Richard Branson is well-known for stunts in the aid of publicity for himself and his Virgin group -- dressing up as a can of Virgin Cola and sliding down a giant vending machine springs to mind, as does, regrettably, his dressing up in a wedding dress to promote Virgin Brides.

A recent photo opportunity was with Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative where he promised to use all of the profits from Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains to invest in renewable, sustainable energy sources. Of course, this means that Virgin will pay no tax and gets a huge amount of publicity for doing research and development. Still, this has to be a good thing and one has to congratulate Branson for mixing good business with good environmental sense.

Branson's been a hero of mine for a long time ( I have a signed copy of his autobiography) and I've been lucky enough to meet him twice: once at a book signing and once at a bar in Narita. I was introduced by then head of Virgin Entertainment Japan, Mike Inman. Virgin had sponsored the music issue of Gateway UK, the magazine that we created for the British Embassy's UK98 festival. I was very pleased with myself for getting this shot of Branson holding up a copy of the magazine.

Branson was most recently in the news unveiling the spaceship design for Virgin Galactic. Strangely, it seems that Branson isn't that well known in Japan as you might have thought. We have a questionairre at eigoTown for potential new recruits which lists famous business people such as Bill Gates, Masoyshi Son, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. Hardly anyone ticks the box saying that they've heard of Branson.

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I just realized that I've probably bought my last CD. This has been coming for a while now, and in fact, I can't even remember the last CD I bought (over a year ago). But whatever it was, it was most likely my last. With the advent of iTunes 7, album art, the cool way you can visually flip through your music collection, I can't see why I won't download the music I want -- especially as lyrics and sleeve notes are probably on their way in the not too distant future.

This hit me as I surveyed my CD collection, and realized I didn't need it, or want it, anymore. It's just gathering dust and taking up space.

And with iTunes supporting movies, it probably won't be long before I purchase my very last DVD -- though bandwidth will have to make some signficant advances first.

Things change. I remember the thrill of buying "The Queen is Dead" as soon as it came out. Rushing home from "Our Price" and carefully placing the record on the turntable, then putting the stylus arm (is that what it's called? -- I can't even remember) on the first grooves of the record -- my heart thumping in anticipation. Many people reading this will never have played a record.

How long before we have people who've never played a CD, or DVD?

This has all been predicted of course for years -- even by me -- but it's still strange when the reality hits you.

Time to make some cash selling off those CDs...

They have to let him out occasionally...

Of course, I had to go and visit my mother on my trip to England...

(Just kidding Mum!)

From Camden Market you can walk along Regent's Canal, through London Zoo to Regent's Park. Beautiful. (Or you can take a canal boat, of course.)

Walking along the south side of the Thames, I came across an open air exhibition by the Japanese photographer Hiroji Kubota. I quite like the way this photo of a London icon on a beaufiful summer day contains a photo of Japan in winter.

After crossing Tower Bridge, you come to the Tower of London, the 900-year old castle that houses the Crown Jewels.

London looked like a picture postcard when I was there last month. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the famous sites were majestic. Here's one: Tower Bridge (often confused with London Bridge).

Well, I'd like to say that my recent lack of blogging has resulted in a torrent of e-mails and comments asking about my health and complaining that life isn't worth going on with without a regular fix of freshly updated "Russell's World"... well, I'd like to say that... In fact not a single comment or complaint... Not even from my mum! (For whom this is mostly written!)

I was in the UK recently for 3 weeks, mostly a holiday but a few business meetings as well. I really enjoyed my stay, but upon my return was horrified to see that my weight had risen to 107 kilos... Immediate action needs to be taken and so, as of today, I am embarking on another 90 days of purity. No smoking, no drinking, no pasta, bread, sugar or high-carbohydrate foods. My goal: 90 kilos. So, I'm calling it "90 for 90", a name that pleases me.

I'll be posting some pictures (and hopefully movies) of my trip to the UK next week. Be warned!