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Ringo on VH1's John and Paul movie, "The Two of Us" - US Weekly Interview, Issue 279, June 19, 2000 "What's all this drivel about it's just like the way they were? I said, 'No, I'm afraid I was there, and they weren't like that, and one of them is dead and can't defend himself.'"
(Entered June 6, 2000) One of John Lennon's pianos is at the center of a $1-million legal dispute, after it was sold for a fraction of its value. John and Yoko are said to have given the Baldwin grand piano to Sam Green back in 1979, to thank him for his help in their purchase of various art treasures. The piano, which features a small brass plaque engraved, "For Sam, Love From Yoko and John," was loaned to the New York Academy of Art in 1988 for use on special occasions. However, it was then allegedly sold in 1998 for a few thousand dollars, which didn't sit that well with Green. He demanded a $1,000,000 payoff. A similar John Lennon piano is expected to reach a seven-figure bid at auction later this year. The academy contends that the piano was a gift to them from Green, so it was rightfully theirs to sell. Why they chose to sell it for so little when they could have possibly sold it for so much more is a question only they can answer. (Entered June 6, 2000)
Harry has been documenting John's life for 40 years and is reportedly still in close contact with one of John's cousins, Stan Parks. If a previous "The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia" by Harry is any indication (see photo), this new book promises be filled with facts, dates, people, places and significant events in John's life. The John Lennon Encyclopedia is due out July 9. (Entered May 30, 2000) News Tip Courtesy of Jordan Scoggins -- The Yoko Archives Gigmania and Jazzfest are giving away tickets to a selection of the hottest shows at this year's festival.. online. Winners will receive a pair of tickets to one of the following shows: (All shows are at The Lawn at Battery Park)
6-02-00 Funky Meters, Me'Shelle Ndegeocello... Get all the details and click to enter the contest at http://gigmania.com/promo/jazzfest/tix.asp Related story: DJ Spooky Talks About Yoko (Entered May 30, 2000) The Sean Lennon web site Shadows On the Wall got some pretty good inside information about what Sean is up to..directly from the source. In Kitty's news section for May 29, Sean revealed that he is currently making demos of approximately 20 songs. Then he'll decide which ones to record on the new album. Sean told Shadows on the Wall that he wants the new album to be "way better" than "Into the Sun." He asked his fans to be patient as he works to produce the best record possible for them. In a second correspondence, Sean revealed that he is working on an instrumental album and comic book which will be released only on vinyl in Japan by Vacuum Records. Sean also recorded a song for a Spanish "South Park-type, alternative cartoon show" called "Motel Spaghetti." The song will be featured on that show, and a CD will also be made. Sean has spent the past year recording and touring with Cibo Matto (Updated May 26, 2000) Good news for those who rolled out of bed early Friday morning (May 26) to view the Sydney Opera House webcast live via Quicktime - the event will be archived on the Biennale site beginning May 29. Currently, there is a 100% stream of the event online at that site for viewers with 128K ISDN connections or faster. The webcast seemed to be a problem for most of the people IK! was in contact with. People complained of jumpy, blocky video, bad sound, long stretches of a frozen screen and more. IK! had the same trouble everyone else did - we were all set up and ready to go with the on-site test video having worked perfectly. But when it came time to click the "watch now" button, nothing happened. We clicked, clicked and clicked - and did everything we could think of to get connected with no luck at all. Then it was time for a fast Ex It to the radio station to watch the last half of the event on a computer with no sound. Streaming and webcasting are new technologies - as are pretty much all computer technologies. We're happy for the opportunity to even see a portion of the lecture, but are anxious for connections to improve in time for the next event!
More Biennale Stories:
About his latest musical project with Yoko and Moore, DJ Said, "The idea is to flip things around as much as possible. Yoko takes the same approach I do, combining music with art, and I'm a big fan of hers." DJ Spooky will be one of the performers at the Battery Park concert Saturday, June 3 with Yoko, Thurston Moore and others. (Updated May 23, 2000) Yoko is visiting Sydney, Australia to participate in the Sydney Biennale 2000. This several-week-long contemporary art event will carry on through July, but Yoko's participation happens this week with what has been called both a "performance" and a "lecture." In Yoko's case..a lecture is also a performance, based on the two that I've had the opportunity to attend. They were both fun, informative and intense. We have no idea what Yoko's plans are for the Sydney event, but in past lectures, Yoko has jumped off a ladder (demonstrating her flying techniques), crawled under a table (to find her comfort zone) and interacted with the audience to the delight of everyone in attendance. Yoko's special appearance at the Sydney Opera House will take place Friday, May 26 at 8:30 PM Australian time and will be available via live web cast using Quicktime 4. Check out the Sydney Biennale web site here for more details about the Biennale and to see a pretty cool picture of Yoko. Eight-thirty PM Aussie time converts to six-thirty AM in the Eastern United States. But there is a tricky little thing about Daylight Savings Time, which the Eastern U.S. is on - Australia is NOT on daylight savings time. This might mean the event will take place at 5:30 Eastern Time..but we can't be positively sure. If anyone out there is an expert on time zones, please contact us! To figure out what time the event will take place in your time zone..go here. The Biennale site will be running a test video so people can check their connections ahead of time.
(Entered May 22, 2000) There's been a discussion on the Yoko Ono listserv, Ono-Net, (find out how to join by visiting Ono Web ) about the identity of the man who is standing naked beside John and Yoko in a different version of the famous "Two Virgins" photograph. Was this third person a cameraman who helped set up the camera and remote? Was it an assistant? Or was it someone who used trick photography to insert himself into the origiinal picture? IK! has received an answer to this question, from someone who was there. Yoko replied to the "Three Virgins" question with the following: "I was told that there was a Two Virgins photo with another person standing beside us. Well, the only one I know is the one that a professor sent to us at the time, saying he liked the Two Virgins photo idea so much that he joined in. He was standing naked in the picture next to us! John thought it was funny, I didn't like it that much. The professor looked just as 'au naturel' as us, meaning, you knew he came from the preGym generation! Other people probably must have done it, too. This one the professor sent us was a huge photo -the size of a large poster- with a decent frame around it. I don't know where it went. We lost it." Yoko has reiterated to IK! that there was no one else being photographed with John and Yoko for the "Two Virgins" photo session. Jordan Scoggins ( The Yoko Archives ) told Ono-Net a picture with a third person standing in the photo with John and Yoko was published in the book: "Imagine: A Celebration of John Lennon." The picture, or one using the same trick photography idea, has been floating around since the "old days" because I can remember seeing it several years ago.
(Entered May 21, 2000) (Thanks to Sari Gurney for The Time Zone Converter URL) Yoko is on her way to Sydney, Australia to participate in the Sydney Biennale 2000. This several-week-long contemporary art event will carry on through July, but Yoko's participation happens this week with a lecture. The word "lecture" sounds...boring?... but Yoko's lectures are anything but. I've had the opportunity to attend two such lectures on art and they were unforgettable. Fun, informative and intense. Yoko's special appearance at the Sydney Opera House will take place Friday, May 26 at 8PM Australia time and will be available via live web cast using Quicktime 4. Check out the Sydney Biennale web site here for more details about the Biennale and to see a pretty cool picture of Yoko. Eight PM Aussie time converts to 6AM in the Eastern United States. Which means I'll have to get up a half-hour earlier than usual and hope the Quicktime 4 works on our computer. To figure out what time the event will take place in your time zone..go here.
(Entered May 14, 2000)
British Police Get Back Strawberry Fields GatesLONDON (Reuters) - Two gates stolen from a Liverpool children's home immortalized in the Beatles song ``Strawberry Fields Forever'' have been recovered from a scrap metal yard, British police said on Saturday. They were found the day after two thieves cut them down and loaded them into a van in full view of children playing in the Salvation Army home's grounds. The wrought-iron gates, which are eight feet high and 10 feet wide, have now been returned to the home. Inspector Julie Cooke, of Merseyside Police, said the yard's owner innocently bought the wrought-iron gates on Friday. But the Liverpool man, who has not been identified, suspected they were from Strawberry Field after hearing media reports about the theft and alerted police. Cooke told Reuters: ``Strawberry Field is known around the world and the amazing reaction that there's been in Liverpool to the theft helped us to recover them so quickly. ``We don't quite know why the gates were stolen as they're probably too famous to sell. But we believe the yard's owner bought them in good faith and he has been assisting us with our inquiries. The next step is to arrest the thieves.'' Police said on Friday that they had little information to go on -- they had only vague physical descriptions of the thieves and no registration number for the van. The gates have long been a stopping-off place for guided tours of Beatles haunts and thousands of visitors have been photographed standing alongside them. ``The gates were a shrine to John Lennon,'' said a Strawberry Field official. The gates are considered "priceless" to Beatles collectors and "invaluable." Growing up in his aunt's (Mimi Smith) semi-detached house in Liverpool, John as a young boy made the thickly wooded gardens of Strawberry Field his playground. The children's home was immortalized in song when the Beatles released ``Strawberry Fields,'' one of the group's best-known hits, as a single with ``Penny Lane'' in 1967. Beatles fans from all over the world travel to the home to pay homage to Lennon, scribbling their signatures on the gates, forcing staff to repaint them at regular intervals. (Entered May 14, 2000) Thanks to: Larry McGahey Thieves have stolen the gates from the Salvation Army Liverpool orphans' home immortalized in the John Lennon song, "Strawberry Fields Forever." The robbery happened Friday (May 12, 2000) morning. The culprits cut down the gates and loaded them into a blue van before speeding off. A spokeswoman for Strawberry Fields said,``They were a shrine to John Lennon.'' Fans from around the world have traveled to Strawberry Fields and written their names on the gates. The gates had been repainted many times because of the graffiti. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000512/re/beatles_theft_1.html (Entered May 8, 2000) Liam Gallagher of Oasis finally met with Yoko recently. Liam and his wife named their child Lennon, after John Lennon. Yoko had sent the couple a box of baby clothes late last year and both had agreed to meet someday. The pair reportedly met up after Oasis performed at New York's Radio City Music Hall this month. Yoko was in the audience with British singer and talk show host, Lulu. They went backstage after the show and an Oasis insider was reported to have stated: "They were getting on really well and he was asking her about John. Liam found it fascinating. She was desperate to meet him." Desperate? We doubt that..but sounds like they enjoyed their get-together. NME reported that Sean accompanied Yoko to the concert.
(Entered May 2, 2000) The recent Christie's auction of Beatles manager Brian Epstein's personal items did not reap the rewards that were expected. Among the 14 items up for auction were Epstein's diaries, a handwritten letter from Paul McCartney and an illustrated Christmas card from John Lennon. McCartney wrote the four-page letter to Brian in 1966 or '67 and in the text apologizes for the Coca-Cola stains on the pages. The letter was auctioned for approximately $8,500, quite a comedown from its estimated value of $15,000-$18,000. Similarly, the Christmas card from John, reportedly from 1966, is inscribed with the message "Happy Christian Brian from John." The card sold for approximately $8,400. Epstein's diaries sold for around $11,500, although their estimated value was $15,000-$23,000.
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Bill Harry, Beatles' friend and archivist since the early Liverpool days, is set to publish
a new book about John Lennon which will be an encyclopedia of facts.
In a Detroit Free Press profile of Detroit Electronic Music Festival artist, DJ Spooky
(Sunday, May 21, 2000) it was revealed that he will release an EP of his
collaborations with Yoko and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore by the end of summer.
