Least Competent People
How Could These Victims Have Acquired So Much Money in the First Place? (a) A 27-year-old “psychic” was sentenced to two months in jail in San Jose, Calif., in December after somehow convincing a woman, who had come to her for a $10 reading, to pay her, in ever-increasing increments, $108,000 for a “spiritual cleansing.”…
Recurring Themes
Once again, a man was found to have climbed into the waste tank of an outdoor toilet, but according to a March report in the Twin Falls (Idaho) Times-News, the emergency crew seemed to accept his story that it was all a mistake and not a manifestation of perversion. Rescuers from the town of Filer,…
UCO hosts conference highlighting press
The University of Central Oklahoma Mass Communication Department presents “The Press in Crisis”Reinventing America’s News Business,” a media conference and panel discussion, Wednesday and Thursday at the Nigh University Center on the UCO Campus, 100 N. University in Edmond. The conference brings together media professionals and journalists from across the state to discuss the future…
Tell No One
2008 “Tell No One” is a genre-bending movie that manages to compound romance, drama and true-crime thriller into one muscular, fast-moving package. Based on the best-selling novel by Harlan Coben and directed by Frenchman Guillaume Canet, the story follows Alexandre Beck (Fran
Unclear on the Concept
In Airdrie, Alberta, in January, police officers responded to a report from the Ralph McCall Elementary School that a man was standing in the yard yelling with a portable loudspeaker toward a group of frolicking kids, calling, “Girls in the field, come over to my truck, come pet my dog.” When alarmed adults nearby approached…
Happy-Go-Lucky
One of the most disarming things about “Happy-Go-Lucky” is how damned normal it is. London grade-school teacher Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is utterly without guile or malice. This 30-year-old single woman isn’t nursing deep psychological wounds or agonizing through bouts of loneliness and depression. Poppy just wants to have a good time. She enjoys people, even…
Inexplicable
A 25-year-old man was arrested in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in February after an apparent suicide attempt. According to police, the man tried to gas himself inside his car in a closed garage, but apparently did not have a garage himself, and was arrested for trespass when he drove into a stranger’s garage for the…
Teen Board Battle of the Bands moves indoors
Due to the Oklahoma City area’s predicted wet weather this weekend, the Teen Board Battle of the Bands will be held indoors on Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Bennett-McClendon Great Hall at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum. Six bands from across the state, varying in age from middle school students to young professionals and…
Local adventurers venture in search of hidden prizes
There he was, alone in the woods. The foreboding terrain threatened to keep Allen Mulkey from reaching his destination. But he resolved to overcome two muddy, slippery creeks and a thicket of prickly briars that stood before him. GEOCACHING GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES Muddied, bruised and bleeding, at last Mulkey spotted the object for which he came:…
Turn your small space into a flourishing spring garden
If lack of space is your reason for not getting into the spirit of spring with flowers and fresh vegetables, it’s time to stop the excuses. Whether you live in a small home or a 10th-floor apartment, these simple tips will enliven your patio or balcony ” and have you biting into a fresh homegrown…
Oklahoma Marriage Initiative presents ‘Jump the Broom’ screening
Laugh, cry and sing Saturday at a play that celebrates the trials and triumphs of black relationships. Sponsored by the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, the musical drama ” Jump the Broom” details the lives of seven characters who need communication to make their love last. On the heels of March 22’s Black Marriage Day, the play…
Can’t Possibly Be True
Gildazio Costa, 54, was arrested in Framingham, Mass., in February and charged with kidnapping and beating his girlfriend following a five-hour-long argument they were having about what the operating hours are for the local library. First, Do No Harm: Tennessee anesthesiologist Visuvalingam Vilvarajah was arrested in February in Kentucky and charged with providing controlled-substance prescriptions…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
I’m definitely not encouraging you to go to Youtube and watch the music video of the hamster eating popcorn on a piano. You’ve got more important things to do, and shouldn’t waste your time on trivial diversions. So get down to business! Commit your whole being to the crucial work you have ahead of you!…
UCO Theatre stages ‘FUBAR: The Musical,’ a stage stew of scenes submitted by students
With its celebration of life in crisis “FUBAR: The Musical Part 4” may make you laugh until you cry. “FUBAR” was the idea of University of Central Oklahoma theater professor Daisy Nystul, who wanted to create a show that could involve all students in the program. Department Chair Robert McGill liked the idea and suggested…
Farmers’ markets bring fresh options to tables with locally grown products
Before you sit down to your next meal, consider what’s on your plate. Do you know where the food you are about to eat came from? COMPARABLE PRICE TAGS PRESERVING VALUABLE RESOURCES YOU’VE GOT TO MOVE IT Sure, the pork chop originated on a farm and the veggies were taken from the ground. But do…
Home decorating can be accomplished despite economic woes
With the current state of the economy, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that home decorating isn’t at the top of most people’s to-do lists. INVESTMENT PIECE TEXTURED PAINT But it never hurts to spruce up your space, especially with springtime just peeking around the corner. And the best part? There’s no need…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Nothing but great news for you as far as the eye can see, Aquarius. You’re much more likely than usual to win a contest and be told you’re hot and find loose money on the sidewalk. I bet you’ll also get an invitation that you never imagined possible and an offer to have a conversation…
Shape up for spring with a different kind of workout: the boot camp
Setting goals and measuring results may still be the hallmark of a physical fitness regimen, but a number of metro-area exercisers are leaving the gym behind to get there. The pulsating music in crowded classes, garish florescent lights and clanging weight machines have given way to a new style of working out: one that takes…
Oklahoma narcotic officers raid house, star on YouTube video
It was probably another “D’oh!” moment for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs recently when it raided a house in Mustang. According to a story in The Oklahoman, the bureau went to the home of Glenn and Terry Speck with a warrant for their nephew, Cory Davis. After hearing a rapping on the…
Head Case: Season One
2007 Too bad the shrink-to-the-stars sitcom “Head Case” airs on the pay- cable channel Starz, because it’s really deserving of a wider audience. It’s one of those shows Fox would cancel in a heartbeat, and I mean that as a compliment. In an Emmy-worthy performance, Alexandra Wentworth (“Office Space”) plays Dr. Elizabeth Goode, a therapist…
Earmarked
Virtually everyone seems to agree earmarks are part of the problem with the out-of-control spending in Washington. Yet, Oklahoma’s lawmakers tucked $68 million worth of earmarks into the recently approved $410 billion spending package. In total, the package contained nearly 9,000 earmarks worth more than nearly $8 billion. The United States Office of Management and…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
I predict that sometime soon you will time-travel to 2012 and then return to the present. While on your journey, you’ll learn the outcome of three major sports events that will happen between now and then. This knowledge will eventually help you win large bets that earn you millions of dollars. APRIL FOOL! I lied.…
Oklahoma lawmaker seeks to outlaw stem-cell research
And here comes Oklahoma, once again leading the pack in (anti) science. State Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, recently introduced legislation to ban the use of embryonic stem cells in research, according to a March 17 article from Reuters. Reynolds’ House Bill 1326 would make it illegal for any business in Oklahoma to conduct research…
Knowing
I wonder how many people today know who Rube Goldberg was. He was a cartoonist who specialized in the creation of elaborate mechanical devices to accomplish simple tasks, like those contraptions in old cartoons that go through a variety of actions just to drop a bowling ball on a cat’s foot. The characters in “Knowing”…
President Obama picks Syracuse to top Oklahoma Sooners
It has been pointed out more than once that Oklahoma didn’t show much love for Barack Obama during the presidential election. Well, the prez is returning the favor. Obama is a huge basketball fan and considers himself an expert in the field. He filled out an NCAA basketball tournament bracket sheet for ESPN and picked…
Americans’ Special Relationship with “Taxes”
It is not just that the secretary of the Treasury owed back taxes for years, or that two other presidential cabinet-level nominees owed back taxes. In January, federal prosecutors revealed that District of Columbia Council member Marion Barry, who was already on probation after a 2005 conviction for failing to file tax returns for the…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
In a letter to Santa Claus last December, a child from Seattle wrote, “Dear Santa, Can you give me a very special superpower? What I want is to be able to make up songs everywhere I go, and not have to work so hard to think of things to say to people because a fresh,…
Acoustic performer uses ‘endless’ tour to promote LP
Jeremy Johnson is a familiar name to metro bar-hoppers, specifically those active on Sundays who might come across his weekly “Hangover Party” at The Blue Note ” a solo acoustic set rife with outlaw country and southern-fried singer/songwriter fare. Less common to the metro is his band, Jeremy Johnson and the Lonesome Few, which he…
Documentary subject brings new, still-edgy sibling duo to 66 Bowl
Those who watched the 1987 documenary “Athens, GA ” Inside/Out” probably expected a durable cinematic souvenir of the coronation of R.E.M. as the band unexpectedly ascended. While the film delivered a few great R.E.M. moments and a handful of notable scenes with other eccentric denizens of Bulldog Country, it was North Carolina’s Flat Duo Jets…
Tulsa store experiences spider fright
The scariest thing to happen to bananas since Carmen Miranda occurred in Tulsa last week. According to a report by News9.com, a Brazilian Wandering Spider was found, well, wandering around the produce section of a Whole Foods Market. And he wasn’t shopping for organic grub, either. The arachnid made its way to the grocery store…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
Sometime in the next week, the spirits of Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, John the Baptist, and Jean-Paul Sartre will come to you in a vision to tell you how to prosper during the coming Great Depression. With their expert tips you will spend the years 2010-2013 safe and sound and well-fed in a gated community while…
Prodigies
The 2-Legged Dog: Pet rescuer Judy Walker of Oviedo, Fla., and Oklahoman Jude Stringfellow are battling over custody of Walker’s two-legged puppy, which Walker believes has special needs but which Stringfellow is seeking to adopt, in part to portray Stringfellow’s own famous, hind-legs-walking dog “Faith” as a puppy in a movie she is working on.…
Tulsa native, Brooklyn transplant Beau Jennings returns to pay tribute
It’s an age-old cliché: A rocker leaves the stifling Midwest in the dust and rides westward into the sunset, eager to make it in the big city. In some sense, Beau Jennings is really living that dream. Except in Jennings’ dream, that west is east, the sunset is a sunrise, and nobody would ever accuse…
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Don’t you think it’s time you toned down your manic aspirations? Aren’t you curious about the sweet, sensitive success that could be yours if only you got really calm and peaceful? Wouldn’t it be interesting to explore the more manageable opportunities that might become available by accepting your limitations with humble equanimity? APRIL FOOL! Don’t…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Maybe someday you will allow yourself to act more like an Aries. You know, you’ll barge ahead along a path of your own making. You’ll follow the siren call of your good instincts instead of the waffling questions of your fine mind. You’ll relish the scary sounds from up ahead as potential opportunities to triumph…
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
2002-2003 Let it forever be known: “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” is one of the funniest sitcoms in history. It was too good for television; perhaps that’s why Fox axed it after a mere 14 episodes. Its loyal viewers have been salivating over a DVD release ever since; the long-awaited three-disc set doesn’t disappoint. Richter,…
I Love You, Man
Whether extolling the virtues of Sex Panther cologne in “Anchorman,” playing a spirited round of You Know How I Know You’re Gay? in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” or just ranting about the inane nomenclature surrounding coffee in “Role Models,” Paul Rudd is cinematic comedy’s current king of smart smarm. He’s long been very, very funny, but…
Michelle Williams turns in remarkable performance in ‘Wendy and Lucy’
Woman loses dog. If you’re a bottom-line kind of person, the aforementioned sentence is essentially the bare-bones plot of “Wendy and Lucy.” That slender narrative, however, offers more than enough space on which to build a singularly haunting tale of desperation, resilience and sacrifice. In short, this low-budget indie says more about the human condition…
Oklahoma Bar Association members march to Capitol
They advanced on the state Capitol like Imperial Stormtroopers attacking a rebel base. More than 200 attorneys embarked on a million billable march to confront what they see as the evil empire: the Republican-controlled Legislature. LEGION OF ATTORNEYS MARCH OF THE JUDICIARY The cause was truth, justice and non-interference of monetary damages awarded by juries…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
As you enter testing time, I may be the only astrologer who has enough tough love to wake up your inner teacher, ensuring that you’ll get the expert help you need. And I may be the only psychic healer who can polish your aura and help you dispose of the karmic gunk that has been…
Transporter 3
2008 Without question, “Transporter 3” is the least enjoyable of the Luc Besson-masterminded trilogy, but don ‘t let that stop you from a purchase or a rental. Odds are, if you enjoyed “The Transporter” or “The Transporter 2,” you’ll get a kick —? or several —? out of this presumably final outing. Besides, I’ll take…
Sooner basketball squad dancing on center stage again
Jeff Capel has Oklahoma back among the movers and shakers on the collegiate basketball scene this season, similar to the way former coaches Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson had the Sooner name emblazoned on the national marquee at different points during the past 25 years. SOPHOMORE KID MAN ON A MISSION In only his third…
Justin Townes Earle forges own name, identity and sound
The shadow of his father, Steve Earle, shades Justin Townes Earle. Like Dad, he’s a singer/songwriter who draws on old country/roots music who has battled drug addiction, some of that time as a teenage member of father’s band. HERITAGE OF HIS BIRTH NAME AWAY FROM HOME As the younger Earle notes on the pedal steel…
Appeals court grants death row inmate new trial
An Oklahoma City man convicted of a 1982 murder has been taken off death row and awarded a new trial. James T. Fisher was found guilty and given a death sentence for murdering Terry Gene Neal at Neal’s apartment on Dec. 11, 1982. Prosecutors alleged Fisher and Neal were arguing when Fisher grabbed a glass…
North American Indian exhibit opens in Norman
“Gathering Fragments: Edward S. Curtis in Oklahoma,” a new exhibit of North American Indian photography, opens 6 p.m. Friday at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm in Norman. Curtis was a photographer of the American West who developed a passion for preserving the history and culture of Indian American communities. He traveled…
OU graduate dance students conduct side project in Oklahoma City
rs won’t be confined to Kamp’s raised stage, which gives the choreographers a number of options with which to play. “The space is interesting and different; we can do it as a theater-in-the-round, so it is an unconventional space,” she said. “This setting is more intimate than a traditional theater, because you are right next…
Economy rocks Oklahoma’s charitable institutions with losses
Oklahoma’s largest private nonprofit foundation, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, recently had assets totaling $1.2 billion, an amazing treasure chest of hope for institutions, funds and grants across the state. NO GRANTS ‘WORST IS YET TO COME’ In 2006, the foundation gave out more than $8 million to scholarships, research, medicine, the arts, schools, ministries,…
Yard Dawgz profit off suspension of its parent league’s 2009 season
Unseasonable snow fluttered outside the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz practice facility in east Oklahoma City while inside, shoulder pads cracked together as a running back slammed into a linebacker following an unsuccessful inside hand-off. “No, no, no, y’all need to run a hook or a slant, something else, ’cause that ain’t going to work!” said…
Museum hosts family night focusing on the environment
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua in Norman, hosts an earth-minded evening with dinner, entertainment and education for parents and kids 6 p.m. Friday. The “Family Night Out: Wild in the Garden” program is part of the museum’s “Becoming an Eco-Family” series, where parents, grandparents and kids of all ages are…
Oklahoma City Ballet dances down the yellow brick road
Oklahoma City Ballet’s final performance of the 2008-2009 season promises to take audiences on a journey into the enchanted land of Oz. The story of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion will come to life with exciting and lyrical choreography, rich music, beautiful sets and costumes, magical theatrical effects, and, of course, witches,…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Please do not snort meth in a hot-air balloon with fake Peruvian shamans as you fly to a secret CIA fortress where you put on a mask and play strip poker with high-ranking members of the conspiracy to create one world government. APRIL FOOL! There’s no way you’ll be invited to a whacked-out spectacle like…
The Left Hand Singing’ has the fight for civil rights in its sights
In the year that the country inaugurated its first black president and in the state that every county was carried by that president’s opponent, Carpenter Square Theatre gives audiences the opportunity to reflect on our progress “? or not “? in the drama “The Left Hand Singing,” by Barbara Lebow. In summer 1964, three idealistic…
Return from Witch Mountain
1978 In the inferior sequel to 1975’s “Escape to Witch Mountain,” outer-space teens Tia and Tony return to Earth for a vacation. That plot misstep merely allows the action to get rolling, as Tony (Ike Eisenmann) is immediately kidnapped by devious Dr. Gannon (Christopher Lee) and his partner in crime (Bette Davis, who performs horribly).…
