Recurring Themes
People whose special land-use and zoning requests are turned down by the government or neighborhood associations sometimes retaliate defiantly, as News of the Weird has reported. In July in Bucks County, Pa., two men who were denied the right to tear down a house decided to paint it purple and pink, just to annoy the…
Undignified Deaths
Failed Prayers: The 16 players for a soccer team called Midland Portland Cement, who were in Zimbabwe for a match in October, were told that a swim in the Zambezi river is a traditional ritual that would cleanse the team of evil spirits. However, only 15 players made it back, as there are crocodiles. Hundreds…
Oops!
In October in Vancouver, Wash., a 74-year-old man actually succeeded in his mission to unclog, with his hands, the garbage chute from his 10th floor apartment, but then he pushed too far. When rescue workers arrived, only the man’s feet and lower legs were visible, with his wife holding on for dear life. In August,…
Things You Thought Didn’t Happen These Days
A restaurant owner in Rutino, Italy (near Salerno), told police in November that as he was negotiating over the building’s lease with his landlords, one hit him in the head with a chair and two others kicked him repeatedly in the stomach. The landlords were not from La Cosa Nostra but were a priest and…
Least Competent People
Merle Sorenson, 48, had to be rescued from the Columbia River near Quincy, Wash., in October, where he nearly drowned after driving his Humvee off of a boat launch. He told the rescuers that he was trying to clean his tires and wanted to see how far he could drive the vehicle into the water…
Just Couldn’t Stop Himself
Bridgeport, Conn., police arrested Michael Smith, 47, in October for breaking into Holy Ghost Deliverance Church. Smith explained that he was passing the church, spotted a drum set through a window, and could not restrain himself from trying it out. According to a Boston Globe report, officers found Smith “in a spirited solo after the…
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
In “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” Brendan Fraser takes his third turn as the franchise’s adventure-hungry grave robber Rick O’Connell, now living a life of boring domesticity with his wife (Maria Bello). When the couple gets an offer to courier a mysterious bit of jewelry to China, they leap at the chance. As…
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
2008 Book adaptations must be a tightrope for filmmakers. On one hand, you want to keep enough of the book to please its readers, but on the other hand, you want to make a movie that has a natural flow and pace. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” errs a little on the side of…
Comic Books Unbound
2008 As if this summer’s dominating performance of “The Dark Knight” didn’t make it painfully obvious, comic book movies are a big, big, big business. But they weren’t always. It’s easy to forget that not too terribly long ago, they were considered too risky and likely candidates for box-office poison, so it’s fun to see…
Cirque du Soleil’s newest spectacle arrives in OKC
Inspired by the urban fabric and colorful inhabitants of a fictional city, “Saltimbanco,” Cirque du Soleil’s newest spectacle, is a high-intensity acrobatic display of strength, agility and cultural diversity. Saltimbanco “explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms: the people who live there, their idiosyncrasies and likenesses, families and groups, the hustle and bustle…
Oklahoma politician creates ruckus with football ticket comment
Go messin’ with people’s Sooners and Cowboys tickets, and you be messin’ with a lot of pissed off people. That’s what a state insurance commissioner found out when she suggested that state residents who don’t purchase health insurance might forfeit tickets to OU and OSU games, hunting licenses or even their drivers’ licenses, according to…
Oklahoma religious leader wants to shelve library books
A local religious leader, along with other citizens, cowed the Metropolitan Library Commission to shelve certain books out of the reach of children. According to a story in The Oklahoman, books in metro libraries’ “family talk” sections now will be shelved five feet or more off the floor. These sections, created in 2006, have books…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Researchers have determined that you’ve got longer than you imagine to salvage food that has dropped on the floor. Bacteria don’t get a foothold and start growing on your pizza or muffin for at least 30 seconds. Keep that in mind as an all-purpose metaphor in the coming days, Scorpio. Anything that you fear has…
Women Under Arrest
The September mug shot of Michelle Allen of Middletown, Ohio, was possibly the Internet’s most-circulated news photo of 2008, since she was inexplicably dressed in a full-body cow suit (with rubber teats) as she was allegedly disorderly in chasing children and interfering with traffic. (Alcohol may have been involved.) Shopper Amber Dibartolomeo, 23, was arrested…
Leaf at Norman park leads to memorial fund drive
Acts of nature can be unpredictable, beautiful and sometimes miraculous. A lone heart-shaped leaf at Lions Park in Norman is all three. Professional photographer Ken Davis recently lost his 2-year-old nephew, Weston Luke Guiltner, who died unexpectedly of unknown causes on Sept. 16. On Oct. 23, the family planted two trees at Lions Park in…
Oklahoma heartbreak
Editor’s note: Reposted with permission from The Oklahoma Daily. I locked myself in my bedroom and cried the first time I read the memo. It was January 2008. Two weeks before, I had sent a text message to a former high school teacher that read simply, “Oh no. I may be turning liberal.” OUTSIDE THE…
GPS Lingerie
The Brazilian designer Lucia Lorio introduced women’s lingerie in October containing a global positioning device to enable the wearer to be tracked by satellite. The creator said the password-protected lace bodice would make it easier for women kidnapped by thugs or terrorists to be located and rescued. Critics called it a virtual chastity belt, primarily…
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
“It’s better to be clumsy than clever,” says an ancient Chinese book called Poets’ Jade Splinters, “better plain than affected, better crude than weak, better eccentric than vulgar.” That’s a good prescription for you to use in the way you live your life in the coming days, Leo. Here’s another observation from the same text…
American Muslim Association of Oklahoma City finishes a new mosque
The American Muslim Association of Oklahoma City completed work on their new mosque, 3201 N.W. 48th. Saleem Quraishi, the president of the association’s board, said plans are in the works for an opening service, but no date is set. In the meantime, the community has started to use the facility for daily and Juma’h prayer,…
Black and blue Friday
By the time readers pick this up, the worst Black Friday will have come and gone. Retailers in Oklahoma will be looking at their worst Christmas ever, and the depth and severity of the recession will be truly sinking in. Believe it or not, this is cause for hope, and replete with hidden blessings! Everywhere…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
In the Broadway play “Passing Strange,” the narrator praises the healing power of mysterious songs, saying: “You know when the music goes right over your head, bypasses your mind, and strengthens the part of you that’s most beautiful?” That’s the kind of nourishment I encourage you to seek out in the coming week, Taurus. You…
Bradford’s performance makes a strong case for Heisman
Oklahoma has made its BCS case by being the hottest team in college football over the last month, and Sooner faithful everywhere have Sam Bradford to thank. OUT OF THIS WORLDTITLE TILT With all of the talent OU runs out on the field every Saturday ” all the big hitters, playmakers and thundering giants “…
Oklahoma City Theatre Company unleashes ‘The Jungle Book’
Entertaining generations since its first publication in 1894, “The Jungle Book” still enchants audiences with humor and suspense while teaching moral lessons of life and friendship. Baloo the bear teaches man-cub Mowgli the bare necessities of life and coaches him on “Jungle Law” in the theatrical retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.” Upon his…
Mainsite’s ‘Emergent Artists’ exhibit highlights new artist crop
Post-college, many artists enter a difficult transition where they can’t rely on scholarships, grants and awards, and must forge an audience for their work in the art world. MIXED-MEDIA PIECESFREE REIGN Mainsite Contemporary Art’s “Emergent Artists” show focuses on four artists tramping out their own paths as they work to establish their careers. “Being an…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
“Dear Rob: I have followed my nose most of my life, weaving from pleasurable diversion to interesting crisis and back. I’ve honestly had a great time and wouldn’t change a thing. But lately I’ve been getting strong hints from life that maybe the game is changing for me. More and more I’m feeling like the…
Former Oklahoma hoops coach faces recruiting restrictions
Former University of Oklahoma basketball coach Kelvin Sampson will face restrictions on recruiting through 2013 if hired by another school, according to AP. Hoops fans remember Kelvin got Indiana University into a whole heap o’ trouble after that school hired him in 2006. Now the Hoosiers accepted three years of probation from the NCAA. Jo…
Government in Action!
Facing a state budget crisis in July, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fired about 10,000 temporary and part-time workers and ordered the 200,000 permanent employees to be paid only the minimum wage of $6.55 an hour until the legislature passed a crisis-solving budget. However, a week later the State Controller John Chiang pointed out that state…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
According to the imaginative reporters at the Weekly World News, the devil doesn’t sit by passively as people beseech God for help and consolation. Using his own version of stealth technology, the evil one “intercepts or jams” up to one-third of all prayers on their way heavenward. Timid and fuzzy prayers are the easiest for…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
What’s the healthiest, holiest rebellion you could launch, Aquarius? What would be the most constructive way to channel your longing to live in a more perfect world? How might you overthrow the status quo in ways that would so thoroughly enhance the greater good that even the people bent on preserving the status quo would…
Reduxion Theatre Company adapts version of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Reduxion Theatre Company was founded by local actor and director Tyler Woods in 2000. After relocating to New York, he and his wife, Erin, decided to re-brand the company in a way that would stand out, even in the crowded New York scene. “Romeo and Juliet” is the first production mounted by Reduxion since the…
Australia
“Australia” is an old-fashioned Western with a bit of traditional war movie tacked on to the end, drawing much of its inspiration from John Wayne pictures. It begins as an amalgamation of “Donovan’s Reef” and “North to Alaska,” spiced up with a Sergio Leone shot or two before moving on to the Outback and morphing…
B-52’s tribute act Cosmic Bling shacks up at Sauced
Herds of small terriers cowered and scurried out of the crowded living room at the first blast of the kick drum. The 10-piece band was packed into a house in Northwest Norman as it pushed through a parade of diligently rehearsed send-ups to one of pop music’s most bizarre and unfailingly upbeat outfits: The B-52’s.…
Asleep, Audience
Asleep, Audience “¦ Dream! is a band in the grip of evolution, and its latest release, “Agent Change: Masquerade, Deli Cuts, & Other Poppycock” surveys the varying faces of the group since its first four-track recording was laid to tape in 1990. “Agent Change” sprawls over 26 tracks, a combination of unreleased material through the…
Quirky, beloved Oklahoma City-area arts publication ceases printing
Michael Taber hasn’t received a paycheck in nearly three years. By raiding his personal savings to supplement advertising revenue, the 37-year-old editor and publisher of the Oklahoma City-based arts publication NONzine has managed to squeak by, assembling just enough money to pay for press runs and reimburse a few delivery drivers for their gas expenses.…
Carpenter Square does its best with ‘A Nice Family Gathering’
ke it known to his family that he loved them while he was alive. Only Carl (Michael Castile), the family’s younger son, and the audience can see Dad or his ghost or whatever it is, so Carl must channel his father’s messages to the family. FAMILY ACTSMom (Kris Schinske) acts as if she’s in the…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
I urge you not to Google the word “duh,” Libra. If you do, you’ll mark yourself as a conformist trend-slave, joining over 33 million people who have already done it before you. Furthermore, you will be in danger of wasting the potential the cosmos is offering you, which is to reap rich rewards by exploring…
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
The European Union has had rules banning the sale of ugly carrots with knobby protrusions, cucumbers that are grossly curved, and equally unaesthetic specimens of 24 other fruits and vegetables. Recently that changed, however. The stiff standards were relaxed. “It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the ‘wrong’…
Son of convicted Murrah Building bomber goes to jail
The son of convicted bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols allegedly got a little closer in spirit to his father recently. He was jailed in Las Vegas over a stolen motorcycle, according to newspaper accounts. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Joshua Isaac Nichols, 26, appeared in Las Vegas before Justice of the Peace Abbi Silver, who…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
From 1987 to 2006, Alan Greenspan was Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve and a major force in shaping the world’s most powerful economy. When the recent troubles hit, Congress called on him to testify. With shocking humility, he confessed that there had been a flaw in his model of reality. All those years he’d…
The Separation unite at The Opolis to debut new album
The Separation, by any other name, would likely sound as sweet, but there would certainly be far fewer moniker-related coincidences. Shortly after singer/guitarist David Hoffner started the band with friend John Whitaker in 2004, the duo was separated by unexpected circumstance. NO SMALL FEATINDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS “(John) left on the road for a while, maybe being…
State motto ‘Labor conquers all things’ has a history with socialism
Socialists in Oklahoma are not necessarily celebrating Barack Obama’s recent victory in the presidential election, despite the claims of many conservatives that President-elect Obama is a socialist. One Oklahoma socialist contends that Obama is less of one than Dwight Eisenhower. ‘RADICALLY DEMOCRATIC’AGRARIAN SOCIALIST ROOTSBAILED OUT Christopher Henderson is a student at Oklahoma City Community College…
Gone with the wind
As gasoline prices plunge to near record lows, only a few months after reaching record highs above $4 a gallon, an unintended casualty regrettably may be the nascent enthusiasm for alternative and renewable energy. “This time,” we thought last summer, “we finally will do something about all those petro-dollars being exported to mostly unfriendly foreign…
Former Oklahoma environmental secretary talks about Obama, former classmate
Miles Tolbert said he knew Barack Obama at Harvard Law School back when he attended from 1988 to 1991. “¦ Along with about 500 other people. Yes, Tolbert said, the guy is smart. ENVISIONINGWIND ENERGY “I agree that he is pivotal “¦ there is no question that he’s very smart,” he said. “While I’m pleased…
Fables: Covers by James Jean – James Jean
Vertigo Taiwan-born James Jean is “? bar-none, no question “? the finest cover artist working in comics today. He’s so good, he deserves to be known as among the finest artists working today in any medium. The guy’s only been out of art school for seven years, and already has assembled an astonishing portfolio able…
Four Christmases
Brad and Kate are happy. Unmarried, but committed, the pair shrugs off babies, rules and conventions they see dragging down other relationships. Over the years, the couple (Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) has established a tradition allowing them to escape Christmas celebrations with their broken families: They lie and skip town. Creating any number of…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
A column in the Washington Post called “The Style Invitational” has identified the “Top 10 New Religions.” I’m calling your attention to two that might be attractive to you in the coming months, a time when you’ll probably have urges to transform and expand upon your spiritual practices. First, there are the Oxymormons, who engage…
Clarification
Two weeks ago, News of the Weird reported that all “appeals” by defendants without lawyers in one Louisiana state circuit had been automatically dismissed, for 13 years, without a judge’s ever reading them. Uniquely, Louisiana has two ways for a defendant to seek to overturn a conviction: a “supervisory writ” and an “appeal.” The treatment…
King Tut gets as close to Oklahoma as the Dallas Museum of Art
More than 3,000 years ago, a privileged 19-year-old Egyptian, given to hunting from his chariot, took a spill that shattered his leg just above the knee. WORLD TOURDESIGN The injury had to have been excruciating, in a time when little could be done but rub ointment and pray. For pain, there might have been beer.…
Transporter 3
st: To make sure Frank focuses on getting the job done, Frank is fitted with the same sort of bracelet as Valentina, the weird-looking girl (first-timer Natalya Rudakova), was wearing. Incidentally, for “mysterious” reasons, she is accompanying Frank on his trip. The bracelets are set to explode if they get too far away from the…
Jeff Finlin – Ballad of a Plain Man
Bent Wheel Records Midwestern troubador Jeff Finlin affects a John Hiatt growl for “Ballad of a Plain Man,” his stripped-down seventh album. The title is appropriate, for Finlin fronts a no-nonsense persona on this 12-track disc; “all I know is what I see,” he sings. And what he sees is what you get. With subtle…
