‘Fiscal folly’
Twenty-two million jobs were created during that time under reasonable fiscal policies that did not require a single increase in the national debt ceiling while also balancing the budget and actually resulting in a budgetary surplus. The Clinton fiscal policies, if left in place, would have eliminated the national debt in 2009. The Bush administration…
Babies for Rush
Then make a bill for a new law that states everyone who is anti-abortion must be drug tested and adopt one unwanted child. And the first person honored, being forced by the government to adopt, should be Rush Limbaugh. I think after a few months with an unwanted crack baby, his sanctimonious attitude will change.…
The 2 Bears — Be Strong
Hot Chip backup vocalist and synthesizer-er Joe Goddard started The 2 Bears with Raf Rundell in 2009. Their debut, Be Strong, offers a unique variety of styles ranging from dance to pop to country, all segued by the subtlest of transitions. It’s an impressive balancing act, one which maintains the attention of the listener without…
Conspiracy theory
When it comes to his insistence that man-made climate change is not real, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has no apologies. When it comes to how and why man-made climate change is an issue, he takes no prisoners. Inhofe’s new book, The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future, could be considered the…
Clowning around
The aliens in Aliens with Extraordinary Skills aren’t extraterrestrials; they’re two illegal immigrants from the former USSR constituents of Moldova and Russia trying to make it in the good ol’ U.S. of A. And that’s about the most interesting thing in this play by Saviana Stanescu, directed by Rhonda Clark. Professional clowns Nadia (Gwendolyn Evans)…
Vault of Walt
Many big names can be found in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman: van Gogh, Monet, Piglet. Wait … Piglet? The Winnie the Pooh character and his popped balloon are the focus of just one animation cel among 83 that constitute the venue’s latest exhibition, A Century of Magic: The Animation of…
Have an inkling
Once you decide on the reflection of your personal tastes and how you want to brand yourself, it’s time to embark on the journey of putting it all together, whether that’s specific clothing, a hairstyle, accessories or using your body as an artistic canvas. When you’re considering the addition of a permanent piece to your…
Locks and loaded
While Oklahoma’s windy clime can leave a girl to think, “Why bother?” it’s helpful to have our hair IQ in order before we succumb to a life of ponytails and knit caps. Is the reason so many folks keep the hairstyle they wore in high school because they are trying to recapture their youth, or…
Bite Size: 3-13-12
Along with the live music, corned beef and cabbage, and shepherd’s pie, there will be a professional face painter, LED lights and a man on stilts. For more, visit bakerstreetpub.com. Also honoring Irish roots, the 2012 Bricktown St. Patrick’s Day Block Party will kick off at 7 a.m. Gather at the corner of Sheridan and…
Smag 7: Pull up a chair
Dan O’Brien’s Grill & Pub2747 W. Memorial Just in time for St. Patty’s Day. Dan O’Brien’s is not new, but it has moved its operation just down the street a bit to new digs. The menu goes something like this: grilled cheese, hot ham and cheese, fish and chips, a cold turkey and Swiss and…
Practice makes perfect
Students at the Culinary Arts Center, which welcomed its first class last month and is located at Francis Tuttle Technology Center, have access to the best equipment the culinary industry has to offer. Balanced with the amount of money spent on this amazing school (between $20 million and $25 million) is the reality that nearly…
Fontana Italian Restaurant
Fontana’s Italian Restaurant is not a ritzy joint. In a workaday neighborhood strip mall, its dining room is sparsely decorated with clichéd 19th century landscape prints and plastic grape vines. Dean Martin croons over the PA system. Fontana’s is the kind of unpretentious Italian-American eatery you’ll find coast to coast. There are no white tablecloths…
Looking ahead
Better Block OKC essentially takes a block or two of underutilized or blighted streetscape and inexpensively transforms that area using art, culture, pop-up businesses and other methods. For example, vendors set up shop in an urban section for a night, while the appearance of the area is transformed with transitory improvements, such as trees, benches…
What a gas
And that’s probably just as well for the Chesapeake Energy grand poobah, who likely isn’t yearning for any more attention from the magazine. A story in RS’ March 15 edition didn’t just skewer McClendon, it slapped him on a George Foreman grill and served him up with a $400 bottle of French Bordeaux. The wine…
Divine digs
That house of worship relocated in 1956, leaving the facility without a church family until Citychurch moved in in the early 1990s. Now, 100 years after the first congregation occupied the facility, a new pastor — who was once affiliated with Citychurch — and a new church are calling the three-story limestone structure “home.” Frontline…
Mommy dearest
On Feb.28, police arrested the Oklahoma City woman for shooting her adult son after he allegedly dissed her parenting. The woman, however, said her son began to kick and hit her, forcing her to exact some discipline with a .32-caliber revolver. One might wonder where her son learned to behave in such an allegedly aggressive…
Coming up short
Doak, elected to a four-year term in 2010, wanted to use the resolution to send a message to the Obama administration that the NAIC would not support “any legislative action that would deny citizens constitutionally protected religious rights” by requiring employers to provide birth control insurance coverage. The would-be resolution earned an attaboy from state…
Irish ayes
And so, on St. Patrick’s Day, when most of us haven’t been depriving ourselves at all, let us celebrate the man by driving out our hunger and sobriety, even if we haven’t been particularly hungry or sober. And we’ll wear some green. I mean, why not? You could make your devotion known at any old…
Strained relations
On March 7, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, issued a media release calling on the Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond to drop “its anti- Muslim agenda” and cancel its scheduled guest speaker, Avi Lipkin. CAIR said Lipkin is “an infamous Islamophobe who alleges among other things that Muslims worship…
A heavy duty
Oklahoma isn’t one of them. Ranked seventh in obesity with a rate of 31.4 percent, Oklahoma dropped to 48th in overall health last year. In 2004, only five of Oklahoma’s 77 counties recorded obesity rates of 30 percent or more; four years later that number spiked to 66. Adult obesity will take a crushing financial…
Open books
Last year the city saw unprecedented spending on City Council elections on behalf of independent expenditure groups that attempted to shield their financial backers, a situation made possible by the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case, Federal Election Commission v. Citizens United. The proposal, passed on to council from that body’s legislative committee, supported a state…
Keeping an industry from fading to black
With 46 states currently offering incentives, productions will have no shortage of other options to serve as Oklahoma’s photo double. It’s all about the bottom line. The film rebate is what the name implies: a rebate to productions on taxable transactions in the state, capped at $5 million annually. Included are items such as labor,…
Read the constitution
The state now picks winners and losers. If you’re an asset that can be “beneficial” to the state, then you get preferential treatment; a liability, and you’re discriminated against. Free market government at its finest. Now if you need assistance, your government will automatically disparage your reputation then attempt to deny you services while invading…
Testing, testing
Critics say the requirement, part of the Achieving Classroom Excellence initiative, places too much importance on the tests. Among them is state Rep. Fred Jordan, co-author of legislation to eliminate the graduation requirement. He said the requirement fails to account for some students’ extenuating circumstances. “We’re talking about kids who have zero support from their…
Strip Nude for Your Killer
The killer in question is a motorcyclist decked out head to toe in black leather, and whose identity is shrouded by a matching helmet. Although it’s not spelled out until the end, we can assume he or she is taking revenge for the woman who dies of a massive coronary in the prologue sequence, while…
National Lampoon’s The Legend of Awesomest Maximus
Joining 305 and Meet the Spartans to compose a trifecta of terribleness is National Lampoon’s The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, which finds time also to spoof the likes of Troy, Gladiator, Braveheart, Alexander and TV’s Spartacus, yet fails to conjure a single good gag. Example: Instead of a Trojan horse, we get a Trojan penis.…
A Lonely Place to Die
In the Australian thriller by director Julian Gilbey (the dreadful Doghouse), five bikers (two couples and one fifth wheel), tummies full of smoked-mackerel-and-egg sandwiches, have just embarked on their high adventure when one hears a muffled cry for help. It’s coming from a pipe poking out of the ground. Digging into the earth, the hikers…
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life / Telstar: The Joe Meek Story
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life follows the controversial French singer and songwriter starting in childhood, where his big ears and Jewish genes don’t make for an easy upbringing in Nazi-occupied Paris. The kid hates piano lessons, preferring drawing sophisticated cartoons (some dirty) to music, unless the song is a ditty about cocaine. Those quirks work for…
The Three Musketeers
In this showy but spirited box-office underperformer, the title fighters of Athos (Matthew Macfadyen, Robin Hood), Aramis (Luke Evans, Immortals) and Porthos (Ray Stevenson, Thor) are double-crossed by Athos’ girlfriend, Milady (Milla Jovovich, Dirty Girl and Mrs. Anderson), leaving their reputations smeared. One year later, young D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The…
Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel
A self-taught filmmaker, Corman is famous for three things. The first is for making movies fast and cheap, but not always good. (At the typing of this sentence, his producer credits number 400 titles deep.) The second is for doing so while never losing a dime, which isn’t exactly true, but makes for great hype.…
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection
The four-disc Complete Collection contains the 2000 original as seen in theaters; director Kinji Fukasaku’s longer cut; and the 2003 sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem, all on Blu-ray. Rounding out the heavy, book-structured box is a DVD filled with almost as many special features as there are dead teenagers in the franchise. Based on a…
Creature
It’s not like first-time director Fred M. Andrews doesn’t know what he’s doing — he opens Creature with a page straight from the Roger Corman playbook: bare breasts. I’m not sure why this particular full-frontal female chooses to swim in a swamp, but it means her death by alligator attack. Nearly every turn of the…
Sing for your Santorum
It’s a far cry from Obama Girl. Twenty-year-old Camille Harris and her 18-year-old sister, Haley, strum and sway — in an apple-cheeked, completely wholesome sort of way, mind you — on YouTube through their tune, “Game On.” The gals, who go by the name First Love, say they wrote the ditty a couple of days…
Doctor Who: The Robots of Death
Then portrayed by Tom Baker and his giant, 1977-friendly ’fro, the good Doctor and his pretty yet primitive companion, Leela (Louise Jameson), are stuck in a “metal world” in outer space until they can find their beloved TARDIS, which has gone missing. (For show virgins — or near-virgins like me — that’s the iconic time-traveling…
Thirteen Women
First, a circus performer’s trapeze act goes awry, killing her sister. Then a housewife stabs her hubby for no good reason. A horoscope of “You will not live until Christmas. You will meet death at your own hands” causes one woman to down a drink of “lemonade with bitters,” then turn a gun on herself.…
PR BS
—“NEW Fridgex – 2-in-1 collapsible baking and storage pieces!!” —“Rene Lopez heats up NUBLU and Arlene’s Grocery in February” —“5WPR now Agency of Record for T-fal Cookware & Appliances” —“Article: Neutering Males” —“ENJOY THE SIZZLIN’ SOUNDS OF DENNY’S NEW SKILLETS” —“Oregon Truffle Festival Marketplace Features Oregon Truffles, Wines and Artisan Foods” —“Freshwater Trout Aquaculture Dialogue…
PR BS
—“NEW Fridgex – 2-in-1 collapsible baking and storage pieces!!” —“Rene Lopez heats up NUBLU and Arlene’s Grocery in February” —“5WPR now Agency of Record for T-fal Cookware & Appliances” —“Article: Neutering Males” —“ENJOY THE SIZZLIN’ SOUNDS OF DENNY’S NEW SKILLETS” —“Oregon Truffle Festival Marketplace Features Oregon Truffles, Wines and Artisan Foods” —“Freshwater Trout Aquaculture Dialogue…
The Steel Trap
Jim Osborne (Joseph Cotten, Citizen Kane) is an all-American, suit-and-tie family man who commutes to work, where he’s the assistant manager of a bank. To get into the vault, he and his fellow execs take turns entering safe codes as a safety measure … but he’s smart enough to memorize the others’ numbers. That’s because…
Obeaten
But just for the sake of being a completist, we’ll answer our own question: Obama is so unpopular that while Rick Santorum racked up a solid win in yesterday’s Oklahoma Republican presidential primary, the incumbent on the Democratic side of things actually lost 15 counties to folks who politely could be described as “fringe” candidates.…
Wrongheaded war on drugs
They last protected us like this back in 2004: That law reduced meth problems at the time and refined criminal technique to the point that meth can now be made on a Wal-Mart shelf. There isn’t much intelligence in doing it at Wal-Mart, but criminal efforts are not based in brain power but in the…
Who’s on drugs?
After you, Rep. Shortey. —David Orr Norman Opinions expressed on the commentary page, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in this newspaper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ownership or management. Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its…
Legislators caved to drug companies
I wish I had the time and knowledge to research how much profit drug companies make off of pseudoephedrine and what the impact would be if it were by prescription only. There are many over-the-counter medications without pseudoephedrine that do not contribute to methamphetamine addiction and production, but you valued the rights of the pharmaceutical…
‘Snuffing’ out life
I get your intent, though. I’m pretty sure you’re comparing our wonderful advancements in other areas to our backward approach to abortions — we actually make the mother listen to a description of the child she and the doctor are going to kill, “even if both are unwilling.” And to do so, a transducer must…
Gathering Mauss
Shane Mauss has a different way of looking at the world. The comedian is a native of Wisconsin, but found his way to the stage in Boston. His sarcastic, laconic style is reminiscent of late-night conversations with intelligent, mildly stoned friends. “People tell me I have a unique delivery, but I don’t really know what…
Artistic endeavors
The audience is both omniscient and clueless viewing Keith Bunin’s The Credeaux Canvas, a 2001 play now at Ghostlight Theatre Club, under the direction of Emily Etherton. One moment, we possess important information the characters don’t know, and the next moment, they’re springing something new on us. Set in the world of struggling artists in…
Drug testing no answer
First, some background. The state Department of Human Services already does some drug testing as a condition of receiving a check from the government. Basically, the way it works is that the applicant is interviewed by a DHS employee, and if that employee thinks you are on drugs, a drug test is ordered. (I’m not…
Smag 7: Dinner and a drink
Hollie’s Flatiron Steakhouse1199 S. Service Road, Moore 799-0300 Hollie’s is selling sirloin, an 8-ounce fillet and a 20-ounce, bone-in ribeye done on a flat iron grill. Pretty popular right now is its Purple Perfect Margarita, featuring Chambord. Don’t think your only choice is beef! Try tasty oven-roasted chicken, fish, pork chops or St. Louis ribs.…
Independence 76 — Magpie Parables
Its imaginative storytelling qualities are effective at times and overwrought at others, as narrator g. Eddison — it’s unclear whether Mr. Eddison is an actual person or just a fictional device — cries woe over the generation his junior. Woody Guthrie’s an obvious influence, as the bluegrass band tackles the taboo with obvious language and…
Young at art
Now in its second decade, the annual exhibit Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still returns Friday and Saturday. Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition started Momentum 11 years ago to showcase young artists statewide. All featured artists are age 30 or under. “Momentum gives you a sense of what young artists in Oklahoma are creating,” said Kelsey Karper,…
Travel with a twist
Not only does travel writer Terry Zinn find the martini to be a delicious drink, but visually appealing as well. Exploring the world with a camera is part of his job, so wherever work takes him, Zinn poses a photograph of a martini. From a vast collection of such images, he’s chosen 20 to comprise…
Top it off
I’m OK at partying, even if it does require me to be outdoors. My idea of nature is a covered patio with a mimosa no more than arm’s length away. Alas, my notion of living year-round in an allergy-free, moderately temperate bubble is quickly dashed when I consider the palpable loneliness I’d feel without my…
Wine on tap
“I’ve always loved downtown and its potential for growth,” she said. “There aren’t very many places that offer a lot of wines by the glass, and we wanted to create a place and a list where people could try a variety of wines you can’t find everywhere.” Chesser’s love of wine led her to convert…
CFN Quote of the week
—Oklahoma country star Toby Keith on “Red Solo Cup,” which he subsequently recorded anyway, as quoted in the Feb. 20 issue of Chicago Sun-Times
Text not, drive not
Thanks to smartphones, that list is now much longer. Drivers are texting, tweeting, emailing and taking time to kick ass on their latest Words with Friends move. That’s why state Sen. Brian Crain is pushing legislation this session to prevent drivers under 18 from using any electronic devices while driving. Senate Bill 182 cleared that…
CFN Quote of the week
—Oklahoma country star Toby Keith on “Red Solo Cup,” which he subsequently recorded anyway, as quoted in the Feb. 20 issue of Chicago Sun-Times
Manning up
You know the guy. In what’s considered one of the biggest classified information leaks in U.S. history, Manning is accused of sending thousands of classified military documents and information — including the so-called collateral murder video and thousands of diplomatic cables — to the website WikiLeaks. Manning, who was arrested in Iraq in 2010 and…
Bite Size
FEAST will sponsor four events a year by way of a meal, with proceeds to be used to fund artists. Each dinner guest will receive a ballot to vote on artist proposals that, in turn, will be screened and discussed. The winner will be awarded a grant to help fund his or her project from…
Fancy pants
It wanted Dr. Pants, in fact, Oklahoma City’s lovable funk-rock geeks who earned the Woody Award for People’s Choice by way of a quirky song about Chewbacca. Well, it turns out that appreciation for Dr. Pants has extended far beyond our fair city and on to one of the web’s more regularly trafficked hubs. The…
Marathon man
As reported last week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the 25-year-old Norman dweller was the first to cross the finish line of the 34th Cowtown Marathon on Feb. 26, clocking an impressive 2:31:40. To give reference, that’s just a smidgen faster than a 5:50-per-mile pace. While he beat the next finisher by a solid 6…
The tipping point for families
In the U.S., most of us get it. We can’t spend a trillion dollars of borrowed money every year. The more we borrow without growth, the faster we hit that tipping point. There is a different “debt bomb” accelerating the tipping point in our nation. It is the ever-growing cost of the U.S. safety net…
Playing with senses
Local online radio station The Spy has recruited local wino and music junkie Clayton Bahr for an aptly named show: Tasting Notes. At 6 p.m. Mondays, you can stream live at thespyfm.com and delight your senses by way of tasting and listening. The show is like any other you might hear on-air, only this one’s…
The Belle is back
Nope, the hour-long comedy, which debuted Sunday, is being untrue to its initials. Although based on the novel Good Christian Bitches by Kim Gatlin, the title acronym now stands for something else entirely, according to a recent interview with Chenoweth, a Christian herself. “First of all,” asked Reuters reporter Jill Jacobs, “what the heck does…
For the modest
The machines use advanced imaging technology (AIT), which shoots out a harmless electromagnetic wave that works to detect dangerous things like weapons and explosives. Pending no “anomaly,” the screen will give the OK for non-threatening passengers to make their way to the plane. This new technology introduces a PG version of the 3-D body scans…
Can it
Any given performance of Stomp brings the noise with paint cans, basketballs, oil drums, inner tubes, poles, hammers, garbage cans, brooms, drumsticks — enough to give its silent stars ringing ears and a migraine. “I’m probably going to be deaf when I get older,” said performer Guido “Guy” Mandozzi. “We have earplugs backstage, but you…
Finding J.O.Y.
Once the acid-tongued author of quite perceptive and often despondent and self-hating songs, sailing’s been smoother these days for Brooklyndwelling indie singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs, especially now that her Kickstarter-started third album, An Unwavering Band of Light, finally has hit the shelves. “I’m a lot happier and better adjusted than I was when I made…
Fact and fiction
Tracy Daugherty considered himself a fiction writer with no ambition of writing anything else, but the Oklahoma City federal building bombing changed all that. Although he lived in Oregon, he had spent much of his childhood visiting his grandparents in southwestern Oklahoma, and he felt a strong need to come to Oklahoma City in the…
Game Change
If Sen. McCain’s choice of the largely unknown Alaska Gov. Palin as his veep choice seemed out of nowhere then, there’s good reason: Because it pretty much was. McCain, here played by Ed Harris (Man on a Ledge), wanted Sen. Joe Lieberman, but was talked into someone “more transformative” by hired gun Steven Schmidt (Woody…
