OSU/A&M regent resigns from position to pursue open presidency
Oklahoma State University /A&M Regent Burns Hargis turned in a letter of resignation today to Gov. Brad Henry. The school’s official statement, released today, said Hargis is resigning in order to pursue the open presidential position. Former president David Schmidly resigned earlier this spring to be the University of New Mexico president. Hargis,…
Rocketplane lays off manager, seeks $500 million
Trade magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology is reporting in its July 2 issue that Rocketplane Kistler has laid off a key manager in the development of the company’s suborbital spacecraft, David Urie (pictured). Urie, who worked as the Lockheed program manager on the SR-71 spy plane as well as other cutting-edge projects for Lockheed-Martin, came…
Least Competent Criminals
Howard Mayfield, 47, and Valerie Lester, 36, were arrested at his trailer home near Damascus, Va., in March as the two, according to police, nearly burned down the home while trying to destroy counterfeit money that Mayfield had printed. Police had served arrest warrants at 5:15 a.m., found the trailer smoky, and upon entering saw…
Updates
Michael Wiley of Port Richey, Fla., in News of the Weird last year for his maniacal driving despite having lost both arms and half a leg in a childhood accident, was back in trouble in May, leading police on (and winning) a high-speed chase (but they recognized the notorious Wiley behind the wheel and arrested…
Recurring Themes
An 18-year-old man intent for some reason on spray-painting graffiti in an electrical substation in Santa Fe, N.M., jumped the concrete wall and razor wire in May and started to work, but soon burned himself badly and died days later. A 29-year-old man from Downers Grove, Ill., deciding for some reason to set off…
iPhone-hungry fans line up for hours
Oklahoma is not immune to the epidemic. Dozens of mostly adults fevered and frenzied ” foam starting to form at the ends of their mouths. Other symptoms of the infection include debate with other inflicted souls about computer operating systems and wireless protocols. Since 3:30 a.m. this morning, those truly desperate have been lining…
People With Issues
In March, police in Ann Arbor, Mich., were called to the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of Michigan after a female trespasser entered during the dinner hour and ignored repeated attempts to get her to leave (even though she merely sat down, removed her clothes and masturbated). Fraternity members said later they would…
Don’t You Know Who I Am!
In April, Marilyn Devaney, who is one of eight elected Massachusetts officials with authority over certain actions taken by the governor, was accused of assault in Waltham, Mass., after she allegedly hit a beauty-shop clerk with a curling iron when the employee declined to take Devaney’s personal check. Devaney had allegedly, indignantly pointed out her…
People Who Are in Serious Trouble
In early March, highway patrol officers near Ontario, Calif., came upon an unlocked rental truck whose engine was still warm and which contained marijuana worth an estimated $20 million, with the driver undoubtedly on the run, and not just from police. And in April, the driver of a cocaine delivery truck took a curve too…
The Highwaymen #1
Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman and Lee Garbett WildStorm WildStorm looks to have a winner on its hands with “The Highwaymen,” a new miniseries whose first issue is an action-packed mix of spy thrills and political espionage. Although the plot is not yet fully fleshed-out, here’s what we do know: In the 2020s, a leggy…
Black Snake Moan
2007 The pitch for “Black Snake Moan” must have sounded like the stuff of a Seventies exploitation flick: Deep in the Mississippi Delta, an aging black bluesman (Samuel L. Jackson) comes across a curious discovery on the side of a road “? namely, a badly beaten, half-nekkid nymphomaniac (Christina Ricci). So what does the…
Oklahoma State reveals Rudy’s contract demands
As Rudolph Giuliani’s presidential campaign heats up, so does Chicken-Fried News’ irritation at the former New York City mayor’s contract rider. Thanks to OklahomaStateUniversity ” where he spoke in March 2006 ” it’s up for the world to see. Giuliani won lots of fans nationwide for his handling of Big Apple matters following the…
Guitar-shredding phenom Marnie Stern delivers high energy
Marnie Stern plays the guitar. Not just plays, but destroys it. Super-fast, two-handed, finger-tapping rock guitar lines that prickle the hair on the back of your neck the first time you hear it. Stern is currently on her “Bye Bye iPod!!” summer tour through the United States and United Kindgom, and bringing their brand of…
Inexplicable
In May, a curious Joe Heckel of Cincinnati and his son took apart the heavy punching bag Joe had bought for their boxing practice and to their surprise found it full of, not sand or plastic pellets, but men’s and women’s underwear (some used). According to a May report on WLWT-TV, the manufacturer, Technical Knockout…
Article on history of street name reveals honoree’s objectionable past
What’s in a name? A lot, at least when it comes to one street in Norman. The University of Oklahoma student-run newspaper, The Oklahoma Daily, recently shed light on a street in Campus Corner, which was named after “a one-time grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.” The inauspicious stretch of road, DeBarr Avenue,…
Fans respond to emo rockers Dashboard Confessional
Chris Carrabba once said that during concerts, he’ll find someone in the audience who really feels the music and he will have “eye sex” with them. Oklahoma City audience members may ” and many probably hope ” to experience some “eye sexing” with Carrabba when his band Dashboard Confessional comes to Oklahoma Friday as part…
Couple claims state tax policy on hybrid cars unfair
Michael Givel and his wife, Rebecca Sherry, have found themselves ensnared in Oklahoma Tax Commission proceedings over a tax credit for their 2006 Toyota Prius. The OTC is relying on obsolete data for the Prius to offer a tax credit substantially less than state tax regulations authorize, they maintain. And Givel, a University of Oklahoma…
Celebrate the Fourth at Red, White and Boom! festival
With a performance by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and one of the largest fireworks shows in the state, the inaugural Red, White and Boom! on the River Celebration offers three days of family fun Monday to Wednesday, July 4. Each night features fireworks and each day features a different theme of music: ” rock, “…
Oklahoma’s polygraph technician puts fishing tales to the test
Oh, wait, you thought fishermen lied when their lips were moving? Actually, there’s a guy who can speak to that, according to a recent story in The Oklahoman. John Thomas is Oklahoma’s polygraph technician, administering lie detector tests for Oklahoma’s bass fishing tournaments, according to the Oke. For those not familiar with…
Command performance
Several recent stories highlight the inefficiency of government and the often tragic results that follow. By April 20, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services had learned about a day care program operator who had hit a child with a flyswatter. Worse, the operator had a history of child care violations. DHS delayed closing the…
Can’t Possibly Be True
The Good Hope Hospital in Sutton, England, apparently had an official policy in recent years of reusing sheets from one patient to the next to reduce its laundry bill (estimated at the equivalent of $1 million a year), according to an April report in London’s Daily Mail. The policy coincided with a period in which…
Interesting Norman doors subject of photo exhibit
The Performing Arts Studio will display amateur and professional photos of outstanding front doors throughout the city of Norman as part of its “Doors of Norman” photo competition. Twelve of the best photos will be announced at an opening reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, and will remain on display through July 29 at…
Conner unveils plans for OKC-hosted sports TV special
At a June 20 Greater Oklahoma City Chamber luncheon to tout local sports-themed economic development, Olympic gold-medal gymnast Bart Conner unveiled his most ambitious project to date: “The Ford Center NBC Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular.” The two-hour program will bring world-class athletes in both gymnastics and figure skating together in downtown Oklahoma City, with the…
Unclear on the Concept
New-Age Ethics: Texas A&M’s business school punished 24 students in May for cheating on a business ethics exam (and investigated 27 others, but could not meet the school’s legal standard of “irrefutable” proof against them). The offense was that some students took exams for others. During the spring term at New Jersey’s Kean University, former…
Legendary Cowboys tailback deserves to be household name
While recognized as one of the greatest players in Oklahoma State football annals, Woodward native Bob Fenimore is not a household name. That’s because more than 60 years have passed since Fenimore helped lead the Oklahoma A&M Cowboys to the program’s only undefeated season ever. During that memorable 1945 campaign, the “Blonde Bomber” led the…
Drugs sent jazz icon Chet Baker for fall
Chet Baker was the greatest Oklahoma-born, toothless, drug-addicted, trumpet-playing jazzman ever to fall out of a hotel window and die on foreign soil. It wasn’t suicide and it wasn’t murder. It was loss of balance, which is an appropriate metaphor for his life. He was born Chesney Henry Baker Jr., on the family farm near…
Folk rockers Shearwater find second time’s a charm
After recording songs for its critically lauded fourth LP, “Palo Santo,” the Austin, Texas-based folk-rock band Shearwater toured extensively … and noticed the songs began to change. They hoped re-recording five of the 11 tracks and re-issuing the album through Matador Records would reflect that. “We’d played the songs a lot live, so we learned…
Dead Silence
2007 From “Dead of Night” to “Poltergeist,” the use of creepy dolls makes for an easy cinematic scare. So in following up “Saw,” director James Wan makes them the focus of the tense “Dead Silence.” Ryan Kwanten (all blank stares and mouth agape) believes the sudden murder “? and tongue removal “? of…
Spraygrounds offer safer cool-down alternative to swimming
New water parks are a blast ” quite literally ” for kids, but safer than a dive into a crowded 8-foot pool. The Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department’s new “spraygrounds” bring showers and sprays and tons of fun for the whole family. At 11 locations throughout the metro, the vibrant parks offer a variety…
The real Bush export
If everything Midas touched turned to gold, then surely everything George W. Bush touches turns to blood. He now has accomplished something that no other U.S. president can claim: starting a Palestinian civil war. The others were hoping for a unified Palestinian state. In fact, civil war is one of the president’s most successful…
Evan Almighty
Reviewer’s grade: C- Director Tom Shadyac has created a bland mess of biblical proportions in his $175 million follow-up to 2003’s “Bruce Almighty.” “Evan Almighty” stars Steve Carell as anchorman-turned-congressman Evan Baxter, whom God calls upon to build an ark so he can thwart the evil machinations of a Southern congressman named, surprise, Long.…
Sugar Free Allstars playing to kids on library tour
The Sugar Free Allstars’ quirky wit and bouncy melodies has been scoring adult fans throughout the state. But now with “Dos Niños,” their first album for kids, the Allstars are setting their sights to the under-5-foot crowd with a public library tour that will be hitting 24 libraries in two months. “The Arts Council (of…
OU hires director, chief curator for Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
The University of Oklahoma announced today the Board of Regents named a new director and chief curator of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at their June meeting held in Ardmore. Coming to OU from the Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, Ghislain d’Humières is a former assistant director at the Fine Arts Museums…
William Hung goes from ‘Idol’ laughingstock to Billboard chart-topper
After eliciting laughter from the judges of “American Idol”‘s 2004 season with his off-key and off-kilter rendition of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” during initial auditions for the show’s third season, it would seem that William Hung dream to be a singer should have died. Not so. “I try to convey a positive, optimistic image,” Hung…
Reno 911!: Miami
2007 The feature film version of “Reno 911!” is just like an episode of the Comedy Central series, except three times as long, full of F-bombs and with scads of nudity. Oh, and set in Florida, where the dimwitted members of the sheriff’s department attend a law enforcement convention. A registration snafu leaves…
1408
Reviewer’s grade: B John Cusack is Mike Enslin, a jaded author of books on haunted tourism. He visits hotels and sites around the country that boast about ghosts, spirits and apparitions. He never has seen any of the ghosts himself, but after he gets a postcard inviting him to stay at the Dolphin Hotel…
Despite over-the-top performances, ‘Sordid Lives’ is gay old time
Native Texan Del Shores has created something of a cult phenomenon with his play “Sordid Lives.” His microcosm of the world is viewed through the mayhem of Winters, Texas, where everybody knows everybody else’s business and jumps “? invited or not “? right into the middle of it. If it all weren’t so funny, it…
Oklahoma commentators end radio show
The grand experiment of a one-hour political talk radio show is no more. After nearly a year of cracking jokes, the program known as the “Tailgate Political Hour” on station KTLR-AM 890 goes off the air at the end of this week. Debuting on the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,…
A Mighty Heart
ARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”> Although “A Mighty Heart” isn’t, ultimately, as good, the film makes a nice companion to the sharp, light-filled, also documentary-feeling, also-ending-known “United 93.” R “?Kathryn Jenson White View trailer
