Oops!
In January, assistant coaches Scott Coy and Darren DeMeio, of the Westminister College (New Wilmington, Pa.) football team, who were in Nashville, Tenn., for a coaches’ convention, were seriously injured during 4 a.m. horseplay-wrestling at their hotel. The men, who weigh a combined 525 lbs., crashed through the double-paned window in their fourth-floor room and…
Least Competent Criminals
Not Ready for Prime Time: John West, 20, and Ashley Sorensen, 20, were arrested in Auburn, Calif., in January after allegedly stealing the tires and rims off a car. The pair had put the tires on their own car and then violated a cardinal rule by returning to the crime scene, to see if the…
Recurring Themes: Dogs Causing Trouble
On the Open Road: A 70-lb. pit bull jumped on a car’s gearshift at a carwash in Pryor, Okla., in November, sending the car out of the bay, to circle the lot briefly. And a boxer-shar-pei mix similarly jostled the gearshift of a van in Port Jefferson, N.Y., in November, sending it through the front…
U2 announces Norman concert on Web site
Pioneering Irish stadium-rockers U2 will headline a Norman concert, according to a recent update of the band’s tour schedule. According to an independent fan site, tickets for the Norman show, which will be held Oct. 19 at the University of Oklahoma’s Memorial Stadium, will go on sale to the public April 4. Pre-sale tickets will…
I Demand My Rights
In January, an appeals court in Newark, N.J., reinstated Doris Sexton’s worker-compensation lawsuit against a county-owned nursing home where Sexton had claimed that breathing a co-worker’s perfume one day in 2004 had made her permanently disabled and tethered to an oxygen tank. A lower court had decided that it was far more likely that her…
The Spy Collection
2009 A&E’s massive “The Spy Collection” is both a good deal and a bad deal. On the plus side, it allows you to sample four British spy series of the 1960s and 1970s, with a generous helping of episodes spread across 14 discs. On the minus side, if you find any or all to your…
Ironies
The $500,000 top prize in Alaska’s January statewide lottery, to benefit the organization Standing Together Against Rape, for victims of sexual assault, was won by Alec Ahsoak, 53, who coincidentally is a twice-convicted sex offender. Sweden’s Hallands Nyheter newspaper reported in January that a police officer had endured four operations at a private clinic in…
Not My Fault
Timothy Hoffman, 26, was awarded $76.6 million by a jury in Viera, Fla., in January for becoming paralyzed in a 2003 incident when, on a dare, he dove headfirst into the Indian River, which, unknown to him, was about a foot deep at that point. One reason for the large judgment may have been that…
Breaking Bad: The Complete First Season
ow’s greatest asset. Not enough praise can be heaped upon Cranston’s sympathetic portrayal of a good man doing bad things, but not enough praise is showered upon his supporting cast, particularly Anna Gunn as his pregnant wife and Aaron Paul as his drugged-out partner in crime. Commentaries, documentaries and screen tests pepper the bonus features…
Obama-stickered vehicle pulled over in Oklahoma’s Little Dixie
You might want to watch it if you are driving in Southeast Oklahoma with an Obama sticker on the car. Especially near the town of Krebs. That was a factor during an arrest of several black men by a white police officer, who used racist slurs to refer to the suspects, according to a story…
CFN Quote of the Week
“I don’t know Ethan Hawke. Ethan Hawke wanted to do some kind of superficial Rolling Stone article. And he did everything he could to make his story the greatest story ever in Rolling Stone. And it was a fictitious (expletive) lie. O.K? “He didn’t even call me by my name. … He called Norah Jones,…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little,” wrote the spiritual activist Thomas Merton. Judging from your current astrological omens, I suspect that’s a warning you should heed. The time has come for you to consider the possibility that you aren’t thinking big enough . . . that you need to actively rebel…
Minnesota writer takes pot shots at Oklahoma City Thunder
Wow, who in Oklahoma City pissed off Associated Press sports writer Jon Krawczynski? In a Feb. 12 column in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Kraw-daddy starts out sane enough. He is worried that if the Minnesota Vikings don’t resolve their stadium situation, the team may head elsewhere (hmmm “¦ that reminds us of another situation). OKC must…
OCU invites ‘Assassins’ audiences to look at infamous Americans, deadly intentions
Exploring the history of presidential assassination in America, Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Assassins” takes a closer look at the men and women behind the gun “? those who succeeded and those who failed “? from John Wilkes Booth to John Hinckley Jr., to gain insight into their motivations and their legacy. Oklahoma City University production director…
Belgian sick-leave benefits
Belgian workers take sick leave nearly four times as often as U.S. workers, mostly attributed to Belgian law, which grants full salary the first month and then government-guaranteed 80-percent pay indefinitely. A recent study, noted in a January Wall Street Journal report, found that only 5 percent of Belgian leave-takers were proven malingerers, but that…
Blitzen Trapper wears a deceptive ‘Furr’
Cool things about Portland: There’s no sales tax; it’s the hometown of “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening; the Willamette Valley was the destination of travelers on the Oregon Trail; and there’s lots of locally brewed beer. Hailing from a city like that, it’s no wonder that Blitzen Trapper ” Eric Earley, Brian Adrian Koch, Drew Laughery,…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Cartoonist Gary Larson defines luposlipaphobia as the fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor. According to my reading of the astrological omens, there is a real danger you could fall victim to that deluded phobia. And it is definitely a delusion. No timber wolves…
Drunk on Sunday – Self-Titled
“punk” music marketed to teenagers today isn’t really punk at all. The song “Play for Pay” expresses the group’s anger and frustration at the current music landscape: “I feel sorry for the kids today / MTV has ruined their day / Filling their heads with so much junk / This cookie-cutter crap is just not…
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
It’s kind of sad to see once-promising actors reduced to performing in C-grade tripe. It’s sad because it often smacks of desperation to keep a career moving, regardless of how crappy the movie is. At the same time, you have to give some actors credit for making the best of things. And sometimes the bet…
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Scientists and fundamentalist Christians don’t share much common ground, but one thing most of them agree on devoutly: There’s no such thing as reincarnation. Now I’m pleased to be able to offer you the chance to rebel against their dogmatic delusion. You see, Cancerian, it’s an excellent time to try out the hypothesis that you…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Throx.com sells you socks in threes, so if you lose one you have an extra to take its place. Their ingenious marketing plan resembles the approach of some romance-addicts I know, who always date two or three people just in case they get dumped by one of them. No bouts of loneliness to worry about!…
Passionately local
Editor’s note: As part of Oklahoma Gazette’s 30th anniversary year celebration during 2009, we reflect on our newspaper and publishing company. This commentary discusses our focus on local content. As an Oklahoma Gazette reader, hopefully you’ve noticed our dedication to the quality of life in Central Oklahoma. We passionately strive to have a local perspective…
Recent oil shock resurges interest in Oklahoma nuclear plant
At the “Oklahoma: The New Energy Frontier” conference last week at Midwest City’s Reed Center, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud identified himself as the “nuclear guy” of Oklahoma energy. “I’m kind of developing into being the nuclear guy. That pretty much came about by nobody else talking about it,” Cloud said. CENTERPIECE WASTE ISSUE POWER…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Sagittarian Jakob Dylan has created a solid musical career for himself. He’s a bit defensive, however, about the possibility that the fame of his father, Bob Dylan, has played a role in his success. His contracts specify that he should never be called “Bob Dylan’s son.” I understand his longing to have his work be…
Couple’s trailer house struck by truck
If Bobby Vest’s trailer is rockin’, don’t bother knockin’ ” because it might be an earthquake. That’s according to a recent story in the McAlester News-Capital. According to the story, Vest, a 66-year-old resident of Five Mile in (you guessed it) Southeastern Oklahoma, awoke recently with his bed shaking “¦ and he was alone in…
Oklahoma Humanities Council will recognize individuals, organizations
Many organizations and individuals enhance Oklahoma culture with work in humanities disciplines every year. An awards dinner Saturday will honor a select few. Sponsored by the Oklahoma Humanities Council, the third annual awards ceremony will recognize two organizations and four individuals. “By bringing these awardees together, we’re recognizing the various kinds of work that they…
Backcountry crooner continues 16 Horsepower’s mission work with Woven Hand
The ship may harbor a different name, but David Eugene Edwards sails the same seas. The former 16 Horsepower frontman started his solo project, Woven Hand, during a break, and while the music has changed along the way, Edwards still retains the haunting atmospheres and stark lyrical outlook for which he’s known. Formed in 1992,…
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” said Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff. “It’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” While your crisis is nowhere near as pressing as those faced by Obama’s team, Aries, I recommend that you adopt a similar attitude…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Maybe you shouldn’t mend your supposedly “evil” ways if your “evil” ways are about to mutate into a fascinating new approach to goodness. Maybe the very quality that has threatened to cause your downfall has now become the key to your upgrade. And maybe the thing that has made you most nervous about yourself about…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
My Chevy got stolen in San Francisco on a January night some years ago. The thief broke a window and smashed his way into the steering column with a tire iron to get to the ignition wires. Eventually the cops recovered the car and returned it to me. But no repair shop could ever completely…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Your key theme for the week is “Healthy Obsessions.” Not “Melodramatic Compulsions” or “Exhausting Crazes” or “Manias That Make You Seem Interesting to Casual Bystanders,” but “Healthy Obsessions.” To carry out your assignment in the right way, you will have to take really good care of yourself as you concentrate extravagantly on tasks that fill…
Eighth annual ‘Momentum’ exhibition opens with two-night blowout
Lindsey Morris doesn’t adhere to most traditional art conventions, which is why she was surprised to learn her work was selected from hundreds of entries for one of the metro’s largest exhibitions. The free-spirited, contemporary Lawton artist submitted three linocut prints to the “Momentum” show in Oklahoma City, an annual event highlighting works from up-and-coming…
Wilson Elementary transitions from struggling inner-city to accomplished arts school
On a recent Tuesday, a small crowd gathered to mark the groundbreaking of MAPS for Kids construction at Wilson Elementary, 2215 N. Walker. It was the culmination of years of work to turn the school into a successful, vibrant core of the surrounding community. CRUCIAL FIRST STEPS CURRICULUM When Beverly Story became principal at Wilson…
University of Oklahoma hosts world-renowned scientist Richard Dawkins
The University of Oklahoma is celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday, along with the 150th anniversary of the publication of “The Origin of Species,” with a full year’s worth of events. OU professor Barry Weaver said it all adds up to arguably the biggest and best Darwin celebration taking place this year. Dawkins will speak in…
Fine Points of the Law
On successive days in January in the courthouse in Sheboygan, Wis., 17-year-old Alan Jepsen and 17-year-old Norma Guthrie were each charged with sexual assault for having consensual sex with their respective 14-year-old, opposite-sex companions. However, Jepsen was charged with a felony (maximum: 25 years in prison), and Guthrie was charged with a misdemeanor (maximum, 9…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
The closest modern relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex may be the chicken, says geneticist John Asara. He came to this conclusion after studying traces of tissue from a 68-million-year-old bone of the king of dinosaurs. I invite you to draw inspiration from this theory, Gemini. Try the following thought experiment. Envision a couple of monstrous…
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience
Let’s be honest: No review of a Jonas Brothers concert movie is going to matter much. The tween and teen girls who swoon at the altar of the JoBros will see it, regardless. It wouldn’t matter if the flick featured 21-year-old Kevin, 19-year-old Joe and 16-year-old Nick Jonas squeezing zits and kicking puppy dogs into…
Compelling Explanations
Australia’s Queensland Rail agency disclosed in January that it would quickly offer refunds to passengers on a Cairns-to-Brisbane train that crashed just outside Cairns, but reiterated at the same time that it would not pay refunds to survivors of a November 2008 Brisbane-to-Cairns train crash that killed two and injured nine. The difference, according to…
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
This horoscope presents three clues for you to work with. Here’s the first: I know a psychotherapist’s son who, while growing up, rarely received the benefits of his father’s psychological expertise. “The shoemaker’s child has no shoes,” my friend says. Here’s your second clue: In the Bible’s book of Mark, Jesus declares, “A prophet is…
Almost, Maine’ fails to warm a cold script
Those of us who consider heartwarming to be code for “sappy” should beware of a confection titled “Almost, Maine,” presented by Carpenter Square Theatre. But if heartwarming is your cup of caramel macchiato, this may be the show for you. “Almost, Maine” consists of nine vignettes that take place at 9 on a cold winter…
Big 12 coaching ranks still have great talent
In just a few days, the fast-paced world of Big 12 basketball will descend upon Oklahoma City. Two tournaments, 12 schools, 24 teams and thousands of rabid fans, anxious to see how it all plays out. The women’s side of the championships ” set to unfold at the Cox Convention Center ” has a bracket…
Dead of Night
1977 Today’s generation wouldn’t know it, but one of the more reliable sources of quality horror in the 1970s was regular network television. Yes, back when your channel options were limited to little more than three, the webs churned out a surprising amount of made-for-TV movies that generated serious scares. Producer Dan Curtis was responsible…
