there is a job to do tomorrow with Sign...

Spent the morning getting a few things finished off and then caught a train to Portsmouth. Did a shoot with Every Time I Die, went and had a quick bite to eat with Ryan Bird, and then hung around getting the hanging around shots. Watching the opening acts was definitely a highlight as they had so many crazy little nuances to see?!? When Every Time I Die walked out on stage they owned the place. Great live band, who were very entertaining to shoot.

Now because the trains don't run after 11 had to enlist a ride from the lovely Fish in order to get home. What a trooper! Can't thank my lovely girlfriend enough!! Most times I would have just stayed in whatever town I'm in but need to be at Heathrow early tomorrow...

Another boring day of the p-shop retouch... Saw a doctor for the first time in England, I'm fat and could do with losing a stone whatever that is?? I think the fact he weighed me with my shoes on had something to do with it! Finally finished watching What's Eating Gilbert Grape? An OK film with an amazing cast... Might get up early for a run tomorrow, need at least 30 minutes of sweat a day according to the doc...

A shot of Black Tide from the shoot in LA a few weeks ago which is out in Kerrang! today.

Did a search for a Rock and Roll looking teddy bear this morning. Came across Build A Bear at Churchill Square and they the job pretty easy. Hopped on a train an hour earlier to go to Southampton to do a shoot with Good Charlotte. Nice guys Joel even bugged Tom Bryant for me! Oh and I had no idea they dated famous ladies, shows how much I pay attention to the tab rags... The venue had loads of kids waiting for the band and pap's waiting to get a shot of Paris Hilton.

Did the first half of the shoot in the venue and then finished up the second part in the dressing room where I didn't even recognize the famous lady sought after by the pap's. Left the venue at great speed to catch the train home!! Managed to catch it so total hours in Southampton, 2!

Here's my photo of the year so far of Slaves To Gravity which will be in tomorrow's Kerrang! And check out their album as it is very addictive!! Lately it's been all about the STG, some GnR, and a fair bit of Velvet Revolver...

Played catchup with a load of things that K! needed. Then set to work on a few other things that I am falling behind on. Too much retouch at the moment!!

Headed down to the Concorde 2 to do part two, well some live shots of the Subways. At least I didn't have to wear a dress for the shoot this time!! Their TM Steve came and found me to tell me I could shoot the whole show which was great. Problem being there was an over zealous guitar tech who wasn't having any of it and seconds before they went on told us we could only do 4 songs without flash. I love not using a flash but when there are only a few tin can red lights there isn't much you can do without it...

Left after a couple of sneaky flashes and the four songs, went home and started watching What's Eating Gilbert Grape!!

Fed up with not getting a proper weekend now! (Feel like this unhappy looking lady who I saw in Manc yesterday. At least I don't have a pigeon on my head!) Two weeks to go until I get one as I am off to Iceland next weekend. Woke up late after the tiring full day of travel yesterday.

Had a few deadlines that needed to be finished by tomorrow for a few different mags. But did manage to watch episode one of Prime Suspect with the Fish. It was another crime drama marathon as the episode was 3 hours and 20 minutes long!! It was good but I think I like Cracker a bit better... More comedy!

Back hurts from the incredibly hard bed of the Malmaison!! Had a quick breakfast where the Fish and I got put in the back closet, thanks for that! Checked out of the hotel and then waited until Phoebe and the band arrived. Managed to get a much bigger room for the shoot which worked well. Billy, Josh, and Charlotte of the Subways were well up for the idea! Fortunately there was a dress left over which I wore for the shoot! Finished off quickly and caught the train home.

The train had a few announcements saying it wouldn't make it through to London due to some wires down at Rugby... Luckily when we got there it decided to go all the way through so there was no need to re plan the route. Only took 5 hours in the end!! Passed out with some Thai food and Eddie Izzard's Dressed To Kill!! Watching that particular DVD went well with my outfit from earlier, pink may look good but I think my ass looks a little fat!!

Another day at the computer getting loads of images finished... Took a late train into town as I was meeting the Fish and Phoebe for an even later train to Manchester for a shoot tomorrow. Phoebe turned up with her entourage (the Morgans) which was a seat saving nightmare. I don't know anyone who enjoys saving seats for people especially when you have to turn away 20 people. It is one of the most embarrassing things!!

Managed to get a few things finished for next week during the journey which was good. Upon arriving in Manc, checked into the Malmaison, had a quick meal and then passed out watching the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton, Batman. And hey it's still great!!

If you get a chance check out the latest AP as there is a shoot of Jim Sturgess who stars in 21. Did it a few months back and I thought it turned out well...

Way too tired today. Felt very Zombie at the screen today, but still managed to get a few things done. Had to go out for an afternoon wander to wake up a bit. Grabbed some lunch at Iydea's and got back down to it.

Found a load more of people that think it is OK to hack the Retna site and put the pics on their fan websites. Actually it's stealing and copyright infringement you idiots! Here's a pic from last night of Simon doing his best David Brent impression...

Finished a load of editing before checking out of the hotel which was good. Had a quick greasy breakfast with Ian and Jon and then we caught the train back to London. Went for a lunch with Scarlet and then did a load of work in the office before going to the Raw Power Management bar to do a quick shoot with Funeral For A Friend.

They were all in great spirits, Gareth is now happily married and Matt and I nerded out discussing film stocks. Which was refreshing as most bands probably don't know what film is anymore!! Went back to the K! office to sort out the FFAF pic (as it's due tomorrow morning) while the Fish and Daniel finished a load of work. Passed out on the train home where we were accused of being slovenly by the piss head on the phone across from us. Didn't you get the memo? Slovenly is the new black mate! Maybe the name calling was due to the Haribo character that stood in front of him??

Went for a lovely lunch with the Fish to Satsuma. Got to Euston for a late afternoon train with Jon and Ian. Went to Birmingham to do a feature with Reuben and Ghost Of A Thousand. It was great to see the TGOAT guys and I think Ian really warmed to Tom which was funny to see.

Jamie, John, and Guy were on top form for photos and hey it can't be wrong when your front man goes out on stage with a bunch of bananas taped to his head! Finished the night off at the makeshift hotel bar listening to some guy big himself up. He sounded like the biggest tosser as Ian labelled him!

And saw this in a cab today... Soiling charge?? One can only imagine!!