Results tagged “yokoono”

Are you ready to hear 16 hours of Beatles tunes live... on the ukulele? Well, you have over a month to get ready. This December 5th and 6th, a two-day benefit for Yoko Ono will take place, featuring 185 Songs (the entire Beatles catalog), 60 Singers, 40 Musicians and 16 Yokos.

              

This morning we got to check out the new exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex, called John Lennon: The New York City Years. Opening to the public tomorrow, the exhibit presents exclusive artifacts from the life and work of the former Beatle, as well as never-before-seen items that uniquely commemorate Lennon’s life in New York City.

       

This coming week, throngs of John Lennon fans will come together once again to celebrate his life and remember the day that he was murdered outside of his home at the Dakota. The Beatle was shot on the night of December 8th (28 years ago this Monday) by Mark David Chapman (who was just denied parole again). Shortly after, he was pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital, and was later cremated in Hartsdale, New York. Today, those who loved and admired him continue to commemorate his life.

     

Last night (on what would have been his 68th birthday), the Openhouse Gallery in SoHo opened their exhibit "Imagine Peace," displaying over 100 of John Lennon's drawings.

Following yesterday's news of Mark David Chapman's latest chance for parole coming up this week, The Daily News chimes in with some more from Yoko Ono. She has, naturally, long been against her husband's killer being released, for her family's safety, but has also stated that: "It's dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself. There are so many people out there who dislike him. It's safer for him to stay in jail." He's been behind bars since he shot John Lennon four times in the back in 1980, and chances are that's where he'll stay. Meanwhile, Ono has been in the Hamptons keeping her late husband's name alive and promoting "Come Together, a show that will look at John's life through his artwork." Hundreds of pieces will be on sale, most of of which were "published after he died, and the majority are signed by Ono." Proceeds will go towards the Human Resources of the Hamptons. UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, Chapman was denied parole (he'll be up for it again in around two years), the board stated his release "would not be in the best interest of the community."

The Daily News takes a look at Mark David Chapman's time behind bars at New York's Attica Correctional Facility; the man who killed John Lennon is up for parole for a fifth time this week. In 2000, Yoko Ono wrote a letter to the parole board, referring to Chapman only as "the subject" and asking that he not be released because "With his one act of violence in those few seconds, [he] managed to change my whole life, devastate his sons, and bring deep sorrow and fear to the world." She recently reiterated those sentiments, and fears that his release would leave her family unsafe--the board has also received around 50 letters from Lennon fans this time around.

Yoko Ono is not going to be too pleased with this: it turns out John Lennon was quite happy during his infamous "Lost Weekend" period. The "weekend," which lasted 18 months (during 1973-75), was a separation from Ono, where he spent nearly two years with the couple's one-time employee May Pang (in both LA and NYC).

After news spread that Upper West Side institution Cafe La Fortuna would close today, many people came by to bid farewell.

It would a bit too simplistic to blame the impending closure of La Fortuna, the Upper West Side café that first opened in 1976, entirely on the skyrocketing rents of a turbo-gentrifying neighborhood. While the ever rising rental tide was certainly a factor – the building was taken over by a real-estate group after the previous landlord died – three years still remained on the lease. According to amNY, the closure has more to do with the death of the original owner’s wife last month:

Vincent "Uncle Vinny" Urwand called the cafe a dream come true for him and wife Alice, who was the "heart and soul" of the place. Alice died in January, and it was hard, Urwand said Thursday, to think of the place without her.

Yoko Ono isn't showing an ounce of compassion for heavy metal musician (and Suicide Girl) Lennon Murphy, who was named after the late Beatle by her mother. Ono is now suing the musician for "tarnishment" of John Lennon's name, "fraudulently" registering the name as a trademark and intentionally exploiting it. Lennon has been using her first name professionally since 1997, and in 2000 (when signed with Arista Records) she cleared the use of the name with Ono. Seems Ono has changed her tune over the years.

Last year two biopics about John Lennon's assassination made the festival rounds, and are now poised to hit theaters in 2008. One, titled Chapter 27, stars Jared Leto as Mark David Chapman and an actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman portraying John Lennon. While it may be an accurate casting to have Leto playing someone who kills music, his involvement in the film will likely have us choosing the second biopic, The Killing of John Lennon (trailer below).

For the second year running, the Food Bank for New York City and the Lunchbox Fund of South Africa have enlisted over 100 celebrities in their holiday fundraiser. Boldface names like Kanye West, Elton John, Cameron Diaz, Mike Meyers, William Wegman and, um, Urban Outfitters, have created personalized, autographed lunchboxes that are now onsale via online auction. At Thursday night's kick-off event at Saatchi & Saatchi, a lunchbox by Michael Stipe was snatched up...

Sure, September 8th may seem like it's ages away as we slowly sweat our way through the summer, but the Deitch Art Parade is just around the corner. Even though it's taking place on the aforementioned date, the deadline for submissions is July 20th.

Recently Rolling Stone took a 60-second tour of The Beatles' New York, with a little help from Google’s Street Maps feature.

MOVIE: By now you've all seen, memorized and lived your own version of neurotic New York love story Annie Hall, the classic Woody Allen film that's stood the test of time. But have you seen it under the open night sky? Didn't think so. Get there early for a seat. Get there even earlier for knitting lessons!

TRIVIA: Think you know a lot about New York? Come "challenge your knowledge of New York places, faces, dates and facts at the New York Book Club’s first trivia night. Special guests Steve Zeitlin and Marci Reaven, authors of Hidden New York and directors of City Lore, will be on hand to explain and educate." They warn you to bone up on your trivia at www.citylore.org and www.placematters.net beforehand.

"Some Time in New York City" was released in 1972 as John Lennon's third post-Beatles album (and his fifth with Yoko Ono). Critically and commercially the album didn't do well, especially compared to Lennon's previous albums. "Imagine" had just come out in the 1971, and comparatively this one was brash, loud and more reflective of his political and new geographical surroundings at the time, in Greenwich Village.

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

In the ongoing story of Yoko Ono and her driver, Koral Karsan has pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted grand larceny after originally claiming he did not try to blackmail Ono. More specifically, he admitted to the letter he wrote to her threatening to release embarrassing recordings and photos if she did not pay him "more than $3,000." The amount is the minimum he could confess to while pleading guilty to that charge.

The Times reports that "Yoko Ono’s chauffeur was so stressed by his job that eight of his teeth fell out because he was grinding them at night." This is what Karsan told Ono's lawyer during a recorded conversation.

The two page blackmail letter that Yoko Ono's driver, Koral Karsan, wrote in hopes of receiving $2M from her, was released yesterday. Karsan's lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, filed it with Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel FitzGerald.

(Siles Press), which scored a blurb from Yoko Ono and set off debate within the chess world about the need for gender segregation. In the book, which features Shahade clad in a pink wig, scarf, and gloves on the cover, she examines high-profile female chess players from countries as farflung as Zambia, Russia, and China, examining the ways various governments support and nurture budding champions and how chess is or isn't valued, both financially and otherwise. She shares her own experiences studying with the likes of Garry Kasparov, and ultimately argues in favor of more women playing more chess, whether it's in all-female tournaments or mixed ones.

The man accused of extorting his employer, Yoko Ono, for $2 million managed to raise money for his $250,000 bail, but is still in jail. Friends of Koral Karsan, who the Manhattan DA's office says threatened the lives of Ono and her son Sean Lennon as well as reveal Ono's personal details, put up the money, but the prosecutors are reviewing where the money comes from. While Karsan's lawyer says the money is from friends who are not criminals, the DA's office had made a point of noting that Karsan, who allegedly told Ono he was moving to Turkey, was an "extraordinary flight risk."

Yesterday news came out that Yoko Ono's driver, Koral Karsan (pictured), tried to extort $2M from her. Today the story unfolds, as he was brought in for questioning.

Dad, Broadway and 44th, by Mexican Pictures.

Today many will gather at Strawberry Fields in Central Park to hold vigil on the anniversary of the death of John Lennon, which took place 26 years ago today. The NYCLU has asked the city to lift the ban on music at Strawberry Fields for every day of the year, not just twice a year for Lennon vigils.

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did.

Yoko Ono has taken out a full page ad that is running in today's New York Times, which you can find in the back of the Week in Review section. The ad (above) asks that December 8th, the day that John Lennon was killed, become a day of healing and helping others. She writes:

The divergent fates of two historic stable buildings on the Upper West Side crystallized yesterday, following votes by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The former New York Cab Company Stable on Amsterdam and West 75th Street (pictured, right) will survive as a designated historic landmark, while the former Dakota Stable, just up the street at West 77th and Amsterdam (pictured left), will be demolished to make way for a new condominium building to be designed by the architect Robert A.M. Stern.

Since the new movie just came out, John Lennon is on the mind. We found this clip from August 30th, 1972. On that date John Lennon and Yoko Ono (backed by the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band) performed at Madison Square Garden for a benefit concert. This was their last performance together.