Showing women ‘who’s boss’
“The small proportion of women and girls who aren’t using contraceptives account for half of all abortions in America,” according to the Guttmacher Institute. One might suppose, then, that these men would work to prevent unintended pregnancy (hence some abortions) through use of contraceptives. Apparently not. But there are other ways to put “uppity” women in…
Faulty testing
Sen. Fred Jordan points to external conditions and states that “[many people] … are not test takers…” Norman schools Superintendent Joe Siano points to the new Common Core standards about to be implemented, implying that they might result in lower passing rates. However, these same tests will be used as over one-third of the evaluation…
‘An unforgivable breach’
As a result, you can imagine how embarrassed I was to learn Oklahoma has a governor who blatantly has shown disrespect for the highest office in the land. Mary Fallin not only embarrassed the office of the governor, but more importantly, she embarrassed the people of Oklahoma by her humiliating failure to carry out her…
Josh Sallee — Probable Flaws
Besides doing away with hooks that skewed frat-boy (“So Chill”), what were spitfire thoughtful lines on Sender have become genuinely compelling storytelling. “Lately wanna rage on the daily / Mainly ’cause the pain go away” is the most easily repeatable lyric on “Like Girl, Like Guy,” but it’s far from the most intriguing. The guy’s…
In Darkness
Based on factual events, it unfolds during World War II in the Polish town of Lvov, now part of Ukraine. Mass executions in the Warsaw Ghetto have driven about a dozen Jewish Poles to escape the Nazis by fleeing into the sewer system. They hide in the dank, dark confines of the underground, sharing their…
Blame it on the rain
I know I’m in the minority where adoration of gray clouds and raindrops is concerned, but that’s OK. Whether you’re down with precipitation or not, it’s still a fun precipitation or not, it’s still a fun reason to shop for wet-proof attire. You’ll need an umbrella first and foremost. Choosing one can be as tedious…
Nichols’ notables
Bill Kamp’s Meat Market 7310 N. Western 843-2455 This traditional neighborhood meat market is filled with impeccably fresh sausages, hams, chicken and more. Customers also stop in for quiche and a large assortment of fresh cheeses. The Kamp family has kept this business going for more than 100 years, and maintains an active presence on…
Circuit court
Oklahoma Regional FIRST Robotics Competition Thursday-Saturday Cox Convention Center 1 Myriad Gardens oklahomafirst.org Featuring four basketball goals at each end of the court and seesawing ramps in the middle, the event pits statewide high schools’ hand-built robots against one another, capable of picking up foam basketballs and delivering them to a firing system that will…
Take a Cab
Alex Kroblin, co-owner of Thirst Wine Merchants, which represents Lewis Cellars, recently poured Mason’s at The Metro, 6418 N. Western. It will be featured on owner LaVeryl Lower’s by-the-glass list. “This is only the third vintage of this wine, and it’s the first time we’ve had it in the state,” Kroblin said. The previous vintages…
Hurts so good
Listen, if you’re in the mood for a dan dan noodle bowl, I’m not going to cry foul. But it’s inexplicable when you consider that good, authentic Thai food is available pretty much everywhere in Oklahoma City. One of the oldest names in OKC’s Thai food community is Sala Thai. And although the business has…
Keep on truckin’
That all adds up fast. And there’s no guarantee once you’ve built, staffed and opened your restaurant that anybody’s going to come in and eat. So why not find the people, instead? That’s a big part of the mobile food revolution in Oklahoma City. Food trucks, once only the province of south-side taco vendors, are…
The Salt of Life
What a drag it is getting old. Mick Jagger surely didn’t realize his own prescience when he wrote those words back in his 20s. In The Salt of Life, aging is certainly a drag for Gianni, a 60-year-old Italian forced into early retirement and who now spends his days walking his dog and watching helplessly…
Perdida
As a boy, I would’ve loved to have grown up with a family of naked women, robot monsters, Aztec mummies and masked wrestlers. But I’m not Viviana García-Besné. In Perdida, whose title translates to “lost,” the filmmaker documents three years of learning about — and then coming to grips with — her grandfather and great…
The rumor mill
Sadly, no. But spurred on by social media, that tidbit grew last week from idle speculation to Internet rumor to printable fact. The day of President Barack Obama’s arrival in Oklahoma City, StateImpact Oklahoma (a collaboration of local NPR stations and OETA) posted a story that concluded, “Oklahomans who want to see the president in…
Rick Steves’ Oklahoma
The stop was part of his “20 cities in 20 days” road trip of speaking engagements, but the soft-spoken Steves used his March 10 stop at Oklahoma Christian University to get decidedly feistier than the topic of how to find the best lutefisk in Norway. “The organizers of the talk had prepared me to be…
T. Boone’s death wish
Forbes reported last week that the richer-than-rich Pickens was the mastermind behind an OSU fundraiser with the potential to net the athletic department up to $350 million, but it hit a little hitch: Nobody died. While the “Gift of a Lifetime” fundraiser sounds generic, it actually proved literal, as the OSU athletics department bought $10…
Hooch hardware
A measure to legalize the sale of non consumable drinking “accessories” at liquor stores passed the House several weeks ago on a 64-27 vote. If House Joint Resolution 1015 passes the Senate, the question, which amends the Oklahoma Constitution, will be left up to the people of Oklahoma. To allow nonalcoholic beverages (or mixers) on…
A leg to stand on
Yukon’s sweetheart Garth Brooks needs to consider writing a song about answered prayers. Earlier this month, he was announced as an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame — one of the youngest at a youthful and still-musical 50. In fact, Brooks told washingtonpost.com that he plans to take this honor “somewhere hopefully it…
Fetuses, then and now
Remember the last time abortion matters consumed the state Legislature? It was 2010 — what a coincidence, another election year — when lawmakers overrode then-Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of a bill prohibiting a woman from getting an abortion unless she has an ultrasound of the fetus and either views the image herself or has a…
Bite Size: March 28, 2012
The program to help fight childhood hunger will donate a percentage of its food sales to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma or the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. For more details, visit cfbeo.org. Twenty-five percent of children in Oklahoma struggle with hunger, so it’s no surprise others have joined to raise money for…
Just Joshin’
Like millions of young suburban teens at the turn of the millennium, Josh Sallee watched rapt as a man in his late 20s with dyed-blond hair, a baggy white T-shirt and a dour expression rapped about his severe emotional confusion on MTV’s Total Request Live. The guy was Eminem, and the album he was promoting,…
Harnessing humanities
OHC Executive Director Ann Thompson praised the work of the Gazette, which received the Community Support Award. “Under our mission to engage people with the humanities, we are pleased to honor the people and organizations that are keeping culture — and our understanding of it — alive,” she said. “It’s fitting that Oklahoma Gazette receive…
Charity vehicle
“What’d you pick out there, Curious George?” asked assistant teacher Eli Argot. Benjamin nodded in the affirmative, presenting his very own copy of an installment in the popular children’s series, Curious George Visits the Zoo. The spacious gym echoed the delight of Benjamin and 74 other lucky students who were able to pick out a book and…
Doobie Doobie do
Classic-rock legends The Doobie Brothers couldn’t have foreseen all the highs and lows when they formed four decades ago. The California-born group is responsible for some of the biggest hits of the ’70s, including “What a Fool Believes,” “Black Water,” “China Grove” and “Listen to the Music,” all while undergoing dramatic stylistic shifts and persistent…
Stretching for serenity
These are not ordinary students. Founded by Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, the school is designed to protect and empower African women who have been abducted, raped or abandoned. Many of the estimated 200 young women at the center were victims of warlord Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, where they were forced to serve as child brides…
Sex ed
An entire category of theater instruction exists to coach actors in what may or may not come naturally. Ironically, techniques used in stage combat apply to intimate scenes. Tonia Sina Ellis, adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma’s drama school, specializes in choreographing sexual intimacy for the stage. She wrote her master’s of fine arts…
Frontier cookin’
Ree Drummond 1 p.m. Saturday Full Circle Bookstore 1900 Northwest Expressway 842-2900 The megapopular blogger and author will speak and sign books at Full Circle Bookstore to benefit the YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter. A Bartlesville native who attended college in Los Angeles, Drummond is a city girl accidentally gone country after she fell for a…
Spring fling
Set aside the electronic gadgets and the technological advances, and you’ll see that the modern-day teenager isn’t too different from a 19th-century one. And Spring Awakening, showing at the Lyric at the Plaza, is a Tony Awardwinning musical that explores the enduring theme of young love. Awakening is the adaptation of a 1891 play written…
‘Box’ office
Last month, Science Museum Oklahoma challenged 13 of the state’s most innovative and stylish companies to face off in a competition of creativity. The results became a new exhibition titled Out of the Box. Each business received a box of assorted items, all of which they were required to use in the construction of a…
Gettin’ juicy with it
I wanted to do my part in our community efforts to improve health. My motivation came after viewing Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, a documentary chronicling filmmaker Joe Cross’ radical 60-day trek across the U.S. — with a stop in Oklahoma — in which he ate nothing and juiced everything. In the process of what…
A Sooner snubbing?
Most were state Democratic movers and shakers: some old-guard stalwarts such as former Attorney General Drew Edmondson, and some new, such as freshman state Rep. Emily Virgin of Norman. But they all seemed excited, almost giddy, as they took photos of one another after arriving at the location President Barack Obama would deliver his speech.…
Boy, oh boy
For men, this season includes big, bold prints and even bolder colors. “[We’re seeing] everything from a small dot, like a polka dot-esque look, to anything as loud as bold florals or spread-out stripes,” said Jacob Peregrin at Blue Seven, 7518 N. May. Don’t let the patterns and bright colors scare you. It’s easy to…
Get fresh
After you’ve donated to Goodwill the carload of toys and clothes your family has outgrown, how can you ensure that the rest of your stuff doesn’t end up in the “Where do I put that?” drawer? Kellie Clements, Edmond interior designer and former contestant on HGTV’s Design Star, provides stylish and creative organizational solutions that…
Take me to the river
That former ditch is scheduled this spring to host Olympic hopefuls competing in flatwater sprint trials. Formerly known by the name of the river itself — the Canadian — the seven-mile section south of downtown was renamed the “Oklahoma River” in 2004; filled with water, thanks to the installation of low-water dams; and its banks…
LETTERS
‘An unforgivable breach’ Being raised mostly in Oklahoma in the ’50s and ’60s, my parents and teachers taught me that even when I disagree with someone’s ideas, it does not give me the right to be disrespectful to them and, above all else, never disrespect the office of an elected leader. As a result, you…
LETTERS
‘An unforgivable breach’ Being raised mostly in Oklahoma in the ’50s and ’60s, my parents and teachers taught me that even when I disagree with someone’s ideas, it does not give me the right to be disrespectful to them and, above all else, never disrespect the office of an elected leader. As a result, you…
LETTERS
‘An unforgivable breach’ Being raised mostly in Oklahoma in the ’50s and ’60s, my parents and teachers taught me that even when I disagree with someone’s ideas, it does not give me the right to be disrespectful to them and, above all else, never disrespect the office of an elected leader. As a result, you…
OKC needs a children’s museum
Most agree that this solution to save the historic building would be welcomed. One unexpected question we keep hearing from those not part of the parent pack was: What the heck is a children’s museum? That’s simple. A children’s museum is a place dedicated to a unique indulgence: a playground for kids, age 0 to…
Mandrill
In this blast of dynamite from Chile, Zaror plays a Transporter-esque hit man who calls himself Mandrill. Since the name doesn’t translate from the Spanish language, it may refer to the baboon-like primate or the miner’s tool, or could be a purposeful pun on machismo. Given that the character learns ass-kicking from a series of…
The Sitter
But it’s also not unwatchable. Its problem is that you’ve seen this predictable comedy done before and done better, most notably in 1987’s Adventures in Babysitting. At least that one introduced Elisabeth Shue to my dreams. Just as with that Disney film, The Sitter is a reluctant one in taking the nighttime gig to three…
A Dangerous Method
It’s being a period piece that does it. Understood. Beginning in 1904 Zurich, Switzerland, the fact-based fiction examines the love triangle of sorts between Carl Jung; his mentor, Sigmund Freud; and Sabina Spielrein, who is Jung’s patient, then his lover, and eventually a colleague. In tracing her rise from a quivering, quaking wreck to the…
Obama snubbed?
It marked Obama’s first visit to Oklahoma since taking the oath as commander-in-chief. On Thursday morning, he was greeted by supporters — several of whom were top state Democrats — as well as throngs of news media when he delivered a speech on energy policy in a pipeline yard owned by TransCanada. The company is…
Kill
Well, yes, but no. The concept of Kill is similar; the execution, the polar opposite. Reportedly, this single-setting project was shot in 2004, but only just now seeing DVD release because it “has been recovered from a crashed server.” Regardless of truth, that story is more compelling and suspenseful than the whole flick. All clad…
Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season
I saw the Thrones pilot a few weeks before it aired last April, and liked it just enough to want to see if it got any better. Not having the channel at home, I had to wait for the home-video release of the first season, which now is here in HBO’s usual top-notch packaging. The…
Enter Nowhere
Three stranded strangers end up arriving at a cabin in the omnipresent middle of nowhere. Jody (Sara Paxton, Shark Night) has just robbed a convenience store. Sam (Katherine Waterston, Taking Woodstock) is newly pregnant and looking for her husband. Tom (Scott Eastwood, son of yep, that guy) is dealing with a broken-down car. The temperature…
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Kid Jeopardy! champ Thomas Horn carries the drama as best as he can, playing Oskar Schell, the 9-year-old only child of a jeweler (Tom Hanks) and his cubicle wife (Sandra Bullock). Oskar has Asperger syndrome, or close enough, so his father keeps him entertained and engaged with all sorts of elaborate games and activities, the…
An uphill fight
It’s difficult to see everything on a child’s plate, but I think it’s safe to say that at least 90 percent is white. The french fries are more brown or gold, but they started out as white. It does not appear that Wilson Elementary has quite gotten the hang of what constitutes a healthy lunch…
Great times for OKC
Having been active in establishing the Alliance for Cultural Facilities in 1989, consisting of 120 members from all areas of OKC, there was lengthy discussion of improving the park along with renovation of Civic Center Music Hall. MAPS provided money for the Civic Center, but not enough for a complete makeover of the park. After…
Trying something new for the economy
Many letter writers seem to feel they must make a derogatory comment about someone who disagrees with them. In his opening paragraph, D.W. Tiffee (“Oklahoma is not OK,” Feb. 29) claims that the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs is “deranged” because it supports a reduction in or the elimination of state income taxes. Remarks like…
‘Null and void’
Your views on abortion (Letters, “Snuffing out life,” March 7, Gazette) are null and void. Write back when you have a vagina and are pregnant. —Cate Stovall Enid Opinions expressed on the commentary page, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in this newspaper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the…
