The upheavals of adolescence silenced 'A Christmas Carol' for a few years. I became a firebrand atheist. Christmas - humbug! Too commercial! Then I became an agnostic. Christmas was a pro-forma affair basically a chore. Buy mother a book dad a new tie my brother and sister small gifts. Pretend thanks for the fountain pens and shirts I received.

So when I was 13 I basically left home and never returned and lived at home again. I would come home for a week at Christmas and two weeks in the summer only.

I've taught fifth-year Christmas leavers last thing on a Friday afternoon. Basically if you can face that you can face anything.

Basically women have to prove they are strong at all times. And then when they go on the attack they have to not appear mean because those women often get the label of being catty.

If I became a philosopher if I have so keenly sought this fame for which I'm still waiting it's all been to seduce women basically.

When I planned my wedding the first time my ex-husband and I we were both struggling comics. I had a TV show that had gotten cancelled. Basically I rented a wedding gown the reception hall smelled like feet.

I believe the war on terror is the vital discussion of this decade and of our generation probably. To win the war on terror you need a good offense and a good defense. On defense I regret to say basically this administration has not come close to doing what is necessary.

Al Jazeera aired a new tape of Osama bin Laden. It was the usual stuff he called Bush evil the Great Satan called him a war monger. Basically the same thing you heard at last night's Democratic debate.

The Macau casinos have a wonderful business it's taking in money from Chinese businessmen elsewhere who send it through junky companies to casinos to gamble. The growth continues and they have basically western managers and western accounting so we trust the numbers a little bit more.

And basically the sense of the 'Pledge to America' is this: Republicans understand when we were in charge we got fired in '06. We spent too much money. We defied the trust that the people had put in us. And we know that there is a better way.

There was once a time when art history and film were basically the same medium but art history is frozen in late-19th-century technology that has survived into the early 21st century.

People are naming it the Third Wave the Information Age etc. but I would say those are basically technological descriptions and this next shift is not about technology - although obviously it will be influenced and in some cases expressed by technologies.

Well the teacher I studied with for nineteen and a half years was a man named Paul Gavert. He was a great lieder singer so basically I'm a trained lieder singer because of that teacher. The teacher I currently study with - since 1995 - is Joan Lader who also studied with Gavert.

I'm blessed with a good pair of ears. That's how I fooled my piano teacher. I'd watch his fingers and I'd listen to it and I just kind of basically learned it by myself.

The only thing I can say about having this type of success is that you can get yourself in trouble because basically the world is set open for you. People will say yes to anything you ask so it's basically down to you and what you want or need.

And I watch 'Saturday Night Live' religiously I have since I was a little boy. I watch it basically like one of my favorite sports teams.

Even when I begin with a situation that's basically funny or sad I like to keep poking around in it. I like to get into the middle of a relationship to explore the subtle places.

Basically I'm a romantic.

I love romantic comedies or romantic dramas - basically anything with love in it.

My focus is always on the day. What I've done behind me I try to have respect for it and keep an eye on it and make sure it isn't abused and obviously be thoughtful about it because it's all real to me. I'm basically in every band I ever was in and the songs I still mean them all.

First and foremost I'm a feminist. And basically that stems from a strong belief that all people and creatures deserve equal opportunity rights and respect.

Basically fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon. In the same way that Hitler evoked a mythological religion of German purity and the glory of the past the Islamists use religion to evoke emotions and passions in people who have been oppressed for a long time in order to reach their purpose.

So basically my view is I don't want to support the exploitation of animals and within reason I will do what I can to avoid it but it's not like it's a religion for me. It's not like I consider I'm polluted if somehow some bit of milk or cheese or something passes my lips.

It's interesting now that basically a CG set is the same cost as a real set. So like if you're going to build a CG house in the suburbs it costs you $200 000. And if you were going to build it in a computer it'll cost you $200 000. It's the same... the relationship is exactly the same.