Bible stories
Ghostlight Theatre Club dishes up a heavy dose of religion — Christianity division — in the 2005 dramedy “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” by Stephen Adly Guirgis. His plays are not produced much around here, so this is a good chance to see one. In “Iscariot,” we witness Judas’ trial taking place in Purgatory…
Look ‘Deep’er
One of the known knowns of theater, as Donald Rumsfeld might put it, is that you often have highly qualified, skilled people working with average material. It’s much easier to put on a play when you’re working with a superior script, so even the best practitioners of the dramatic arts will be hard-pressed to exceed…
Herbal remedy
A state Senate committee bogarted a bill designed to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma by refusing to hold hearings on any of its assigned legislation this session, effectively keeping the measure hostage until next session. Senate Bill 573, known as the Compassionate Use Act, would allow a physician to prescribe marijuana to patients, and would…
Kite Flying Robot — Solid Gold
Surprisingly, it’s marked not by excess, but by tasteful arrangements that result in strong pop songs. Anchored by mild-mannered electronic beats (think The Postal Service) and Nikolas Thompson’s calm, seductive voice, the songs reveal various parts and melodies at a leisurely pace. These unhurried tracks are long on a slinky, sunglasses-atnight-cool mood, and short on…
Three’s company
Lonely singles in a new city often turn to dating websites to find companionship. Bet you didn’t know that musicians looking to make sweet, sweet tunes together do the same. A Dallas-based “musician matchmaking site” is how two ex-Okies found their St. Louis soul mate; for Oil Boom, it was love at first sight. “We…
Cooper futures
Tours are no place for parents — even if you aren’t anywhere near Mötley Crüe levels of debauchery — but when you’re a red-dirt musician playing in bars and haven’t hit the legal drinking age, there’s not much of a choice. “Those were some good ol’ times, having my mom or dad right there with…
Bear necessities
It’s not uncommon for beloved bandleaders to spawn successful side projects. Jack White had The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. Maynard James Keenan had Tool and A Perfect Circle. Scott Weiland had Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. Antonio Laster may not have been the front man before, but the bassist for Stillwater favorite Mayola…
Reece’s pieces
Filmmaker Mickey Reece may be his own harshest critic. In three years, the writer/director has used a handpicked circle of friends and acquaintances to make about a dozen movies around the metro. He’s lost count of the exact number, but that’s OK, as some aren’t as memorable as others. On their debut, “Le Corndog Du…
Irate feelings
The sandy shores and clear water of Hawaii, the home state of the six members of Iration, help to bring life and inspiration to the band’s unique, reggae-rock blend. “I would describe it as feel-good music,” bassist Adam Taylor said. “It’s all around you and fits the lifestyle well, so it was natural for us…
Scoop of Brahms
If you take a peek at the concert poster for Monday and Tuesday’s “German Romanticism” concert by Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma, you’ll find a dapper-looking German guy hanging out on it. It’s Johannes Brahms, whose Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, op. 26, will be performed. Wait, wasn’t Brahms a crazy dude? “It’s early…
Thunder up!
That is to say, the Thunder changed the city. Now, instead of Charles Barkley not knowing where Oklahoma City is, he lampoons it weekly on TNT. Progress! The NBA’s arrival has energized the city, and no sector feels that energy more than the metro’s hospitality industry. Sure, one can snag a couple tickets from the…
Thoughts on ‘boombastic’ Thunder trades
One of the big movers and shakers of the day was our own Oklahoma City Thunder. They made two surprise moves, and according to most of the analysts and pundits, came out as big winners. Let’s take a look at what happened: 1. OKC traded forward Jeff Green, center Nenad Krstic and a draft pick…
Uneasy eats
Or an artichoke suddenly appears on the table and quickly separates a diner from his or her dignity because they have no idea how to cope with the green globe. A little coaching, plus a dose of daring, can transform intimidating situations into a pleasant experience. Take that artichoke, for instance. Artichokes, although delicious, do…
On the ledger
Dolores Purdy Corcoran, one of the four artists featured, became interested in ledger art after stumbling upon a book of ledger drawings done by American Indian prisoners of war. “These prisoners would find any old piece of paper and draw scenes of everyday life,” said Corcoran. “What struck me was how sophisticated the drawings were…
John Lefler returns to his roots
Once a resident of Edmond, Lefler joined the emo rock band in 2002, but his own work veers toward power pop along the lines of Ben Folds and Crowded House. —Rod Lott
An eye for Y
Yousef Khanfar grew up in Kuwait, raised by Palestinian refugees and mute at the age of 6. Concerned, his father took him into the sand dunes with a camera, hoping that if the boy was not willing to communicate with his mouth, perhaps he would with a camera. A lifelong obsession was born. Moving to…
Mercedes rules
So when Towns, a network engineer at HighMount Exploration & Production, decided he wanted to design his own natural gas-powered vehicle, his natural choice was a 2004 Mercedes-Benz SL600. Plenty of automakers have introduced cars that run on compressed natural gas, but Honda Civics aren’t quite as sexy as the 510-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V12 engine SL600.…
Forward march
Although entering its 10th incarnation, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s “Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still” is still younger than the artists whose work drives the annual event. “‘Momentum’ started because we were concerned that so few young artists were participating in the local art scene,” said Julia Kirt, OVAC executive director. “We would see a significant…
You can dance
But in the United States at least, more people may be dancing than ever before, thanks to hit television shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” plus Broadway-style shows like “Burn the Floor,” which came through Oklahoma City earlier this year. “I think it’s had a tremendous impact,” said…
Flash of inspiration
That’s the slogan for IgniteOKC, coming Thursday to Lyric at the Plaza, 1725 N.W. 16th, for its third incarnation. IgniteOKC is a networking event that brings together people from all around the metro, giving anyone who wants a chance to present on a topic they are passionate about, said Vu Nguyen, an organizer for the…
Fresh faces
Java Dave’s1433 E. Danforth, Edmond348-9933 This is the second Java Dave’s that Bruce and Mindy Baldwin have opened in Edmond. The first, 9 S. Broadway, has a cozy feel, and this new one is a small, stand-alone building that used to house Emerald City Coffee just in front of Aspen Athletic Club. Head to this…
Hey! Do this
snap this We all know that caterpillars become butterflies, but what happens after that? Windle Turley, author of “The Amazing Monarch,” a photographic chronicle of the monarch butterfly’s migration patterns, answers that question with his new exhibit, now on display through March 18 at Oklahoma City University’s Norick Art Center, 2501 N. Blackwelder. Admission is…
At the Plaza
So who wants to go first? Let’s pick Retrokc (1609 N. Blackwelder), which just opened a couple of weeks ago. Tucked just off N.W. 16th, Retrokc is a small shop with a great collection of vintage furniture, decor and retro kitsch. What I really loved about the small space was that everything felt well-chosen —…
Bite size
A famous person you kind of look like: “A gal on ‘Star Trek,’ but I can’t remember her name.” Nobody really knows: “That I can speak five languages: Farsi, Spanish, Dari, English and Arabic.” Favorite cookbook? “All of my recipes come from my head, and I just play with them. I never look at a…
Head east
Owner/chef Yong Rucker left and daughter Sune Hawkins hold bowls of fried rice and beef bibimbap at Jeon Ju Korean Restaurant in Del City. When I first tasted the Jeon Ju Korean food at the Girlie Show in November, I instantly knew it was something special. The popular and crowded booth at the annual Oklahoma…
Uncommonly revealing
above Jason Poll with a bottle of wine at Mahogany Prime In the right hands, the grape is exceptionally good at revealing terroir, or the place the grapes came from, and so lends itself to many stylistic variants. The grape has so many strengths, including approachability, that it is more difficult to explain why worldwide…
Culling the herd
HB 1551, introduced by Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, sought to allow teachers to discuss and critique these various scientific theories in classrooms, a move critics said would help usher in teaching of so-called “intelligent design” in public schools. The bill lists biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning as…
State of flux
The February meeting was more cordial than the previous meeting, in which state Superintendent Janet Barresi locked horns with board members. Former state Sen. Herb Rozell, the member state Republicans demanded resign following comments about one of Barresi’s legislative liaison appointments, was absent from the meeting. Tim Gilpin, who in the previous meeting told Barresi…
CFN Quote of the Week
—Former mayoral candidate Steve Hunt, at a Feb. 24 “meet the candidates” event for Ward 2 of the Oklahoma City Council. Mayor Mick Cornett won reelection with 58 percent of the vote.
Ruffled Ruffalo
Well, now an Academy Award-nominated actor is tweeting with the Oklahoma-based energy company. New York state resident Mark Ruffalo, an actor in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Zodiac,” “Shutter Island” and “The Kids Are All Right,” is an outspoken critic of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) and screened the “GasLand” doc in Pennsylvania in 2010.…
Anonymous vendetta
E-mails concerning Oklahoma City-based company Devon Energy were among the thousands reportedly released by the online group Anonymous, a loosely organized cyberactivist group, after an official at a company Devon used for network security attempted to infiltrate the group. Anonymous has taken on big groups such as the Church of Scientology, as well as more…
Weapon of mass discussion
I have been a cashier, and I have seen concealed guns when customers were reaching for their wallets in businesses where guns were prohibited. Scott thinks that I assume iPhones and cell phones in pockets are guns, but there have been people shot while reaching for a cell phone. Kelley says, “The bad guy is…
Is that a gun in your pocket?
—Jeff Hart Oklahoma City
Oh (big) brother
I went to a national shoe store chain in northwest Oklahoma City to exchange a gift (size change). The exchange was going well until we were asked for a driver’s license. When I asked the manager why my driver’s license was needed, we were told “it’s store policy.” After further questioning and not receiving an…
Gun violence is society’s cancer
Our war on drugs has been an expensive and ultimately cruel exercise in futility. It has been a failure at every level. He possesses a very clear understanding of the lethal power of any firearm, and I appreciate that. From there on, I’m afraid our views diverge. He fails to appreciate that guns create a…
Can it happen here?
Truth be told, the ingredients are here. A new Republican majority, in charge of all the levers of lawmaking, has made a lot of noise about restoring fiscal sanity. In the meantime, Oklahoma’s Teachers Retirement Fund has a $10 billion unfunded liability. If and when the new majority addresses this issue, the teachers’ unions are…
Separation deliberation
But by the discussion’s close, only one mind was changed. The debate was between Bruce Prescott, Baptist pastor and president of the Norman chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Steve Kern, Baptist pastor and husband to state Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, who was in the audience. The two debated…
Monkeys and Bibles
I suppose that these bills would make laws allowing the teaching of creationism in the science classroom along with evolution. So what would the teachers say about creationism? Would they bring a Bible to class and contrast it with science and teach that the book of Genesis is an accurate account of the beginning of…
Adele — 21
One needs go no further than opener (and single) “Rolling in the Deep” to hear the power and earnestness in her voice. A single look at press photo will show a thankfully (let me repeat, thankfully!) real-sized woman with a witheringly intense gaze. One performance is all it take to be wowed by her stage…
Four Lions
Well, of course, we could, did and have. And not to downplay the horrible, horrible, horrible tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 — not to mention the earlier Murrah Building bombing on our own turf — but with nearly a decade past, not only are we still laughing, but we’ve grown to the point of having…
Love and Other Drugs
As real as her body is, her performance isn’t up to snuff. Ed Zwick’s film is half a good movie; see it for the “and Other Drugs” part that kicks it off. That’s the portion infused with effervescence, pulling back the curtain on the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical reps that Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) jumps…
Reader lauds council race coverage
It is a wonderful paper and I commend the writers and you for always publishing the best ads and most interesting news that centers on Oklahoma City. I love the information you have been publishing about the OKC City Council race, but as I sit here and read the news tonight, I realized it is…
Duke Garwood — Dreamboatsafari
After hearing Duke Garwood’s chilled-out guitar ruminations “Jesus Got a Gun” and “Summer Gold” (the latter of which I featured on OKS), I was totally stoked for an album based around acoustic talking blues. Instead, “Dreamboatsafari” is mostly skronk-heavy blues/jazz disc with a couple mellow tunes thrown in. And when I mean skronk-heavy, I mean…
The Rural Alberta Advantage — Departing
Both tunes off “Hometowns” rattled and shook with a frantic abandon, despite the fact that they were both alt-folk songs at heart, and one of them was supposed to be depressing. Having gotten some of their spitfire out of the way, the band wisely eschewed an attempt at “Hometowns Pt. II.” They instead revealed “Departing,”…
Braids — Native Speaker
Because no new trends have appeared at all in 2011 so far, I was getting kinda worried that I was going to be stuck listen to trashy, lo-fi garage rock and pristine folk all year. Thankfully, Braids’ “Native Speaker” crossed my desk, and I’m feeling a bit more calm. Even if they don’t spark a…
Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata — The Hills Are Alive
Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata’s “The Hills Are Alive” is a cult album if there ever was one. The premise is bizarre: The awesomely acronymed BRO decided to reinterpret songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” in modern music genres, like Motown, prog rock, R&B, country, funk and more. Many of these tunes are original…
The Bleeding / The Killing Jar
But seriously: I hate to knock the guy for his current financial problems, so I understand his need to take any and every role that comes his way. (According to IMDb, he has 30 films slated for release this year.) It’s just that all too often — cough “The Brazen Bull” cough — the movies…
Leaving
It’s not bad; story-wise, it’s simply as thin as its luminous star, “The English Patient” vet Kristin Scott Thomas. She plays Suzanne, the happy, stay-at-home mom and wife to Samuel (Yvan Attal, “Rush Hour 3”). He’s a successful doctor, providing her and their two children with everything they could need or want, but without losing…
Megamind
The studio’s latest been-there-done-that computer-generated cash cow is “Megamind.” Like the “Shrek” franchise, it features a bad guy who isn’t a villain so much as a misunderstood lug. Like the “Madagascar” movies, it often confuses wit with frenetic montages in which creatures dance, dance, dance. Like “Monsters vs. Aliens,” it offers characters only as memorable…
