In France cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.

We thought it would be fun to try to design a show that would work well internationally and so that' s what we're intending to do with Fraggle Rock and we are indeed now selling it around the world.

Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them.

An important consequence of freeing oneself from the fear of death is a radical opening to spirituality of a universal and non-denominational type.

In our brief national history we have shot four of our presidents worried five of them to death impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails we hold an election and assassinate their character.

My dad was the district attorney of New Orleans for about 30 years. And when he opened his campaign headquarters back in the early '70s when I was 5 years old my mother wanted me to play the national anthem. And they got an upright piano on the back of a flatbed truck and I played it.

Our young people have come to look upon war as a kind of beneficent deity which not only adds to the national honor but uplifts a nation and develops patriotism and courage.

The 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium which I helped to conceive is designed to embody the Olympic spirit of 'fair competition.' It tells people that freedom is possible but needs fairness courage and strength.

I was asked to do a test commercial shoot for an Apple product which didn't mean much to me at the time. Some music player that holds all your songs. Sounded cool to me and I never gave up an opportunity to work especially with the possibility of it turning into a national commercial. Coolest job I did in that time.

That is who Barack Obama is - a person of admirable character - and that is who he has remained for me over these last four years. I have not agreed with his every decision but never once have I seen him break his cool lose his composure or abandon his insightful perspective - even during the most serious and/or absurd national disasters.