Fair play
Four hours, 22 booths and about 10,000 calories later, we finished our odyssey of fair food. We may never eat again, but you can! The state fair continues through Sunday. Put on your eatin’ pants and join us. PIECE OF CAKE! Judging by the fervor for fair food, I think we’re missing a passage from…
Privy to progress
Raised mostly by his mother in a rough area of Philly, he’s been rapping since he was 10 years old, but only in the past few years has he taken it seriously. At first, he didn’t receive much support from his family, because they wanted him to focus on school. “I just kept on doing…
Back to the future
Doug Tennant, senior planner and project manager at Jacobs (the consultant for the hub plan), walked the council through the winnowing process that started with 10, and later three, potential sites. right Sketched plans for the forthcoming hub “The Santa Fe site was absolutely head and shoulders above the other two,” Tennant said. “Some people…
Bite Size: 9-21-11
SLOW FOOD PICNICThe seventh annual Slow Food OKC fall picnic is from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Harn Homestead, 1721 N. Lincoln Blvd. This year, Sierra Club’s Cimarron Group is the title sponsor. Dinner — served family-style — will begin promptly at 4:30 p.m., with specialties prepared by professional chefs. The recipes…
Bar examination
“You read the statistics, you interview educators about it, people who are in positions of authority, but not until you’re in the actual prisons do you see what’s going on,” said Cassie Ketrick, associate producer and assistant editor of the documentary “Women Behind Bars,” made by several University of Oklahoma students and graduates. In the…
Giants’ success
You’d think sharing a band with a guy for nearly 30 years would cement the foundation of your relationship. Of course, when your band happens to be Brooklyn’s often-silly and offbeat, usually sweet and affecting They Might Be Giants, you can’t take each other’s words too seriously. According to the band’s Twitter feed, this show…
’Phere itself
Rap’s Atmosphere has never shied away from a heavy tour schedule. The duo would travel hundreds of miles for a couple hundred dollars, rarely covering costs, just to drum up buzz. After steady success with six studio albums, Atmosphere still takes to the road at a ferocious pace — now for love and money. “I…
Soundcheck: Modern Rock Diaries – Great Western Civilization
In keeping with indie fashion, MRD employs a lot of full-band singing (both to harmonize and for choruses) to bolster their vocals, as well as a female violin player, Angela Allen, and some catchy synth melodies, à la Cut Copy. But I think that Cowan’s rigid voice and lyrics (think not-so-dirty Caleb Followill of Kings…
What a Maroon!
Pop-rock chart favorites Maroon 5 and Train have made for one of the season’s top tours. That doesn’t mean they were positive they’d get along. “You’re always a little nervous. It’s like, ‘Man, I hope these guys aren’t dicks,’” Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine said. “But they’ve been really cool, and it’s a great combo.”…
Cagle exercise
Life as a touring musician has left country’s Chris Cagle with plenty of lumps. Somehow, he’s taken them all and poked fun at the experience, titling his last album, “My Life’s Been a Country Song.” The narrative has seen Cagle stumble over all the trappings of country stardom — divorce, label drama, legal battles —…
Star is born again
Oklahoma City University’s Opera and Music Theater Company kicks off its 60th-anniversary season Friday with the rock musical “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, the classic tells the story of the final days of Jesus’ life from Judas Iscariot’s point of view. Forty years after it made its Broadway debut,…
Paws command
Kitten front woman Chloe Chaidez had played in a cover band — performing alongside the likes of Band of Horses and Midlake — for three years before she decided to pursue something more mature and artistically satisfying than those cute, little cover songs. She was 13 at the time. One year of songwriting led her,…
Pioneer woman
Surely, you saw the musical history lesson “Quilters” sometime late in the last century. Originally produced in Colorado, the show was popular in the 1980s. In case you didn’t or even if you did, Oklahoma City Theatre Company is presenting a passable production at the Freede Little Theatre. I’m glad they are, because running down…
A decade on stage
As one of Oklahoma’s few professional Equity theaters, CityRep recently was honored with a proclamation from Actors’ Equity Association for “hard work and dedication to producing excellent and professional theatre in Oklahoma City.” “We are both proud and very grateful for this distinctive honor,” said Don Jordan, CityRep’s artistic director. “Many theaters that are 40…
Peep show
City-based writer/director Robert Matson has resurrected — or is it re-erected? — his original hit play, “Beneath the Zipper,” a celebration of the penis, at The Boom. Think “The Vagina Monologues” for men, but less heady. Which is fine, because I don’t think Matson is looking to change the world as much as entertain people.…
Skate, create, repeat
Once just an arrestable offense, graffiti has become an accepted art form. Because of the CRE8nSK8 (Create and Skate) Project of the Norman Public Arts Board, the Blake Baldwin Skate Park in Norman will be turned into a spray-paint mural. On Sunday, artists and volunteers will cover its outside walls and skate ramps, located at…
Wise man
His novel follows husband-and-wife team Jack and Michelle Townsend on an adventure to find the original ending to the Gospel of Mark as they encounter bombs, high-speed chases and secret libraries in the Vatican. “What you do is you take a slice of life and you manipulate it,” Wise said. “You mold it into story…
Freedom rings
The nationwide Children’s Defense Fund is the parent organization and chooses 80 to 90 book titles that are taught to the children, based around themed weeks. Working on basic skills like comprehension and recognition, executive director Amy Brooks-Young said each class has about 10 scholars with one leader, aka a college intern. “Everything is introduced…
‘Ghost’ world
“It’s a seductive and powerful landscape, with a beguiling charm that didn’t want to let me go,” said Santa Fe photographer Craig Varjabedian of the legendary Ghost Ranch landscapes in New Mexico. Oklahomans can share that experience when his exhibition of 69 large, black-and-white images of Georgia O’Keeffe’s one-time home opens Friday at the National…
Healthy variety
Variety Care, a federally recognized community health center, provides affordable and accessible health care at 10 locations statewide, including seven in the Oklahoma City metro. Services include medical, dental, vision and behavioral care for all ages. According to Lou Carmichael, executive director, the average annual cost per capita for health care in the U.S. is…
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
“Deus Ex: Human Revolution” Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC“Human Revolution” serves as a prequel to the classic “Deus Ex,” released in 2000. This game focuses on the morality of upgrading the human body with technology, which has become rampant in the year 2027. You play as Adam Jensen, a man who has been forced to…
Fighting words
Elaborate belts, ridiculous costumes, fabricated rivalries, convoluted story lines. They’re all part of Rob Sturma’s vision for Extreme Championship Poetry, staged the fourth Friday of each month at the IAO Gallery. Tired of stale readings rife with petty politics, he created ECP as a way to present the earnest soul of slam poetry through the…
Walk this way
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first diagnosed case of AIDS, adding additional significance to Sunday’s AIDS Walk. Since 1981, the disease has claimed more than 25 million people. Currently, more than 4,600 Oklahomans are living with the disease. The AIDS Walk raises money for in-state AIDS services organizations. Serving as grand marshal…
Area 51 Confidential
Blood, gore, aliens — who doesn’t love all of the cheesy things that come with a B-grade science-fiction film? The Reel Renegades will present a free screening of “Area 51 Confidential” as Saturday’s midnight movie for the month at VZD’s, 4200 N. Western. Through strategically placed cameras, the found-footage film follows a group of strangers…
Office mates
A home office is different than that blah cubicle at work. Often (or in theory) the home office also functions as a guest bedroom, so no one wants it to feel like cookie-cutter cube hell. Enter 30A Home (1106 N.W. 50th; 286-3153), where it’d be pretty much impossible to find something that isn’t fabulous. For…
Ridin’ the rails
The Okahoma Railway Museum’s event is based on the well-known star of the popular television series “Thomas & Friends.” Kids and their families can ride in a 15-ton replica of Thomas, and meet Sir Topham Hatt, controller of the railway. “They love seeing Thomas and they love getting their picture taken with him,” the museum’s…
Smag 7: Next big thing?
Waffle Campion Various 525-9235 Want to find the new Waffle Champion? Track this food truck down on Twitter @ wafflechampion. Tara Taylor opened this friendly waffle truck that serves sweet and savory waffles, like those paired with chicken, bacon and cheese. Waffle Champion uses many local products. The experienced Taylor worked as a former Big…
Down-home downtown
Of course, home is as much about food as the house, so it feels only fitting that corner cafe Sage has played such a big part in the culture of the emerging district since owners Kevin and Charifa Smith opened the restaurant in 2009. The refined but homey nature of the cuisine seems to suit…
In the mood
A new brand of carbonated delights is going down a different path than the one lined with sugar and caffeine. This new generation of drinks counts herbs and minerals as ingredients for a calming effect and, in some cases, can help insomniacs get a little shut-eye. “People want something that calms and relaxes them, and…
Sweet victory
Well, he’s not the only guy around wearing eye makeup! One person really stood out among the more than 8,000 hospitality and food professionals attending the recent Oklahoma Restaurant Association Convention & Expo. And it wasn’t a gal with must-have makeup that makes you look younger in a zippy three minutes. Under the cosmetics was…
PR BS
—“Sarah Palin Wants to See You!” —“Creator of Italian Volcano(R) Juices Witnesses Multiple Eruptions from Mount Etna!” —“Family Tree DNA Confirms Two NFL Players are Half-Siblings” —“Press Release – Insane Clown Posse’s ‘American Psycho Tour’“ —“Secure oklahomacaskets.com” —“URGENT: We Can Take Weiner’s Seat!” —“FabricLink.com Launches the Fairy Realm and Unveils Velcro USA’s New Children’s Costume…
Paddling proponent
Abowitz wasn’t the first person to try to share rowing with Oklahoma, but he did help the sport gain its footing in Oklahoma City long before it was a well-known phenomenon. “Oklahoma comes late to these things,” Abowitz said of rowing. The sport hooked Abowitz at the University of Pennsylvania, but when he came to…
‘Singled out’
Yeah, well, it’s still out there in purgatory, and federal judges hearing the case pondered the constitutional amendment’s legal standing, since it applies to just one religion. The so-called Save Our State ballot question, which drew national media attention, was passed in November, and has been in a courtroom ever since, after an Oklahoma City…
‘Dr. no’ strikes again
Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all … unless you’re the U.S. Congress. Oklahoma U.S. Senator Tom Coburn recently got into a kerfuffle with Senate leadership when he blocked a bill that temporarily extended funding for the FAA and highway construction, according to a story from NPR. Coburn’s problem with the bill was that part of it…
Surfing stalk-arazzi
The Oklahoma City native and former University of Oklahoma star revealed as much during an interview from his car in the Sooner State, according to ESPN.com. The NBA’s Rookie of the Year revealed that he’s not opposed to playing in China or Europe, and the dunking maestro also disclosed that California has some choice waves.…
United we stand
The Oklahoma Worker Cooperative Network plans to host several “incubator meetings” throughout Central Oklahoma between Sept. 29 and Oct. 25. Worker cooperatives are businesses owned and operated by the employees, said Robert Waldrop, the network’s general manager and one of the founders of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative. The organization formed this year. Waldrop said the…
Back it up
WHY REVERSE?Reverse-angle parking — also called back-in angle — is a concept new to the metro, but it’s an idea proponents say would make parking safer. “Looking at best practices for integrating parking with other functions of the street — particularly walkability and also bike lanes — front-in angle parking … is often really dangerous,”…
Time-out for towers
Burlingame, Calif.; Bangor, Maine; and Huntington, New York, are just a few of the cities around the country that recently enacted moratoriums on new towers while their city planners chart a course forward. A moratorium would give our city the time to come up with a thoughtful approach that balances the need for adequate wireless…
Munn ho!: Eighth in a series
Like news of her next movie to shoot, Steven Soderbergh’s male stripper flick, “Magic Mike.” Munn’s been cast as the girlfriend of lead Channing Tatum, who was a stripper before hitting it big in Hollywood. At Shape magazine, she’s even on the October issue’s cover, where she’s sure to attract legions of female haters by…
Living in ‘1984’
I feel like I woke up in George Orwell’s “1984,” where political “doublespeak” is an accepted form of communication. Doublespeak is defined as a language that “deliberately disguises, distorts or reverses the meanings of words.” We want “better education,” so we cut spending to public education, deny certified teachers their bonuses and promote private school…
‘Sea change’
The newspaper made the announcement on its website and stated that all Oklahoma Publishing Company stock will be sold to the Anschutz Corp., which is owned by Philip Anschutz, 71, a Denver-based businessman ranked by Forbes magazine as the 37th richest person in the United States and the 124th wealthiest person on the planet with…
Disraeli conflict
Mr. Reese intentionally shortened a quote from Benjamin Disraeli to serve the point he was trying to make. Unfortunately, the complete quote actually works against him. Disraeli’s full quote reads: “In a progressive country change is constant; and the great question is not whether you should resist change which is inevitable, but whether that change…
The post-9/11 Muslim experience
There is no Islamic goal or any benefit to Muslims here or abroad that justifies violence or the killing of innocent people, regardless of their religion. Our religion forbids it; it is a major sin upon the souls of those who do it. Innocent Muslims everywhere are paying dearly for the crimes of killers. After…
‘Poverty is the worst form of violence’
Then, you can assuage your own guilt about the fact that your fat face is buried in fast food and takeout seven nights a week by claiming that the big J-Man upstairs wasn’t talking about public assistance, just private charity. Regarding the Aug. 31 letter “Welfare recipients denied work ‘blessing,’” K.A. Straughn must not be…
Thick as a brick
MAPS 3 provided a spectacular new John Marshall High School building and an equally impressive new U.S. Grant High School building, but one school had news-making student discipline problems when it opened and the other school had teacher problems. Millions of MAPS money is being spent on the Classen School of Advanced Studies building, a…
For the public good
Perhaps it’s real anatomy and sexual relations. Maybe it’s real history. Maybe he prefers that his and most other children should be exposed to his religious beliefs 24/7 instead of just all the rest of the time available for his religious teachings except during school. Obviously, he does not care that most people do prefer…
Food stamps and munchies
It’s true that many people in society use alcohol and overeating to help medicate themselves. Why not add drugs to the list? The billions of dollars that formerly went toward drug enforcement could be used to help fund the food stamp program. Sitting around all day smoking weed can leave one pretty hungry. A word…
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
It’s also about much more than the trilogy, following Lewis’ entire career, from his start in nudie cuties (ripping off Russ Meyer with “The Adventures of Lucky Pierre”) to those no-budget horror gross-outs that made him both a fortune and a reputation as a beloved trailblazer — an indie spirit whose influence can be felt…
The Blood Trilogy
Together, “Blood Feast,” “Two Thousand Maniacs!” and “Color Me Blood Red” comprise the quasi-inept but highly influential “Blood Trilogy,” among the first gore films ever made. Prepare yourself for some shots being too dark, some not even in focus, some so long that they include mistakes, and many, of course, containing some of the bloodiest…
The 10th Victim
In the film’s near-future, the government has sanctioned legal killing through The Big Hunt, a game in which randomly selected citizens are chosen to play 10 games, alternately as hunter and hunted. The one left standing will score a cool million. As “Victim” opens, Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni, “La Dolce Vita”) and Caroline (Ursula Andress, “Dr.…
Mimic: The Director’s Cut
That’s why del Toro has long bad-mouthed his American debut, 1997’s “Mimic,” because the studio wanted — and got — some changes. Now that he’s been allowed to present his original cut, you’d think he’d quit griping. But no. In his video prologue, he’s still fuming, and it makes him look disrespectful of the once-in-a-million…
Jazz it up
Along with food from Boulevard Steakhouse, there will be a men’s fashion show by Parkway Mens Wear, an auction and live music by UCO’s jazz program. Other event sponsors include The Martini Lounge and Edmond Wine Shop. Admission is $20 per person. For more information or to RSVP, contact Margaret Holloway at Margaret@boulevardsteakhouse.com or 715-2333.
Torso
First of all, once the disc loaded, it offered the choice between the uncensored English version or the Italian-language director’s cut, both making their home-vid debut. I chose the latter. Then it offered the choice of watching it introduced by Eli Roth. “Hell, yes,” I said to absolutely no one, and was greeted with a…
Gaylord family selling The Oklahoman, OPUBCO
The newspaper made the announcement today on its website and stated that all Oklahoma Publishing Company stock will be sold to the Anschutz Corporation, which is owned by Philip Anschutz, 71, a Denver-based businessman ranked by Forbes magazine as the 37th richest person in the United States and the 124th wealthiest person on the planet…
Citizen Kane: 70th Anniversary
Released to little business in 1941, Orson Welles’ directorial debut has loomed large ever since. While I wouldn’t put it on my “best of” list, there’s no doubt it’s a watershed moment in cinema — one with so much artistic impact that he burned out fairly quickly. Near the end of his life, the film…
Son of Morning
From there, the film’s attempts at satire fall embarrassingly flat, leaving plot hole after plot hole wide open. Perhaps some divine intervention was required, because the film runs a mere 80 minutes, 11 of which are for the credits, more than five of which are just to slooooowly list the extras. Joseph Cross (“Milk”) is…
Community: The Complete Second Season / The Office: Season Seven / Parks and Recreation: Season Three
Well, those days are dead. Cable, video games, TiVo and the Internet forever have altered the idea of appointment television, not to mention the ratings dominance of the Big 3 networks. Ironically, Thursday nights on NBC are much funnier today. Well, as long as you throw out “Outsourced.” For the purposes of this review, we…
