When you look at Japanese traditional architecture you have to look at Japanese culture and its relationship with nature. You can actually live in a harmonious close contact with nature - this very unique to Japan.

You know 'The Golden Girls' was a very unusual show to start on. I was young and it was a show about old people and it was a very traditional show but it was also an amazing training ground for a joke-writer. It forced me to learn those skills.

When you're doing the traditional musicals singing songs that are 40 and 50 years old you realize there's a reason why those musicals are hits. These are amazing songs!

Former President Bill Clinton who is widely regarded as a political mastermind may have sounded like a traditional liberal at the beginning of his term in office. But what ultimately defined his presidency was his amazing pliability on matters of principle.

Traditionally Medicare's assurance has been that for the elderly and persons with disabilities that they will not be alone when confronted with the full burden of their health care costs.

Young people discovering their sexuality must know they walk with a strong tradition and that they are not alone. They have a right to information without being pressured.

I do not come bearing a party label on my sleeve - or a quick fix in my back pocket. I do not come with a rigid ideology in my heart - or a soul that tells me to go it alone. I do not come to uproot tradition - or to be imprisoned by it.

These days too many of us seem inclined to cover our ears close our eyes and blindly follow the most narrow conservative tenets of religion or else seek comfort in the ancient traditions of New Age ritual.