A customer emailed me today (via the VB FAQ blog) with a question; "how can I output text at different angles, to write the cardinal points around a compass for example..." so I decided to fire up a quick sample
Public Enum Direction As Integer
N = 0
NW = 1
W = 2
SW = 3
S = 4
SE = 5
E = 6
NE = 7
End Enum
Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint(ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs)
e.Graphics.Clear(Me.BackColor)
Dim bounds As Rectangle
Dim g As Graphics
Dim rotation As Single = 0
g = e.Graphics
bounds = New Rectangle(50, 50, Me.Width - 100, Me.Height - 100)
Dim rect As System.Drawing.RectangleF
g.DrawEllipse(Pens.Black, bounds)
Dim myMatrix As Drawing2D.Matrix
Dim sf As New StringFormat(StringFormatFlags.NoWrap)
sf.Alignment = StringAlignment.Center
myMatrix = g.Transform()
rect = New System.Drawing.RectangleF(bounds.X, bounds.Y, bounds.Width, bounds.Height)
For i As Integer = 0 To 7
If i > 0 Then
myMatrix.RotateAt(45, New PointF(Me.Width / 2, Me.Height / 2), Drawing.Drawing2D.MatrixOrder.Append)
g.Transform = myMatrix
End If
Dim directionString As String
directionString = System.Enum.GetName(GetType(Direction), i)
g.DrawString(directionString, New Font("Arial", 12, FontStyle.Bold), Brushes.Black, rect, sf)
Next
End Sub
If you want to try this code, create a new Windows Forms application in VS.NET 2003, and paste this code into your Form, after the "Windows Form Designer generated code" region.
The result will be an image like this: 
If you are looking for more info on GDI+ drawing in VB.NET, I'd suggest my article on the subject :) and there is a good book available from AW
Update: Ugh... I messed up the directions... and didn't even notice (thanks Edward!!)
The enum should be
······· N = 0
······· NE = 1
········E = 2
······· SE = 3
······· S = 4
······· SW = 5
········W = 6
······· NW = 7