Calling all junkies!
“I’ve done shows around the city and just kind of decided to do my own and do something different,” Grandi said. That’s the Junk Hippy Roadshow, to be held Saturday at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. She’s been working on it for about a year and a half, and it’s full with 93 vendors. In fact,…
Freak Dance
What makes that all the more disappointing is that the UCB long has been an SCTV-style hotbed of talent, counting Amy Poehler, Adam McKay and Matt Walsh among its success stories. Its members past and current include many comedians whose acts I admire and enjoy — many of them in this movie. That special something…
Goodnight, gorilla
The ape was diagnosed with heart disease in 2010 and had since been on heart medication to alleviate symptoms. According to the zoo, cardiac disease is a major cause of death for adult gorillas. Western lowland gorillas such as Bom Bom are critically endangered due to commercial hunting for meat, habitat loss and poaching in…
As the well turns
Credit: Brad Gregg Meanwhile, the latest kick to the well head for Chesapeake came in a Reuters story yesterday showing that Chesapeake possibly worked with a competitor to suppress land prices on its oil and gas plays. According to emails obtained by Reuters, Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon had explicit knowledge of his company working with…
Peace, Love & Misunderstanding
Nothing can bring out one’s inner Richard Nixon like a flight of baby-boomer whimsy that rubs your nose in 1960s nostalgia. Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, a gentle-minded paean to the Woodstock generation, might just make you want to punch a hippie. God knows this isn’t the first indie film to fall prey to contrivances, inept…
Horse, of course
Credit: Doug Schwarz Few bands have the sense of state pride as Horse Thief. The outfit’s sound is the perfect intersection of the dusty country-folk Oklahoma long has been famous for — presently encapsulated by Other Lives — and the quirky, psychedelic noise preached by the likes of The Flaming Lips, Starlight Mints, Evangelicals and…
New war, new casualties
Credit: Mark Hancock Afghanistan, 2011: In a war lasting more than 10 years, troops of Oklahoma’s 45th Infantry Brigade, the successors to the storied World War II unit and now a brigade numbering about 3,000, deployed into combat. By their return in March of this year, 14 had died and nearly 1,000 were injured. “The…
So Sheik
“We used to jam with a Pakistani guy, so we thought we’d be The Sheiks,” lead singer Matt Milligan said, laughing. “Also, he’s a highly fashionable man. We may not be Pakistani, but we are pretty fashionable.” The Sheiks fill a glaring void in the Oklahoma music scene left empty by the February 2009 demise…
Tweet fleet
Kevin Durant OKC Thunder überstar @KDTrey5 Number of followers: 2.28 million Did you know Durant follows: Entertainers, basketballers, models, celebrities. Follow him or forget it: Follow. You’ll have to wade through some serious jargon, Twitterspeak and inside jokes, but let’s face it: You love Kevin Durant, and you’ll put up with it because he can…
Thunderstruck
Kevin Durant Credit: Shannon Cornman A third straight NBA scoring title for Kevin Durant. Sixth Man of the Year Award for James Harden. And after only four years in existence, the team battled its way to win the Western Conference championship, defeating the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs — the three…
Village people
Mary Francis Credit: Mark Hancock Earlier this year, Occupy helped a local store owner stay in business, aided tornado victims in Woodward, initiated a “buy local” campaign, and successfully lobbied Norman city officials to move their tax revenues to a local bank. Occupy Tulsa activist Eli Silva said the group does what it can to…
Montu — Bloom
Opener “Dock Ellis” is a doozy at nearly nine minutes, although it never overstays its welcome. John Barkley flexes his muscle here with keyboard work of Stevie Wonder pedigree, while Jon Godsy is equally impressive with the bass line throughout. “Shama Pt. 1” and “Skip Dickson” borrow from lo-fi purveyors Toro y Moi and Ariel…
Broad stripes, bright stars
You might be a fireworks enthusiast. After all, it’s the one time of year that blowing up things is OK (outside city limits, of course). Or maybe you want to show off your patriotism, and every single thing about your Fourth of July soiree has to fit that theme. Lastly, you might be the type…
’merican medley
As Independence Day approaches, people begin to fret about such things, because when we celebrate America, we must eat American things. (Same thing at Christmas, when we all eat reindeer and drink tinsel wine.) The problem with this is that America is a nation of expats. We use the term “melting pot” a lot, mostly…
Go West
Vegan nachos Credit: Mark Hancock You’ve forged through Chesapeake traffic and arrived due north of the craziness that is N. Western Avenue area, and frankly, you deserve some vittles. On the east side of the road you’ll see a pleasantly modern and clean structure that looks much like a temple or sanctuary. Although you won’t…
Positive predicament
Jim Couch addresses city council. Credit: Shannon Cornman The expected surplus comes from the estimated 3 percent growth the city will see over the next fiscal year following higher-than-anticipated sales tax collections in May and June. The City Council on June 12 adopted the city’s $951 million 2012- 13 budget, and it was agreed that…
Lola Versus
Scheduled to open Friday at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial, Lola Versus represents the first pure star vehicle for Gerwig, at least outside of the no-budget “mumblecore” world from which she began. Anyone who’s seen those pretentious, improv dramas — and I certainly don’t recommend you do — knows of their sexual…
The gap
Credit: Nathan Poppe Although less than two years old, the Oklahoma City Southern folk act Black Canyon already is a whole new beast. “Black Canyon has changed a lot over the past six months,” front man and founding member Jake Morisse said. “Things are getting a lot louder.” There’s a fairly simple explanation: Founding member…
Ox rocks
Making music comes naturally to Oklahoma City brothers Sam and Ray Ashford, who made it official by s tarting a band together in 2009. With big choruses and mellow verses, Oxford Town has been described as garage blues with a hint of grudge. A reflection of their shared musical taste, their band name is taken…
OKG7 seven steaks to savor
Opus Prime 800 W. Memorial 607-6787 Recognized by Wine Spectator and OpenTable as top-notch, Opus is a mustgo for any steak aficionado. If you’re with a group, splurge on the tasting platter ($49): a generous serving of calamari, pan-seared crab cake, barbecue shrimp and Tuscan tenders (fillet medallions). On the lighter side, a traditional Caesar…
Young love
1492 Credit: Jordan Ensminger However, the ones available are priced under $15, and a few are under $10. The better news is that price is no indication of poor quality. Vinho Verde is not a varietal. In fact, nearly 20 white grapes are allowed in its blends. The name translates as “green wine,” meaning young…
Sieg House!
Credit: Brad Gregg 1. Punch and/or punt babies or little old ladies. 2. Tell a crowd your first order of business will be to mend your broken heart. 3. Wear a swastika or Nazi uniform. Anywhere. Anytime. For any reason. For some reason, Rule No. 3 somehow seems to trip up a depressing number of…
It’s all happening at the Zoo
Credit: Brad Gregg The dispute between the Zoo Amp’s current operator, Facilities Management Group, and the Zoo Trust is over whether the trust has given preferential treatment to a new group looking to take over operations, 3Horse Productions. FMG’s CEO Howard Pollack, said that his business has been hurt by the Zoo Trust putting out…
CFN WTF Email of the Week
Credit: Brad Gregg “God has called me to rebuke KEVIN DURANT for endorsing the company honoring the PAGAN GODDESS NIKE! DURANT is paid 60 MILLION to insult God! What will happen to Durant when God’s blessings are taken away from him? What will happen to the Thunder?” —Charles Hubbard, Oklahoma City
The Bard, with bark
In Verona, young Proteus (Kyle Whalen) follows his friend Valentine (Brad Brockman) to Milan to serve in the duke’s court. In the process, Proteus becomes smitten with the duke’s daughter, Sylvia (Victoria Hines), and forgets his girlfriend, Julia (Suzanne Stanley). Proteus schemes against Valentine, who also loves Sylvia, as well as Thurio (Mason Pain), the…
Standing up for special needs families
“What about organic?” she asks. “Two percent? Skim?” “Milk is milk,” an exasperated manager tells her. “We’ve got one kind. It was good for me. It’s good enough for kids today.” Education technology expert Richard Culatta recently shared that our public education system came to the U.S. via autocratic 18th-century Prussia. “Their purpose was as…
Moonrise Kingdom
Maybe it’s fitting that a film about young love would elicit that sort of rapturous response. At any rate, very few filmmakers capture the strange world of adolescent obsession — the exuberance, the earnestness, the flat-out weirdness — like Anderson does. This is the movie Anderson was meant to make, the masterpiece he has hinted…
Crime Does Not Pay: The Complete Shorts Collection (1935-1947)
Roughly 20 minutes apiece, give or take, these rare scare films are hosted by a guy (or guys, as the identity changes; one has a lazy eye) introducing himself straight to the camera as only “the MGM reporter.” He interviews presumably real-life experts about criminal activities, and then we’re treated to a lengthy re-enactment of…
Heated conversation
In a June 23 appearance before the annual convention of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Ward 2 council member said Anthony Shadid’s former employer, The New York Times, is partly to blame for the war correspondent’s death earlier this year. Ed Shadid told the Washington, D.C., audience that Anthony Shadid had a heated conversation with…
Sound of Noise
Unfortunately for him, avant-garde musicians Sanna (Sanna Persson) and Magnus (Magnus Börjeson) are plotting something big: a full-scale, public performance of his masterpiece, Music for One City and Six Drummers. They only need four more drummers, so they recruit them Blues Brothers style, in order to “give this city a concert it’ll never forget.” Welcome…
Strength in numbers
In the Senate District 41 Republican primary that pitted incumbent Clark Jolley against Fairview Baptist Church Pastor Paul Blair, at least three groups sought influence through “independent expenditures,” meaning they were not allowed to coordinate with candidates. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, campaigning norms have…
God Bless America
Frank (Joel Murray, TV’s Mad Men) is tired. Of everything. But mostly how stupid and how ignorant and superficial his fellow Americans have become, how incapable they are of face-to-face conversation, how the only things they seem to believe in are shallow platitudes and singing competitions, how spoiled and disrespectful they allow their children to…
See you next season!
Oklahoma Gazette photojournalist Shannon Cornman was on-hand for the Thunder love. Thank you, guys, unforgettable season. See you next fall!
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Produced by the legendary Hal B. Wallis (The Maltese Falcon) for Paramount, Strange Love takes place in the fictional city of Iverstown, named for the wealthy and powerful Ivers clan, for whom the title character is treated as less than a full-fledged member. When the film opens in 1928, young Martha (Janis Wilson) has attempted…
Red Scorpion
Nearly two years later, Synapse Films comes to the rescue, not only bringing it back on DVD, but debuting it on Blu-ray — and in an uncensored cut, no less! Now that I’ve watched it, I can say with certainty it’s the best action movie ever produced by a notorious federal felon (Jack Abramoff, who…
Zoo Amp battle amplified
At the meeting, which was packed with dozens of Pollack’s workers and supporters, the trust — which oversees the zoo’s management and operation — voted unanimously to delay authorizing the zoo’s executive director, Dwight Scott, to negotiate a contract with a newly formed company, 3Horse Productions, to operate the facility. For the past 10 years, the amphitheater…
Back from Eternity
Had I known that, I may not have even given the Warner Archive release a shot, but I was suckered in by its cover. Utilizing artwork from the film’s original 1956 release, it depicts a super-sexy, RTF visage of Anita Ekberg (Call Me Bwana, The Killer Nun) staring straight at the viewer. The tagline: “Ooh…
Wrath of the Titans
The irony, naturally, is that Wrath is the superior picture. Not only was it actually intended to be 3-D from the green light, but the script made more sense. With fewer titans clashing about, this follow-up is far easier to, well, follow. Perseus (Sam Worthington, Avatar, Texas Killing Fields) has chosen not to live as…
