I think violence cynicism brutality and fashion are the staples of our diet. I think in the grand history of story-telling going back to people sitting around fires the dark side of human nature has always been very important. Movies are part of that tradition.

I love graphic design. I love working with design and I love storytelling so I've been working on a children's book for a while and I'd like to see that through.

When I was on a major label I felt obliged to say yes to every interview tour and whatever else. The label is always telling you 'This ain't going to last ' so I worked myself half to death. I learnt from that and I like to pace myself now.

I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead. and anyone who does not remember betrays them again.

Suicide is man's way of telling God 'You can't fire me - I quit.'

You know I had my mother and my father convincing me that he would be going back to Hollywood and he'd be back with the actresses and dating them and that he wasn't serious about me at all. So I had him saying one thing to me and my parents telling me something else.

But although Australia was also involved in the Vietnam conflict I can remember my dad telling us that if we were in Australia we wouldn't be drafted until we were 20.

Most young people haven't used their storytelling skills since they were 8 or 9 or 10 and wanted to persuade Mom and Dad to take them to the ball game.

As a dad I'm emotionally dedicated but I'm not 'figuring out their life plans'. But of course as I'm telling them about the rights of wrongs I'm thinking back to what I was like at their age.

I think in my case I had no choice but to have a good sense of humor. I grew up with my dad Danny Thomas and George Burns and Bob Hope and Milton Berle and Sid Caesar and all those guys were at our house all the time and telling jokes and making each other laugh.

My dad spent his whole life getting into fights for telling what he believed to be the truth. Basically it comes from my dad-and he's screaming right-wing so there you are.

Overcoming my dad telling me that I could never amount to anything is what has made me the megalomaniac that you see today.

My father was always telling himself no one was perfect not even my mother.

We are telling the American people to have patience courage resolve and determination.

Now that I finally have the time for it this web surfing stuff turns out to be as interesting and fun and addictive as you've all been telling me. Zipping from link to link chasing an idea across the noosphere sucking up information like a killer whale - way cool.

Am I really cool? You're telling me I'm cool? Well that's good to hear.

Being cool is being your own self not doing something that someone else is telling you to do.

It's populated by people who by and large have terrific communication skills. Every day is an extraordinary day. For me it was just a great area for storytelling.

Anyone can write a story based on the kind of horror where you see a guy in car and then there's the bad guy in the back seat. It's infantile to rely on that for telling a story. That's like going to bed and thinking there's a monster under your bed. It's silly.

My boyfriend keeps telling me I've got to own things. So first I bought this car. And then he told me I oughta get a house. 'Why a house?' 'Well you gotta have a place to park the car.'

I mean I'm in the business of storytelling not message making.

I also believe that government has no business telling us how we should live our lives. I think our lifestyle choices should be left up to us. What we do in our private lives is none of the government's business. That position rules out the Republican Party for me.

My father always taught by telling stories about his experiences. His lessons were about morality and art and what insects and birds and human beings had in common. He told me what it meant to be a man and to be a Black man. He taught me about love and responsibility about beauty and how to make gumbo.

I'm always suspicious of really beautiful women telling us we shouldn't be worried about beauty.