The attacks of September 11 - and subsequent acts of terror from London to Madrid to Fort Hood Texas - embody the most repulsive of human instincts the will to power at the price of the lives of others.

Everyone in L.A. is very positive and upbeat whereas London can get quite miserable at times.

Short of being prime minister there isn't a better job in British politics than running London.

London in the '70s was a pretty catastrophic dump I can tell you. We had every kind of industrial trouble we had severe energy problems we were under constant terrorist attack from Irish terrorist groups who started a bombing campaign in English cities politics were fantastically polarized between left and right.

No matter where I go - London Beirut Jerusalem Washington Beijing or Bangalore - I'm always looking to rediscover that land of ten thousand lakes where politics actually worked to make people's lives better not pull them apart.

As to London we must console ourselves with the thought that if life outside is less poetic than it was in the days of old inwardly its poetry is much deeper.

My relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra brought me many times to London and I will always reflect positively on that early period of development with them - their patience their warmth their dedication.

I start really missing London when I go away. I have a little flat but very central. I live above a pub and you'd think it'd be a nightmare but I like hearing the music and it's quite comforting.

I wake up every morning and I feel like I'm juggling glass balls. I live in Los Angeles my business is run out of London and most evenings I'm cuddled up in front of Skype in my dressing gown speaking with my studio in London. I travel a lot my team travel a lot but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Markets rebounded quickly from morning jitters after the London Thursday terrorist bombing.