"One does their work for the people, and the more people you can touch, the more wonderful it is. You don't make work and say, 'I only want the cool people to read it.' I mean, fuck you! You want everyone to read it [...] Maybe you want to or maybe you want to write scripts for detective shows... it doesn't really…

It is an objective truth that Patti Smith is one of the coolest, most talented women in the entire universe. Don't believe it? Well, one, you are wrong and, two, check out these videos of her discussing her new album Banga. Did you know she cites the Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen as an inspiration?

Before you ring in the new year, ring in "Godmother of Punk" Patti Smith's 65th birthday!

Marina Abramović celebrated the end of her marathon MoMA show with a dinner in her honor, hosted by Givenchy. Ciara, Courtney Love, and Patti Smith all turned up — James Franco did, too — and Elle's Anne Slowey tweeted it.

• Some of Alexander McQueen's friends say that his suicide was not entirely unexpected. A few days before the death of his mother, he declared in a meeting that he "wasn't interested in making fashion anymore, that he hated it." [ToL]

• According to James St. James over at World of Wonder, who is Facebook friends with the actress, Drew Barrymore updated her Facebook status yesterday to announce that she's engaged, presumably, to boyfriend Justin Long. Congrats! [World of Wonder]

• According to the New York Daily News, insiders are claiming that Joe Francis was behind the now-infamous Casey Johnson and Tila Tequila engagement video, which, they claim, "was designed to hype Tequila's Francis-financed Web site." [NYDN]

You know it's fab when you see Anna Wintour and the Olsens. And that it's bizarre when you see Johnny Depp, Patti Smith, and Danny DeVito. "The Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit: A Tribute To Tim Burton" was both.

• Change! Stately old American Vogue is apparently seeking to revamp itself. Says Wayne Sterling, the mag wants "a new circle of models, an influx of fresh, young photographers and a desire for 'unpredictability' in the stories." Unpredictability. In Vogue. [TI]

[Icheon, South Korea, July 26. Image via Getty.]