John Lennon’s ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’; Piano, Bob Dylan Lyric Sheets Head to Auction

John Lennon's Sgt. Peppers era home piano, used by the Beatles legend to compose "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life," among others, is set to hit the auction block December 10th as the marquee item in Sotheby's "A Rock & Roll Anthology: From Folk to Fury."

The red-and-black John Broadwood and Sons cottage upright piano, which was housed in Lennon's Kenwood home when he was writing songs for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is estimated to sell for between $1.2 and $1.8 million; Lennon's "Imagine" piano, featured on the 1970 classic, sold at auction for $2.1 million in 2000.

Lennon's Sgt. Pepper's piano comes with a plaque, installed by Lennon in 1971, denoting that the instrument was used to pen "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "A Day in the Life," "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "Good Morning Good Morning."

Courtesy of Sothebys

 The "From Folk to Fury" auction also includes unique Bob Dylan items like the singer's autographed final manuscript for "Blowin' in the Wind," featuring Dylan's handwritten corrections and signature "Bob Dylan 1962."

Four handwritten versions of Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" are known to exist; the one hitting the block at Sotheby's, estimated to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000, is the July 1962 version used by Dylan to record The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan track.

Dylan and the Band's Rick Danko's typed manuscript for "This Wheel's on Fire," with handwritten edits presumably by Danko, will also hit the auction block with a $60,000 estimate. Sketches that Dylan drew of Joan Baez, as well as sketches Baez made of Dylan, are also available at the auction.

Courtesy of Sothebys

Other notable items include the Eagles' original, handwritten manuscript for "Hotel California," featuring lyrics penned by both Don Henley and Glenn Frey and estimated to sell for between $500,000 and $700,000.

Original paintings by David Bowie, a cache of Lou Reed's Velvet Underground lyrics, Jim Morrison's 1971 handwritten notebook, John Lennon's Help! jacket and Johnny Rotten's lyrics for the Sex Pistols' "Problems," penned on Malcolm McLaren's office stationary, will also be auctioned off.

Read the original article here on Yahoo Music

'Going Bananas over Bananistan'

Here is what they said on their official Facebook Event Page.:

"It's the year 2030, and the country is under a full martial law. Things are at peace and prosperous, political players are all in different professions, and the media is on complete lock-down and only theater is allowed now as a means of entertainment. When a production loses its entire cast in a tragic accident ten days before opening night, they have to take drastic measures to recast the show. Watch the mayhem unfold as the worlds of theater and politics collide in this new comedy, as everyone scrambles to make the show a success - a relative term for those involved. After all, what impact can a play actually have?"

So what happens in Bananistan?

Tell you what, I was expecting a play that has lame punch lines over politics jokes that we've been hearing for years with actors we repeatedly see on TV. But No.

I was surprised by the  uncanny resembling costumes and makeup and hilarious impressions. This play made me think why our politics is on a repeat mode. Everyone gets a share, everyone gets their part in making or breaking the country. They retire and then they come back to ruin us some more. 

Bananistan shows exactly what happens to us every day in the politics of our country and brings out the tidbits of fun and humor all mixed in one. Mustapha Chaudhry was outstanding. I couldn't keep my face straight!

In the press conference, Saqib Sumeer said that it was difficult for them to write down Bananistan as they had to make it resemble people we know while making them entirely new. It took them 3-4 months to perfect the script.

Another exciting fact about this play is the way it has included Ahsan Bari's genius music mind in the presentation. And that's not it, this play will be the longest running play in Pakistan as this year, Kopykats has aimed to grace Faisalabad, Multan and Sialkot as well as Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi with their performance.

"Our sole purpose is Entertainment", said Dawar, the creative genius and the person behind Bananistan. He also stated that in the next 2 years, they launch 5 plays in collaboration with Telenor.

The element of grace came when Iman Shahid hit a note so beautiful, that everyone in the audience paused for good 15 Seconds and then burst into an applause. Dawar has indeed picked the best for the play. 

Every actor in the theater play represented the best of their expertise and It was enlightening to see the revival of Theater and art. Tickets are going all out as everyone wants to see the marvel of comedy presented at National Library of Pakistan. The show will continue till 4th December 2016.

I'm proud to tell you that Beyond Sanity Publishing is one of the media partners and will be publishing interviews with the cast soon!

To know the details, call or text 0321-2049423 or visit Facebook.

Learning to live in Peace-One step at a time

Peace is proving to be one of the most endangered elements on our dear planet these days.
Why? Because instead of tolerance and patience, we are choosing to fight, ignore and blame each other.
Every day more of us become victims of extremism and violence. 

Peace, something the whole word is craving for at the moment. In a world like this, where seasons go by, loved one's bid farewell and the innocent blood goes worthless- we need a break. To be more precise, we owe a lot to this world. Yet, we sit back and let it deteriorate gradually. Why?

Indifference is productive as long as things are not under one's control but, when they are, why don't we contribute some part?

This world is heading towards an unfathomable end. The earth weeps each day when a drop of innocent blood hits the ground. The Mother Nature- the trees, herbs, and shrubs, the mountains and seas; complain mankind for each wound Humans inflict upon them.

Pakistan is a third world country. Incompetent in a lot of areas, but illiteracy itself is not the factor behind it. Terrorism is at its peak in Pakistan. People have even forgotten what peace is like? In fact, we hardly remember when was the last time we witnessed peace in our country.

The one thing every culture, every artist, every tradition, every musician, every nation promotes is Peace. This world needs to focus on the significance of tolerance and peace because that is what transforms our decisions in the real world. We step according to the political stability, economic stability, finances etc. but most of all, if we see ourselves surrounded by components that invoke extremism or terror rather than peace and harmony, we are reluctant to take any decision. 

Unfortunately, it is not just about Pakistan but all other countries around the globe where roots of barbarism are spreading deeper and deeper. In this situation, at least we, the youth of Pakistan, need to pull in the reins and start working towards eliminating violence as much as possible. Be it through writing, workshops, processions or social media promotion. In a nutshell, peace has to prevail and the opposite has to be annihilated.

We are not perfect, we rely on our perceptions and studies to determine how we 'SHOULD' act, or how we CAN bring peace when what we really should be doing is looking at ourselves and how we can change our surroundings by changing OURSELVES. 

'Gnothi Seauton'

(Greek) 'Know Thyself'

Article by Beyond Sanity Publishing for Peace Without Borders