City plans public meeting
The City of Oklahoma City will host a public meeting tomorrow night at 6 p.m. to share information about the proposed 2007 General Obligation Bond Program. The meeting will be held at City Hall, 200 N. Walker, on the third floor in the council chambers. “We think its important to engage citizens,” said Kristy Yager,…
Undignified Deaths
Police in Brandon, Fla., arrested Willie Tarpley Jr., 46, in May, alleging that he killed his ex-wife’s boyfriend because he was upset that she was dating a man who was a registered sex offender (even though Tarpley and his ex-wife are reportedly also registered sex offenders). At a Toronto nursing home in May, a 69-year-old…
Halloween: Restored
1978/2007 Just how many DVD reissues does John Carpenter’s classic horror film need? Anchor Bay has released a handful of “Halloween” discs already “? at least three before this, by my count “? with the definitive being a two-disc 25th-anniversary edition. This single-platter affair doesn’t improve upon that, but we understand that with Rob Zombie’s…
War
Reviewer’s grade: D- Jet Li and Jason Statham are two reasons I go to the movies. But in times of “War,” neither exudes the charisma or chops they regularly deliver. Why either was attracted to this clunky, senseless script by two newbies (one of whom is a personal trainer) is as big a cinematic…
Public Urination and Drug Law Enforcement
Authorities in Doylestown, Pa., arrested 34 people after a seven-month police investigation of drug-dealing, which began last December when a man on probation gave the police information about the ring in order to avoid going back to prison. He had been facing a charge of public urination. Chicago police arrested three alleged dope-sellers in June…
Recurring Themes
Accidents that leave victims relatively normal but with severely heightened sexual desires have been mentioned several times in News of the Weird, back to a 1978 collision with a Pepsi truck that, according to a jury in Detroit, left a man with a spontaneous, intense desire to become a woman. In 2002, motorcyclist Kunal Lindsay…
Frankenstein Conquers the World
1965/2007 Doing the monster mash in this fondly remembered Toho film are Frankenstein’s monster — or at least Japan’s idea of such — and Baragon, the giant horned creature later to appear alongside Godzilla in “Destroy All Monsters.” As with most films in this genre and of the swingin’ Sixties period, radiation figures heavily into…
Rocket vehicle crashes at Burns Flat spaceport
A rocket contending for a $2 million NASA moon lander prize crashed Saturday at the Oklahoma Spaceport at Burns Flat, according to an industry news publication. The New Scientist reports that Armadillo Aerospace’s Texel moon lander prototype crashed during testing at Burns Flat, roughly two months before it was to compete in at the X…
Report: Rocketplane begins staff layoffs
The troubles with Oklahoma’s space tourism and transportation company continue to mount. The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Rocketplane Kistler began laying off several employees, and has sent word to some subcontractors helping Rocketplane Kistler with its NASA project to halt work. Company chief executive officer George French told the paper…
Web sites give students guidance in class scheduling
Students of today now have a tool to help them feel their way though the shadowy world of class schedules: Web sites like www.ratemyprofessor.com and www.pickaprof.com, through which students share opinions of past classes they have taken in order to better everybody’s education. “Instead of just having those two or three friends you have to…
Meat Puppets has seen its share of demons
As the Meat Puppets, brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood are back on tour in support of their new album, “Rise to Your Knees.” They will unleash their brand of alternative psychedelia Saturday at the Bricktown Ballroom. Like any band that’s been together for decades, the Meat Puppets have dealt with inner demons and an ever-changing…
McAlester teen pays the price for fuzzy dice
The law wasn’t fuzzy for a cross-dressing man whom police say swiped a $1 pair of fuzzy dice from a local Dollar General store, per a recent story. According to the McAlester News Capitol, the 19-year-old faces up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for alleged larceny of merchandise from a…
Local colleges set theater schedules for academic year
Most Oklahoma audiences already know that on any given weekend, college shows can prove as exciting as community or even professional theater, as new, fresh talent find their acting, singing and dancing legs. University seasons also can offer those unusual, edgier shows that community theaters know have an audience, but not a large enough one…
Debt-rimental
By now you have seen them on the corner, you have endured the commercials: businesses that promise to give you the cash you need right now, and all you have to do is leave a postdated check for payday. More and more people are beginning to see that these outlets are nothing more than loan…
Trends in tattoos among collegians change
Your high school classmates forever may remember you with braces and a unicorn Trapper Keeper, but in college, you get to start out again with a blank slate. What better way to establish your new persona than a tattoo? “Trends tend to follow the TV, the pop-culture media,” said Joshua Crain, owner of Think Ink…
El Reno readies for annual county fair
Want to prove how tough your tyke is? Well, take your little country girl or boy out to the 53rd annual Canadian County Fair now through Saturday, and enter the kiddo into the tricycle tractor pull and try to win some family bragging rights. Held at the county fairgrounds in El Reno, the annual event…
California congresswoman calls for end of Cherokee relations with U.S.
A new bill will sever relations between the Cherokee Nation and the United States, cutting off $270 million in government funding to the tribe, “until such time that they return the Freedmen to full citizenship status,” Rep. Diane Watson, D-California, said Tuesday at the state Capitol. Watson, a high-ranking member of the congressional black…
The Last Legion
Reviewer’s grade: C “The Last Legion” follows the fortunes of a fifth-century Roman boy named Romulus Augustus (young Thomas Sangster), the last of Julius Caesar’s bloodline and the last Caesar of Rome. After the Goths conquer the city-state, the last loyal remnants of the empire (including Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley) are forced north…
Great Art!
The Horror of War: A U.S. law professor representing Guantanamo prisoners compiled a book of poems by some of the detainees, to be published this month by University of Iowa Press and featuring a cover blurb by former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky. Among the verses, for example, by Sami al Haj, quoted in a…
Out-of-state adoptions by same-sex couples OK in Oklahoma says court
Well, it’s official: Oklahoma-born children adopted by out-of-state, same-sex couples exist after all. (Since 2004, it’s been questionable, when a state law began barring issuing them birth certificates.) The Oklahoma State Department of Health said last week it won’t challenge a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that affirmed a federal judge’s ruling that…
Documentary portrays Hollywood’s depiction of Oklahoma
“Moving Images in Oklahoma,” a 30-minute film that runs continuously during the Oklahoma History Center’s open hours, presents clips from 70 films that, like it or not, have helped Oklahomans and others define the state. “I came up with 450 films that were either about Oklahoma, set in Oklahoma, had a character from the state…
Air Guitar Nation
2005/2007 If a little air guitar goes a long way over the span of a three-minute song, imagine stretched out to feature-film length. Alexandra Lipsitz’s documentary follows several intrepid would-be rock stars as they practice their finger-lickin’ moves in preparation for the U.S. Air Guitar Championships. These people “? some of whom admit they have…
Dance Robots, Dance! celebrates robotic anniversary
Now eight members strong, Dance Robots, Dance! is celebrating one year of Robotic Wednesdays at 9 p.m. tonight at The Electro Lounge, 3929 N. May. The weekly gig began as an attempt to bolster the anemic local rave/dance scene by drawing in members from the indie-rock scene. One year is a big milestone for the…
Stillwater’s Colourmusic set to shine upon Norman
Just about anyone can fall in love with the experimental, quirky and, well, colorful fivesome known as Colourmusic The members all met on the Oklahoma State University campus. The band and its music is sort of a collective art concept. It strives to make colorful music, literally. Colourmusic started at one end of the spectrum…
Hand-manipulated photographs focus of Hyden’s exhibit
rted/Fine%20Art/samhyden.jpg” width=150 align=right vspace=10 border=0> By day, professional portrait photographer Sam Hyden’s camera captures smiling faces and happy families, with the best takes printed beautifully in vibrant color, most likely to end up hanging proudly on a living room wall. But, in his free time, Hyden takes photos of whatever catches his fancy, and then…
Firm guides grads on dressing for success
Matthew Clark’s college wardrobe regimen consisted of jeans and a T-shirt, shaving once a week and a baseball cap ” “always a baseball cap,” he said. Today, he’s a dapper young professional, donning suits and shaving daily. He has done what so many recent grads fail miserably at: seamlessly evolving from student to professional. Clark,…
Dashing Diamond Dick and Other Classic Dime Novels – J. Randolph Cox, editor
Hey, remember in the late 19th century when we’d all go spend a few pennies each week to buy a novel? Wasn’t that e’er so keen? No? Then, barring a time machine, your best bet at replicating those early days of pulp literature is this welcome anthology, collecting five short novels from way back when.…
The Invasion
Reviewer’s grade: D+ When this updated version of the 1956 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” finished shooting, the studio was shocked to find out it had a claustrophobic paranoid thriller on its hands when it wanted car crashes and lots of escaping body fluids. A new production team was called in for rewrites and…
Chalk art contest to aid metro’s hungry
It’s estimated around the world, one child dies from hunger every five seconds. With some of those hungry people in the metro’s own back yard, a chalk art contest 9:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday in Norman will give kids the tools to raise awareness. Organizers envision downtown’s Legacy Trail covered in pavement masterpieces, themed “Helping the Hungry…
Juvenile center standoff raises overcrowding question
A recent standoff at the Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Center may be the spark for reform within the state’s juvenile justice system, which is facing its most serious crisis in years. On Aug. 10, five juveniles acted out inside the facility, resulting in a massive force of city and county law enforcement officers arriving on…
Entertainment-starved students find alternative in standup comedy
Whether as a participant or a viewer, college students are gravitating toward comedy open-mike nights as a viable entertainment source. Seth Joseph, University of Oklahoma journalism graduate student and aspiring comedian, helped start open-mike night at Othello’s in Norman back in March. He said even when most students were gone for the summer, the place…
Jackson warns college athletes about losing sight of dream
Football was once the driving force in Pasha Jackson’s life. Including his two seasons at the University of Oklahoma, he had his sights set on the National Football League. Fortunately, he understood that in order to accomplish such lofty goals, he needed to keep his life in order both on the field and off. It…
Opponents of Cargill measure cite separation of church, state
The fight has begun over a faith-based initiative set to take effect Nov. 1, which would use tax dollars to fund religious organizations ministering to inmates of Oklahoma’s prison system. Passed in March by the Oklahoma House, House Bill 2101, the “Transformational Justice Act,” purports to “encourage state prisons to partner with faith-based, community and…
Former Oklahoma, Oklahoma State football coaches to square off on Fox
The announcement that Fox Sports television is bringing in former University of Oklahoma head football coach Barry Switzer as an analyst did more than just raise eyebrows in the CFN department. It actually got Bucky out of his chair for a quick “Boomer Sooner” yell ” which set off the building alarm. The charismatic…
College students make quick bucks in ingenious ways
Being dirt poor is as much a part of the college experience as cold pizza for breakfast. Yet, nobody said college students aren’t creative in the art of earning a quick dollar. Here are a few ways to make a little extra money without scrounging the sofa. CASINOKadin Scott, a senior at the University of…
Police Report
James Coldwell, 49, was arrested in Manchester, N.H., in July and charged as the man who robbed a Citizen Bank branch dressed as a tree (branches duct-taped to his body and head, obscuring much of his face, though he was still identified from the security camera). A prosecutor in Chelsea, Vt., refused in June to…
State is getting hotter, says report
According to a report by U.S. Public Interest Research Group ” a public science watchdog group in Washington, D.C. ” global warming came on with a vengeance in 2006, resulting in the highest temperatures in 30 years in Oklahoma. “Warmer-than-average days hit Texas and the Great Plains the hardest in 2006, with average peak temperatures…
A successful failure?
August news bulletin: 29 arrested during a drug raid in Clinton. Yippee! After the raid, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics director was quoted in a press release, saying, “I believe that the ripple effect after the MOT (Mobile Operations Team) unit has conducted an operation will have a paralyzing presence because drug violators will…
I, California – Stacey Grenrock Woods
Scribner Every month, the best part of reading Esquire magazine is Stacey Grenrock Woods. Why, then, is her memoir, “I, California,” so disappointing? It’s simply all over the place, as its subtitle attests: “The Occasional History of a Child Actress/Tap Dancer/Record Store Clerk/Thai Waitress/Playboy Reject/Nightclub Booker/’Daily Show’ Correspondent/Recurring Character and Whatever Else.” It begins with…
Death at a Funeral
Reviewer’s grade: B Funerals are hilarious! You have corpses lying around which do zany things, like fall out of caskets, family members who comedically poop their pants and, well, leave it to your cousin Martha’s fianc
Oklahoma Army National Guard receives mobilization order
The Oklahoma Army National Guard announced today that the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has received their mobilization order for duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On alert for possible duty in Iraq since last April, more than 2,400 Oklahoma Army National Guard Soldiers will be mobilized for active duty in Iraq Oct. 19.…
Government in Action!
In April, Britain’s Office of Work and Pensions acknowledged to the Daily Mail that the multiple wives of polygamous husbands who are legally in the country routinely draw dependents’ unemployment allowances from the government (even though polygamy itself is illegal in the U.K.). A single person receives the equivalent of about $120 a week, and…
Judge recommends Red Rock Power Plant in northern Oklahoma
An administrative law judge who serves as general counsel for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission announced today she is recommending the proposed 950-megawatt, coal-fired power plant near Red Rock in northern Oklahoma be built, saying the plant is needed and that the high-technology facility represents a “reasonable resource choice.” In her report, Administrative Law Judge…
OU houses several Galileo originals
By 1632, Italian mathematician, physicist, astronomer and “father of science” Galileo Galilei wrote “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.” Today, the scientist’s own copy, with his gracefully slanted notes in the margins, rests halfway around the world, in the University of Oklahoma’s History of Science Collections in Bizzell Memorial Library, in Norman. Visitors viewing…
Late-night outfits around campus cater to students
Caffeine is the ambrosia of college, the sweet nectar of life that carries students through all-night cram sessions and helps rejuvenate them after an evening of heavy socializing. Once, small coffee joints and grease pits populated the outskirts of college campuses. Chain restaurants and coffee giants have gobbled up many of those small diners, but…
State executes man for 1987 murder
Oklahoma prison officials executed a man Tuesday for a 1987 murder that went unsolved for more than a decade until police compared the DNA from a second murder for which he was also convicted. Police say Frank Duane Welch (pictured), 45, strangled to death Jo Talley Cooper, 28, at her home in Norman in 1987. Police said…
OKC school officials confident as new academic year begins
With Oklahoma City children returning to class today, district officials’ message during a regular board meeting Monday night was one of preparation and confidence. New Superintendent John Q. Porter said a team of 81 people from the district’s central office had been identifying concerns at each school in the last month in an attempt…
Overholser waters flood trailer park
An Oklahoma City trailer park was flooded today after water was released from the Lake Overholser dam. “I understand they had to open the flood gates at Overholser in anticipation of numerous tributaries flowing into the lake from around the state as a result of the weekend’s flooding,” said Kristy Yager, Oklahoma City director…
Grandson of flooding victim recalls accident
The floodwaters that took the wife, daughter and niece of the leader of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma almost caught the chairman and two of his grandsons. Shane Montgomery, grandson of Billy and Dorita Horse, said he, his cousin and Chairman Horse were ahead of his grandmother’s Dodge Caravan in their much larger GMC…
