Willett.

On inspiration: I had a creative writing teacher who said that the Zen of writing is "You don't know what you're going to write when you start, you just allow yourself to start." On change: In between albums, if you really want to do something and change yourself, it's like you're a huge ship, and you're trying to turn it around 180 degrees. It takes a while, and it takes a lot of work. It's terrifying but liberating. On being an artist: I'm learning about that now - what it is to be an artist in your life. To be constantly changing and to be able to kind of put on one mask for a while, then take it off and put on another mask, I've always disliked musicians who are so self-aborbed that they can't see out of themselves and the world around them. I've kind of liked people who are very aware that they are trying on a persona. On our generation: We're very good at being cynical, and reading people's bullshit. But I think we've lost the ability to be sincere. People will always e able to connect with music, because it really pulls on their heart. But if they can live their lives in a way where they feel love and can show love and heart, and not be sceptical and afraid of it, that's the heart of our generation.

*Excerpt from frankie's Issue #40 interview with Cold War Kids' frontman Nathan Willett.

Ba-ba-ba-ryshnikov.

                                              

This is Mikhail Baryshnikov, arguably the greatest ballerino of the 20th century. Take a long hard look. Go on, linger over those muscles. What drew me to ballet was its perfection and elegance - which Baryshnikov reflects in his poise, persona and silhouette. Having started ballet lessons for the first time at age 19 (and just after the release of Black Swan) I have received a lot of criticism regarding my interest in the art. Just for the record, I did not start ballet because I saw Natalie Portman prance around in a tutu and then get eaten out by some chick. I am in love with the movement of ballet - the seamless transition from chassé to arabesque to pas de bourré and, as previously mentioned, the elegance and perfection associated with it. Ballet requires immense fitness, balance, and coordination and it will be a long time before I'm on par with The Russian, if ever. For now, I'll just swoon. 

Etchings from a body tortured.

c/o Yours Truly

Forever your girl.

c/o Yours Truly

You made me promises, promises.

Day 15 - still stuck on the couch. There is nothing but shit on TV, and I haven't heard a good song in a very long time. I'm so tired of the repetitive, unoriginal, predictable, steaming crap that bands come out with, and the clueless fuckwits that rave about how awesome the bass is or how insightful the lyrics are. "You're amazing just the way you are"; "Take a bullet straight through my brain"; "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag"; "Baby you're a firework"; "Where you came from, where you came from"; "Boom boom boom, even brighter than the moon moon moon". Really? Really? Come on you fucking wankers stop wasting your time taking drugs and write some fucking proper music. FUCK. "I just want to put some flowers right in your vase." HOW AMBIGUOUS! Like my dad always says: must have stayed up all night thinking of those lyrics. It might just be the fairy-floss shit that they play on Channel [V]. But I am not going to pretend to be a muso - I wouldn't even know where to look for up-and-coming artists or underground bands. That's where the talent seems to be, as much as I hate to admit it - because 'underground' has such a stigma attached to it. Only alterno-anti-pop-culture-hipsters who wear their grandparents' old clothes and big scarfs around their necks even in summer and black Doc Martens listen to underground music because they're too alterno-anti-pop-culture to listen to anything unless they are the first person to ever hear it. Well, I see their point. Mainstream is becoming more and more Mainfuckingterrible. Don't get me wrong though, there are some pop songs that are just so catchy you have to love them. I'm not ashamed to admit I rock out quite frequently to Kesha and Miley Cyrus. All I'm saying is, sometimes it would be nice to turn on the radio and hear something different, something that makes you stop what you're doing just to listen. Something you can classify as groundbreaking. A 21st century Bohemian Rhapsody, if you will. And then there's the pretentious fucks who write overly astute lyrics like  "Understanding is cruel the monkey said as it launched to space" and "Ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away" that seem perceptive but are actually absolute nonsense. 

Jesus the creativity is never-ending today. "I'm here for your entertainment". Where have I heard that before... "Let me entertain you"? No.. no that's not it.. those are two completely different ideas. "Can you handle" and "Heat it up" and all the variants are very popular too these days. Oh god save me now Short Stack are on. Oz Artist of the Year? Fuck off. Watching their guerilla gig. They cannot play live. Maybe I'm pretentious. Maybe I'm just jealous, because I haven't got a creative bone in my body. Maybe I could be a producer, I believe I atleast have the ability to differentiate self-indulgent tripe from musical genius, and that's much more than can be said for the majority of artists I've heard recently. 

Come back John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra. The music industry needs you.

Lover you shouldn't come over.

Salvador Dali is a genius. I absolutely love his works, concepts, ideas - everything that came out of that mustached mouth. His paranoiac-critical method was and is the height of avant-garde. I am trying to create my own surrealist work but there's not much you can do without a good camera or the strength to get off the fucking couch. Damn you, lymph glands!

Simply on my lips.

c/o Yours Truly