Evil Toons
ht=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″> In 1990, one movie sought to bridge the world of live-action and illustration, and for its efforts, made away with more than $100 million at the box office. That was “Dick Tracy,” of course, but “Evil Toons” came out that year, too. Only one of them is getting a 20th-anniversary-edition DVD, so…
Planned downtown elementary school yet to materialize from MAPS for Kids
It’s been nearly a decade since voters passed the MAPS for Kids initiative in November 2001 to build or renovate more than 70 schools and the administration building for Oklahoma City Public Schools. Of the new schools, one was to be a downtown elementary school. A ‘catalyst’ for downtownBreaking the ‘dysfunctional lockstep’ As the Oklahoma…
Otherwise outstanding actors turn a bit tedious with ‘The 39 Steps,’ CityRep’s flimsy comedic translation of John Buchan’s spy thriller
The 39 Steps8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 4 p.m. Saturday,2 p.m. SundayOklahoma City Repertory TheatreCivic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walkerwww.cityrep.com297-2264$25-$30 In the dedication of his 1915 novel “The Thirty-Nine Steps,” John Buchan writes of his “affection for that elementary type of tale which Americans call the ‘dime novel’ and which we know as the ‘shocker’ “?…
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
In a recipe for salsa published recently, one of the ingredients was misstated, due to an error, said an apology run by a local newspaper. “The correct ingredient is ‘2 tsp. of cilantro’ instead of ‘2 tsp. of cement.’” This is an example of the kind of miscue you should be alert for in your…
Historic 1964 model of the Pei Plan to be unveiled again
In 1964, Oklahoma City bought its downtown’s future from architect I.M. Pei for $60,000. Although the future constructed by the world-renowned designer never fully arrived, the model displayed to an estimated 600 spectators on Dec. 11, 1964, is being rebuilt. The Pei model, a 10-by-12-foot replica of how he planned the city to look in…
Thinking about sustainable development’
I’d like to comment on a couple of the features in Oklahoma Gazette’s April 21 “Green Issue.” Thank you, first of all, for so much information on strategies for sustainable living. However, there are a couple of things that I don’t think were sufficiently brought out. First, Andrea Miller’s article on new “green” homes (“Conscious…
Singer/songwriter Chuck Allen Floyd leaves Nashville to prove he’s ‘Good on the Inside’
Chuck Allen Floyd 10 p.m. ThursdayThe Deli309 White, Normanwww.thedeli.us329-3534 While it certainly takes talent to make it in the music business, the next most important quality is endurance. That’s something Chuck Allen Floyd has learned firsthand. Although Floyd’s first two albums have done well ” his 2008 debut, “Tonight an Angel Fell,” put three singles…
University of zombie
We all know that college is a place where experimentation, spontaneity and open-mindedness grow aplenty. But even some things seem a bit too childish and zany for a college campus. The University of Oklahoma student newspaper, The Oklahoma Daily, reports during this week, a wild, unofficial game of Humans vs. Zombies will break out. As…
Our country ’tis of we
You’d think that in distilling 400 years of history into 12 hours, Oklahoma might get short-shrifted. Well, pardner, you thought wrong! Last weekend, The History Channel began airing “America: The Story of Us,” which the cable network describes as “an epic 12-hour television event that tells the extraordinary story of how America was invented.” The…
New plan by Oklahoma City Planning Department looks to make city’s sprawl more efficient
A city on a grand scale needs grand plans. In Oklahoma City’s case, it is PlanOKC, a proposal Oklahoma City Planning Department officials are introducing to the community and city leaders beginning this week. The city encompasses 622 square miles, and planning department officials decided recently it was time to address how to map the…
CFN Quotes of the Week
“Weapons, fireworks, explosives or illegal substances, unauthorized/unlicensed/unapproved vending and glass materials are now allowed.””pop magazine, The Norman Transcript, April 23, 2010 “Correction: Weapons, fireworks, explosives or illegal substances not allowed at festival””www.normantranscript.com, April 23, 2010
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
It’s a good thing Margaret Mitchell suffered a broken ankle back in 1925. She got so bored as she lay around the house recuperating that she started writing a book. Eventually it blossomed into the 423,000-word blockbuster Gone with the Wind, which sold 30 million copies and won her the Pulitzer Prize. Judging from your…
Greenberg
Adolescence has been an evolving cultural concept since, arguably, the Industrial Revolution. Back then, people suddenly were able to build real wealth, creating a middle-class lifestyle that meant the young didn’t have to be in a big hurry to be worked to death. They could travel a bit, try out different professions, and maybe even…
The Assistance League of Norman brings art to the community via the May Fair Arts Festival
May Fair Arts Festival 10 a.m. Friday-Sunday Andrews Park 201 W. Daws, Norman www.norman.assistanceleague.org Free Oklahoma certainly isn’t lacking arts festivals this season, with just about every corner of the metro sectioning off a weekend to let the arts community take over a neighborhood park. To find out what distinguishes Norman’s May Fair Arts Festival…
Jewel Box Theatre closes out its season with ‘Coming Back to Jersey,’ winner of its 2010 playwriting competition
“Coming Back to Jersey”8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, through May 9Jewel Box TheatreFirst Christian Church3700 N. Walkerwww.jewelboxtheatre.org521-1786$15 adults, $10 students Written by Oklahoman Carl L. Williams, “Coming Back to Jersey” tells the story of middle-aged married couple Howard and Norma Karchmer. Howard has a rich fantasy life, imagining himself to be James Bond, while…
Miss Alma and her puppet friends use songs and stories to teach kids about bilingualism
Ventriloquist Alma BrownWarr Acres Library 5901 N.W. 63rdThursday, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. 721-2616Free There are precious few chances to leave home in pajamas, but kids can trade bedtime for story time by joining Miss Alma and her puppet friends at the Warr Acres Library, 5901 N.W. 63rd. Ventriloquist Alma Brown and her puppets have been…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Never bear more than one trouble at a time, wrote author and clergyman Edward Everett Hale. “Some people bear three kinds — all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.” That’s good advice for you, Sagittarius. Please just stick to the trouble you have, and drop the other two…
Prog-rockers Coheed and Cambria warp their own conceptual timeline with ‘Year of the Black Rainbow’
Fifteen years and five albums later, Coheed and Cambria came full circle in early April by arriving before the band’s very existence. It sounds confusing, because it is. The New York quartet’s latest, “Year of the Black Rainbow,” is a prequel to its conceptual epic — an interplanetary tale of murder, cosmic energy and mythical…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
A little knowledge can be dangerous. I constantly meet people who have boxed themselves into tight spots by misusing their smattering of astrological information. There’s no better example of this than the superstition about Mercury retrograde, which is supposedly a bad time to begin anything new. During one such period last year, an acquaintance of…
Recent OU grad maintaining blog that doesn’t ‘Thundersuck’
It took one call from ESPN.com to turn blogger Royce Young’s online hobby into a full-time commitment. Young describes what led to the creation of Daily Thunder as a “crazy series of events” that all began when the NBA landed in Oklahoma City. Before graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2008, he wrote for…
Romy Owens displays mixed-media works “The Reconstructionist Effort”at the state Capitol
“The Reconstructionist Effort” by Romy OwensNorth Gallery of the state Capitol2300 N. Lincoln Free reception 4 p.m. Thursday arts.ok.gov While some may see a dilapidated alley as an eyesore, Romy Owens sees art. Owens, a photographer and Oklahoma native, developed scenes of urban environments into stories for her new series, titled “The Reconstructionist Effort,” which is…
The Losers
“” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />”), the pilot (Columbus Short, “Death at a Funeral”) and the hot one (Zoe Saldana, “Avatar”). Don’t let her looks fool you: She’s a stone-cold killer. And if you can believe Saldana as a lithe action hero, then certainly you can buy into Evans as a computer hacker. He’s actually…
Reflecting 15 years later
I was standing in my kitchen 15 years ago with the window open, smelling the fresh air of a beautiful morning, thinking Tinker Air Force Base was doing something. I could hear them testing aircraft engines many times before, but this sounded more like one of the pilots had briefly hit the sound barrier by…
Jack my ride
A group of high school students from Jenks had quite the memorable prom last week.According to an AP report, the Jenks kids rented a limo for their special night. Lucky. Bucky’s mom drove him and his date to prom in her ultra-cool green Aerostar minivan. But maybe, reading The AP report, not so lucky. At…
Point: Christians and Muslims in Oklahoma
As an Oklahoma City resident who celebrates religious diversity, I was alarmed when I heard about the “I Don’t CAIR” conference sponsored by Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ and was held at Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon in March. I decided to attend because I was curious. I was a guest at the dinner sponsored by…
Local comic book stores encourage readers young and old during Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book DaySaturdaywww.freecomicbookday.com Eight years after Free Comic Book Day was first held, thousands of comic book stores around the world participate in the annual event, held the first Saturday in May, when anyone can walk in and get a free comic from among dozens of specially produced titles. “The main goal is to…
‘Breast’ in show
Few things inspire me more than seeing the merits and joys of breastfeeding lauded on a public scale. I nursed all of my babies and had the full support of my husband, parents, colleagues and employer. Not all women are so fortunate. The benefits are well-known, and the tender comforts were beautifully depicted on your…
Cattle cars
It’s not something we would think of, but kudos to Amtrak for taking the beefy initiative when it comes to biodiesel. According to The Associated Press, the Heartland Flyer started an experiment last week to run its Oklahoma-to-Texas train on cattle. What part of the cow, you ask? The fat part. Specifically, tallow, which is…
An unlikely trio of local acts bands together for Tom Petty tribute show in Norman
Tom Petty tribute show featuring The Workweek, Locust Avenue and Mama Sweet10 p.m. FridayThe Deli309 White, Normanwww.thedeli.us329-3534 Admittedly, the prospect of a tribute show ” especially one conjured by three local musicians during a drunken hangout session ” is likely to elicit cringes from even the least skeptical of music fans. Appreciators of the lost…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
What excites you? What makes you itch with a longing to be surprised? What fills you to the brim with curiosity and an agitated sense of wonder? You may not know even half of what you could potentially realize about these matters. Have you ever sat down and taken a formal inventory? Have you ever…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
I was pleased when I discovered a website with a video of quirky songstress Cat Power singing David Bowie’s iconic song “Space Oddity.” I love her, I love Bowie, and I love the tune. And yet a wave of disappointment broke over me when I realized, 30 seconds into the performance, that it was actually…
Rump roast on aisle five
A Shawnee man is accused of flashing his booty to a customer of a local Target last week. Sean Andrew McClendon, 33, was arrested last week for indecent exposure after he showed his bum to a shopper at a N. Rockwell Avenue Target, according to The Oklahoman. From the police report, a customer told cops…
Rowdy North Carolina singer/songwriter Eric Church gets confessional on ‘Sinners Like Me’
Eric Church with Joel Wilson Band9 p.m. FridayDiamond Ballroom8001 S. Easternwww.diamondballroom.net866-977-6849$19 Eric Church is labeled a rebel because he does what he likes. But he’s just a good ol’ country boy in the vein of Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver: a man who follows his heart and isn’t too shy to call things as…
Oklahoma is not on short list to house National Bible Museum, but ‘nothing is out’
One Oklahoma family is playing a key role in assembling one of the world’s largest collection of Bibles and Bible-related artifacts for a future National Bible Museum. Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., and his father, founder David Green, are helping the National Bible Museum scout a site for its permanent location. According…
Sage to celebrate its first year in Deep Deuce on Saturday with debut of month-long jazz series
Taylor Made Jazz band and more Sage Lounge 228 N.E. SecondSaturday, 7 p.m. www.sageokc.com Sage will celebrate its first year in Deep Deuce on Saturday with the debut of a month-long jazz series in its newly opened music lounge. The performances will stage each Saturday in May at the Sage Lounge, a venue opening next…
Oceans
-69cm.jpg” alt=”oceans_7-06×4-69cm.jpg” align=”right” border=”0″ height=”133″ hspace=”10″ vspace=”10″ width=”200″ />Whether or not the documentary “Oceans” beats us over the head with a conservationist message is subjective. If you think that all is well with life on Planet Earth, you’ll probably think the film is preachy. If you believe that we’re killing the planet, and ourselves along…
Counterpoint: ‘Proclaiming truth is not hateful’
In the Bible, pastors are referred to as “shepherds” and “watchmen.” God has called us not only to feed and care for our flocks, but also to protect our flocks. The pastors of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ were happy to sponsor the “I Don’t CAIR” conference. Is the Council on American-Islamic Relations a “civil rights…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
A reader named Emory proposes that we add a new meme to the cultural lexicon: interpersonal intellectual orgasm. Here’s how he describes it: “It happens when your conversation with another person becomes so intense that nothing else matters except the dialog you’re creating together. The two of you are so in-tune, so intellectually bonded, that…
Oklahoma Orchid Society hosts national orchid show and sale
Oklahoma Orchid Society 2010 AOS/SWROGA Spring Show and SaleClarion Meridian Hotel & Convention Center 737 S. Meridian10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. SundayFull registration, $109; viewing, $5427-2133 It’s been 21 years since the Oklahoma Orchid Society has played host to an American Orchid Society-sponsored event, but this week, hundreds of varieties of…
Would MAPS 3 and other municipal projects go hungry if Oklahoma scrapped the grocery tax?
A police officer or a gallon of milk? Citywide bus service or wheat bread? Would low-income families benefit more from the services cities provide or paying less for food? Different year, different billGet a fix on thatFeast of burden Those questions are at the heart of the debate over whether to eliminate the sales tax…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Would you really prefer it if you had no problems? Do you imagine you’d enjoy life more if everything was pure fun and smoothly easy? Here’s an astrological perspective: People who have an over-abundance of positive aspects in their natal horoscopes often turn out to be lucky but lazy bums who never accomplish much. So…
Complex numbers
Apparently short on ideas, Complex magazine recently counted down “The 10 Hottest Oklahoma Women” on its website. Amid all the ads for NOS energy drinks and Axe body spray, there was even an introduction that attempted to justify the list: “This week marks the 71st anniversary of John Steinback’s epic novel, ‘The Grapes of Wrath.’…
Returning to our nation’s principles
On April 13, The Associated Press released a story about militias. It claimed, among other things, I was considering filing legislation about “the militia” next year in Oklahoma. This was simply false. I had made it clear several times in the interview that I had no intention to file, knew of no other legislator who…
The riveting documentary ‘Oceans’ features awe-inspiring cinematography
Whether or not the documentary “Oceans” beats us over the head with a conservationist message is subjective. If you think that all is well with life on Planet Earth, you’ll probably think the film is preachy. If you believe that we’re killing the planet, and ourselves along with it, you might think that co-directors Jacques…
‘The Losers’ doesn’t lose, but it doesn’t win, either
A crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and…
Romy Owens displays mixed-media works in “The Reconstructionist Effort”at the state Capitol
“The Reconstructionist Effort” by Romy OwensNorth Gallery of the state Capitol2300 N. Lincoln Free reception 4 p.m. Thursday arts.ok.gov While some may see a dilapidated alley as an eyesore, Romy Owens sees art. Owens, a photographer and Oklahoma native, developed scenes of urban environments into stories for her new series, titled “The Reconstructionist Effort,” which is…
Jewel Box Theatre closes season with ‘Coming Back to Jersey,’ winner of its 2010 playwriting contest
“Coming Back to Jersey”8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, through May 9Jewel Box TheatreFirst Christian Church3700 N. Walkerwww.jewelboxtheatre.org521-1786$15 adults, $10 students Written by Oklahoman Carl L. Williams, “Coming Back to Jersey” tells the story of middle-aged married couple Howard and Norma Karchmer. Howard has a rich fantasy life, imagining himself to be James Bond, while…
