The Darkest Hour
Amid a citywide power outage, aliens fall from the sky in the form of orange fireballs that then turn more or less invisible, but immediately incinerate all humans they can get their “hands” on. As luck would have it, our heroes manage to survive by holing up, along with the aforementioned babes (Transformers’ Rachael Taylor…
Horses need not apply
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, the family-friendly event features some unusual races for a worthy cause. Each animal and jockey combination will be assigned a celebrity trainer, who has chosen a local nonprofit organization to represent. The winners of both races will receive a $1,000 donation from Remington Park for the champs’…
Ray of might
Sleepy Sun followed the same path as many fellow psych-rock outfits when it came time to record the band’s third studio effort. That road led to Joshua Tree National Park, and the group found itself intoxicated by the California desert. “We stayed at Hicksville Trailer Palace, which is basically a bunch of vintage trailers around…
A little blue
Mark Jordan Mark Hancock Municipal and waste workers are trying to raise that participation rate, in the meantime sorting through thousands of tons of materials every year. Ninety-two percent of Oklahoma City residences are eligible for curbside recycling pick-up, said Debbie Ragan, city utilities spokeswoman. That amounts to approximately 175,000 homes. The people who don’t…
Beat it
The English Beat Eugenio Iglesias UPDATE: The English Beat will play ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan, at 9:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, April 20, since last night’s show was canceled due to rain. British ska legends The English Beat are as much a part of cinematic history as they are musical, what with being responsible…
Luck be a lady
Ready, set, drag! The Queens of the Night break out their ball gowns, dance moves and nicely manicured claws as they prepare to lip-sync for their lives at this year’s Miss Gay Oklahoma USofA Newcomer. The pageant promises a night full of entertainment and fierce competition. “They’re looking for guys that look more like women,”…
Food, fast
Foodies Express 1220 N. Hudson 235-1111 This shop serves up classic dishes with a twist. For example, try its zesty Asian fajitas or the Asian gyros that are now on the menu. Look for lunch and dinner at this unique restaurant owned by Quyen Le and Bang Bui. For dessert, the grilled bananas with coconut…
Bite Size: April 18, 2012
Midwest delight Fancy a sampler? You’ll have the chance from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday for the annual Taste of Midwest City. The fund-raiser will be held at the Reed Conference Center, 5800 Will Rogers Road in Midwest City, and proceeds are donated to area charities. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the…
Guided youth
Dacember and Skyler visit the Youth Services for Oklahoma County pantry. Shannon Cornman After leaving home, the only place she could find to stay was with six other people in a three-bedroom apartment where neither school nor food was a priority. “My room was the living room. The party room was the living room,” she…
City life on the farm
Elia Woods Mark Hancock At the forefront of this realm of agriculture is Elia Woods, who enlisted the help of neighbors to form CommonWealth Urban Farms. After years of teaching weaving at City Arts Center, Woods was ready to change gears. She took a market gardening course at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City and the idea…
Green on red
Hunter Magness Mark Hancock Higher learning has picked up the lessons of sustainability. At the University of Central Oklahoma, for example, a commonsense idea to make university leaders better stewards of tuition and tax dollars has become a campus-wide culture. “Somebody has to take a leadership role and see if these things work,” said Tim…
Feminine frames
For the fourth year, Lunafest — a traveling festival of short films by, for and about women — arrives in Oklahoma City. Screening Friday at Lyric Theatre after a cocktail party, the event benefits World Neighbors’ Work of Women and the Breast Cancer Fund. This year’s lineup features nine films on a variety of subjects.…
Puff piece
Rainette Rowland Price Vernon is so proud of his roots, he wears them on his tattooed sleeve. The veteran musician spent years on the Hollywood Strip, playing for hire, but a desire to write and record his own music led him back home to Oklahoma, where he formed the upstart metal act Big Okie Doom…
Yay, it’s Record Store Day!
This year’s festivity comes with a heavy dose of Oklahoma artists. Even among a slate of highly anticipated releases from the likes of David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and Metallica, the collaborative album from Oklahoma City’s The Flaming Lips stands as one of the most-talked about. The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends features such all-star guests…
Prehistoric powerhouse
Mastodon is great at naming things. Now touring behind its fifth album, The Hunter, Atlanta’s reigning prog-metal act stomped its way to critical-darling status by virtue of more than just formidable song sorcery. One can feel writers’ glee by reading reviews of the band’s sludgy, heady, unrelenting approach to rock that manifests in album titles…
Good gray
That next day I stopped coloring my Rogue-like gray streak in my hair (I sometimes like to think I’m actually an X-person). It didn’t fight back, as it’s been ignoring the color I’ve put on it since college. And, frankly, I was tired of only being able to part my hair a specific way to…
Cake boss
Robert McKnight Cake’s B-list status is not accidental. “The band formed not really wanting to be big, and we’ve actually succeeded at that. We never exploded onto the scene, as it were,” singer John McCrea said. “When things become really big, they become suspect.” Since breaking through in 1996 with the hit “The Distance,” Cake…
Green guzzling
Of the three main categories of booze — wine, beer and spirits —the former is by far the most difficult to produce organically, at least in the U.S. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s certification process, organic wines cannot contain added sulfites, which are chemicals added to wines to inoculate against bad bacteria. “American…
Light my fire
With no less than three self-portraits of Frida Kahlo on its dining room walls, the controversial painter could be Juan del Fuego Mexi Diner’s patron saint. Kahlo’s impassive gaze times three, colorful Mexican folk art and wrought-iron candelabras decorate the diminutive space that seats around 55. On weekends those seats usually are filled from 7…
Slurred speech
Brad Gregg With confounding frankness, the veteran journalist neglected to censor herself as she read from a suspect’s Facebook page and delivered a double whammy in the form of the f-bomb and n-word. Back at the studio, CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield said, “We apologize to our viewers for such profanity being used on our air.”…
Skip the facts
Brad Gregg Well, it could be heard all over the blogosphere last week when self-billed “obscure local social blog” The Lost Ogle uncovered evidence that ESPN commentator and OKC native Skip Bayless had, at best, exaggerated certain facts about his high school basketball career. At worst, said comments could be described as, um, untruths from…
Swan song
Brad Gregg Perhaps Santorum had a secret weapon that helped get him as far as he did: the First Love Band. Consisting of Tulsa sisters 20-year-old Camille Harris and 18-year-old Haley Harris, the band wrote a song, “Game On,” that not only gave Santorum an endorsement, but a ringing one, at that. When Santorum heard…
Smart cookie
Brad Gregg The election that matters most has been settled. In an online vote that promoted both the Girl Scouts and the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan, Oklahomans last week weighed in on their favorite Girl Scout cookie. The ever-durable thin mint won with nearly 33 percent of the vote, edging out the Samoa. This…
Frack, yeah!
Otherwise known as fracking, the method of natural-gas extraction is hailed by the energy industry (and those the industry has helped elevate to regulatory government positions) while simultaneously drawing fire from critics in the media, Hollywood and environmental groups. Thus far this year, the Environmental Protection Agency pushed back hard on criticism of its report…
Stopping suicide
Perhaps even more traumatic is losing that person through suicide. That’s the topic of a Suicide Prevention Summit hosted in part by the Edmond Police Department. It will take place Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the University of Central Oklahoma Nigh Center, 100 N. University Drive in Edmond. “We have seen an alarming…
Modern word
Considered one of the nation’s most provocative voices for a non-literal Christianity, John Shelby Spong will speak Friday at an event hosted by the United Church of Norman. The lecture, titled “Why Christianity Must Change or Die,” is based on Spong’s contention that many Christians practice an outdated faith. “What I try to do in…
He deserves no respect
Hypothetical situation. Say you own a company. It’s $1 million in debt, so you hire a new person to run it. The person you hire has never had a job, done a payroll, knows nothing about your product or service, knows nothing about your clients, knows nothing about policy mandates. When this person takes over,…
A reluctant partnership?
Karl Springer Shannon Cornman Two Oklahoma City Public Schools have landed on the highest-priority school improvement list: Shidler Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School. An Oklahoma City charter school, Santa Fe South Middle School, originally was on the list, too, but is getting further consideration. The process of determining which schools are in need of…
Proceed with caution
Larkin Warner As reported in state Treasurer Ken Miller’s January Oklahoma Economic Report, their mission was to emphasize the positive performance of the state’s economy to officials of the three main bond rating agencies. Oklahoma’s general obligation bond ratings were already relatively high, but even higher ratings would mean lower future borrowing costs. For example,…
Lip service
Brad Gregg Oklahoma City’s band is back with a double-vinyl release, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, which features collaborations with Ke$ha, Biz Markie, Nick Cave, Bon Iver, Erykah Badu, Yoko Ono, Neon Indian, Tame Impala, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. Tracks include “Superman Made Me Want to Pee,” “Helping the…
Lean and green
Meat and dairy require far more energy to produce than vegetarian or plant-based products. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 30 percent of the earth’s landmass is now used to raise animals for food. That includes land for grazing, as well as the significant percentage of farm acreage used to…
Not child’s play
Sheri Guyse with her two children Shannon Cornman Some public policy groups warn, however, that the income tax reform proposals making their way through the state Capitol could mean an increase in the tax burden for working parents. Four bills to reduce the income tax this year — and possibly phase it out over the…
Party this
Party this Don’t be a square; see you at the Round Barn, 107 E. Highway 66 in Arcadia, for the 20th anniversary celebration of the iconic structure’s rehabilitation. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, the festival features live bluegrass and folk music, square dancing, classic cars, the Pops food truck and more. Call 401-8694…
Bewitched
Yessiree, life’s a pretty sweet fruit for Joan … until the evil voice in her head takes up permanent residence for no particular reason. Karen is her name, and she makes Joan think naughty things. When Joan runs away from those she loves in response, Karen makes Joan do naughty things — namely, plant the…
