Hornets close out OKC history chapter
The visiting Denver Nuggets managed to lead the game in the first minute and the last minute which stole the hearts of the Ford Center faithful at the Hornets final regular season game. On Friday the 13th, the Hornets scored in every possible way — bouncing shots off the backboard, finger-roll layups and slam dunks.…
Are We Done Yet?
If you can’t say something nice about something, my mother always taught me, don’t say anything at all. Bearing that in mind, let me just say that “Are We Done Yet?” could be much worse. A loose remake of 1948’s “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” and a sequel to 2005’s best-forgotten “Are We…
Don’t you love me anymore?
Will Rogers observed that “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” To watch our own state government in action of late, I expect that Gov. Brad Henry is thinking a lesser-known Rogers aphorism: “There ought to be one day ” just one ” when there is open season on…
Grindhouse
tino, we find two groups of female friends who run into “? literally “? homicidal road maniac Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), who chases them with his skull-emblazoned kill-car. Sandwiched between the movies are four faux trailers (with special guest directors) that steal the show. If you long for senseless gore and stomach-churning car chases, go…
OKC Lightning women’s football team racking up impressive record
Like the Oklahoma City Dolls three decades ago, the Oklahoma City Lightning gives local women the opportunity to play football. Having appeared in two world championships and earning a 38-6 record in its six-year history, The Lightning kicks off its next season April 21 against Dallas. “Oklahoma loves a winner. You keep winning, eventually you…
Pretending to live green
Sen. James Inhofe caught lots of flack recently for his objections to plans for holding Al Gore’s Live Earth concert on the west side of the U.S. Capitol. The concert, scheduled for July 7, is intended to gain support for the fight against global warming. “There has never been a partisan political event at the…
Former members of Toadies, Reverend Horton Heat form OKC’s Burden Brothers
Burden Brothers are touring to support “Mercy,” their second album. Drummer Patrick “Taz” Bentley formed the band with Vaden Todd Lewis, formerly of The Toadies. “We’re in it for the long haul, so we’re just drudging away,” Bentley said. “For myself, I can’t believe I’m still doing this. I can’t believe people still pay to…
Former Oklahoma lineman may live to regret remarks
The only thing funnier than watching Robin Williams on coke is listening to young college students explaining why they strayed from the path of righteousness. Former University of Oklahoma football players Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn are back in news these days as they discuss the actions leading to their dismissal from the team last…
Tulsa apartment complex hosts croc
After Memorial Creek Apartments residents in Tulsa reported spotting an alligator, the nearby pond was drained April 4 in hopes of finding ” and, one would assume, capturing ” the reptile, according to a report in The Oklahoman. Steve Harris of the Tulsa animal shelter was quoted as speculating, “If there is an alligator in…
The Namesake
Reviewers’ grade: A-In chronicling two generations of an Indian American family, “The Namesake” mines the divide between cultural identity and assimilation. Our story begins in 1977 with the arranged Indian marriage of scholarly Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and beautiful Ashima (Tabu). They move to New York, struggling with this strange new world and raising two…
Former Oklahoma Democratic governor takes on state Republicans
Although former Gov. David Walters said his daughters are fond of saying “Don’t you know who he thinks he used to be?” the audience’s standing ovation at the March 31 Oklahoma County Democratic Party Convention signaled it knew who he “used to be” and who he is today. Walters said the failings of the Republican…
Gay/lesbian group to hold summit in OKC
Cimarron Alliance Foundation, a local organization formed to focus on issues facing gays and lesbians in Oklahoma City, will host a summit Saturday at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Ave. Cimarron Alliance Chairman Richard Ogden said The Oklahoma Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Leadership Summit is about, “first of all, educating our own…
The Reaping
Reviewers’ grade: CHilary Swank takes a break from winning Oscars to star in this adequately creepy tale of a small Louisiana backwater town that is visited by the 10 plagues of the Old Testament. Working as a religious mythbuster, Swank believes that all miracles can be explained away by science until frogs start dying like…
OKC blind runner loves competing in marathons
Despite being blind since he was 40, Benny Meier runs marathons. Meier runs side by side with a partner, Jack Rector, an 82-year-old marathon runner. Each person holds onto the end of a short rope. Rector describes the course and any obstacles to Meier. “As long as there’s someone that’ll tell me to pick up…
Former OU, NFL player traded football for ministry
Willie Franklin was thrilled with the opportunity to play football at the University of Oklahoma and for the Baltimore Colts in the Seventies, but something was still missing from his life. “I found myself hungry to learn about the Bible and Christianity,” explained Franklin, who became a Christian at age 23. When Franklin returned to…
Hornets history
Hornets vs. Nuggets
Mid-week giveaway means another Hornet overtime game
Another mid-week game at the Ford Center with Desmond Mason giveaways, overtime and injuries. Fortunately, the Hornets again won their overtime game which keeps them in the playoff hunt, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 103-100. After last week’s injury fest, the casualty rolling on the floor was the referee, Jess Kersey who was sent…
Media overlooking new John Marshall High’s positives, say OKC officials
Controversy raged when the new John Marshall High School opened last August. A district official said dozens of parents pulled their children from the unfinished facility in an exodus to private and charter schools. Discipline concerns sparked further debate, and, this spring, some called for change, even if that meant temporarily closing the school. THE…
Access questioned in OU’s new open records request office
The University of Oklahoma has established a new office to handle inquiries into disseminating public information, but there are questions about whether the office is in full compliance with state law. The Open Records Office was created just over a month ago and is run through OU’s collections department. “OU saw the need for such…
Oklahoma space pioneer’s ashes to take flight
One of Oklahoma’s space pioneers has a chance to return to space ” even after he has passed from this life. Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. didn’t have to wait for Oklahoma to build its own rocket. Instead, he became one of America’s first seven astronauts back in the dawn of time (called the Sixties). You…
Two angry psychiatrists from a failed romance get thoroughly analyzed in their lawsuit
In March, a jury in Los Angeles listened to nine psychiatrists testify, along with other witnesses who openly described their sex lives, before finally deciding that neither party in the shrink-vs.-shrink contest was all that emotionally healthy. Dr. David Martorano had sued the UCLA psychiatry department, blaming a loss of promotion on a failed affair…
Pink Floyd tribute band comes to OKC with psychedelic stage show
Tom Quinn’s love of Pink Floyd has manifested into tribute band The Pink Floyd Experience. Their intense stage show routinely tours the nation, complete with dazzling lighting effects, projection screens, smoke, surround sound and a huge inflatable pig. “With the surround sound, you feel like you’re in a huge set of earphones where just the…
Oklahoma Cherokee chief calls Abramoff accusations ‘desperate’
Cherokee Principal Chief Chad Smith calls “desperate” an attempt by the descendants of former tribal slaves to link their ouster to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. However, an attorney for the freedmen descendants points to contact between Smith and former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles as proof that Abramoff’s machine was at work behind…
