I arrive at the meeting, out of breath and in a flap of apology while simultaeneusly removing my scarf which gets wrapped up in my headphones which begins to choke me, giving my apology the effect of sounding like a cross between stephen hawkings and donald duck.   more »

And I was able to hear my song for the first time. It’s the first one on the set list. The band strikes up and the children, their chests full of our, sing their hearts out in a crescendo of song. Goose pimples concertina'd along the back of my neck over my shoulders and along my arms to my finger tips. This was electric.   more »

I was brought up in care. Eighteen years of it. I don't do lots of these events. They take it out of me. It's all I can do not to breakdown at the quiet break throughs that happened. But I don't break down. cause that's not what it's about.   more »

Less than one percent of children in care attend university. It is a disgusting statistic when you consider that a child in care is under the legal parentage of the government.   more »

by mid morning they're still waiting and with no A to Z my bus is whizzing along a dual carraigeway called E mail Street turning right onto commision road. I spent a long time on Things To Do Avenue which reminded me to make repeated calls on Cell Phone Street and a drive down the way called Answer Machine Avenue. In no time I'm lost.   more »

It's curious that under the present regime of maximum security anxiety, bomb scares and terorist alert that anyone is allowed to run through London brandishing fire on the end of a stick, but it's going to happen. It'll be called The Olympic Torch. I suggest it's carried aloft by a muslim geezer with a beard.    more »

A radio four docmentary which I presented was broadcast today on the BBC at 11am: The Mystery Of The Black boy.   It’s an half hour docmentary on the relatively recent disappearances throughout Britain of pubs called The Black Boy. It’s alsogives an interesting insight into the subject of Race in the heart of Britains comfort zone: The Public House.   You can here it here if you like http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/113r8/  .

I’m on top of The Royal Festival Hall next to a Beehive . It’s an instalation established by St Etienne when they were artists in residence at The South Bank about a year ago. The Bees look suspiciously like wasps to me.   more »

Here's a short poem for spring, written by someone else, filmed by Andew Hinton on top of the royal festival hall
http://royalfestivalhive.typepad.com/

Worth remembering that in reading this blog you are entering some of the little compartments that make up my head. They may have no relation to the wonderful world that swirls around them. Damn!   more »

It’s been a thunder-full week, “storms everywhere” screamed BBC News “The End is Nigh”. Fortunately it’s not nigh at all. The worst that’s happened to me so far is my trousers got sploshed as I splished my way to a studio on a wet Tuesday morning. Not the stuff of the ten oclock news is it?    more »

It’s 8am and  I’m hurtling through London   to Broadcasting House, the iconic BBC building  at Portland Place.  The radio programme is live. It's called Saturday Live.  And I have been with the programme  since it began.  The programme goes well.  You can hear it  here .   If you are reading this after the 15^th March then you can hear it by clicking here.    I’ve been encouraged to be more involved with the programme. So I joined in more and think it went well.

In the car home I’d normally receive telephone calls with feedback but my cell phone is still in America!    From the emails I received when I returned home it did go well.   Can I tell you a secret? I  am starting to enjoy  being without my cellphone! 

The front door bell rings and rings again. I wake thinking yesterday might have been a nightmare. One hundred books have arrived from my publisher as well as postcards. I sign for them. The delivery man grunts. I grunt back. We both grunt together. I have to do a mammoth book signing for California State University and lug the books into the hall.   more »

The teacher is on the edge of tears but holds it in. She take me from the drama studio to the carpark. “I’ll just go and get my things” she says. Her husband sits quietly in the car and waves me into the front seat. .I tell him a little about what just happened. “it’s Thursday” he says “it’s when the drugs arrive. They get excited.” He’s talking about school kids. He tells me that on Thursday the drug dealers, ex students, used to let off a rocket on the hill to let everyone know the drugs had arrived. The teacher returns. She’s clearly wept. “I’m so sorry” she winces “so very very sorry that you had to experience that”. The car draws out of the car park and as we leave the school in shocked silence I see two policemen walking through the school fields.   more »

The performance was absolutely brilliant. I totally enjoyed myself. It's only ten minutes into the day and pitch black nightime. I walk home with Derek Richards who as a musician played with Cleveland Watkiss and Courtney Pine and as a producer has played with everyone. He came to the Shlo gig.    more »

I’m in Soho, Enterprise studios, to rehearse with shlomo. Check him out on youtube where Salif Keita and Pete Doherty can clearly be seen enjoying The Shlo sounds on “Later With Jools Holland”. I’ve researched the band and memorised their names and the instruments they play. I’ve chosen the two poems that may work. I’ve got myself up to speed. The deal is this: There is a gig tonight at The Vortex in Hackney It’s a Shlo gig with his band and I’m invited as a guest and this is the first rehearsal. I walk in.   more »

Spent a couple of days in Manchester over the weekend at The Malmaison Hotel and then at  Didsbury House.  Both hotels are good for home improvement design tips. Oh the rock and roll life I lead.  Visited friend Mark who with wife Kate  has just had another baby. 

On Saturday I read in manchester at The Museum of Science and Industry in The Machine Room surrounded by Cotton Mill Machinery.  It was part of The Museums Revealing Histories programme. It was while reading that I realised the qeue was for Bodyworks a totally different show at the same museum.  Took a trip to Whitworth Gallery in Manchester too to see their powerful exhibition.  I have  just finished the afterword for the  exhibition publication whcih will be coming out later this year.  

On Sunday went to Italian restaurant in Chorlton,  Palmiro,  for The Journalists fathers birthday. Very nice. Drove to Manchester on Friday and returned on Sunday. Took six hours to get there and five to return. Train travel wins hands down – it’s two and a half hours each way.

Driving in London is a total stress mess.  There’s no need, unless you’ve got children who you can send scouting for free parking spaces. They’re also useful when shopping cause you can leave them near the car, with a cell phone on traffic warden watch.  You might guess that I don’t have any children. I don’t.

I've kick started my blog back into action now.