Evanescence singer hopes to connect with OKC audience
Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee looks forward to bringing rock to out-of-the-way places that need it most. “Not that Oklahoma City is the middle of nowhere, but as compared to L. A. or Chicago,” Lee said. “It’s more fun to play Salt Lake City because the fans are so excited because they need that…
Wes Craven most scared by real life
Legendary horror director Wes Craven (“A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Scream”) also produces, including the 2006 hit remake of his 1977 smash “The Hills Have Eyes,” and now its sequel, “The Hills Have Eyes II.” “I think of myself as the George Lucas of terror,” Craven said. “I differ from Lucas and Spielberg and the…
Cocaine Cowboys
2006With the past few years having witnessed a renaissance in socially conscious documentary filmmaking, “Cocaine Cowboys” marches to its own politically incorrect drummer. Director Billy Corben (“Raw Deal”) zeroes in on the cocaine trade that flourished in Miami throughout the late Seventies and early Eighties, an era when that city’s murder rate skyrocketed right along…
Edmond girl records her life for TLC reality show
Eleven-year-old Ashley Mandanas loves to sing, but now she’s getting nationwide exposure for not performing, having her life documented for a Learning Channel cable series titled “My Life as a Child.” The series lets kids use video cameras to record and document their lives for several months. The kids have complete control over…
Doctors not fleeing Oklahoma, stats show
One of the reasons given for so-called “tort reform” is the claim doctors are heading out of Oklahoma because of skyrocketing insurance costs due to frivolous lawsuits. However, few numbers show evidence of this mass exodus. Some reports show just the opposite. MORE DOCTORS According to the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure & Supervision,…
Ada woman allegedly fakes hate crime against herself
According to a spate of recent stories, an Ada woman faked a would-be hate crime against herself. Police say Sarah Kaspereit of Ada admitted to them that she lied about an attack on her in which she had claimed two men ambushed her in front of her house, according to The Oklahoman. The…
The Illusionist
2006Magic gets the girl in this romantic Vienna-set period piece staring Edward Norton as illusionist Eisenheim. Written and directed by Neil Burger (“Interview with the Assassin”), this film is paced and ambient enough to seem truly magical. Eisenheim works his charm to woo Sophie (Jessica Biel), a well-off woman from his childhood, from the…
University of Oklahoma student spurred to take action on Darfur
When Bailey Cato heard that women in Darfur, Sudan, had to wake up every morning and decide whether to go forage for food and risk being raped, or to send out another family member and risk their death in order to stay alive, she could hardly imagine being placed in that situation. “Every…
Former OKC Baptist minister acquitted of sex charges
A former Baptist minister was acquitted of allegedly propositioning an undercover male police officer, The Associated Press reported. An outspoken critic of same-sex marriage, Lonnie Latham, 61, was found not guilty March 7 of the misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an act of lewdness, stemming from his Jan. 3 arrest outside an…
Diversidad
There are several pending bills in the Oklahoma Legislature that, if passed, will send a clear message to the nation that the state does not support diversity, multiculturalism and women’s reproductive rights. The bills could have a detrimental effect on the state’s economic development. State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, has introduced a bill that…
OKC Red Tie event raises AIDS charity money
Local automobile dealer Jackie and Barbara Cooper’s son died of complications from AIDS in 1989. Several years later, the couple was approached by a group who needed help raising money, leading the Coopers to form the Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund, which raises money for Regional AIDS Interfaith Network and Oklahoma’s biggest fund-raiser, Red Tie…
Oklahoma house spokesman invokes little-known hand-out rule for materials
Yep. If you are visiting legislators with something written in hand, Oklahoma’s state House Republicans might want a look at it first. According to The Associated Press, a former state representative campaigning for abortion rights was detained for passing out a decades-old picture of a woman who died during a “back alley” abortion. …
OKC artist formerly with The Fellowship Students releases solo album
Bands generally recoil from the term “concept album” for fear of being pretentious. But Matt Brown, formerly of The Fellowship Students, declares it proudly. “The problem is, it’s for music nerds,” Brown said. “When most people buy an album, they listen to four or five songs. There aren’t enough people who will smoke a…
Borat: Cultural Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
2006 After seeing “Borat” in theaters, I thought it was one of the five funniest movies I’d ever seen. But at home? Still one of the five funniest movies I’ve ever seen. Fresh off an Oscar nomination, “Borat” still plays like a brave and ballsy (sometimes literally) work of guerilla comedy. Sacha Baron Cohen…
Touring the World’s Greatest Slums
Touring the World’s Greatest Slums The Kibera neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Dahravi section of Mumbai, India, are two of the planet’s most appalling slums, but residents have recently discovered well-off international visitors roaming their toxic, fetid urban hells as voyeurs on travel agency-arranged tours. “(T)hey want to come and take pictures … tell…
Oklahoma State chapter smears egg on Greek system’s face
It’s been a tough 12 months for the public image of America’s fraternities. First, “Borat” captured a trio of drunken University of Southern Carolina brothers to make racist and sexist comments on camera. Then, the documentary “Raw Deal” hit DVD (reviewed in last week’s Oklahoma Gazette), showing in graphic detail the alleged rape of a…
Good social policy
It is time for the franchise tax to go. Interestingly, it may well be on its way out. Senate Bill 636 provides a needed first step in abolishing this pernicious levy by raising the tax’s liability exemption from $10 to $250. By so raising the exemption, more than half of the filers would no…
