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(AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Cut Piece 2003
Paris, France

Sean was the first person to cut a chunk out of Yoko's dress during her 2003 "Cut Piece" performance Monday (September 15) at the Ranelagh Theater in Paris.

Yoko invited the audience of 200 to each take a turn snipping at her clothing with a pair of scissors in the name of world peace.  She asked the audience to send their piece of her clothing "to the one you love."

"Scissors usually have a violent connotation, but she turns it around to make it peaceful," said Katherine Williams, an 18-year-old Californian studying in Paris. "I think that's what she's saying — you can make peace out of violence."

"Following the political changes through the year after 9/11, I felt terribly vulnerable -- like the most delicate wind could bring me tears," Ono wrote in a presentation for the show. "Cut Piece is my hope for world peace."

Monday's performance marks Yoko's extended presence in Paris this autumn, with an exhibit, "Women's Room," running at the Paris Modern Art Museum through September 28.

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The lord mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Ron Gould, left, and Yoko Ono, smile during a ceremony which included the unveiling of a bench donated by the city of Liverpool in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in Central Park's Strawberry Fields in New York, Thursday August 28, 2003. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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UNSEEN JOHN LENNON FOOTAGE
To Be Auctioned in July

(At Right: Scene from film)

Private footage of John Lennon in a student film is to go under the hammer at Christie's auction house in New York in July.

The anonymous film student met the former Beatle on a New York street in 1974 and asked him if he could star in her film for the day.

Most of the footage has never been seen by the public before although a few excerpts have been used in documentaries.

The film shows John getting up to various antics, including imitating baboons to entertain children and taking over an ice-cream van. He is also seen dancing across benches, playing a bandstand organ, feeding monkeys and performing magic tricks.

John filmed for 12 hours but the 16mm reels have been edited down to 45 minutes.

Read more here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3020021.stm

YOKO ON DANCE SUCCESS


Photo by Ken McKay
from VH1.com

When asked if she was surprised to best Madonna and Justin Timberlake on the dance chart, Ono said age ain't nothing but a number when it comes to music. "I never counted their ages," she said of Madonna and Timberlake. "Each person has their own age, and experience counts. Maybe I'm not very experienced in this area, so I'm the youngest. In style maybe I'm more contemporary than some people."

"Music is an important thing ... but when you start to dance, the feelings carry this incredibly powerful energy," said Ono. "I'm kind of surprised that it was #1, but when I wrote the music I was thinking about dance. One thing I didn't have in mind at all was that it might be a big hit all these years later. I think that now[, like after John's death,] there's a feeling in the air that is rather tense and we're not sure about the future."

Read the whole story here:  VH1 Yoko Dance Mix News

John and Yoko Items In Auction
(Picture used by permission)

Cooper Owen house in London has announced a sale of John and Yoko items, which will end June 5.  You can bid for the items on ebay or at the cooperowen.com website.

The catalog reads:  Lot 257 Two prints of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, two photo-montages, a contact sheet and sheet of 'Bag Productions' notepaper, 1969

A black and white portrait print of John and Yoko by David Nutter mounted on board together with a page of bag productions notepaper featuring a vignette of John and Yoko kissing, accompanied by a contact sheet featuring the frame used in the print and on the notepaper with ten other black and white images together with another black and white portrait of the couple. Sold together with two photo-montages of John and Yoko also by David Nutter featuring them lying in a cloudy sky, the skyline of Euston Station's marshalling yard beneath them (including the engine shed which is now the famous London venue the Roundhouse) one black and white version, the other with a pink over exposed hue. Not sold with copyright. (6)
Various sizes.

£150-200

Other items:

258 Contact sheets featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono being interviewed, 9 May 1969 together with others featuring Paul McCartney
A collection of sheets of black and white frames featuring John and Yoko Ono being interviewed by David Wigg for the BBC, together with other shots from different interviews including one with Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. Comprising eight sheets of approx. thirty-five frames each and two other other part sheets featuring less frames. Not sold with copyright. (10)
Various sizes

£100-150

Over the course of 1969 David Wigg conducted individual interviews with all the Beatles for the Radio 1 programme 'Scene and Heard'. This lengthy interview with John and Yoko was broadcast over two editions of the series.

259 An extremely rare poster featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1969
One of the only existing promo posters featuring a sepia-coloured photograph by David Nutter of John and Yoko on the roof of the Apple Building published by photo-posters ltd. co Bag Productions, on hardboard. Not sold with copyright.
Measures approx. 20 x 30 inch. (50 x 76 cm).

£200-300

The poster was one of only 5000 originally produced by John and Yoko. However the day following the final printing John apparently ordered the entire 5000 copies to be destroyed. John had decided to become a macrobiotic vegetarian and as such felt it was inappropriate to be pictured wearing leather trousers. This lot was saved from the pyre on which almost all the other known copies burned.

270 John Lennon London Diary 1969 signed by John and Yoko
A fantastic copy of the tiny white covered diary full of John's facsimile entries and doodles, signed on the inside cover in black ink To Mario of Toronto with love from John & Yoko.

£1,400-1,600

224 Mounted page signed by John Lennon with other Beatles signatures signed by Neil Aspinall, possibly 1963
A page typed The Beatles Sunderland Empire - Saturday, 30th November, 1963 signed in blue ballpoint pen John Lennon and additionally signed Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the hand of Neil Aspinall. Matted with a sepia coloured picture of John playing guitar with Pete Best in the background.
Overall measurements approx. 11.5 x 16 inch. (29 x 41 cm)

235 John Lennon items to include an Apple hand out, 'Imagine' poster and rare 1991 anniversary calendar
A black and white Apple handout featuring John singing into a microphone, a black and white poster featuring a photograph of John at his white piano in Tittenhurst by Tommy Hanley together with an official calendar commemorating Lennon's 50th birthday which features a collection of his artwork. (3)

£50-60

254 John Lennon 'How I Won The War', lobby card, 1967
Belgium. Mounted, framed and glazed
Overall measurements approx. 21 x 16 inch (53 x 41 cm)

Commission bids can be placed on their website now at www.cooperowen.com and the auction will culminate with a live event at 23 Denmark Street, London on the 5th June at 4pm BST. 

Bids can also be placed on eBay at http://pages.liveauctions.ebay.com/catalogs/catalog5077.html.

NUMBER 9

Yoko's "Walking On Thin Ice" Dance Remix CD has dropped to Number 9 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart of May 17, 2003 after 10 solid weeks on that chart.  Way to go Yoko and all the dance DJ's who remixed the tune.  Dance on!

NUMBER ONE! 

Billboard's chart:

Gold, italicized, means greatest club play increases this week.

 Yoko Appears on Conan O'Brien May 3 - Boogie 'N Bag Time!!

Yoko was  a guest on the Conan O'Brien late night show May 3, 2003 on NBC.  Yoko danced out onto the stage while Conan's band played their instrumental version of "Walking On Thin Ice," prompting Conan to jump up and dance along.  (see photo)

Before Conan could ask her any questions, Yoko commented about how tall Conan is, and said he didn't look like a member of the human race, but rather more like a tree.  Then just as Conan was settling in to ask Yoko questions, she pulled out a black bag and instructed him to climb in.  He did as was asked, then Yoko climbed in after him.

Yoko helps Conan into the Bag...

Conan emerges half-dressed while Yoko stands next to him in the Bag

The audience was going wild as both Conan and Yoko began tossing articles of clothing out of the bag.  We could hear Yoko reassuring Conan that since he's a conservative guy, he didn't have to take off "all" of his clothes, but just what he felt comfortable with.  Conan protested when Yoko asked him to remove his socks, claiming he hadn't bathed.

Eventually, Yoko had lost her leather jacket, boots and socks and Conan had lost his shirt and shoes.   "Walking On Thin Ice" wasn't even mentioned, other than a reference to Yoko's music now being listened to by young people in dance clubs.

(From Live with Regis & Kelly, April 23, 2003)

Yoko made a rare live appearance on a U.S. t.v. chat show Tuesday morning (April 23, 2003).  Bounding onstage wearing a leather jacket, tight jeans and boots, Yoko joined Regis Philbin and the very excited Kelly for a short interview to promote "Walking On Thin Ice."  Regis pointed out that the dance hit mix featuring mixes of Yoko's most famous song by Pet Shop Boys, Danny Tenaglia and others, is Number Two with a bullet on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play charts.

During the interview, Yoko pointed out that "Walking On Thin Ice" was the final song that she and John Lennon were working on at the Hit Factory in New York City before John was killed.  Yoko said that John had told her "Ice" would be her first Number One hit.  She said since it didn't become Number One when it was first released in 1981, she figured John had simply been mistaken. But 20 years later, John Lennon's prediction could very well be coming true.


Regis asked Yoko if she goes to the clubs where her dance mix is being played and she replied that she does and that she loves to dance.  She said when Sean first mentioned throwing a party for her 70th birthday this past February, she said, okay, as long as she can dance.  She told Regis and Kelly that she danced until 2 AM that night.

***Click here for two more photos from the show***

(From Will Concannon, Onovox List-serv)

The new dance mix LP, "Walking On Thin Ice" is climbing Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play charts.  In its fifth week on the charts, in the April 12, 2003 edition, WOTI was at #10, a jump up from the previous week's #15.

YOKO VISITS JOHN'S CHILDHOOD HOME IN WOOLTON

(From icLiverpoolicnetwork.co.uk)

The Daily Post reported that Yoko planned to meet with members of John Lennon's family on Thursday (March 27, 2003).  She is holding a special thank you lunch to reward those who helped her open John's childhood home, Mendips, to the public.

Liverpudlian civic leaders have also been invited, as well as representatives of the National Trust, current owners of the house.

Mendips will be officially opened to the public on Saturday, March 29.

Yoko purchased the house from a private seller, then donated it to the National Trust for the benefit of everyone who is interested in seeing how John Lennon spent the early years of his life, while living with his Uncle George and Aunt Mary Smith (better known as Aunt Mimi).  The house has been restored to look as it did when John lived there.

PEOPLE" Magazine Features Yoko at 70

The March 31, 2003 edition of the United States' weekly, PEOPLE, has a really nice story with new photos of Yoko at 70.  Yoko is quoted as saying, "People think that their world might get smaller as they get older.  My experience is just the opposite.  Your senses become more acute.  You start to blossom."

The article focuses on Yoko's personal life, including the story of how she lost her daughter, Kyoko, and then was reunited with her in the 90's.  Yoko: "When Kyoko appeared finally, I was totally in shock.  It felt like the part of me that was missing came back."

As for Sean, Yoko has a very close and warm relationship with her son.  Despite the obvious problems of being the son of two very famous parents, Sean says he feels blessed to have parents "who have inspired me to explore artistic avenues and to challenge authority and think for myself."

Among the 70th birthday greetings she received was a bouquet of white flowers from Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach and a card from Paul McCartney. George Harrison's widow, Olivia and son Dhani, sent Yoko a crystal.  Olivia: "Yoko has been tremendous support. The end of George's life was peaceful and beautiful.  We were able to say so much more than goodbye, but John was robbed of that.  The fact that Yoko is not only still standing but leading a creative and interesting life is inspirational."

John's Hometown Kids Stand Up - and Walk Out For Peace


The icLiverpool website reported March 21, 2003 that hundreds of schoolchildren across Mersey walked out of class on Thursday in protest of the war in Iraq.

Mark Hookham of the Daily Post staff reported that approximately 150 pupils left Calderstones School at 11 AM and marched into Liverpool's city center.  They were joined by girls from St. Julie's RC High SChool in Woolton and later by students from the University of Liverpool, John Moore's University and Liverpool College.

The group of 250 protesters held a sit-down protest outside Street Station at 2 PM, blocking traffic.

The march moved through the city before a second sit-down protest of around 60 people was held at the top of Church Street.

One young student, Dane Farrington, 16 from Calderstones School refused to stay in class.  He said: "This is something I felt was important. Innocent people are going to be killed so I wasn't going to listen to my teachers."  Disciplinary action was planned for the students who walked out of class.  The headmaster of the school claimed the children left class just to play hooky, when they "have no deeply held convictions on the Iraq situation."  Carmel Brown of the Mersey-side Stop the War Coalition said the students protested spontaneously and, "If schoolchildren in Britain want to stand up for the rights of their contemporaries in Iraq, then we should applaud them."

From March 17, Daily Mirror

By Helen Cook

PAUL Weller topped the bill of British pop acts protesting against war with Iraq at a concert. They performed against the backdrop of a screen which said "One Big No".

Weller, 43, said: "Tony Blair's an idiot. We waited 18 years for a Labour government and now they're taking us into a war. It's a disgrace that they are not listening to their own people or the UN. It shows up the idea of democracy, we are a totally undemocratic nation."

The former Jam singer said the Mirror's anti-war campaign was "brilliant".

Coldplay's Chris Martin, Ian McCulloch, Beth Orton and Ronan Keating also performed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on Saturday.

There were video messages from Sir Elton John and Yoko Ono and speeches by George Galloway MP and director Ken Loach.

From ONOVOX - Thanks to Will Concannon

In its third week on the Billboard Club Play Chart, The MindTrain/Twisted release of "Walking On Thin Ice" is at #20.  In its second week, March-22, "Walking On Thin Ice" was showing as #26.  Yoko's dance remixes have definitely found an audience.

From ONOVOX - Thanks to Richard Layne

The Pet Shop Boys website (http://www.petshopboys.co.uk) has issued the following press release about the UK release of Yoko's remixed dance version of "Walking On Thin Ice."

YOKO ONO HITS NO 1 BREAKOUT ON BILLBOARD CLUB CHART.

"WALKING ON THIN ICE", REMIXED BY PET SHOP BOYS, RELEASED ON PARLOPHONE ON
APRIL 21.

YOKO ONO's single "Walking On Thin Ice" this week is the No 1 breakout track on the Billboard dance chart and will be released in the UK by Parlophone (through Mind Train Records) on April 21. The track, composed by Ono, was originally released in 1981 and has remained an underground classic since then. Since Larry Levan of the famed Paradise Garage first introduced it on the global club circuit, his devotees (including Danny Tenaglia, Francois Kevorkian and Joey Negro) have surprised a succession of packed
dance floors by dropping the song into their set, to amazing responses.

Largely unavailable since its initial release, "Walking On Thin Ice" now appears in a new guise, remixed by Pet Shop Boys, Danny Tenaglia, Felix da Housecat, Peter Rauhofer, Rui Da Silva, Orange Factory and house music legends Francois K and Eric Kupper.

In the UK, Pet Shop Boys' remix will be the 7" single.

Neil Tennant says; "We always thought 'Walking On Thin Ice' was an amazing song and it's a real honour to have the opportunity to do a new version of it with Yoko".

The single is released in the US on Mind Train/ Twisted Records.

"Walking On Thin Ice" is perhaps the definitive Yoko Ono composition, easily her most accessible and best-known recording. The past few years have seen Yoko's work discovered by a new generation of musicians and artists, who have gone on record stating that they were heavily influenced by her pioneering work. Artists as diverse as David Bowie, the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Moby, Siouxsie Sioux, Primal Scream and The Strokes are all fans of this incredible artist who has now reached a new generation with a
succession of remixes, firmly placing her at the cutting edge of dance culture - at the age of 70! Indeed The Strokes, Mos Def and Moby recently joined friends and family of Ono at a party in New York to celebrate her 70th birthday.

Ono will be appearing at a few surprise dates in UK clubs in March or April, following on from her amazing appearance last year at Crash in London, where she played her new version of "Open Your Box". She has been doing similar appearances in New York and Miami with dj legend and Ono fan Danny Tenaglia.

"Walking On Thin Ice" was originally recorded during sessions for John and Yoko's "Double Fantasy" album but, contrary to recent tabloid reports, it is not John Lennon's last song - rather a Yoko Ono song that was finished and released after John's death.

Of her new adoption by the dance community Ono says; "It feels like a new beginning for me. I am thrilled that this new generation has adopted my music and is helping me move it on in the exploratory spirit in which is was originally created. I am very grateful to everyone who is showing me support".

PEACE CAMPAIGN 2003

(March 12, 2003)

Yoko paid $42,000 for a full-page ad in today's San Francisco Chronicle, because "it is a pretty urgent message," she said by e-mail Tuesday. "It is my contribution to the community."

The San Francisco version of Ono's message is "Imagine Peace Spring 2003." 
Yoko has taken out identical or similar ads making brief statements in last week's Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly and the Village Voice, and another will appear in the Washington Post this weekend.

Yoko has a special fondness for San Francisco, as it was the first city she saw when she arrived in the United States at the age of 2-1/2.  After John Lennon's murder in 1980, Yoko thought about moving permanently to San Francisco, but decided to keep her home base in New York City.

Yoko told the Chronicle:

"All of us, the members of the human race, are responsible for our fate in the future. We do what we can do. . . . Everything you think and do affects our world. If you are in peace, you are already part of the peaceful world. Big kiss and hug to each one of you. y.o. 2003."

Full Story *Here*

Danny Tenaglia, Arc disc jockey, recently remixed Yoko's "Walking On Thin Ice" as part of the ongoing project to introduce Yoko's music to the rave crowd. An album of remixes, featuring Mr. Tanaglia and other popular club D.J.'s, will come out later this year or in 2004, said Rob Stevens, managing director of Mind Train records.

"Walking on Thin Ice," which is to come out as a commercial single on March 25, is the fourth song from the remix project. Besides Mr. Tenaglia's version, the single includes remixes by the Pet Shop Boys, Felix Da Housecat, Peter Rauhofer, FKEK, the Orange Factory and Rui Da Silva.

"I always had such a feeling of being an outsider," Yoko told New York Times reporter, John Leland. "The club audience seemed to understand me. I thought I was far out, but they're far out in their own right."

Read the NY Times story here.

FROM YAHOO NEWS
Thanks to Larry McGahey

PORTLAND, Maine - Yoko Ono has agreed to be the commencement speaker at the Maine College of Art's graduation ceremony in May, the college has announced.
College president Christine Vincent said graduating seniors selected Ono as the commencement speaker because "she embodies their ideals both as an artist and as a citizen."

"As a pioneer in conceptual art, Yoko Ono exemplifies the artist as innovator, risk-taker, leader and global citizen," Vincent said.

The school's graduation ceremony will take place May 18 at Portland City Hall's Merrill Auditorium.

K! received the following message from the Sacred Earth Society
http://SacredEarth.org which provides information on Saving
the Earth and making the world better for humans and animals. Dr. Helen Caldicott suggests the Pope as a Human Shield.