Chris Bathgate — Salt Year
It’s a mellowing experience, one that makes a sleepy day seem bearable. The folky tunes don’t have an underlying layer of misery that marks Bon Iver’s output, and that’s all the better for just watching life go by on a lazy afternoon. If you’re lazy, you can just put “No Silver” on repeat and drift…
Black Death
Set in 1348 England, the swords-and-sickness adventure takes place in the days of the *cough cough* bubonic plague that killed millions. The opening narration does a terrific job of filling in and setting up a mood of pallor: “The fumes of the dead are in the air like poison. … Where did it come from?…
Snow & Lace — Mixtape One
Be not fooled. Although Snow & Lace’s debut is titled “Mixtape One,” this isn’t rap. Instead, it’s 30 minutes and 30 seconds of chilled-to-the-max ambient music, split evenly into two parts, aptly titled “Movement One” and “Movement Two.” The Oklahoma act lets one musical idea slowly unfold into the next, creating a flowing mood. “Movement…
PR BS
—“Oklahoma City University Hosts Presentation on Identifying Human Remains” —“Terra Industries Inc. to Pay $625,000 Clean Air Act Penalty and Spend $17 Million to Install Pollution Controls at Acid Plants in Iowa, Mississippi and Oklahoma” —“National Ad Campaign Reinforces Truth to Customers” —“Reliable Respiratory Uses Tabasco for ‘Hot’ Marketing Campaign” —“AG Pruitt Joins Multistate Fight…
On the scene
Stoller, co-founder of Oklahoma City-based Express Employment Professionals, has been an eyewitness to the growth of Oklahoma’s wine culture for nearly 20 years, both as a customer and as an ambassador for his critically acclaimed wines, including those from Chehalem, an Oregon winery in which he is a partner. In that time, Stoller said he’s…
Wonder boys
Pop punk’s The Wonder Years — whose name definitely didn’t come from the television show — spent those years in the ’90s, the heyday of family-friendly punk bands like New Found Glory and The Ataris. “We hit the era of moving past your parents’ music to your own in the ’90s, so it was stuff…
Walk to remember
In 11 years as a band, The Walkmen has never had a man walk. “It’s a band. It’s supposed to be a group of people doing something, not just a business or a name. If one of us left, it wouldn’t be the same thing,” said Peter Bauer, pianist and organist for the New York-based…
Chew on this
It’s safe to assume that when Tom Fec, frontman of psychedelic electro weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow, decided to strike out with his solo project, Tobacco, it would be to indulge even the strangest inclination he felt pulsing in his head. That’s certainly true, and the music is all the more bizarre for it. “It’s…
NBA games are not decided by the theoretical
The result of the play, two points for OKC, gave the Thunder a 102-101 lead with one minute, five seconds remaining in the game. In the end, Denver lost 107-103. A day later, the NBA front office released a statement admitting that a mistake was made, that Perkins’ tip should have been waived off. Everyone…
Get your fest on
Featuring 31 food vendors, more than 200 visual artists and nearly 300 performing artists, this year’s offering sports a wide variety of entertainment for all ages, said Angela Cozby, festival director. “There will be almost any type of entertainment that you can think of,” she said. “None of the food items are priced over $8,…
Anglophilia
Still, I’ve always felt a strange affinity for William and Harry. My parents got married just about the same time his did, and again, the age thing. Although Wills has grown very Charles-esque while Harry has become, as one of my favorite bloggers calls him, Prince Hot Ginge, I’m really pretty excited about Friday’s royal…
Grim rapier
Oklahoma City Theatre Company is staging two original plays in its “New Voices” festival, including the semiautobiographical “Family Funeral,” written by actor, playwright, director and Oklahoma City University professor David Pasto. The program got its start during OCTC’s second season in 2001, and according to Rachel Irick, associate artistic director, “helps fulfill the company’s mission…
CFN Quote of the Week
The president, I’m sure, knows very little about fracking. So he’s trying to be, I think, cautious in responding to it saying, ‘of course we want natural gas, but … we want to be sure we’re safe.’ I’ve fracked over 3,000 wells myself; they fracked on my ranch yesterday. I guess (Obama) feels like he…
Coriander can-do
What works: Tasty food and good service in an unpretentious, but attractive dining room. What needs work: Of two desserts on the menu, one was unavailable three hours into the business day. Wine and high-point beer are forthcoming. The Tip: In a familiar Campus Corner location, Coriander serves delicious Vietnamese food that may be customized…
Food biz newcomers
House of Hunan 1316 N. Interstate Drive, Norman 360-7798 After a kitchen fire temporarily shuttered the restaurant last July, Joy Zhao and her husband, Neo Dake Zhang, have reopened their House of Hunan/White Swan in Norman. They are offering authentic cuisine, such as beef with cumin or cilantro chicken. Or, try Ants on a Tree,…
Mim’s the word
It had been almost a decade of wanting what you couldn’t have for rock’s The Mimsies. After the Norman-to- L.A. band split in 2004, its members migrated across the country, and the years since have been spent waiting and wishing. “It’s strange. For the last seven years of considering doing a reunion, there needed to…
Stop gap
MAPS 3 funded them, but the plan only provided for construction in Oklahoma City, so they dead-end on the west and south sides of Nichols Hills. On April 16, Planet Nichols Hills, a local chapter of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network, sponsored a panel about the feasibility of extending the trails. The trail from Lake Hefner…
Fame monster
According to KFOR-TV 4, 20-year-old metro-area resident Angelina K. Barnes was so intent on attending a Lady Gaga concert drenched in blood that she allegedly killed a cat to get the red stuff. Lady Gaga famously performed in the same manner at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards; she had an April 4 concert in…
Getting Kinky
Blue Door audiences catching Kinky Friedman’s solo Saturday-night performance should expect music, political commentary, Q-and-A and a book signing from the singer/songwriter/novelist/failed gubernatorial candidate from south of the Red River. Friedman, probably best-known for his “Asshole from El Paso” cover that parodied Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee,” embarks on his “Springtime for Kinky Tour 2011.”…
No fooling Mother Nature
“Clean, reliable and affordable” are words of certainty, until Mother Nature kicks your ass. Katrina, the BP oil spill in the Gulf and the Exxon Valdez are just a few examples of what “won’t” go wrong in the pursuit of such energy. Now we have a list of earthquakes around the world, from Haiti to…
When I signed up as a Republican 14 years ago, I don’t recall checking my common sense at the door.
When I signed up as a Republican 14 years ago, I don’t recall checking my common sense at the door.
The 411 on NMF4
MAIN STAGE Saturday’s Main Stage sees more indie rock and less diversity than in previous years, with Oklahoma City instrumental wunderkinds The Non; San Franciscan garage-rocker Ty Segall; Austin, Texas-based indie-dance crew Foot Patrol; and New York City’s harsh/beautiful indie rockers The Walkmen all gracing the spot. Local folkster Penny Hill Party will open the…
Lucky ‘Seven’
Oklahoma City Theatre Company has opened “Seven Interviews,” a new work by New Mexico playwright Mark Dunn that contemplates the most basic of human interactions, the one-on-one encounter. The play is comprised of seven unconnected scenes of 10 to 15 minutes each. Dunn uses the term “interviews” broadly. Some of the encounters are more like…
Four for feet
As the title “A Concert of Classics and Contemporaries” suggests, the two-week run of the University of Oklahoma’s Oklahoma Festival Ballet features a mix of established and modern pieces. “The four ballets provide a challenging variety of styles and themes that is sure to please,” said OU School of Dance faculty member Jeremy Lindberg, whose…
Kids’ mental health on the agenda
The 4 to 7 p.m. event will provide a fun environment with food and games, as well as a chance for families with a child who suffers from a mental illness to interact with families like them, said Cher Golding, executive director of the association. “It’s a way for families to come network and celebrate…
Bite size
Recently co-chaired: “The Evolve Local Food Challenge with Transition OKC and with Marcy Roberts. The Contestants were 105 Degrees, Chef Kurt Fleischfresser, Chef Kamala Gamble, The Prairie Gypsies, Chef Ryan Parrott and The Wedge.” Family: “Husband, Jim, children, Scott, 23, and Callie, 13.” Most treasured possession: “My garden. Once you eat a salad that is…
Top dogs?
The Mutts business plan is nothing new, as the owners and operators have been playing with this idea for a little more than a year. Cally Johnson, Kathryn Mathis and Chris Lower are the owners of BTT, and the frankfurter idea came to fruition when Chicago chef and native Oklahoman Rick Bayless had breakfast at…
Whiskey river
Check your pop culture references and you’ll find it: from “Mad Men”’s Don Draper, to Alec Baldwin’s inimitable Jack Donaghy, all the way back through any of John Wayne’s more memorable characters. The brown liquor provides something that vodka simply does not: character. There is the subtle, smoky, oaken flavor. There is the invitation to…
Fractured family
“Lord, I pray in spite of the many differences between them that would under normal circumstances cause division between them, that you would bring them together, Lord, in the common cause of your righteousness that alone can exalt people of this state,” Vineyard said. To some, it may seem an act of divine intervention would…
Counterpoint: Fallin ‘should be praised’
The legislation intended to set up a state health care insurance exchange facilitated by a $54 million “early innovator” grant from the federal Affordable Care Act, referred to by opponents as “Obamacare.” Once the bill arrived in the Senate, Steele and Fallin were both surprised when Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman said the Senate…
Cutting up
I love breathing mercury, arsenic and caustic gases. I’m glad my children will have increased opportunities for severe asthma, allergies or cancer. I’m glad for “cheap” energy costing them only the mountains and the integrity of their drinking water. Glad intestinal or life-threatening diseases are also great possibilities, as the water infrastructure and treatment options…
‘Jail’ time
On tour to promote its first album, “Ain’t Goin Back to Jail,” the East Texas quartet looks to lock up many a new listener. “I sing my own songs, and I think that adds an element of authenticity that country music fans appreciate,” said front man JB Patterson. “We’re not super-polished, we’re not overproduced, we’re…
Barkley’s bite
Barkley, who called his co-hosts “assholes” during halftime of an Oklahoma City Thunder/Los Angeles Lakers playoff game last year, is kinda known for speaking his mind. His Okie-focused haterade started flowing half a decade ago when the TNT analyst and former NBA All-Star dissed the state as being “no place for black people” and claiming…
‘Controversy’ response
He says “Innovation is the product of investigation.” Well, no. Knowledge is the product of investigation. Let’s investigate and apply some critical thinking to the Rev. Kern’s comments. He suggests something is deliberately off-limits when it comes to investigating evolution and that all “junk DNA” has function. He insinuates science misunderstands “junk” DNA and assumptions…
Re-pimp your ride
The organization noted the following: —Low fluid levels can affect driving performance and damage internal parts. —Most breakdowns can be avoided by periodic checks of belts and hoses, and replacements of such when worn.—A dirty air filter can decrease gas mileage. —Low tire pressure decreases gas mileage and tire life. —Gazette staff
‘Life’ laws
House Bill 1888, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, bans abortions past the 20th week of pregnancy, a change from the previous 24 weeks. Senate Bill 547 is meant to prevent elective abortion coverage in insurance policies sold in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is the fourth state to pass a pain-capable law, and opponents claim the laws…
‘Leap of faith’
Darwin’s theory meets that criteria. Proponents of intelligent design have yet to develop a testable hypothesis that could get it into the scientific arena. The only argument I’ve ever heard from intelligent designers has to do with their incredulity about mechanisms behind evolution. Their stance is that the irreducible complexity of life must have had…
Chamber antics
The tiff started when Democratic Rep. Mike Shelton began asking questions about Republican Rep. Dennis Johnson’s bill, which increases penalties for gang recruitment and activity. Shelton was pressing Johnson about what he thought a gang member looked like — a line of questioning we’re sure was bound to produce all sorts of delightful conversation. When…
Missing ‘the point’
I agree that some of the debate of evolution versus creation belongs in the philosophy class. I was writing about the science that supports evolution theory and the science that contradicts evolution theory both being taught in science classrooms. The Cambrian explosion is science that says all phyla came into existence almost simultaneously, not slowly…
In the beginning
His being so well-read on religion and science, I have but two questions for the preacher, spawned from Genesis: “In the beginning …” When was this? Where was this? —Merle D. WrightOklahoma City
Urban renewal
The Neighborhood has some good neighbors. The Norman four-piece broke up a couple years ago, easing to a halt after the release of its excellent debut album, “Our Voices Choked with Fireworks.” It wasn’t apparent whether the group would ever play again, as members got busy with other projects, moved to far-off places and got…
Supercharge your to-do list
An executive coach for Fortune 500 companies, Joelle Jay said that by simply having a system in place, one can ease the process of doing many things in any given day. Progress and peace will follow. In order to get everything done without alienating others or stressing yourself out, Jay suggests this five-step process: —Make…
A pretty house is like a Symphony
Now, it has been newly renovated for the 38th annual Symphony Show House and Gardens event, benefiting the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and its music-education programs. The roughly 15,000-square-foot Nichols Hills home will be open to the public for tours starting Sunday and ending May 22. The house is decorated with some of the most innovative…
Blue Valentine
Williams didn’t have a chance, really, but in another year, amid a different set of nominees, things might be different. The same shift in luck applies to the couple that comprises this film’s core: one year, blissful; another, miserable. Cindy (Williams) is a nurse, while her husband, Dean (Ryan Gosling, “Lars and the Real Girl”),…
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Although no slouch as an actress, it was her fancy footwork that defined her, in roles from “Singin’ in the Rain” to “Brigadoon.” In that aspect, it’s difficult to separate the performer from the character she plays in the 1956 MGM musical “Meet Me in Las Vegas.” She plays Maria, a ballerina married to her…
Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection
Not just the filmmaker, although I certainly miss that, but the man. After I interviewed him a decade ago, he’d call me at home every few months — sometimes to update me on his projects, sometimes to tell me he was sending something my way, and sometimes just to say hello. The guy was nice,…
The Bob Hope Collection: Volume 2
Since I was born in 1971, the Hollywood legend wasn’t known to me for anything but Texaco commercials, cameos in “The Muppet Movie” and “Spies Like Us,” and dreadful NBC specials alongside the likes of Brooke Shields and Ann Jillian. But recently, seeing him in the ’60s suburban satire “Bachelor in Paradise” opened my eyes…
Aphrodisiac!: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana
When it’s “Aphrodisiac! The Sexual Secret of Marijuana.” This 1971 obscurity purports to be a look into the weird, wild world of weed and its link to whacked-out wubmaking (forgive me, but I was striving for alliteration). Instead, it’s … er, well, it’s quite something else. New to DVD from Synapse Films, the faux doc…
The Terror / Dementia 13
Well, for one thing, the movies may reside at the B level, but they’re not trash. For another, Cultra has given ’em a good scrub-over that they’ve always deserved but have never had. If you’ve bought these before on budget DVD sets, dig them out and ditch. These new versions are spiffy, inexpensive and contain…
Jolene
See it because its lead actress, Jessica Chastain, delivers a knockout performance that earned her roles in several high-profile projects to come. There’s even early Oscar talk surrounding her work in Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” so the star-in-the-making must be the real deal (which she is). Based on a short story by E.L.…
Strategic Alliance
The measure first came up during the April 12 City Council meeting as part of the consent docket, which allows for several items to be approved by a single vote. However, a majority of members of the council expressed concern about the item and it was tabled for two weeks. The original item would have…
Street Kings 2: Motor City
It was “The New Centurions,” from 1972. I also watched an average one, the direct-to-DVD sequel “Street Kings 2: Motor City.” Is it required you’ve seen the 2008 original starring Keanu Reeves? Not at all, since this is an in-name-only affair, sharing neither actors nor characters. “Street Kings 2” even moves the setting from Los…
Superchunk — Here’s Where the Strings Come In
I was about to write that Superchunk’s solid, if unexceptional 1995 release, “Here’s Where the Strings Come In,” is pretty much only for fans of the band and devotees of the genre, totally forgetting for the moment that they used to be all who cared about indie rock. The re-release of the album, which hit…
Jackson County Jail / Caged Heat
The former begins with an uncharacteristic, but appropriate meta touch, as a projectionist loads a reel of film to unspool an image onto a theater screen — it’s for a sanitary napkin commercial within the narrative, but it may as well be “Jackson County Jail” itself. The “Time Machine” starlet Yvette Mimieux portrays Dinah, a…
