This is just a  simple script which exploits a mel command i came across when doing something else,  it allows you to add text annotations that do not render on single frames, all frames, or ranges of frames, Simply place the script into you maya scripts directory (usually mydocuments/maya/mayax.x/scripts), source it in maya and type illAnnotate into the command line, I have it linked to a marking menu for easy access but you could also put it on a shelf.

Hope this is useful to some people out there