The Greatest
On paper, “The Greatest” reads like Oscar bait: A long-married couple (Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon) mourns the loss of their 18-year-old son, Bennett (Aaron Johnson), in a car wreck. Three months later, his secret girlfriend (Carey Mulligan) shows up, pregnant with Bennett’s child. That’s not your ordinary, everyday family drama … until it becomes…
Flooding forces six arts organizations to relocate, seek donations
Six Oklahoma City art organizations lost their offices and 75 percent to 90 percent of their property following June’s heavy rains and flash floods. Artworks, Carpenter Square Theatre, Metropolitan School of Dance, Oklahoma Community Theatre Association and Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park were left homeless as water rose more than 5 feet in the Stage…
Swamp Thing: The Series: Volume Three
Shout! Factory finally closes the book on the “Swamp Thing” cable-TV series of the early ’90s by issuing its last 24 episodes on a four-disc set. They’re the worst ones of the entire run, recommended only for die-hard Swampy fans willing to accept its cheap, supa-cheesy, Universal Studios backlot-shot vibe … yeah, that’s me. “Do…
Bricktown leaders discuss new director, MAPS 3 and expansion of rock school
Remembering the past, building upon the present and planning for the future: This comprised the message city and state leaders addressed at today’s 2010 State of Bricktown. At the event, Jeannette Smith, former director of marketing at Penn Square Mall, was announced as Bricktown Association’s new executive director. “This is an absolutely wonderful time to…
Visions of New York City
To tour the Big Apple without the fear of encountering muggers, blackouts or terrorist attacks, “Visions of New York City” is the next best thing to being there. The one-hour documentary, created for public television in 2004, is a high-flying, visual guide to the city that never sleeps. (So if do go, take. Your. Earplugs.)…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
The journal Nature recently marked the tenth anniversary of a great scientific triumph: the complete mapping of the human genome. There was a cloud over the celebration, however, because few practical health benefits have yet to come out of this revolutionary accomplishment. It has proved unexpectedly hard to translate the deciphered code into cures for…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
You may still be gnawed by a longing for your life to be different from what it is. You might fantasize that you’re missing a crucial element that would, if acquired, usher you into a Golden Age. But I’ve been analyzing the big picture of your destiny, Aquarius, and here’s what I see: This year…
Eleven males are vying to replace Mary Fallin in Congress
Republicans knew this day would come. Mary Fallin, the sweetheart of the Oklahoma GOP, is finally making a run at governor. Her name was synonymous with the lieutenant governor’s office, a position she held for 12 years. Fallin bypassed a race for governor in 2002 and the U.S. Senate in 2004 when she could have…
Cincinnati sextet 500 Miles to Memphis bring a stampede and redefine cowpunk’s resurgence
500 Miles to Memphis8 p.m. MondayThe Blue Note2408 N. Robinson524-5678 What do Johnny Cash and The Ramones have in common? According to Ryan Malott, lead singer for 500 Miles to Memphis, more than you may think. “Country and punk are both just about being honest, about expressing what you feel in an open and honest…
Victim to villain?
The Gazette letter (“Stop tolerating injustice”) from Gwen Harrison of Yukon on June 9 pretends to take Israel from victim to villain. The 7 million Israelis live in a region of the world surrounded by 600,000 million hostile neighbors. Since its establishment in 1947, Israel’s neighbors have attacked Israel five times with formal wars, and…
Oklahoma City Thunder player Kevin Durant will lead a three-day summer sports camp for kids
The Kevin Durant Basketball CampHeritage Hall High School1800 N.W. 122ndWednesday-Friday 7- to 11-year-olds, 9 a.m. to noon 12- to 18-year-olds,1-4 p.m. $199, waitlist events@procamps.com It wasn’t long ago that Kevin Durant attended camps just like the one he is hosting starting today. The 21-year-old who led the Oklahoma City Thunder to its first playoffs and…
Moore’s Art in the Park combines local arts and crafts with music, rides and food
Art in the Park: A Celebration of the HeartlandBuck Thomas Park east of Eastern Avenue on 12th Street10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday free www.cityofmoore.com Enjoy art the American way: with fair food, free music and fireworks Saturday and Sunday in Moore. “Art in the Park: A Celebration of the…
Shock’n y’all
Toby Keith, you card! Recently, the Oklahoma country star played an “undercover club gig” at New York City’s Irving Plaza. Reports the website for country music cable channel CMT, the secret show was promoted with online ads featuring Keith’s photo, but under the name “Incognito Bandito” (a presumed cousin of the Frito Bandito?). Marketed as…
Granny tased!
Police officers dispatched to check on the health of an El Reno woman stepped on the 86 year old’s oxygen hose, tasered her and handcuffed her in bed, according to a lawsuit the woman and her grandson filed last week in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City. The lawsuit, filed by Lona M. Varner and…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Have you been doing a lot of sweating and grunting from sheer exertion in 2010? Have you thrown yourself conscientiously into the hardest, smartest labor you’ve ever enjoyed? I hope so, because that would suggest you’re in rapt alignment with this year’s cosmic rhythms. It would mean that you have been cashing in on the…
Reader supports letter
I am writing to support Gwen Harrison’s letter (“Stop tolerating injustice”), which advocates America should stop supporting Israel until they quit illegal occupation and outright confiscation of Palestinian land. I began to agree with the Arab view that the creation of Israel was unjust when I learned that the non-Jewish Palestinians had been an approximately…
SummerDance stages a program with choreography inspired by the movies
SummerDance Goes to the Movies8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday Reynolds Performing Arts Center, 560 Parrington Oval, Norman $15 for adults, $8 for students 325-4101 There’s been a long-standing romance between the arts of film and dance, and the two will converge this week with “SummerDance Goes to the Movies,” presented by the University of…
Forty years strong, guitarist Steve Howe is still soaring with prog-rock prototype Yes
Yes and Peter Frampton8 p.m. TuesdayLucky Star Casino7777 N. Highway 81, Conchowww.luckystarcasino.org$35-$75 Steve Howe’s name is revered in the pantheon of progressive-rock guitarists. He made Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest with these words of acclaim: “Howe brought jazz, country, flamenco, ragtime and psychedelia into the mix for prog-rockers Yes,” according to the magazine.…
Ignore me not
Regarding “Equality entertainment” by Joe Wertz in the June 23 Gazette: Although it is easy to recall that in the spring of 2009 I was terminated from my position as teacher in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district, it should neither be forgotten nor ignored that I subsequently filed for and prevailed in a trial…
Fox News host Glenn Beck commended an OKC crowd’s conservatism, claimed liberals destroying country
When you see Glenn Beck and his family move to Oklahoma, it’s time to panic, the Fox News Channel host told a crowd of about 1,500 Oklahomans June 26 at the “Taking Our Country Back” tour stop. Singer John Rich of the country group Big & Rich played emcee and entertainer throughout the afternoon in…
Grown Ups
It’s reductive because nostalgia strips away past unpleasantness, keeping only the things that made you happy. A lot of people amplify those good things, remembering the past as a series of warm, floating, blissful encounters that were only possible when all was right with the world. It’s lazy because nothing could be easier, and it’s…
Summer’s a perfect time to dig into the state’s little-known spots and hidden gems
The summer has come. Now is the time to hop in the car and take off across Oklahoma to find its obscure, dirty little secrets. First up, take Route 66 north to Catoosa and the Blue Whale. This notable icon of Oklahoma is 80 feet long and nearly 40 years old. “The whale itself was…
Net gain
We feel like Jimmy Stewart sitting in his wheelchair, spying on his neighbors through binoculars, but minus the danger and guilt. Netflix ” the popular DVDs-by-mail rental service ” has a “Local Favorites” page on its website that allows members to see what other members are watching by city. For example, in Oklahoma City, the…
The modern streetcar not doing it for you? We’ve got alternative modes of transportation lined up
Although there are variables yet to be determined in planning the city’s future of transit, the streetcar is one decision already made. It began in June 2004 when Metro Transit launched the Fixed Guideway Study to examine the city’s transportation needs. The study identified major travel corridors in the downtown area and evaluated several different…
Arizona’s Andrew Jackson Jihad continues its folk-punk revolution with relentless personal rhetoric
Andrew Jackson Jihad with O Fidelis, Ali Bro and the Hippo and Petis9 p.m. Wednesdaythe Conservatory 8911 N. Westernwww.conservatoryokc.com607-4805$7 Andrew Jackson was our seventh president and a hard-ass. A notoriously ruthless military commander nicknamed “Old Hickory” for his stern, ramrod ways, he was often derided as a jackass, which he adopted as a symbol, leading…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Are you a dynamic bastion of stability yet, Sagittarius? Have you been growing deeper and deeper roots as you bloom in your power spot? Are you continuing to build your self-mastery as you draw abundant sustenance from the mother lode? You’re halfway through 2010, the year when these wonders should be unfolding with majestic drama.…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
How well have you been attending to 2010’s major themes, Gemini? Since we’re midway through the year, let’s do a check-in. I hope that by now you are at least 15 percent sturdier, stronger, and braver than you’ve ever been in your entire life, and at least 20 percent better organized and disciplined. I hope…
A patriotic ‘thank you’
Dear Gazette staff, contributors and readers: We’ve had another continuous year to be proud and thankful we live in America. God blessed me to be born in this country, the home of the free and the brave, which I cherish. For each one of us to be able to speak freely, publish freely, giving our…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
How’s that project coming, Scorpio? You know, that assignment the universe gave you at the beginning of 2010 to loosen up, play more, and periodically laugh like a tipsy Sagittarius. Have you been taking a sabbatical from the seething complications that in most other years are your rightful specialty? Did you throw some of your…
Consumers have a cornucopia of locally grown food choices, but the growing movement faces challenges
A product’s presence on Walmart’s shelves represents one barometer of its desirability in our culture. In the March 2010 issue of The Atlantic, author Charles Fishman said whatever Walmart decides to do has large repercussions. The article, “The Great Grocery Smackdown,” included a taste test between local foods from Walmart and Whole Foods Market. Walmart…
Power to the people
In response to Linda C. Wade of Midwest City (“A letter to Sen. Inhofe,” June 23, Gazette), I would urge her to stop writing to U.S. senators who are shamelessly in league with Big Oil and Wall Street and who don’t care about the issues of the people or the issues of the planet. You…
Stay off the roads
James M. Branum (Letters, “Curbed enthusiasm,” June 9, Gazette) makes a few interesting points about cyclists riding on the streets of OKC. Yes, according to Oklahoma law, Title 47 of the Motor Vehicle code, it is legal to ride a bicycle on OKC streets. When cyclists “take the lane,” or they “ride assertively,” this will…
Arizona power-pop outfit Kinch moves ahead with catchy hooks and inconsistent emotion
Kinch, Simpleton, Blake Fischer and Meddle 6:30 p.m. Tuesdaythe Conservatory8911 N. Westernwww.conservatoryokc.com607-4805$7 advance, $9 door Making it as a band is a mix of fortuitous circumstance and talent. So far, Phoenix quartet Kinch have demonstrated a good bit of both, with a catchy mix of keyboard and guitar-driven music. Formed by a trio of childhood…
Point: Opt out is a cop-out
On Nov. 2, the citizens of Oklahoma will vote on whether to approve a state constitutional amendment that prohibits “forced participation in a health care system.” Passed by the Oklahoma Legislature after failing to override Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of a similar statute, the initiative is essentially a protest against national health care reform. It’s…
Counterpoint: Oklahoma must opt out
Recent federal health care legislation threatens to squash the rights of Oklahomans, drive up the cost of health care, and limit already-weak access to health care providers in the state. It’s clear the federal law will exacerbate current health care problems ” at a high price ” without providing significant benefits. The federal health insurance…
Diaz and Cruise trade toothy smiles in ‘Knight and Day,’ a boring chase movie that’s short on smirk
June Havens is typical in every way. A smoking-hot, blond car mechanic from Boston who’s returning home with a suitcase filled with car parts, she finds herself ” literally! ” bumping in the same guy over and over, in “Knight and Day.” There’s little time in the Wichita, Kan. airport for Havens (Cameron Diaz, “Shrek…
Fight for your rights
Wow. We have to say, we think Eddy Khaodevanpheng might just be our new hero. A clerk at a downtown Valero called the cops a few Fridays ago to report that ol’ Eddy was allegedly causing a disturbance. A disturbance? We wouldn’t call a display of killer dance moves a “disturbance.” What is this, the…
Funding gap could cause American Indian Cultural Center & Museum construction to stop in six months
The Oklahoma Legislature ” by doing nothing ” could have created a very expensive “gap.” Time ran out last month on the Oklahoma legislative session without a vote on $43 million in revenue bonds to continue construction on the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum. And it left those who have been working on building…
Shawnee’s Mabee-Gerrer Museum houses a diverse mix of art and artifacts
Father Gregory Gerrer was an Oklahoma artist and collector of curiosities who traveled the world in the early 20th century, assembling a collection of art and objects that now serves as the foundation for one of the state’s oldest museums. Gerrer founded St. Gregory’s Museum and Art Gallery in 1919 to open his collection to…
Singer/songwriter BettySoo adds sweat-stained confidence to ‘Heat Sin Water Skin’
BettySoo9 p.m. Fridaythe Blue Door2805 N. McKinleywww.bluedoorokc.com524-0738$15 You’re quickly reminded of the old “book jacket judgment” cliché when you first encounter BettySoo. The petite Korean-American erases any preconceptions the moment she opens her mouth. Her voice is big and expressionistic, sauntering across country-folk arrangements with beauty and wisdom that’s often breathtaking. She’s come a long…
Bat-sh*t crazy
Here is a headline and opening of a story sure to scare the crap out of Oklahomans:”Deadly bat disease is spreading west; White-nose syndrome was discovered last month in Oklahoma.” What? Is this “bat disease” just a euphemism for club kids with a nose candy addiction? But wait, the June Los Angeles Times report continues:…
Sick of it
I have read your so-called magazine for the very last time. The June 23 issue was filled with filth supporting the gay agenda. Regarding the gay pride weekend, who cares? Your garbage magazine has become more and more liberal as the years have gone by. You ran an entire article on a fag who plays…
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
How well are you capitalizing on this year’s unique opportunities, Aries? Since we’re halfway through 2010, let’s take an inventory. I’m hoping you’re well underway in the heroic task of conquering your past. It has been and will continue to be prime time for you to wean yourself from unresolvable energy-drains. So exorcise irksome ghosts,…
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’ Stay Gold
“Song for Lauren” twists country elements around big, pop piano chords and Afro-Cuban”?laced drumming, while the title track mixes growling pianos with tinny slide work and minor key melodic matchups between instruments and rhythmic lines that are mimicked by each of the players. “Stay Gold” is as solid as they come, further proof that The…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
What are the toughest pairs of opposites in your life, Capricorn? What are the polarities whose different sides rarely resonate with each other and too often threaten to split you in half? One of the distinguishing characteristics of 2010 is the fact that you are getting unprecedented chances to bring them together in ringing harmony,…
