Maximum Conviction
The two Steves — one formerly stone cold, the other once hard to kill — star as tough-talkin’ former black-ops partners at a “high-risk extraction” prison that’s so “dark military,” the local police don’t even know the place exists. Therefore, the fuzz won’t be any help when rogue military man Michael Paré (The Lincoln Lawyer)…
Supernatural Activity
The gist is that for its season/series finale, one of those ridiculous ghost-hunting shows goes to Hicksville, Texas, in search of the “yeti-demon” known as Smallsquatch. To give you an immediate idea of the level of humor the flick operates, the creature tickles its victims to death. Ha-ha! I mean, ha-ha? This flimsy setup allows…
Basket Case 3: The Progeny
After all, its cast fills a school bus marked “NO ONE YOU KNOW,” on which one goofy-looking rider reads Camus, and they all burst into a musical number — the ’50s pop hit “Personality,” to be exact. Did I mention almost all those aboard are literal freaks of nature? OK, so it’s pretty damned demented,…
Kool-Aid’s global warming flavor
Every fellow graduate geologist I know believes that Mother Nature plays, by far and away, the most important role with regard to the fate of our planet and universe. This is especially evident before man made his appearance. Now then, Robin may have 16,000 ministers, movie actors and Occupy Wall Street types supporting his view,…
Why not move already?
A more liberal state like Caleeefornia, Oregon or Washington would consider him a state treasure. To think humans could alter the climate is hubris at its most significant. —Tom Furlong, Oklahoma City
It’s Pat!
Dear Judge Bill Graves, My spouse, Pat, started growing larger breasts and won’t let me see his/ her genitals. We met online. I think (s) he duped me. Please help. Signed, Sam P.S.: We have a cat named Dog, and a dog named Cat. Does God hate us? —Thomas Bowman, Oklahoma City
Incomplete ‘grade’
If presented within context, my message is that “for some students within the lowest quartile of test takers who have serious handicapping conditions, ‘it is just about too much to ask” that they be held to the standard — the numerical gradient of growth — expected of the general population of students. Given the severe…
Freaky Friday
Maybe it’s too early, but what are you doing New Year’s Eve? Unless you’re Down Under, you’re not going to see The Flaming Lips’ annual New Year’s Eve Freakout. It’s true: Music’s favorite weirdoes will ring in 2013 in Australia, but in exchange, they’ve conjured up a holiday gift more appropriate than their usual end-of-year…
Letters
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@okgazette. com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
Reid all about it
Lots of guys get in trouble with their girlfriends for eating in bed. Norman singer-songwriter Kyle Reid was in the doghouse for building cigar-box guitars there. “Sawdust would get everywhere, including in my bed,” he said. “It didn’t bother me very much, because the sawdust reminded me of the work I had done that day,…
Cheap shoots
The notion of genre has become increasingly muddled with each passing decade. As technology progresses, so, too, do the means by which that music is produced. New sounds are born from new methods and ideas, and the traditional framework of a once-pure building block evolves into something completely its own. This is especially true of…
When it Raines
Musical pairings aren’t always successful, occasionally causing more discord than harmony. That’s not the case for Broadway star Ron Raines, who collaborates with Canterbury Choral Society in their season opener, Broadway to Bricktown. Known for his warm, golden baritone, Raines will perform scenes from Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Carnival and Man of La Mancha. The…
Whitey power
Photo: Clay Abbott While many critics are quick to label Whitey Morgan as part of the new breed of “outlaw country,” a movement begun in the 1970s by the likes of Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings, he is just as quick to put that dog down. “I don’t think there’s really any outlaw country these…
Back in black
For rockers Gooding, life as touring musicians isn’t just about the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. It’s also about financial literacy. Wait, what? “Isn’t it the least rock ’n’ roll thing in the world? Shouldn’t I be carrying around a guitar and a bottle of Jack?” said Gooding, guitarist/singer and unimonikered namesake of the…
OKG7 Gazette staff picks
Sweet Basil 211 W. Main, Norman 217-8424 One of our accounting gurus has run all the numbers, and for her, Sweet Basil just adds up. “I love, love, love Sweet Basil in Norman,” she said. “It’s not just because it has the best Massaman curry and pineapple fried rice in the world, but because the…
Autumn apparel
What better way to kick off the fall season than with a free fashion show? University of Central Oklahoma’s fashion marketing program joins with Edmond’s Spring Creek Plaza for the fifth annual Fall into Fashion. Attendees will enjoy a glimpse at fall’s latest trends, as well as discounted merchandise and door prizes. Guests may arrive…
Second shot
The one-story, 11,000-squarefoot building, initially presented to OCURA commissioners in April, showed the brick building with an entrance facing south toward a parking lot. The back of the space would have faced the Bricktown Canal with a small patio on a grassy lot between two other popular eateries, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar &…
Grand old bar
Owner Greg Seal created the neighborhood bar at 317 N.W. 23rd as an homage to his grandfathers. “I feel like anything I do well is from the examples those two men set for me,” Seal said. “The way they behaved and the kindness with which they treated people really shaped me.” The bar displays personal…
PR BS
Credit: Brad Gregg —“Southwest Bancorp, Inc. Reports Net Income of $5.9 Million for the Third Quarter of 2012” —“Jeff Dunham Scores Concurrent Tour Ticket & DVD Sales Coups” —“The most iconic speech since ‘I Have a Dream’” —“TEAM MEATBALL HAS AN ARREST ON TONIGHT’S ‘JERSEY SHORE’” —“Basic Energy Services Announces Receipt Of Requisite Consents With…
Moon men
Credit: Brad Gregg Kelley left The Oklahoman just prior to the newspaper being sold last year to The Anschutz Corporation. The Washington Times’ former owner, Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church, died Sept. 3, and at the time of Kelley’s hiring in June 2011, a spat between Moon’s heirs and current owners…
Leader of the packs
The idea of silly first-world problems makes the real problem of hunger even more invisible. The truth is, foodinsecure families reside throughout the first world, the Oklahoma City metro area included. According to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, one in four children in the state is underfed. Since Rodney Blevins founded the organization in…
PR BS
Credit: Brad Gregg —“Southwest Bancorp, Inc. Reports Net Income of $5.9 Million for the Third Quarter of 2012” —“Jeff Dunham Scores Concurrent Tour Ticket & DVD Sales Coups” —“The most iconic speech since ‘I Have a Dream’” —“TEAM MEATBALL HAS AN ARREST ON TONIGHT’S ‘JERSEY SHORE’” —“Basic Energy Services Announces Receipt Of Requisite Consents With…
‘Blown Away,’ indeed
Credit: Brad Gregg Rather than a quick peck, however, he demanded “lip to lip.” She obliged. Now that the American Idol winner and country superstar is returning home for a Thursday concert at Chesapeake Arena, Chicken-Fried News suspects that throngs of metro boys are now shaving their wispy-thin mustaches and working on signs in hopes…
Parole division
Gov. Mary Fallin The governor initially endorsed the measure, but withdrew her support after a controversy erupted between the state Pardon and Parole Board and the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association (ODAA). In a prepared statement, Fallin said she remains committed to the “general concept” of removing the governor from the pardon and parole process in…
No charges
Attorney David Slane with membersof Robin Howard’s family Credit: Mark Hancock As family members of the deceased Robin Howard emerged and began walking toward other members of the family who had been awaiting their return, there was no need to explain what had just happened — their faces and tears said it all: No charges…
Voting for peace
It is shocking that candidates on the national scene express commitment to giving more tax cuts to the wealthy and addressing the deficit only by cutting social programs serving America’s most vulnerable. They would repeal the Affordable Care Act, removing health insurance from some 30 million qualifying people. They would privatize Medicare with vouchers. They…
Lost Empires — Death and Evil Beasts
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:1″> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal”> From the title alone of its new EP, Death and Evil Beasts, you get a feeling of where this six-song affair is going: This ain’t no Taylor Swift. Clocking in at around 20 minutes, the disc covers a lot of ground, musically. The old-school punk noise of…
Do blondes have more fun?
The American-style blonde ale was released in mid-August. Black Mesa Brewing co-owner Brad Stumph said he and his brewer, Chris Sanders, are working on another style for later this year. “There are a couple recipes we’re happy with,” Sanders said. “Based on time and season, we’re probably going to go with a black lager.” Black…
Hair’s the deal
When it comes to empowering Oklahoma women, Terrainia Harris and Shekeeta Taylor put their passion to work. In 2010, they founded Resilient Soul, which aims to empower the health and culture of women. Friday through Sunday, Resilient Soul hosts its second annual Oklahoma Naturals expo, promoting organic health and beauty products and service that celebrate…
Lost in Cleveland
Credit: Brad Gregg The Republican vice presidential candidate joined former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a visit to the Cleveland Browns at practice last week. Ryan took a few moments to speak to the players and committed what some Oklahomans might call a cardinal sin: He mistook a Longhorn for a Cowboy. As reported…
Roll on
Saturday marks the Halloween Spook Fest Skate Party. From 7 p.m. to midnight, Skate Galaxy patrons in costumes — and paying a $15 entry fee — will compete to win prizes, including a pair of skates. Sunday night features an adults-only Old School Skate Jam. International Roller Skating Month was established to promote the activity’s…
Sauced and inked
Credit: Brad Gregg If your everyday vocab consists of words like “complex, dry and spicy,” and it has nothing to do with your love life, there’s a good chance, dear “wine enthusiast,” that you are, in fact, a lush. Lucky for you, Urban Wineworks, Plaza District’s proud little winery, would like to celebrate with you.…
What separation of church and state?
Credit: Brad Gregg Last week, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma released survey results of its “2012 Oklahoma Voter’s Guide for the Well-Informed Voter of Faith.” Of course, in this instance, “Voter of Faith” means follower of the one correct and true faith of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Catholics, Mormons, Unitarians or people…
Cous we said so
If gyros were a fruit, I would have several trees in my backyard, and I would go out each morning to pick the ripest ones from its heavy-laden branches. And I would not share. That is how much I adore a gyro. It’s hard to find a bad gyro. Some have more or less meat.…
Loving local
We parlayed that into a conversation about local artists, writers, dancers and musicians. Discussions like this remind me that the local arts and food scenes are doin’ just fine. Another area that shouldn’t be neglected is local shopping. Now, I know we’re all guilty of ordering things online because of convenience. Just for a second,…
Americano
Jetting to Los Angeles where she lived — and where he grew up for a few years until his father took him back to France, and where he hasn’t visited for five years — Martin plans on a quick trip to sign paperwork and put her condominium on the market. He doesn’t count on his…
Best of Bond … James Bond: 50 Years — 50 Tracks
With Skyfall landing in theaters Nov. 9, this season is no different … except that Capitol Records’ Best of Bond … James Bond has something else to celebrate: five full decades of the screen franchise. Therefore, this set throws in another disc’s worth of music that make it worth replacing the last disc you bought.…
Rites of Passage
It concerns a group of party-hearty students at the University in Santa Barbara — that’s right: in, not of, per the opening scrawl — taking a field trip to a burial ground of the Chumash Indians, a tribe evidently known for shape-shifting and downing toxic, hallucinatory flower tea. Along with much sexual activity and drug…
Gone in 60 Seconds: Car Crash King Edition
Making its Blu-ray debut in a combo pack — albeit one saddled with the silly subtitle of Car Crash King Edition — the film features writer/director/producer Halicki as its protagonist, too: an insurance investigator named Pace (get it?) who makes better money heading an illegal car-theft ring and chop shop that’s more or less wallpapered…
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — The Heist
On The Heist, the duo’s chemistry is apparent as always, as they strike a perfect balance between fun and reality. Macklemore spits thought-provoking, honest lyrics about everything from thrift shopping and Cadillacs to sobriety and marriage equality. Throughout the project, the rapper exhibits great rhymes and outstanding flow, clearly showing his strong lyrical ability. Lewis…
Confessions of an Opium Eater / The Face of Fu Manchu / The Vengeance of Fu Manchu
Based on the novel by early 19th-century journalist Thomas De Quincy (whom Price plays), the film from notorious schlock director Albert Zugsmith (Sex Kittens Go to College) is, to put it bluntly, nonsense. Should you choose to embrace that nonsense, you’ll be greeted with lots of falling bodies (including a bird), Asian women as slaves,…
