Choosing school choice
In fact, it exemplifies the fundamental problem with public schooling, a monolithic one-track train. Perhaps 40,000 kids shouldn’t be on the same train on the same track to begin with. A train is a vastly outmoded form of transportation for 40,000 children all traveling on different paths. The few bright spots in the OKC public…
Blinded to science
Certainly, this must be a serious concern for Oklahoma. How concerned is the Legislature? Anti-science creationist inspired bills — House Bill 1551 authored by Sally Kern and Senate Bill 1742 by Josh Brecheen — are currently being considered. These would ostensibly promote “critical thinking, logical analysis and open and objective discussion of scientific theories,” primarily…
Keep the film rebate
What you probably don’t know is that the film industry in Oklahoma is growing at a rapid pace, bringing jobs and money to our state, largely thanks to a $5 million tax rebate program our state has. That rebate program has recently come under attack with the introduction of Senate Bill 1623, which aims to…
Gift of gab
The Oklahoma City Thunder megastar demonstrated his ease off the court last week when he made his late-night TV talk-show debut, appearing on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! KD’s breezy banter on the March 28 show was a far cry from his once-upon-a-time reluctance with the spotlight. He was funny and self-effacing as Kimmel busted Durant’s…
Camp a lot
King GuitArthur and The Drüggs 8 p.m. Friday-SaturdayThe Boom2218 N.W. 39th kgatd.com/tickets601-7200$10-$13 Lots and lots of glitter. Written by Nicholas Tankersley and Matthew Alvin Brown and featuring 14 songs written by Brown, GuitArthur focuses on an alien rock band that comes to Earth and gives one final show before they destroy the planet with their…
All about Eve
Few bands’ horizons looked better than Eve 6’s did back in the late ’90s and early ’00s. The alt-rock outfit enjoyed a major-label record deal, a platinum album and smash singles in “Inside Out” and “Here’s to the Night.” Then, ironically enough, things fell into a “beautiful oblivion.” Sales of its third, heavier release, 2003’s…
Beneath the Keith
Memphis blues and soul man John Paul Keith is wiser than most about the music industry. Clocking years in playing affords him a certain perspective. “We were coming back home from Baton Rouge on a Sunday afternoon. I was driving the van, and you think, ‘God, this is a long drive,’” he said. “It occurred…
Double R — Dr. Digital
Crazy, but good. It’s totally sporadic and unpredictable, which would be a detriment elsewhere, but works here. It’s like swimming in his id: a sunny, jazz-inspired melody here; a swampy, Gothic hook there. These indulgences are overwhelming and exciting, especially in the darkest of moments. It’s your best, worst nightmare. Double R works as much…
Giving them hell
You’ve heard The All-American Rejects’ mythology before. Talented small-town Stillwater high schoolers’ album gets scooped from the trash by a record label intern: music videos, hit singles, major-label deals, high-grossing worldwide tours and dalliances with celebrities ensue. In short, all the stuff that constitutes the first half of an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music:…
Kam they do it?
Oklahoma City rockers The Kamals recall many bands on first listen; some moments sound like Queens of the Stone Age, while others like vintage Black Keys or, even more old-school, Robert Johnson. If there’s one descriptor that ties it altogether, it’s sweat, and the five-man crew shed a lot of it recording its debut EP,…
Storied speaker
A stranger is watching. Where are the children? A cry in the night. Suspense killing you yet? Those phrases also are titles of novels written by The New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark, the “queen of suspense.” The esteemed crime writer will speak Tuesday at Literary Voices, annual fundraising dinner to benefit the…
‘House’ and home
It’s been a tornado of a year for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong. With a click of her red heels, she’s ready to leave the glimmering road of Rodeo Drive and snap back to reality — the non-TV kind, that is — as she visit Instead of letting the camera lens…
Isn’t it ‘Funny’?
If you’re thinking that sitcom story lines were only original 60 years ago, think again: Even then, they were recycled. To see an adaptation of comedy at its original roots, catch A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, presented by Oklahoma City Community College’s Department of Music and Theater Arts. This musical…
Sporty spice
I recently made a trip to New York, and I was surprised that even the fashion world has gotten sporty with it. We live in Oklahoma, so we’re used to people out in public in questionable things like pajamas or workout gear, but this marks the first time that such attire is an actual trend.…
Emerging eateries
Birrieria Don Arthur’s 1933 N. MacArthur Blvd. 495-8700 No frills or pretense in this colorful eatery, which features the sort of cuisine that is a rarity in an Oklahoma Mexican joint. On the menu you’ll find goat, lamb, tripe as well as the more ubiquitous Mexican foods. The relatively new restaurant appears to be doing…
Bite Size: April 4, 2012
Hop to it Hopabaloo will include a day pass and brunch at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. The event costs $12 for children ages 3-11, as well as seniors, and $17 for adults. Kids under 5 will be signed up for the Tiny Tot Egg Scramble. Tickets must be purchased in advance at…
Raw appeal
Along the sleek steel counters, you’re more likely to spot heaps of freshly pared fruit and vegetables than a stack of dirty dishes. Jars of herbs, spices, nuts and seeds sit neatly organized on a shelf. And against the wall, a dehydrator stands uniformly at attention. The facility is the nation’s first raw foods academy.…
Stop and smell the tannins
Ordinarily, wine dinners can be too long to be convenient, with diners forced to move at the glacial pace of the slowest eaters. Holloway said Boulevard uses a regular reservation system so guests can enjoy a less formal dinner at their own pace. He rotates through wine brokers so his guests may sample a variety…
Soup’s on
Nestled on the south side of the Super Cao Nguyen building, Mr. Pho is an unassuming cafe packed with friendly service and an abundant Vietnamese and Chinese menu. When you’re in, start with an appetizer or two. The shrimp roll ($2.95 for two) is full of fresh vermicelli, lettuce, sprouts and mint leaf, neatly packed…
Grand-slam grub
Upstairs, in the suites, the 1 percent will be dining on refined eats, away from the rabble. Delicacies, like the El Jimador Shrimp Shooters (think spicy individual shrimp cocktails), will be lowered into their mouths, as if they were emperors. Maybe some of them are: Emperors like baseball, too. Entrées are ordered for a crowd,…
Doobie-ous drake
The proprietor of Bricktown’s Dollhouse Lounge and Burlesque, however, might question Drake’s level of care or integrity these days. After his Feb. 28 show in Oklahoma City, the singer and his entourage had a VIP party at Dollhouse. According to TMZ, Dollhouse employees reported the smell of pot coming from the VIP section. Police were…
Tit for tat
But then you’d be wrong. For the fourth time in six years, a debate team from the University of Oklahoma has won the national university debate championship. The latest to do so, OU senior R.J. Giglio and freshman Chris Leonardi, came out on top last week from a field of 167 two-person teams competing in…
PR BS: Special Cheese-Only Edition!
Recently, these titles least screamed “Stop the presses!” —“Top Awards for Cheeses Available Through Emmi Roth USA at 2012 National Cheese Championships” —“Grilled Cheese Experts Share Their Latest Obsessions” —“Crave Brothers Marinated Fresh Mozzarella Wins World Championship Cheese Award”
Grand tour
The network for highminded insomniacs will profile our fair city as part of C-SPAN’s inaugural Local Content Vehicles (LCV) Cities Tour. Correspondents will arrive Monday and stay through Friday, April 13. The segments will air May 5-6. Debbie Lamb, coordinating producer for the LCV Tour, said C-SPAN will focus on the city’s history, culture and…
Enter stage Lips
The long-awaited stage musical production of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, based on the Lips’ 2002 album, is slated to make its world premiere next fall at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, Calif. At the helm is Tony Award-winning writer-director Des McAnuff, whose Broadway credits include Jersey Boys. Early on, McAnuff was reportedly…
God’s here: look busy!
Authored by Rep. Danny Morgan, House Concurrent Resolution 1024 would make “Oklahoma — In God We Trust!” the official state motto. Morgan told The Christian Post that research and review of the Oklahoma Constitution revealed that the state has no motto. As to the “Labor Omnia Vincit” (Labor Conquers All) on the state seal, Morgan…
PR-challenged
If you answered “by winning a lawsuit against the parents of special needs children,” you may have a future as a public relations consultant at Jenks and Union public schools. On March 27, a Tulsa district judge struck down a law that allowed the use of state funds for special needs children to attend private…
Family affair
At work, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist uses a microscopic worm to learn more about autism. At home, he and his wife, Kathy, have spent the last 17 years raising two sons with autism spectrum disorders, proving nothing comes quickly in science or in autism. “There’s the possibility of a good, positive outcome. But…
Family affair
At work, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist uses a microscopic worm to learn more about autism. At home, he and his wife, Kathy, have spent the last 17 years raising two sons with autism spectrum disorders, proving nothing comes quickly in science or in autism. “There’s the possibility of a good, positive outcome. But…
Plaza, sweet
The past two years have been a turning point for the arts district, largely spurred by the Lyric Theatre’s decision to save an old cinema in a hard-luck part of town. “It’s a hidden gem because once people see it, people say, ‘I didn’t even know this was here,’” said Mike Turpen, an Oklahoma City…
‘Collateral’ soldier
U.S. Army veteran Ethan McCord’s actions on July 12, 2007, have been seen throughout the world. Now the Iraq war veteran is coming to Oklahoma to talk about what he witnessed firsthand. McCord is one of the more prominent, if not heroic, figures featured in the so-called Collateral Murder video, which shows a U.S. helicopter…
Safe room
A closed-door meeting about gender-neutral housing with University of Oklahoma President David Boren went well, said Luxner, president of OU’s LGBT and Friends group. The March 26 discussion also included group leaders and OU’s Students for a Democratic Society, along with other university personnel. “[Boren] has indicated his willingness to continue to discuss the matter…
War of the womb
A state judge last week struck down a law requiring an ultrasound be performed prior to an abortion, and the following day a suit was filed to prevent a so-called personhood measure from landing on the November ballot. The ultrasound law, passed by the state Legislature in 2010 over the veto of then-Gov. Brad Henry,…
A plan to fix DHS
Public outcry over a series of tragic deaths of children in state custody had reached a fever pitch. Rather than run away from the problem, we opted to confront it and fix it. The speaker tasked us with digging deep into what was ailing the troubled agency, in order to make recommendations about how to…
LETTERS
keep the film rebate The Outsiders, Twister, Rumble Fish, The Grapes of Wrath … You’ve probably heard of these films, and know that they were shot, at least in part, in Oklahoma. What you probably don’t know is that the film industry in Oklahoma is growing at a rapid pace, bringing jobs and money to…
Oklahoma stalls on insurance exchange
The costs to comply with this law are staggering. Just days ago, the federal bureaucracy released more than 600 pages of proposed regulations related to health insurance exchanges, just one provision of PPACA. Many companies expect to hire full-time staff just to comply with the law, taking resources away from the company’s normal production for…
LETTERS
keep the film rebate The Outsiders, Twister, Rumble Fish, The Grapes of Wrath … You’ve probably heard of these films, and know that they were shot, at least in part, in Oklahoma. What you probably don’t know is that the film industry in Oklahoma is growing at a rapid pace, bringing jobs and money to…
LETTERS
keep the film rebate The Outsiders, Twister, Rumble Fish, The Grapes of Wrath … You’ve probably heard of these films, and know that they were shot, at least in part, in Oklahoma. What you probably don’t know is that the film industry in Oklahoma is growing at a rapid pace, bringing jobs and money to…
Chipping in
The move by the city is the latest in an effort to raise $40 million in non-state dollars in order for state lawmakers to fund a matching $40 million that would complete the partially constructed cultural center. Located on the south bank of the Oklahoma River west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the center…
The Nurses Collection
Part of the label’s ongoing and hopefully never-ending “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” line, The Nurses Collection presents a quadruple feature of the sexy, soapy, seriocomic flicks on two DVDs: 1974’s Candy Stripe Nurses, 1972’s Night Call Nurses, 1971’s Private Duty Nurses and 1973’s The Young Nurses. As you may have noticed, they’re not presented in…
The Spiral Staircase
The gist is that a serial killer of disabled women (now there’s a niche) has found his latest target in Helen (Jacqueline Bisset, who brings nothing to the role but a pretty face), a lovely young woman who’s been mute since a tragedy involving her child, her husband and a house in flames; we get…
Outrage: Way of the Yakuza
Here, a member of one crime syndicate unknowingly attempts to rip off a member of the other crime syndicate, via fleecing his nightclub bill. The insult eventually escalates to an all-out war as each side takes its turn exacting revenge, from several sacrificial fingers and a purposely botched act of dentistry to the most cruel…
Dark Shadows: Fan Favorites / The Best of Barnabas
It’s de rigueur for the Collins clan of Dark Shadows, the long-running Gothic soap opera from the late 1960s and early 70s, and a cult sensation ever since. Because the TV show is due for a modern reboot as Tim Burton’s take hits the big screen on May 11, MPI Home Video is naturally mere…
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXIII
As for the four films contained within? Well, they’re all horrible, naturally, which means they’re hilarious when pitted against Joel Hodgson or Mike Nelson and their robot friends, who sit in silhouette at the bottom of your screen, mocking all the way. In this set, we’re treated to a true variety of genres that previous…
Artful move
The foundation acquired more than four acres at N. Broadway and N.W. 12th Street to house the City Arts Center. Christian Keesee, president of the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, said the center has outgrown its current location at 3000 General Pershing on the fairgrounds, and the new location will provide perfect access and parking for visitors.…
Off the air
That storied career abruptly ended today when Clear Channel Communications let the veteran newsman go, in what appears to be continued downsizing. Bohnen is an inductee into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. His honors have included the Investigative Reporter and Editors Award and The Edward R. Murrow Award. His dismissal first was reported on…
‘Royal’ treatment
Johnny Royal joined the society six years ago, and is now a Master Mason and officer at the Elysian Lodge 418 in Los Angeles. The idea of making a documentary on the world of Freemasonry came to him last May. This week, he and his crew will be in Guthrie shooting for the film, The…
