Tribute to ‘Speedy’ West set for Sunday
However, as they say in the business, the show must go on. Sunday’s benefit from 2 to 6 p.m. at UCO Jazz Lab, 100 E. Fifth in Edmond, will double as a tribute to West and as a fundraiser to offset the costs for his medical treatment and funeral. Four bands each will play a…
Sail away
Bill Bond said people are still surprised to learn Oklahoma has sailing opportunities, and the best one is right in the metro’s backyard. Yup, no ocean needed to get your sea legs — just head to Lake Hefner. “Lake Hefner, believe it or not, is probably one of the top 10 sailing lakes in the…
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Scratch that — here’s the alternately weird and wonderful “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” now playing exclusively at AMC Quail Springs Mall Cinema 24. It’s your best bet to glimpse the off-limits, 1,300-feet Chauvet caves in Southern France, which Herzog explores with a small group of scientists, primarily to witness its walls’ drawings, more than twice…
Into Eternity
If so, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is running one, “Into Eternity,” Friday through Sunday. And talk about timely; one of its tenets is that the world above ground is too unstable to store nuclear waste, as the recent earthquake — and resulting plant disaster — in Japan proved. As one of the scientists…
Fright night
In the pantheon of terrifying movie monsters, a horde of Styrofoam cups might not spike the heart rate quite like a masked brute armed with a machete and an obsessive disdain for camp counselors. That is exactly why Oklahoma film buff Art Sunday wants to introduce audiences to the short film “Killer Cups,” along with…
Man in motion
Bonds. James Bonds. On Thursday night, Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery hosts the world premiere of “Battle of the Bonds,” the most recent in a series of popular shorts by Oklahoma filmmaker Kyle Roberts, whose previous pop culture mash-ups have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. Those also will be screened. Growing up…
Hoof it
What does it take to open for acts like Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, or Silversun Pickups? Kate Cooper — half of the Australian indie-pop duo An Horse, which has opened for all three — chalks it up to politeness. “It helps that they like our music, but I think it helps even…
Do or dial
Tulsa alternative act RadioRadio has never been shy of its intention; it’s so committed that the band decided on repeating it in its name. “There’s always been that desire to breakout into being the national act we are capable of being,” vocalist Greg Hosterman said. “I felt like the name was an exultation. RadioRadio: We…
That’s ‘Epic’
Members of metro rap crew Puzzle People will perform as well, in an event titled “Meeting of the Bosses.” The long list of performers includes Big Stik, Josh Sallee, NeeQ, Travisty, Awax, Ronnie Harris, Tyler Reid, DJ Chips and more. The album will be available online at bangbeatsokc.bandcamp.com. The website also features more than 20…
Holly would
Who’d have thought some of the best modern Americana would come from a Brit? Award-winning duo Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs is led by Golightly, a singer/songwriter named after the lead in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” The Londoner has worked with acts as huge as The White Stripes. As she tells it, her virtuosity with traditional…
Man-made Objects — EP
Man-Made Objects’ shoegaze and psych tunes rely heavily on songcraft, relegating reverb to an effect on guitar and vocals instead of the featured element. As a result, the band calls to mind a less noisy Stardeath and the White Dwarfs or a darker Flaming Lips. The songs are catchy, but that’s a bonus; the most…
Thunder’s success ahead of schedule
I was at the game with my buddy, Andy, and as we watched what would inevitably become another Thunder loss, we fantasized about the future. We were still pretty shocked that we were even in Oklahoma City watching our very own professional basketball team, but the thought of the future was fun to talk about.…
Halo reach
Not the Sunday kind of church, but crowds can expect to be baptized in thick waves of distorted guitar chords and hazy keyboard notes, while rejoicing in the ever-present spirit of Jim Morrison in the room. It’s an experience as powerful as any sermon. “For us, we try to make it a spiritual experience for…
Fast food
Even so, Neighborhood Services Organization will stage its first-ever fundraiser in the group’s nearly 100-year history on Saturday by having participants dine on some of the metro’s tastiest morsels and then lumber, full-bellied, through the city streets. “We want to attract fierce competitors, savvy eaters; we want everyone,” said Stacey Ninness, NSO executive director. “And…
We were framed
That summer of 1985, when all those college girls were killed by a satanic cult? That’s the summer that changed everything. So argues John Wooley, former Tulsa World journalist and author of the new book “Shot in Oklahoma: A Century of Sooner State Cinema,” which chronicles the motion pictures made within our borders. While most…
I’ve got a company car
Car leasing website LeaseTrader.com noted a 5.3-percent increase in online transactions for company-issued vehicles, following a 4.8-percent increase in February. “On the surface, the jobs outlook is brightening, which creates an environment for rising confidence among drivers and households,” said Sergio Stiberman, CEO and founder of LeaseTrader.com. “What’s more, the increase in jobs creates more…
Redneck romp
This sounds like fun: “The Great American Trailer Park Musical.” What is it, a chance to make fun of the rednecks, yahoos, crackers and other toothless wonders who stereotypically inhabit trailer parks? No. The show’s not mean-spirited, but it’s not much of a show, either. Presented by Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre, in conjunction with the…
Curtains up
Throughout the day, teachers from the theater will conduct 40-minute master classes in dance, performance and auditioning at the production center. Those interested in what goes on backstage will have the opportunity to see how sets and costumes are made, as well as meet production staff and designers. Cristen Shepherd, public relations manager, said the…
Shutter speed
“Photo Slam” is a departure from the typical artist lecture or exhibit. Each photographer will have five minutes to demonstrate how he or she works — using a variety of methods such as slides, digital projections and other tactics before a gong signals the speech’s end, said Kelsey Karper, OVAC associate director. “We wanted to…
Gardens to go
Containers let gardeners flex their creative muscles while providing flowers, fruits or veggies in a compact and/ or movable space. Asia Scudder of Native Landscapes said the key elements are varying texture, color and height. “Make sure they all have the same light requirements. That’s the one tricky thing,” she said. “Read the tag. They…
Dig in
“This economic crisis, while similar to the Great Depression, is also unique in the way that the housing market played a central role,” said Greg Rand, author of “Crash- Boom.” “It is true that this is a once-in-a-generation crisis. It is also true that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It’s time to focus on the…
Fashion in the 405
Designers like Carolina Herrera looked to the Far East for their summer lines, incorporating Chinese and Japanese detailing such as embroidery, tassels and obi belts into designs. The Asian silhouette allows for cool comfort on the beach, by the pool or on vacation. And what screams summer better than Hawaiian prints? Large floral prints are…
Roll call
Many organizations are hosting camps throughout the summer, so finding one that meets your summer schedule is as easy as A-B-C. Here is a sampling: HEY, Y NOT? The YMCA hosts both summer day camps, as well as specialty camps for families searching for either full-day, all-summer solutions or week-long camps. This year’s theme is…
Living legend
Michael Dean, public relations director for the Oklahoma History Center, said this presentation is unique, because there are a lot of interactive activities for kids, which makes it that much more interesting. “We try to make everything as hands-on as possible,” he said. “Call to Arms educates people on the day-to-day life of soldiers by…
To the pool!
Buying swimsuits can be a wonderful lesson in self-hatred, but it doesn’t need to be. I fully believe that spending a bit more on a good swimsuit is worth it, and that means heading to a place that specializes in all things beachy. In the metro, that’s LA Sun & Sport (1200 N. May; 752-2627)…
Bite size
For the last four years, he has been a chef at The Boundary on 66, 16001 E. Highway 66 in Luther, smoking the highest quality meats in the cozy restaurant, which used to be a decadesold filling station. Position: “The only employee of the barbecue place owned by my wife, Buffy, who holds a degree…
Summer sides
Shartel Cafe5116 N. Shartel 843-0900 It’s hard to imagine anything better than the house-made cookies. The best-seller is its white chocolate cranberry walnut. But the cinnamon rolls are heavy hitters, too. Hey, people will eat those things any time of the day or night. The soul-warming mac and cheese or the pasta salad — made…
Okie evangelist
Andrew Snyder is an educator, winemaker, winery owner, lobbyist, evangelist and marketer. He spends a good deal of his time at the Darlington campus of Redlands Community College, where he oversees the school’s associate degree program in viticulture and enology. His office looks like ground zero of a wine paraphernalia bomb. Magazines, books, wine bottles,…
Getting Sauced
What works: The large, fun patio is perfect for summer dining. What needs work: There are still a few kinks to work out in its service. The tip: It’s time to give this spot another try. Let’s just get the obvious out of the way: The old Sauced was inconsistent at best, with the quality…
Taking it to the streets
Warm weather makes grabbing a taco or hot dog and dining at an outdoor picnic table (or even standing up) a pleasant alternative to a crowded restaurant. Street food is affordable and sometimes even ethnically authentic. Quirky locations and irregular hours of operation can be part of the appeal, along with having that clued-in foodie…
Bringing hop to the people
Christie Carr, who suffers from depression, initially volunteered to take in an injured kangaroo and help nurse him back to health. Assessing her platonic marsupial relationship, she soon realized Irwin the kangaroo was doing just as much for her and she was for him. But according to MSNBC, some meanies on the Broken Arrow City…
Front-row rejection
Case in point: Former Seattle SuperSonics power forward Shawn Kemp said the Oklahoma City Thunder called and invited him to watch the team host Denver courtside during the firstround playoff series at the Oklahoma City Arena, according to a May 10 interview on KJR-AM radio. Kemp said he declined, and he won’t be sitting on…
Birds of summer
Having just moved to a tree-filled lot near a creek, I was curious what all the chatter was about. I began noticing the variety of birds, like the small, blue-gray speedster in the flower beds and the orange-mohawked punk rocker that gathered twigs outside my window. An entire Crayola box of birds flitted around my…
Inspector Inhofe
Now, some of the Lincoln-shot- Kennedy-from-the-grassy-knoll-in-Area 51 types out there may still have a few doubts. Luckily, Inspector Jim Inhofe is on the case. Sen. Inhofe, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was the first member of Congress to view photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse recently made available by the CIA.…
CFN Mailbag
Let’s face facts: Had the woman who allegedly killed and mutilated a relative’s cat intended on wearing the cat blood to a Toby Keith concert, no one would have mentioned what performer she was going to see. But because Lady Gaga is a nontraditional performer who pushes a lot of boundaries, her name was associated…
Trending upward
Forty-five percent of responding CFOs believe the economy will improve over the next six months, which is up from only 30 percent half a year ago. While hiring currently remains tepid, 36 percent of CFOs said they intended on increasing head count at their firm (up from 24 percent six months earlier), and exactly half…
Restoration project
And compared to previous years’ budgets full of bad news, cuts and declining revenue, this one wasn’t so bad. “Relative to last year, it’s good economic times, but if you look at the trends that we’ve seen, it’s really more moderate economic times,” said City Manager Jim Couch. “There are a lot of good things…
Convention-centric
The subcommittee unanimously selected the site, located at the former Bob Howard Downtown Ford dealership, after several members attacked a consultant’s report on site costs, with subcommittee member Larry Nichols calling it “nonsense.” Meanwhile, under a timeline approved by the convention center subcommittee, almost every other large-scale MAPS 3 project would be pushed back to…
The right to choose
Due to the vast television coverage by helicopter, it was easy to see that we have a well-trained fire department whose members gave an all-out effort to save lives and property. Credit also goes to the various police departments and Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel and his department. They assisted in the evacuation of homeowners…
Students cover tax cuts
Boren reportedly made the remark in early May at a meeting with students and faculty in which he also said OU students should expect some type of “modest” tuition hike this coming fall. The word “irresponsible” to describe the pending income tax cut on Jan. 1, 2012, is probably an understatement, but Boren deserves credit…
No ‘conflict’
Disclosure of personal conflicts of interest of Urban Renewal Commissioners is governed by Title 11, Section 38-118 of the Oklahoma Statutes. That statute categorically prohibits the voluntary acquisition of any personal interest, direct or indirect, in an urban renewal project. Certain other potential conflicts must be disclosed to the Urban Renewal Authority and the municipal…
The Mechanic
Fresh from the all-star “The Expendables,” Statham takes over Charles Bronson’s role from the 1972 “Mechanic” as Arthur, the title’s hit man for hire who is ordered to off his wealthy mentor (Donald Sutherland, TV’s “The Pillars of the Earth”) and then, feeling guilty, takes the man’s destitute son, Steve (Ben Foster, “Pandorum”), under his…
The Dorm That Dripped Blood
Whatever you call it, it’s a minor cult item that’s finally making a jump to shiny discs, thanks to Synapse Films, and via an uncensored cut at that. It’s recommended only to slasher fans and anybody who’s ever wished to see Daphne Zuniga get run over. Yes, this marks the film debut of Zuniga, who…
The Big Bang
For a review in a few hundred more, read on. Private dick Ned (Antonio Banderas) is hired by a 7-foot Russian ex-con (wrassler Robert Malliet, “Sherlock Holmes”) to locate Lexie Persimmon (Guillory), a to-die-for stripper who’s been pledging her undying love to the prisoner as a pen pal. Strange thing is, her return address is…
Drive Angry
The tax-strapped Nicolas Cage of late seems to be selecting roles that require the Oscar winner to do the least amount of acting (“Season of the Witch,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” et al.) but when the projects turn out like this one, I’m all up for his creative slump. With ever-present sunglasses, black leather and mangy…
Burning Palms
That’s a close-enough summation of “Burning Palms”; even then, the sleeper surprise offers many scoops of the unexpected. From the wonderfully devious mind of writer/director Christopher B. Landon (screenwriter of “Paranormal Activity 2” and “Disturbia,” and son of the late Michael Landon, who likely would be appalled) comes this anthology of five tales set in…
Smile Jenny, You’re Dead
How ironic for this made-for-TV movie to sport “Smile” in its (incorrectly punctuated) title, because for network television — especially in 1974 — it’s remarkably morose. But it’s a crime drama, so that’s a good thing.“The Fugitive” fugitive David Janssen headlines as Harry Orwell, a former California cop who left the force after taking a…
Kaboom
That’s not to say his latest, “Kaboom,” is good, but compared to past efforts like “The Doom Generation,” “Nowhere” and “Smiley Face,” which verge on the unfinishable, it’s an improvement. His work is perhaps best described as candy-coated gay camp — don’t complain; he’d take that as a compliment — but he needs to make…
Crossroads Mall’s future at a crossroads
The mall, located near the intersection of Interstate 240 and Interstate 35, was built in 1973 and is 1.2 million square feet. In the last decade, it lost all but one of its anchor stores; the owners couldn’t pay the mortgage, which was held by Bear Sterns; and the property was scooped up by the…
Brandi Carlile — Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony
When she decides to really go for it at the high point of a tune, her voice can very nearly knock people over. Pair that with melodies that people want to hear over and over (as in “The Story,” which you probably heard on this commercial or in “Grey’s Anatomy”), and you’ve got songs that,…
Roy Orbison — The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964)
“The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964)” collects 39 Orbison tunes on two discs (A-sides and B-sides, naturally) and includes a 25-minute DVD of a performance in Holland. Orbison was a master of the 2:20 pop song, as only four of these tunes break the three-minute mark (and “Mama” is 3:01, which barely counts). Many radio staples…
Probe
A 1972 pilot film to a short-lived television series, it’s ahead of its time and still a ton of fun. The title refers to the secret organization PROBE Control — with the acronym standing in part for “Program Retrieval Operations”; the remaining two initials are top-secret — where 007-esque agent Hugh Lockwood (Hugh O’Brian, TV’s…
Bridesmaids
Can’t we just call it “really hilarious” and leave it at that? Then again, consider that Hollywood’s women-fronted comedies are almost always of the rom-com variety and aggressively push Kate Hudson on us. This work is not of that lineage, and thank the Lord for that. “Bridesmaids” marks not so much a breakthrough for females…
MilkDrive — Road from Home
Not good, not great, just there. MilkDrive’s “Road from Home” is an almost totally inoffensive release, but it doesn’t shine that brightly, either. Falling neatly into the newly hip folk/bluegrass genre, the group cranks out tunes that lean more toward the Nickel Creek bluegrass end of the spectrum than the Avett Brothers’ pop side. I…
Jimi Hendrix — South Saturn Delta
Still, Jimi Hendrix’s “South Saturn Delta” makes my eyes get big and my mouth drop, and it’s only a collection of cast-offs and B-sides. Yes, I make an exception for Jimi Hendrix. The retrospective covers all the eras of his short but prolific career, from 1967 to 1970. Some of these tracks have been issued…
Vampire Circus
I attribute this to the first time my parents took me the supposedly greatest show on Earth, and right before my toddler eyes, a trapeze artist experienced an “oops” moment and fell to his death. Even if that hadn’t happened, there’s always the clowns. So I’m down with the sinister vibe of “Vampire Circus,” a…
Commentary: Breaking Reagan’s commandment
In recent days, a firestorm erupted over comments made by Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, on the Oklahoma House of Representatives floor.
BOK to donate land for Oklahoma pop culture museum
One of the biggest question marks was replaced with a period yesterday when Bank of Oklahoma announced that it intends to donate land in that city’s Brady District to the Oklahoma Historical Society for the proposed Oklahoma Museum of Music and Pop Culture, or OK Pop. “It’s a culture in our community to give back,”…
The Ron Howard Action Pack
His transition from in front of the camera to behind it is encapsulated in “The Ron Howard Action Pack,” which pairs two pictures he did for Roger Corman: 1976’s “Eat My Dust,” which he starred in so that he could leverage his way into starring, writing and directing 1977’s “Grand Theft Auto.” One of Corman’s…
The Ambulance
Sometimes — “Phone Booth,” “Cellular” — they pay him the big bucks for it. More often, than not, however, he goes the low-budget route — “Maniac Cop,” “Q,” “The Stuff” — and the result can be gold. Or at least well-polished fool’s gold. Such it is with 1990’s “The Ambulance,” a spirited conspiracy thriller about…
Huffing and puffing
However, in Clifton Adcock’s article (“Last call for ethanol?), I was surprised to see no mention of the real reason this should be the last call for ethanol: It is a bad idea altogether. The costs to produce ethanol are high. Rising food costs worldwide is one big cause. Using land suited for food crops…
Councilman on Kern
So hearing Rep. Sally Kern attack Muslims, gays and now people of color and women is very offensive to me. Which group will she attack next? I feel strongly that she cannot be allowed to continually give Oklahoma a black eye. To misspeak is to incorrectly express yourself. Kern’s so-called apology claims she did just…
American Teen
With its unforgiving caste system, peer pressures and never-ending crises, high school could reduce even the most hard-bitten survivalist into a knock-kneed mess. Regardless of your own high school experience, chances are a lot of memories will come flooding back with “American Teen,” a remarkable 2008 documentary that chronicles four teens navigating their senior year.…
