If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created not just as it looked when we got through with it.

Happy is the person who knows what to remember of the past what to enjoy in the present and what to plan for in the future.

And remember it's also very funny because side by side with grief lies joy.

I remember interviewing someone I actually felt bad for and therefore didn't want to take an ironic stance against him. It actually turned out to be a really funny piece.

When I turned about 12 or 13 I realised that being funny wasn't about remembering jokes. It was about creating them.

I auditioned for a solo in church and got it. I was about seven and I sang a song called 'Jesus I Heard You Had a Big House' and I remember people standing up at the end and me thinking 'Oh I think I'm going to like this.' That's how it all began. Sounds funny to say you got your start in church but I did.

I remember listening to the radio as a kid and finding that the songs always made me feel more peaceful. Funny but the more hurtin' the music was the better it made me feel. I think of that now when I write my songs. I may not be feelin' the blues myself but I'm writing them for other people who have a hard life.

It's funny when people talk about the 70s I can tell you the year of every album but when it comes to the later efforts I can't remember the exact years it's funny isn't it?

Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.

No writing musicals is the hardest thing in the world. And it was really funny because I remember when the South Park movie came out there were some critics that said 'Well it's obvious that in order to get it to be 90 minutes they filled some time with music.'