Walking dead
The national policy organization combined pedestrian fatality data with census numbers to formulate the report, which calculates a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) for each city. OKC sustained 167 total pedestrian deaths from 2000 to 2009 for a PDI of 89.5. By contrast, the metro area of Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla., suffered 557 deaths over the same time…
Man from Atlantis: The Complete TV Movies Collection / The Complete Television Series
Those fans — and the curious, like me — should embrace Warner Archives’ pair of releases that bring the show to the DVD surface for the first time: “The Complete TV Movies Collection” and “The Complete Television Series,” at two and four discs, respectively. Yes, before NBC made it an official series, the fantasy first…
It’s a Chance Chance Chance Chance ‘World’
“I really can’t believe I’m on the cover of ‘The World Almanac for Kids’! Just two years ago, I was an everyday kid from Oklahoma, and it’s an honor to be here now — especially in the company of such amazing other young people!” said Chance in a statement that CFN bets dollars to doughnuts…
P.O.D. comes to OKC
Grammy-nominated metal band P.O.D. — that’s “Payable on Death” — has a much higher dreadlock-to-standard-haircut ratio than most Christian-rock bands, but that’s part of the charm. What started as a Slayer cover band became a much more spiritual thing when front man Sonny Sandoval’s mom passed, leading him to find Jesus and a renewed sense…
Choose
In debuting director Marcus Graves’ “Choose,” the game being played by the killer is one of either/or. In the opening, he’s got a girl’s parents bound and gagged, and forces her to select which one will be saved from a premature eternal sleep. Later, a pianist must pick between his ability to hear music (i.e.…
Elitism for dummies
That’s what state Rep. Tom Newell, a Seminole Republican, apparently thinks, according to a recent media report, and he wants to “rein” it in through more intense legislative oversight. Newell’s comments were prompted by news that many Oklahoma universities and colleges were actually spending more this fiscal year than last year, despite a recent state…
‘In the shadows’
The Gazette filed the request for interpretation on June 10, and asked the commission to clarify four things: who has jurisdiction over complaints about campaign filings in municipal elections; where must a contribution and expenditure report be filed by groups supporting or opposing candidates for municipal office; on what basis would an entity be exempt…
Bite Size: 8-24-11
HAPPY ANNIVERSARYGourmet Gallery is offering 20-percent discount during a 10th-anniversary open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at both locations, 2820 N.W. 122nd in Oklahoma City and 1532 S. Boulevard in Edmond. Vendor representatives will offer samples of recipes alongside grilling demonstrations by American Propane. OPENINGSDivine Swine, 7801 N. May, is aiming for…
Game on
It is game day in Norman. Whether it’s a beautiful fall afternoon, with green leaves turning red, or a cold winter day, with temperatures dropping into the teens, fans show up in force every time the Sooners take the field. While people pack into the stadium, hundreds more head to Campus Corner to watch the…
CFN QOTW, part deux
“There’s another level of infinite, lonely flatness to Oklahoma that takes your breath away. Very hot and windswept, often sweltering, still enforcing strange liquor laws (no cold anything) Oklahomans look to Texas … for entertainment!? Even though Tulsa and Oklahoma City aren’t too bad, this state (along with its neighbor Kansas) is where the modern…
Know your Snooki!
Chicken-Fried News weeps for the future. Seriously, however, OU English composition graduate teaching assistant Sarah Barry came up with the 3000-level course, which was offered during the intersession that ended Aug. 20. The class analyzed how the cast members of MTV’s monster hit “reality” series interacted with one another — more than sexually, you mean?…
Hungry for more?
Sergio’s Italian Bistro104 E. Gray, Norman 573-7707 In early August, Sergio’s Italian Bistro took the place of Bossy Squirrel. Just tell Sergio how hungry you are and how much you want to spend, and the staff will take care of it from there. Whether it’s a roasted veggie sandwich or the calamari, lasagna, baked salmon…
Double trouble
Tom and Gladys Erbar of El Reno are the principal plaintiffs on one lawsuit (CJ-2011-159), while the other (CJ- 2011-115), represented by Oklahoma City attorney Mark Henricksen, seeks class-action status and currently has nine listed plaintiffs. Henricksen told Oklahoma Gazette the lawsuit originally named 801 defendants, but one defendant has since been dropped due to…
We’re no angels
What’s a better way to draw attention to your band than nabbing George Michael to play bass? No, not the one from Wham!, but “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” actor Michael Cera. Cera — who played a character named George Michael in TV’s “Arrested Development” — is actually a skilled bassist, and singer/guitarist Nick Thorburn…
Final Stage?
A consortium — the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, the Oklahoma City Cultural Development Council, the Oklahoma Arts Council and Devon Energy — commissioned a study earlier this year to assess Stage Center’s future prospects. The Stage Center site sits in the long shadow of the under-construction Devon tower. In the 33-page final report obtained by…
Calling Rep. Lankford
The $1.5 trillion is for deficit reduction, not just spending. Lankford obviously prefers groveling on his knees before the tea party loons and signing demagogic anti-tax pledges, but the inescapable reality is that tax revenues are 6.2 percent of GDP below what they were in 2000 (the lowest level since the 1940s), with 47 percent…
‘Bait and switch’
Unless the city has something more to offer than Austin, Texas, or Baltimore or Minneapolis or Phoenix (it’s not direct fights if you’ve traveled recently), recent history says otherwise. New construction has been a deficit producer in some places, and junked the hotel debt rating of Austin and Phoenix. Communication in the 21st century and…
Delicious discourse
I simply want to take a moment to say that — in all my years of reading the Gazette — I have never encountered a Commentary/Letters section as relevant, well-written and non ax-grinding/dead horse-kicking/ox-goring and positive as those very pages in the Aug. 10 edition. From Jason Reese’s Commentary “Okie local” to (hopefully) the last…
Cowpoke paradise
Hearing that, we hauled ass to the one of four Swadley’s locations nearest our ranch. What other restaurant has its own song? Swadley’s freestanding building is easy to spot in front of a strip mall on the corner of the busy intersection at S.W. 89th and Western. Once an A&W Root Beer stand, it still…
Hoopin’ and painting
The smell of cotton candy, moon-bounce plastic and face paint fill the air. The season of carnivals and fairs is upon us with the kick-off of Uptown Kids’ first-anniversary carnival, to be held at the 5840 N. Classen Blvd. shop. The outdoor carnival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Buy a wristband…
Around the world
Were you stuck stateside all summer? Who cares! Grab your passport, pretend you’ve just spent nine hours in coach, and head out to these fabulous import stores. I love Sabi (3703 N. Western; 525-1717), a fantastic little shop full of unique finds, many that got their start across an ocean or two. That begins with…
Summer sizzle
In the late 1930s, Hensley’s began as a gas station/grill. Although location, owners and names changed (it was once called Consumers but changed back to Hensley’s), the restaurant grew to be a part of Oklahoma culinary history, no matter what it was called or who was running it. The original Hensley’s appealed not only to…
‘A precious garden of dumb’
I have a term I apply to this kind of ostrich-like worldview: cultivated ignorance: stupidity planted, nurtured and fed as if it were a precious garden of dumb. —Howard Koerth Oklahoma City Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette…
Let it ride
In 2004, Oklahoma voters passed State Question 712, which created the State-Tribal Gaming Act and allowed horse racetracks to have electronic games on the premises. In the run-up to the 2004 election, those in horse racing said the measure was needed to keep the faltering industry alive. Now, those in the business say Oklahoma has…
Fossil watch
Here is a partial list of transitional fossils: Pikaia, Conodont, Haikouichthys, Arandaspis, Birkenia, Guiyu, Cladoselache, Tristychius, Ctenacanthus, Paleospinax, Spathobatis, Protospinax, Acanthodians, Palaeoniscoids, Canobius, Aeduella, Parasemionotus, Oreochima, Leptolepids, Amphistium, Heteronectes, Paleoniscoids, Osteolepis, Eusthenopteron, Sterropterygion, Panderichthys, Elpistostege, Obruchevichthys, Tiktaalik, Acanthostega, Ichthyostega, Hynerpeton, Labyrinthodonts, Lungfish and Temnospondyls. —Jay Edwards Norman Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the…
Tower trouble
How about climbing a Tulsa communications tower (and then refusing to come down for six days)? Yeah, that’s a little … extreme. But it’s just what one Tulsa man did recently, as reported by CNN (good to know the national news is picking up positive stories about the state). A 24-year-old gentleman, who reportedly has…
Soundcheck: The Wurly Birds — Turns
Its self-titled debut did much of the same, but with more subtle production and a hazy, psychedelic tone, “Turns” does it all the better. It acts like a connect-the dots between the best and brightest of that era of rock ’n’ roll, linking The Velvet Underground (“No Disguise”) to The Zombies (“We Can’t Always Agree”)…
‘The Guard’
And here it is, only it’s called “The Guard.” I call it darkly funny. The Irish crime comedy opens Friday exclusively at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial. Brendan Gleeson (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”) relishes every drop of his juicy title role as Sgt. Gerry Boyle, a guy who’s…
River rage
Punk rock’s Riverboat Gamblers are something to behold. Singer Mike Wiebe is a feral animal stalking the stage, jumping into the crowd and climbing any available rafters, exposed piping or speaker cabinets while his bandmates rip through high-energy, melodically charged garage sound. They’ve built a reputation for furious performances, but their LPs have inconsistently captured…
Dust a must
Dustbowl Arts Market has become a wildly popular, biannual event on Campus Corner and at Norman Music Festival with each passing year. Music has been a part of the 3-year-old market, featuring local artists like Gentle Ghost and Jacob Abello. Last year saw Jarod Evans of Blackwatch Studios overseeing the music selection, but the commitment…
‘Race’ is the prize
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey has never been an act to shy away from ambition. Producing more than 20 albums in 17 years should clue one into that. Then there’s massive productions like reinterpreting Beethoven’s symphonies with a 50-piece orchestra or transforming hits by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé into jazz pop epics on New Year’s Eve.…
’Cherry on top
Only in weird, wild L.A. could a band like Buckcherry party in the same room as recent NBA retiree and former genie Shaquille O’Neal and TV legend Betty White. Truth is, the reason is far more noble than sordid debauchery. The party-hearty guys gained fame in the mid-2000s via vintage, sleazy, hard-rock tunes like “Crazy…
Divided no more
After years of dealing in the music business and playing with The Great Divide left him jaded, ornery Red Dirt musician Mike McClure is happy with his freedom. So why’s the band getting back together to headline at Stillwater’s College Days? “Money and whores,” he said with a wiseass chortle. “Naw, I honestly thought that…
Three for all
It isn’t especially often that three of a city scene’s most exciting live bands wind up on a single bill. But that’s Friday’s free show on the University of Oklahoma campus, and the competition’s set for “fierce.” For the blown-fuse vintage punkers of Broncho (right) ,that means sweating, riffing and mid-song crowd-surfing like never before.…
Fiber art
Going back to the roots of time, the latest art exhibit in the state Capitol’s East Gallery is “Roots and Connections,” on display through Sept. 25. For the pieces, Tulsa’s Jean Ann Fausser uses a combination of fiber art with textiles, embroidery and hand-painted embellishments, in an effort to continue exploring the connection between humankind…
World on a Wire
From “The Matrix” to “Inception” to “Source Code,” the concept of a constructed reality is a popular trope in today’s science-fiction films, but you’ve never seen it tackled as it is in “World on a Wire.” In fact, few have. “No one’s actually seen this before in the United States,” said Brian Belovarac of Janus…
PR BS
—“Anthrax’s ‘Worship Music’ Rosary Beads” —“The Supermeal in Seconds!” —“Equal Energy Renews its Normal Course Issuer Bid for 8.25% Convertible Debentures” —“It’s A Sweet New Year with All-New Shalom Sesame ‘The Sticky Shofar’ and ‘Monsters in the Sukkah’ On DVD September 6, 2011 from SISU Entertainment” —“Enrique Igelesias’ ‘Dirty Dancer’ is his 9th #1 Single”…
Shirt happens
On the field, the Pokes are sporting nifty new Nike football uniforms this season. OSU’s All-America receiver Justin Blackmon said he’s looking forward to the cool Cowboys unis. “We’ve been an explosive team the last several years, and now we have a look that goes along with that reputation,” Blackmon said in a press release.…
CFN Quote of the Week
“His intent is not to destroy, his intent is to create dependency because it worked so well for him.” —U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., on President Barack Obama. The senator was responding to a man asking if Obama wanted “to destroy America” during an Aug. 17 town hall meeting in Langley, according to the Tulsa…
The Beaver
Try to separate Mel Gibson the actor from Mel Gibson the potentially crazy man who hurls epithets and anti-Semitic remarks in equal measure. Trust me: If you ignored the work of every Hollywood performer whose offscreen life is effed-up, or whose views don’t align with yours, all you could watch would be a test pattern.…
Witchville
If “Witchville” isn’t the worst, it’s only a step up from that. Essentially a made-for-cable version of that long-delayed Nic Cage flop “Season of the Witch,” this ancient fantasy has red mist swirling about evil presences, and villages’ crop failure blamed on “witchery.” A Bible-thumping oaf gets everyone in town all riled up, spouting nonsense…
Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff
Pretty good for a man who considered his job to be “nonsense,” in an industry he found “full of hypocrisy and hyperbole.” Bookended by footage of the man receiving his honorary Academy Award — the first cinematographer to do so — in 2001, “Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff” celebrates his lengthy and…
Sundress — Sundress EP
Oozy, woozy pop just gushes out of this EP’s six lush tracks, a decidedly more aggressive sound that’s spiked with some My Bloody Valentine guitar-playing and maybe just a hint of acid. Perhaps that’s why Wayne Coyne checked them out at The Loft in Dallas a while back and also why they opened a hometown…
Dream Home
Cheng (Josie Ho, “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”) has her heart set on a flat appraised at more than $5 million. There’s only one problem: She can’t afford it on her salary as a bank telemarketer, even with her part-time job as a shop salesclerk. Oh, there’s a second problem, too: The apartment is…
Bereavement
A prequel to 2004’s “Malevolence” — a film I’ve never seen, and barely heard of — Stevan Mena’s “Bereavement” is so rote, so by-the-numbers, I now have no interest in seeing where the story went from here. In the small town of Minersville, Pa., 6-year-old Martin is kidnapped by a loony serial killer (Brett Rickaby,…
Ambulance alert
Stephen Williamson (pictured), president of EMSA, made a presentation before the Oklahoma City Council at its Aug. 16 meeting, and told the body that the city would be better served by sticking with the current ambulance service provider. EMSA’s response comes about one month after Oklahoma City Fire Chief Keith Bryant made a presentation to…
Retiring Arts Council executive stresses economic value of arts education
Consider the experience of Suzanne Tate. The Oklahoma Arts Council’s retiring executive director has witnessed firsthand the impact of arts education in Oklahoma. “(The Arts Council) can’t put arts programs in every single school in the state, so that’s been the challenge,” she said. “There’s so much need, but we don’t have the resources.” Tate,…
Dangerous Babes
But you know that going in. Anyone expecting Oscar-level material from titles like “Hot Target,” “Sextette” and the mega-depressing “Virgin Queen of St. Francis High” is misinformed, if not film-illiterate. Some highlights and/or lowlights from the collection… Having just returned from New Orleans, I opted to begin with 1978’s “French Quarter,” in which underage Trudy…
Where the Boys Are / Looking for Love / Follow the Boys
In 1960’s “Where the Boys Are,” she’s among a quartet of girls (Dolores Hart, Yvette Mimieux and Paula Prentiss are the others) heading to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. There, the party crowd is 80 percent boys, and the gals are hoping to meet “some Ivy Leaguers.” Unlike other screen depictions of girls of that…
Trollhunter
Troll movies number a scant few, so their relative absence as a screen creature makes “Trollhunter” seem that much more fresh — because God knows there’s no shortage of found-footage films these days. Speaking of God, the trolls here are drawn to the blood of Christians, so if you want to investigate them further, it’s…
Thunder finalizes pre-season schedule
The schedule is as follows: • Oct. 12 at Utah, 8 p.m.• Oct. 14 vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m.• Oct. 16 at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.• Oct. 17 vs. New Orleans (at Wichita, Kan.), 7 p.m.• Oct. 21 vs. Denver (at Tulsa), 7 p.m.• Oct. 25 at Phoenix, 5 p.m.• Oct. 27 vs. San Antonio, 7 p.m.
Wrecked
That’s what came to mind while watching “Wrecked,” a vehicle for Adrien Brody (“Predators”). It begins on a high note that suggests it could be a kid brother of “Memento,” with Brody waking up in the shotgun seat of a car somewhere in the woods. He’s bloodied. The auto’s totaled. There’s a dead guy in…
Red Faction: Origins
Did he tell anybody else? Because that wasn’t my top-of-mind takeaway. Based on a series of video games with which I have no experience playing, “Origins” is, I’m guessing, a prequel story. Set on Mars in 2145, it follows second-generation soldier Jake Mason (“SGU Stargate Universe” vet Brian J. Smith, who looks like Josh Hartnett,…
