Deb's Digest

The artist son graduated with a distinction in his MA this week so we all went along to the ceremony in Preston's Guild Hall and very proud we all felt too. This time he wore his cap and gown without any pressure from us (unlike the first time round in Leeds when it took every bargaining tool and bribe we possessed). So now he's BAMA and he reckons that's "Bummer" to a Londoner - Nice!

We went to the Classical Spectacular at the MEN last night and it was, well, spectacular. The performance featured a stunning new light and laser display, and joining the show for the first time ever was the young violin sensation David Garrett, watch out for his name because he is absolutely brilliant.

The baritone Mark Holland and tenor Paul O’Neill made the evening for me with their rendition of Bizets "The Pearl Fishers" - spine tingling stuff.

The Muskets and Cannons of the Moscow Militia made everyone who hadn't been before, jump out of their skins during the dramatic finale of the 1812 Overture with their thundering muskets and cannons, accompanied by an explosive indoor fireworks and ceiling-high flames. Brilliant. And this year we even remembered to take our Union Jacks with us.

While we were in Manchester I wanted to find a Jo Malone counter to smell the Pomegranate Noir fragrance that I keep reading about in the glossy magazines. I hunted one down in Harvey Nicks, sprayed a tester all over my wrists and couldn't smell a single fragrant note. Must be the old sinuses playing up again, but how annoying. We're back in Manchester tommorrow for Take That so I'll have to have another squirt then.