Poised for progress
The election of an African-American president to an organization with its roots in slavery is being heralded as a milestone in racial reform. The Southern Baptists broke off from Northern Baptists in 1845 in support of slavery. Having supported Jim Crow and resisted integration for more than a century, the organization officially apologized in 1995.…
Wanna bet?
Superintendent Karl Springer has made a friendly wager with his Miami counterpart, Alberto Carvalho, over the outcome of the NBA Finals pitting the OKC Thunder against the Miami Heat. If the Heat prevail, Springer has agreed that, once school resumes, he would wear a Heat T-shirt for a day, as well as teach a class…
The Disco Exorcist
Opening with a disclaimer that the producers have no memory of making the motion picture, the indie feature obviously revels in that era of exploitation, immediately passing itself off as a ’70s no-budget, B-horror pic as authentically as it can: heavily embedded grain and scratches, a couple of “SHOT MISSING” frames, reel-to-reel tape decks, lava…
The FP
The credo of 248 leader JTRO (Jason Trost, who co-wrote and co-directed with his brother, Brandon) is “We roll together, we die together.” That’s tested when JTRO vows never to play again after BTRO dies during a rather heated Beat-off (go ahead, snicker) against 245 head L Dubba E (Lee Valmassy), and disappears. A year…
Boffo bridge
SkyDance Bridge is a 380-foot-long, 20-foot-wide pedestrian bridge that crosses over the interstate near Harvey Avenue and features a 192-foot sculpture inspired by the state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher. The bridge will eventually connect the upper MAPS 3 downtown park and the lower park. The bridge, which placed 10th in the judging, was lauded in…
Crazy house
Michael James is Pollard Theatre’s longtime resident costume designer and a capable actor, although he rarely appears onstage. But now, he’s giving a winning encore as Albin in Pollard’s production of La Cage aux Folles. James’ performance is a joy to behold. His sequin-laden costumes look sharp, too. He played Albin when Pollard staged La…
Thunder city
Credit: Shannon Cornman It existed in the shadow of the boom-and-bust economy of Tulsa’s oil-rich gentility, whose development outpaced its sister down the turnpike for much of the last half-century. It existed in the shadow of equidistant college rivals whose fan bases divided the city’s allegiance. Most of all, it existed in the shadow of…
OKG7 seven new spots to try
Hawk’s Hotdogs Mobile 818-3320 Sometimes you just crave a good hot dog. Hawk’s serves Nathan’s all-beef hot dogs to help you out with that craving strikes! From $2-$3.50, it’s an inexpensive and tasty meal to grab if you don’t have time to stop and eat. Like Hawk’s on Facebook to stay up with locations, hours…
Put your feet up
It’s much more than simply filling up rooms with furniture and hanging things on the walls. I mean, it does involve that, but the thought behind each piece is generally fraught with meaning. Collectively, the pieces should work together to generate a statement or create a schematic sort of living, which tends to be what…
Cusp — Nothing Proper
Cusp succeeds in the way that Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes do: creating songs that sound like concentrated moments of life rather than just pieces of art. There’s nothing artificial about Nothing Proper — only true beauty to relive in each passing song. Rapp studies vocal performance at ACM@UCO, and it shows. His…
Star trek
Most touring bands book years of shows in dingy rock venues, playing for few more than the members of other groups on the bill before getting the call up to the big leagues. On its debut road trek, Los Angeles rockers Stars in Stereo nabbed such a spot opening for post-hardcore favorites The Used. “It’s…
Auto parts
Autoerotique takes elements of techno, rock, indie and house music, which shifts dance floors into hyperdrive. BY Joshua Boydston When the two guys behind Canadian act Autoerotique got their start as producers back in 2007, they never thought electronic dance music — aka EDM — would have taken over the mainstream in less than half…
Shake it
In recent years, the world of health has seen the advent of group fitness regimens. Instructor-lead dance classes like Zumba are the favorite of many, but in Oklahoma, even the most devoted dance aficionados may not have heard of one particular workout. It’s called Nia, and it’s been gaining followers and popularity slowly, but surely…
One tequila, two tequila
Margarita at Casa Perico Credit: Mark Hancock Stories of how the tequila-based cocktail was created are remarkably numerous. The venerable Smithsonian magazine attempted to sift through the urban myths, but the best it could do was narrow it down to a couple of possibilities and the certainty that the drink was invented in the Western…
You’ve got male
Credit: Brad Gregg That’s right, ladies and juiced up He-Men, Oklahoma City was named the manliest city in all ’Merica by Combos — “everyone’s favorite cheese-filled pretzels, crackers and tortillas made with real cheese” — along with the undoubtedly delectable, yet unfortunately inedible, Bert Sperling, who you may know from his previous roles as “research…
Kern she win?
Sally Kern Moore, a Bethany city councilman, is Kern’s opponent in the primary election for House District 84, which includes parts of northwest Oklahoma City and Bethany. The winner of Tuesday’s primary will be unopposed in the November general election. Sally Kern Kern, 65, has been a high school government teacher for around 20 years…
Tweet tweet
Credit: Brad Gregg One such faux Twitter account appeared shortly after Mustang-based Tate Publishing inadvertently found itself a viral sensation when an audio recording surfaced of its CEO, Ryan Tate, firing 25 employees — but not before calling them “stupid” and “morons.” Like a snarky phoenix rising from the ashes, @TaintPublishing emerged to unleash such…
Wherefore art thou, Democrats?
Democrats hold no statewide offices. They failed to file candidates for the two Corporation Commission seats up for election this year. Of the 24 state Senate seats up this year, Democrats filed for only 12. In the 101 state House districts, they fielded candidates in just 54. There are Democrats running for all five Congressional…
Scatological divide
Credit: Brad Gregg Officials said the spike was probably because of heavy rains causing runoff from land, such as pet waste, commercial farming activity and other contaminants flowing into the river and its tributaries, The Oklahoman reported. Translation: All of the butt mud on land near the river gets washed into it by rain, causing…
Extending dominion
Credit: Brad Gregg Bobby Gruenewald, the innovation leader for lifechurch.tv (no, we’re not making that title up), told USA Today that the church paid the fee to purchase rights to .church, not for the purpose of making money, but to provide resources to their target market, a network of 100,000 pastors. In its application for…
Jazz hands
The Bert Dalton Brazil Project Santa Fe, N.M.-based pianist Bert Dalton may not look like your prototypical Latin jazz musician, but he’s as experienced and talented as they come. Growing up in Chicago, he was exposed to the Windy City’s lively Latin jazz scene at any early age. It hooked him almost immediately, and he’s…
Slumber party
When it comes to membership, country music group Asleep at the Wheel is like a revolving door. “I’ve had a hundred people through this band,” said leader and founding member Ray Benson. “It’s been 42 years.” Playing Sunday at the Blackout Block Party fundraiser at Grady’s 66 Pub in Yukon, the Texas outfit has been…
Music Made Me: Cami Stinson
Credit: Trawick Images Etta James, Her Best (1997) Another compilation CD, but by the time I got a hold of these artists, they’d already moved mountains. Like Patsy, Etta has this grit and soulful sound I admire and am drawn to. Her effortless and witty phrasing opened my ears to phrasing and texture. I covered…
Sweet tooth
Traveling is always an option over the summer, but with gas prices as they are, the cost of going out of state can get a little out of hand. A great alternative is taking your mind, if not your body, on a tour of pure imagination. Upstage Theatre in Edmond offers your imagination the chance…
Game on
Molly Johnson Before 1972, Molly Johnson’s career would have seemed unlikely at best, and more likely, nigh impossible. In addition to her duties as assistant softball coach at the University of Kentucky, Johnson fields balls at shortstop for the USA Softball National Team. This weekend, she and her teammates take the field in Oklahoma City…
Roboshop
Having never lost that passion for artificial intelligence, he is creating some of his own through his company, Gear Box Robots. The Oklahoma City-based business uses cast-aside items to form good-as-new, gleaming ’bots. Some serve a specific purpose, as incense burners, shelves or beverage holders, while others are designed purely for aesthetic pleasure. “We are…
Critter care
No matter how crappy you feel, however, you can’t call in sick. People are counting on you to show up. You’re an elephant at the Oklahoma City Zoo. And you can’t fit into the exam room. “Our current hospital conditions aren’t ideal,” said Dr. Gretchen Cole, associate veterinarian for the zoo. “We provide the best…
New brew
Matt Anthony, Anthem’s owner and brewer, started with a Mr. Beer kit in 2000 as a hobby beer maker. Over the years, he said, he came to view craft brewing as means of self-expression. “Anthem Brewing’s beers are my anthem to the world,” he said, “expressing not only my individualism, but also my love for…
CFN’s favorite recent tweets by lil wayne (@liltunechi) not
Credit: Brad Gregg 2. “Vampire sesh” 3. “Nino.” 4. “Fuk pusha t and anybody that love em” 5. “Bron Bron went ham”
Super-sized
Credit: Brad Gregg Attempt that feat this fall after the city gets a twostory McDonald’s, slated for the corner of N.W. 23rd Street and Penn Avenue. It’s expected to be around 5,600 square feet and will be one of the three two-story chains built in the nation this year. We doubt our city’s dismal standing…
Shawn’s secret
Credit: Mark Hancock It’s all the same fish. Can we agree on that? There has been a sushi explosion — figurative, not literal — in Oklahoma City over the last decade. There are lots of places that will gladly roll strips of raw fish with strips of vegetables inside a blanket of rice and seaweed.…
CFN’s favorite recent tweets by lil wayne (@liltunechi) not
Credit: Brad Gregg 2. “Vampire sesh” 3. “Nino.” 4. “Fuk pusha t and anybody that love em” 5. “Bron Bron went ham”
Raise a VOICE
Lance Schmitz Credit: Mark Hancock Founded last winter at a convention that drew more than 1,200 people, Voices Organized in Civic Engagement (VOICE) hopes to get residents focused on what their biggest needs are, and how those can best be achieved at the local and state level. “We hope to get citizens engaged in conversations…
A bright idea
Credit: Mark Hancock Driving down Route 66 can be like a 70 mile-per-hour history lesson, where vestiges of the state’s past stand out along 400 miles of highway. In Yukon, a 100-plus-year-old flour mill visible from the Mother Road is a symbol of local pride and community spirit. Crowning the old building is a sign…
Race to the right
Paul Blair The GOP primary winner will square off against Independent Richard Prawdzienski in the November general election. Paul Blair Blair, 49, is an Edmond native who played football for Oklahoma State University and later in the NFL. He owns Blair Vending & Coffee in Edmond, is pastor of Fairview Baptist Church and was a…
Women fared well in legislation
Although the topic of reproductive rights came up across the national political scene and appeared to take center stage in Oklahoma by way of the proposed personhood bill, there was much more that happened at the state Capitol worth sharing. For one, House Bill 2396, co-authored by Rep. Wade Rousselot, D-Wagoner, and Sen. Kim David,…
To the letter
“We have retained an investigator,” said Tammy T. Carter, general counsel for the school district. School officials said a private attorney is conducting the probe, but declined to release further details. Some parents have complained that their children are being advanced through the school system without being educated. They have accused Principal Brian Staples of…
Boffo bridge
Skydance Bridge is a 380-foot-long, 20-foot-wide pedestrian bridge that crosses over the interstate near Harvey Avenue and features a 192 foot sculpture that inspired by the state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher. The bridge will eventually connect the upper MAPS 3 downtown park and the lower park. The bridge, which placed 10th in the judging, was…
Seeking Justice
Now that he’s made two movies that have skipped wide theatrical openings this year on a quick route to video, as Trespass and Seeking Justice have, perhaps it’s time for him to step back and make his next few choices really, really carefully. Here’s the irony: Seeking Justice is one of the better things he’s…
Easy riders
“National Ride to Work Day illustrates the growing number of motorcyclists on our streets and how important it is for drivers of all types of vehicles to share the road,” said Kevin Behrens, assistant director of the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office. The ride seeks to promote courtesy between motorcycles and their four-wheeled automotive brethren, as…
The Lowbrow Reader Reader
Thirteen years later, my zine became the victim of its own success: The process simply ceased to be fun for me, so after 37 issues — or was it 38? — an exhausted one-man publisher called it quits. I only tell you this because as I was wrapping up, a New York-based zine called The Lowbrow…
Don’t Go in the Woods
The first feature as director for longtime fine actor Vincent D’Onofrio (Kill the Irishman), Woods is as ambling as the five young musicians — one of whom is blind — who drive their van to a forest for a songwriting retreat, where the following things are not allowed: booze, drugs, girls, phones and common sense. That…
A Bag of Hammers
Jason Ritter (The Perfect Family) and co-writer Jake Sandvig (Easy A) star as best buds Ben and Alan, two con men who make money off a valet-parking scheme. But other than that, they’re really nice guys. The axis of their felonious world shifts when they meet a boy who moves into the neighborhood with his…
Academic achievement
Manning, the school’s founding president, leaves after having helped shape OSSM into one of the nation’s finest schools. Newsweek recently ranked it 35th on the magazine’s annual list of the 1,000 best schools in the U.S. “I knew it would be fun to create a school, not just build buildings, that sort of thing — but…
Oh, say, can you Sara?
Evans’ most recent album, Stronger, features the hit single, “A Little Bit Stronger.” Stronger came out six years after her last album, 2005’s Real Fine Place. Her previous discs have been big sellers, too, including 2001’s double-platinum Born to Fly. Her chart-topping tunes have included “I Could Not Ask for More,” “No Place That Far”…
Wayne’s whiny world
“Again I was treated like sh!t by the Thunder arena staff…dam..I hope da Heat beat da dog sh!t out em!!” he wrote about his time at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The tweet marks Lil Wayne’s latest grousing about the Thunder. The hip-hop star tried unsuccessfully to sit courtside in Oklahoma City for Game 3 of…
Sector 7
Also reminiscent of everything from James Cameron’s The Abyss to Stephen Sommers’ Deep Rising, but with multiple mentions of feng shui, the Korean sci-fi film takes place on a real-life ocean drilling rig, where work is on hold due to a stuck drill bit. Nevertheless, tough girl Ha Ji-won (Tidal Wave) is determined to find…
D.O.A.
Dennis Quaid stars as English professor Dexter Cornell, who somehow contracts a fatal toxin that glows Re-Animator green and gives him 24 hours to live. Rather than just bang one of his students — well, he does that, too — he sets out to find who’s slipped him one mammoth mickey. And in doing so,…
Hooker fashion
There are too many females 14 years of age and up garbed in black net stock ings, spike heels and cleavage down to here; and that’s just in school cafeterias and churches. Hookers just don’t look all that salacious when compared to our local darlings. And if you wonder who these lithe little things are…
Larry, Moe and Curly
They have finally proven that Republicans in this state are even dumber and more useless than the Democrats. According to The Oklahoman, 40 percent of taxpayers making under $25,000 a year would have seen their taxes go up under the Fallin scheme (typical class-warfare by the GOP) but the real “WTF?” head-shaker was that many…
