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......

THEATER: In November, Tom Stoppard’s latest smash hit Rock ‘n’ Roll will transfer from London to Broadway (delighting Rushmore fans by bringing Brian Cox – AKA Dr. Guggenheim – in tow.) In the meantime, fans of our most intellectually dazzling living playwright can plug into Stoppard Goes Electric, an evening of three short teleplays that Stoppard penned for BBC early in his career. According to the Boomerang Theatre Company, which is producing the program, some......

MUSIC: Last week Craig Finn made a solo appearance amongst the books at Barnes & Noble, tonight he's with his rock band, The Hold Steady, playing another free show. Joining them are the Old 97’s, and newer band, Illinois. A triple-threat lineup with a can't-be-beat pricetag. 5:30pm // 7 World Trade Center [250 Greenwich St] // Free READING: Possibly known more for her role on Project Runway than her fashion direction with ELLE magazine, Nina......

What happens when Richard Serra doesn't sell a piece of art? It goes to Greenpoint, apparently. His current exhibit at the MoMA took a lot of manpower to set up, yet when Restless blog ran into one of his giant slabs of metal this weekend, there were only five workers moving it. I walked across the backside of Greenpoint to the subway this morning. I look under a new roll-up door and guess what?......

In 2005 fans of heavy metal were darker than usual when their mecca, L'Amour, closed up shop after a teenager was killed while diving into the mosh pit. The club had been going strong for two decades throughout which time they booked many rising stars - Metallica, for one. Any metal band worth their weight in black jeans and double-neck guitars soon stopped by to play, even after they had made it big (like KISS).......

Michael Hearst, of Brooklyn book-rock collective One Ring Zero, is the man behind Songs For Ice Cream Trucks. As such, he has single-handedly reinvented the timeless sound we often hear on the street during the summer, some with a tinge of nostalgia, some sprinkled with noir and all leaving you wanting seconds. Do you ever approach random trucks and give them your cd? Actually, I have on a few occasions, but it usually turns out......

Usually, if you want to see Brian Posehn you need to wait for a repeat of Just Shoot Me, Mr. Show, or The Sarah Silverman Program to come on, but on April 19th through 22nd you can head on over to Caroline's to get your Posehn fix. Gothamist decided to do a quick Q and A with Brian to find out what this comedy super star thinks of some of life's biggest issues, like religion,......

It's that time of the year again: When Hollywood honors its moviemaking the way it knows (and not always in equitable ways, given that Alfred Hitchcock nor Robert Altman, to name a few, have never won Directing Oscars) and America gets to watch hours of pre-show hosted by idiots. Giving commentary for Gothamist this year, Karen Wilson, Margaret Harper, and Jen Chung. 7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an......

Yesterday's Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing over 980 Madison Ave. was a relatively staid affair. On the second floor of the Surrogate's Court building on Chambers Street, Lord Norman Foster told the 150-plus audience that 980 Madison Ave. was about one thing: regeneration. But Foster, wearing a bubblegum pink tie, took it one step further, characterizing the Upper East Side as a neighborhood with "a tradition of radicalism." He compared 980 Madison Ave.'s role, architecturally,......

CELEBRATION: There's nothing like flowers to cheer you up in the dreary month of January. The Museum of Chinese in the Americas presents Arts in Full Bloom at 3rd Annual Lunar New Year Flower Market. The Flower Market reinvents tradition by incorporating performers and artists as the colors and fragrances of auspicious plants and blossoms linger in the air and atmosphere. The flowers are widely used decoratively as symbols of prosperity, fortune and abundance. Friday......

The Gotham Gazette has a good article about the state of our city's waterways. The good news is that they are less polluted than they used to be: Swimming and fishing are all right in the Hudson and East Rivers, too. "The water is cleaner now than it was ten years ago -- and by some estimates 100 years ago. It is perfectly safe and sanitary to swim in it," says the Manhattan Island......

David Yellen, Photographer...

Built to Spill was one of the biggest indie rock bands of the 90's, and one of the biggest indie rock bands ever. Many thought they were gone forever, but they're not. Before their new album comes out this September, they'll entertain us at four recommended NYC shows: Irving, Irving, Irving, Southpaw. Also still making music: Weezer (you were eleven years younger when you first heard "Buddy Holly"). They have a new album out......

As a band, Radio 4 (Greg Collins, Anthony Roman, Tommy Williams, Gerard Gerone, PJ O�Connor) has existed for about five years. As a concept, they�re about as old as the city from which they�ve sprung. In many ways, Radio 4 is the quintessential New York band. Understated yet vocal, cynical yet hopeful, blas� and yet undeniably excited by their peers, Radio 4 take the amalgam of sub-cultural emotions and meld them into danceable middle-finger......

On NY1, it's Staten Island Week, and the focus is on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which turns 40 this fall. NY1 has Gay Talese chronicling the bridge's history, a look at how the bridge changed Staten Island, and the crazy $8 toll. That toll does hurt, but the bridge is an elegant counterpoint to the Brooklyn Bridge's stone heft and the heavy metal (hee) workings of the other city bridges. Here's the MTA site on......

So if the heat gets to be too much for you this weekend, Gothamist suggests you escape to a nice air conditioned theater. There are plenty of options out there. Among those that are slightly below the radar but top on our list are: Riding Giants - Stacy Peralta's documentary about big wave surfing. The film does a great job at toplining the history of the sport and the wave footage is fierce. Metallica: Some......

We know you've been wondering, so we're here to tell you: Gothamist has moved "Coolfer's Music Picks" to the Gothamist Arts & Events section. We have to say the tip on Tribute Wars, a battle of the tribute bands (mainly heavy metal and hair) at B.B. King's, might be the most perfect thing to get drunk to. Also, Gothamist loves Coolfer's album sales wrap-up because we get to know that Wilco made the top 10......

Tricia Romano, Village Voice columnist...

Jessica Mintz, Wall Street Journal...