Even on the drum level, it's all about stating your theme, going back to certain things that need to be emphasized, not doing fills for the sake of doing fills.

Even on the drum level, it's all about stating your theme, going back to certain things that need to be emphasized, not doing fills for the sake of doing fills.

I think jazz is a wonderful learning tool.

I was really conscious of that when I went in because I felt that I was pretty solid on the first one, but I didn't have the groove exactly where I wanted it.

Sometimes the band can't fully hear your fill, so they come in differently. So I've also learned not to really step out too much, because you sacrifice the band when you do that.

I really just wanted to play the drum set and match that. I was never really into the percussion thing.

I'd take the syncopation and play swing, and then read the syncopation lines with my left hand.

It's all about theme and development anyway. That's what music is about.

When the songs pop out, that's like the climax of us building.

Jazz was more of a tool for me to use to enhance my musicality.

We've got many different sides of music to us.

But I've gravitated more towards the drum set.

When the snares don't hit together, it's just the most awful thing to hear.

We knew we wanted to put a lot of melody into it - a lot more than what we did on our first album.

Onstage, it's more of a momentary pressure.

I've always liked funk and rock and everything.

When I was young, I had one of those Yamaha drum machines, and I used to practice to that quite a bit, just to practice soloing and being in time and completing all my phrases.

I usually go with the first instinct, and then build upon that.

I write the music, produce it and the band plays within the parameters that I set.

Originalism is sort of subspecies of textualism. Textualism means you are governed by the text. That's the only thing that is relevant to your decision, not whether the outcome is desirable, not whether legislative history says this or that. But the text of the statute.

The U.S. news media have a critical role to play in educating the public about climate change.

It is not OK for anyone to be obese. There needs to be a cultural shift.

Don't fall into the trap of having to have everything perfect to write or wait until the mood strikes you. If you want it as a job, treat it like a job, and just as you don't go to work only when you feel like it, you have to condition yourself to sit and write even when the ideas don't flow.

Personally, I'm a V-neck guy.

So many people grew up in the church, and you can have an awesome upbringing, but I made a personal conviction; I made a personal decision when I was very young. I enjoy going to church without my parents. On Sunday mornings, I want to go. Bible studies on Wednesdays... I have a relationship - not just through my parents.

Philadelphia's a good science-fiction town. There are many professional writers here, like Michael Swanwick, Tom Purdom, Gregory Frost, Victoria McManus and others. There are professional artists such as Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger and Susan McAninley.

Everyone's struggle is different. Just because I wasn't struggling on the streets, it doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to struggle.

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.

I'm not a 'messiah' coming to change Washington. I don't come with a political background, so I think it's part of my responsibility to raise my hand and say 'Why?' Folks don't just want smaller government; they want an efficient small government.

It don't make no difference where I go or what happens, so long as I can play the full nine.

I knew I really made it when my dad saw me in London and after the performance he had no notes to me and just said 'You are doing your own thing and I am proud of you.'

What I'm trying to do is make photographs that are universally understood... that cross cultural lines. I want my photographs to be about the basic emotions and feelings that we all experience.

In football, the good thing is things can change in a second.

I covered the Vietnam War. I remember the lies that were told, the lives that were lost - and the shock when, twenty years after the war ended, former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara admitted he knew it was a mistake all along.

If ever you feel like an animal among men be a lion.

In my life, I have made the occasional catastrophic choice, and it's just a case of moving on and learning from it.

I can work on a verse for a very long time before realising it's not any good and then, and only then, can I discard it.

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.

I think theater is a core need of a community.

To frustrated Americans who have begun boycotting BP: Welcome to the club. It's great not to be the only member any more!

The deal looks bad and smells worse.

Universal was absolutely marvelous about sitting down with me and listening to my input. It wasn't something where they chose a bunch of songs that were best sellers. They did a marvelous job on the packaging. It's a beautiful tribute.