All is bright
Credit: Shannon Cornman Credit: Shannon Cornman Credit: Shannon Cornman Credit: Shannon Cornman
Sound off, voters!
In 2012, Barack Obama was reelected with 50.5 percent of the popular vote and 332 electoral votes. He wants to restore taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent to the level before the Bush tax cut, but protect the bottom 98 percent from a tax increase, including households and businesses with incomes under $250,000. Sixty percent…
Saluting the ‘Greatest Generation’
It was an effective snapshot regarding the lives, the deeds, the perspective — and the passing — of certain members of what many refer to as “the Greatest Generation.” There could quite possibly be a small percentage of contemporary readers and members of the Tea Party circuit who might say that the cover photo “said…
God’s presence amid horror
Don’t infuse this tragedy with a religious rigor and commentaries about our lost world and its lost souls. This is a moment for grace to resonate. This is a moment to demonstrate patience with those who are confused, angry, bitter and utterly despairing. Let the world play out its emotions. And you who walk with…
Label me this
That wasn’t for lack of effort or interest on the part of small business owners, but rather because upscale shopping excursions generally were reserved for Dallas or beyond. Nowadays, small shops and boutiques still deliver great products they bring from Dallas, Las Vegas and New York City markets, but the demand here is greater. Shopping…
Top cop
Credit: Brad Gregg That buildup, first reported by the eCapitol online service, has some legislators questioning whether Doak has been watching too many gangster flicks. “Is Al Capone back in town?” state Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, told the Tulsa World. “Are we looking for stills in the woods? Come on, it’s a joke.” A…
Loving our guns to death
So let the people say amen! If only it were this simple. The truth is, people with guns kill people, and in America, we kill more people with guns than anywhere else on earth. In America, where citizens can legally buy assault rifles with high-capacity ammunition clips, disturbed or despondent young white males commit mass…
LETTERS
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@ okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
Things to learn in Denver
One key to Denver’s success is how its components connect and work together. Its convention center, transit, public spaces and other developments serve and support each other. The project manager for FasTracks, Denver’s 122-mile rail plan, explained it this way: “This is not a transit-building project. This is a city-building project.” The objective is not…
The biebz knees
Credit: Brad Gregg Given that the 18-year-old pop star is single now — there, there, Selena Gomez, let us dry your tears — hopeful Mrs. Biebers in the 405 already may be enacting grand plans for ornate “MARRY ME” placards. (Attention, Hobby Lobby stores: Double, if not triple, your stock of glitter and pink paint…
LETTERS
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@ okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
The role model
Credit: Brad Gregg So we couldn’t believe our ears when we heard that the L.A. Lakers superstar had praised OKC’s own Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. He admires their poise, their work ethic and their ability to keep their cool. The five-time NBA champion told the Los Angeles Times that the Thunder pair are so…
Orbit(film)
Slip these surly bonds of Earth, and acclimation is required. And so it is with Orbit(film), an omnibus project in which each planet in our solar system earns its own short, all but one under 10 minutes, by a different indie director. The very definition of microbudgeted DIY filmmaking, the shorts vary wildly in approach.…
A real maverick
David Prater Credit: Mark Hancock On the other end was Scott Rowland, Prater’s first assistant district attorney. Rowland was at the Oklahoma City Police Department’s homicide division; there was a video he wanted Prater to see. A few days prior, Prater had heard about two people trying to rob a local pharmacy, but that a…
Milwaukee blues
An extended vacation hasn’t hurt What Made Milwaukee Famous’ performing prowess in the least, with the indie-rock act returning to form after the first few shows of its current tour, once it shook off the cobwebs. Yet the same can’t be said for everything. “The shows have been great in terms of playing. The attendance…
Myke Brown — Don’t Forget the Y
He has contributed smart, quick and nimble rhymes on local hip-hop releases for everyone from Josh Sallee to Purple Mouth Bandits. Last year, Brown’s Survival of the Fittest and Summer Daze mixtapes let Oklahoma’s greatest guest spotter shine on his own, but he’s never shined brighter than he does here. In a city surprisingly flushed…
Noise for toys
Photo: Mark Hancock ’Tis the season for many things: joy, coexistence, pageantry. Mostly, however, ’tis the season for giving… and music — because really, which season isn’t? Friday night at the Blue Note Lounge, one can experience all of these things, as the venue prepares for its inaugural Rock for Tots toy drive. The event’s…
Colin’s calling
The story of Oklahoma City’s Colin Nance is your classic bedroom-project narrative, born from a chance encounter with the music of M83. “I don’t make it a mystery: M83 is huge for me,” Nance said. “A guy in college introduced me … I was listening to Before the Dawn Heals Us, and I was like,…
Lend a little
No matter how high-tech some become, however, pockets exist that opt for a more analog approach. Maybe it’s a hole-in-the-wall diner or a record store stocked with vinyl. Or maybe it’s the Little Free Library. Looking like something Laura Ingalls Wilder would have dreamed up as a prairie precursor to Redbox instead of writing the…
Cirque du ooh-la-la
The word “Dralion” is a blending of two symbolic creatures: the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West. The story of Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion, now in the metro through Sunday, depicts a powerful message of unity, as Eastern and Western cultures discover their similarities and unite through the four elements that…
This Is 40
Opening Friday, This Is 40 tickles the travails of being rich, white and smug. Maybe a grown-up comedy isn’t in the cards for Apatow, whose best works (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) celebrate arrested adolescence. His latest is a generally messy affair: often uproariously funny, but uneven, overlong, largely improvisational, packed with F-bombs and hobbled…
Django Unchained
The result is a brutal, bloody epic that hits theaters on Christmas Day. Happy birthday, Jesus! Paying homage to the Italian Django franchise birthed in 1966, Tarantino delivers what could serve as the origin story of the bounty hunter, if not for his Civil War-era setting and race-reversal casting. Jamie Foxx (Horrible Bosses) is enormously…
Auto fixation
Jason Peters Credit: Shannon Cornman Then life changed for both men; Shade Tree D.I.Y. Garage was born. “We’re not like the normal auto shop,” Duong said. “Here, we’ll put it on a lift and point out why it failed, what that failure means and what possible effects it could have.” It’s a process, he noted,…
The three E’s
Specifically, he wants to see his downtown church involved in three areas: education, the environment and the economy. Joining St. Paul’s in September, he was appointed by Edward Konieczny, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma. “I take care of preaching, administration, sacraments, teaching and all the day-to-day activities of the church,” said Lindstrom. After…
OKG7 munchies on May Avenue
Falcone’s Pizzeria & Deli 6705 N. May242-2222 This little nook provides a busy-road respite and is packed with tasty pizza, calzones and big bowls of pasta. By yourself? Grab a few slices and a fresh cannoli for a little Italian feast. Falcone’s also has a deli case full of fresh meats and cheeses that can…
Sangria Claus
On Thursday, relax and celebrate a mini-holiday that doesn’t involve gift-wrapping or fighting for a parking space at the mall: National Sangria Day. The popular Spanish drink, a fusion of wine and liquor, isn’t your ordinary adult punch. A terrific sangria, one with seriousness and intricacy, is an icy, fruity, juicy, deeply flavorful beverage. The…
Flipping the patty
On Dec. 10, general manager Robert Brookshire purchased the hamburger and ice cream shop from Humankind Hospitality Group, which owns Picasso Cafe and The Other Room, and has a partial stake in Sauced on Paseo. It’s a move that made good sense for the business and for the legacy of Kaiser’s, said Shaun Fiaccone, Humankind…
Raw appeal
Sushi is the Long Island iced tea of foods: It just disappears. All I remember is something that tasted amazing, an empty plate and saying, “More sushi, please!” That instant amnesia always ends with me about to pass out from being fish-drunk, wondering why I’m so full when I only had a roll or two,…
Gone to pot pie
Sean Cummings Credit: Shannon Cornman First baked in Great Britain centuries ago, pot pies have close cousins in many world cuisines. Pot pies can be found for mere shillings in grocery freezers. On a chilly winter evening, they taste all right. But for the height of homemade goodness, look to local chefs’ concoctions. The pies…
CFN tweets of the week
“Somebody tell serg Abaka. He aint bout dis life. Next time he run up on me im goin in his mouth. That’s a promise. He doin 2 much.” —The San Antonio Spurs’ Stephen Jackson, in a Dec. 8 tweet about the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka. The NBA fined Jackson $25,000 for the online threat. Jackson later…
CFN tweets of the week
“Somebody tell serg Abaka. He aint bout dis life. Next time he run up on me im goin in his mouth. That’s a promise. He doin 2 much.” —The San Antonio Spurs’ Stephen Jackson, in a Dec. 8 tweet about the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka. The NBA fined Jackson $25,000 for the online threat. Jackson later…
CFN Quote of the week
“Oil and barbecue are the lifeblood of Oklahoma.” —S. Raichlen in the December issue of Esquire
CFN Quote of the week
“Oil and barbecue are the lifeblood of Oklahoma.” —S. Raichlen in the December issue of Esquire
Back that up
Credit: Brad Gregg Have you considered the healing power of chiropractic? We’ve been to the chiropractor and we can say unequivocally that it kinda helped. We paid him for his services — with a check. But a local chiro with the not-at-all-creepy name of Shandy Sells was arrested a little over a week ago for…
Congrats, Mr. Mayor!
Credit: Brad Gregg Hizzoner will receive the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Award for Leadership in Urban Design from the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) for “his leadership in guiding the MAPS 3 initiative from concept to implementation.” While we here at Chicken-Fried News like the mayor — and particularly…
Big Boi — Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Perhaps the best part about this blend is that it never seems forced. Big Boi is able to show his versatility throughout, and he never seems uncomfortable, regardless of the song’s vibe. Big Boi did an excellent job of selecting features for this project. He welcomes rappers like T.I., Ludacris, Killer Mike, Kid Cudi, and…
The Frozen
Mike knows Emma isn’t thrilled about the trip. What he doesn’t know is that she’s just found out she’s pregnant. That’s an issue they can deal with later, however; more pressing is that their snowmobile crashes, leaving them injured and no cell signal to call for help. Plus, it appears they are being followed. It’s…
Bumpy road
Construction of the $30 million, federally funded boulevard is the final phase in the state Department of Transportation’s Interstate 40 Crosstown realignment. On completion of the project in 2014, ownership will be transferred to the city. In response to concerns about the planned elevation, ODOT last summer enlisted a consultant firm, Stantec, to look at…
Girls: The Complete First Season
The result, Girls, generated instant millennial buzz — not all of it positive — and Emmy love. It may deal with the lives of four unmarried, 20-something women in New York City, but it’s no Sex and the City, and thank the stars above for that. One of its characters, the shy virgin played by…
Lawless
Reteaming with his unlikely Proposition screenwriter, Bad Seeds rocker Nick Cave, Hillcoat again delivers a quasi-Western with this true tale of the Prohibition-era’s bootlegging Bondurant brothers in Virginia, played by Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Shia LaBeouf (the Transformers trilogy). When Lawless begins, the Bondurant boys rule Franklin…
The Game — Jesus Piece
Game is far from alone on this work, inviting more than 20 artists, mostly other rappers, to join him. In fact, he only flies solo on one song. Some of the features certainly wouldn’t be missed, but guest spots from great rappers like Kanye West, J. Cole, Common, Pusha T and Kendrick Lamar are refreshing.…
Wildlife strife
The adamant opposition from Friends of Martin Park Nature Center stems from a proposal by nonprofit group Wilderness Matters, Inc., which seeks to add two new handicapped-accessible trails, a treehouse, a boardwalk across the lake and a sensory garden. The projects would require a large amount of construction and could destroy trees, rare plants and…
