At four am my eyelids roll back and morning pours in.  By four forty five am  I received a text “your car is outside and the driver is called Alfred.”   I  could hear it  purring outside the front door.  At 5am we sped through London to Bush House and The World Service.  I used the journey for  supplementary research on the news stories for The World Today.

News includes;  Twitter  as seen in Iran , Madonna and the adoption, The Elgin Marbles,  The desecration of the Holocaust memorial in Budapest and the rise of the far right in Europe. The World Today is broadcast in two programmes  to different parts of the world from 6am until 7am and from 8am until 9am.  The other guest throughout the programme was Adam Lebor
. 

Though I thought Bonnie Greer was going to be here I am wrong and she isn’t. She is on the programme but she is in Athens and communicating via satellite.  I brought a radio documentary I made on Gil Scott Heron for her.  Stuff happens.   At 9am the  entire broadcast is over. I say my goodbyes and cycle from Bush House to The Southbank centre.

Breakfast is Eggs Benedict at Canteen.  Southbank Centre in the morning is beautiful.  The Fountain, an art piece called Appearing Rooms, is working and all is well. I  had a meeting with Jason Yarde at 11am but couldn’t find him.  At noon I am in The Spirit Level, beneath the royal festival Hall sat in the middle of fifteen expectant young people aged nineteen or so.   My talk with them was about  the artists role within an arts centre.  It is the most inspirational hour of the week.

It reminds me of why I do what I do and why I am artist in residence at The Southbank centre. This morning I spoke to millions through the world service  introduced as Southbank Centre artist in residence and within two hours  did a workshop  to inner city
young people  eye to eye for an hour beneath the Royal Festival Hall.

The rest of the day is spent having coffee with a good friend in Soho and then a relaxed evening at home with The Journalist.