Another Hobby Lobby question
If Hobby Lobby is successful, will a Jewish-owned company still have to honor Christmas and Easter as holidays? Just asking. —John Buckley, Norman
Questioning Hobby Lobby
If it is, then perhaps they have some justification for denial of health insurance coverage of emergency contraception (although one wonders how many other sanctimonious prescriptions their employees would have to obey). If it is not, then their claim that their religious freedom would be violated by the ACA is nothing but a hollow pretense…
The O’Reilly prophecy
Bill has stated that he believes the Bible to be merely allegorical, not the bedrock, foundational truth many believe it to be. He says facts contained in his book, Killing Jesus, are derived not only from the Bible, but from extra-biblical accounts as well. I would prophesy that Bill will experience a “deer in the…
Hooray for G.W.
Our lives are richer and fuller because of George W. Bush. He, like many other outstanding men and women in our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, our nation and on our Earth, has raised the average of humanity — forever. Best wishes to George and all of our shining knights and heroines. —David R. Oliver,…
Slippery definitions
1) Mentally unstable people shouldn’t own firearms. That’s great, but who deems someone “mentally unstable”? Are you mentally unstable if you regularly meet with a psychiatrist, a counselor, your minister or pastor, or a mentor? Maybe you are mentally unstable if you are a member of Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous or any other kind…
Re-gifting a time capsule
Use the same chest since it keeps things in such good condition, add things from now and include the pictures — or maybe some of the items that were there before — and let whoever will open it in 2113 see how things have evolved in 200 years. —Danielle Fleetwood, Austin, Texas
Finish what we started
Despite what a 30-second sound bite or “tunnelvision” information says about the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, it needs to be finished. In Oklahoma, we are not quitters, and just because it’s taken a long time doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to come to fruition. Many obstacles have been thrown at it since it…
To the Wonder
Terrence Malick either inspires or bores. There isn’t much middle ground when it comes to assessing the famously reclusive filmmaker who has made only six features since his 1973 debut, Badlands. His Tree of Life in 2011 earned praise and derision alike for its ambitions and meandering, largely plotless tale. It was my No. 1…
Big Worm — Bench All-Stars
His music is so far removed from the East Coast/West Coast style of hip-hop that with each subsequent release, Oklahoma rappers are forging their own coast — Red Dirt Coast, if you will. After spinning this album, I’m pretty sure Worm could be the mayor of the Red Dirt Coast. And why not? With their…
Code 22 — Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!
But after listening to the third track, “Nerdgasm,” I realized they’re not a Christian band at all — just four goofy, kinda nerdy, likable dudes. And we do need those in the world, including for romantic montages on flashback episodes of The Big Bang Theory. With the lyrics “I get to fight the girl of…
Mama jama
Your Mom at Norman Music Festival Photo: G.K. Glaser With a name like Your Mom, it’s only logical that the Oklahoma City punk act would make it an annual tradition to play a show on Mother’s Day … especially since it coincides with the band’s first concert. But it’s not a tradition, which makes Sunday’s…
Eureeka — Polysynthetic Fields
The record opens, appropriately, with what sounds like a garbled FM transmitter over some pillowy synth pads, eventually yielding to a pulsating dance rhythm and a hypnotic bass fuzz. The duo dabbles in the nostalgia of ’90s electronica throughout the EP’s 28-plus minutes, but it maintains an experimental edge and just enough peculiarity to keep…
Tom Skinner — Tom Skinner
With this in mind, what makes Tom Skinner’s self-titled album work so beautifully is that it’s chock-full of sincerity — and real sincerity, not manufactured. Sounding like the perfect soundtrack to driving Oklahoma back roads in the summer — windows down, radio way too loud — Skinner evokes shades of alt-roots artists Tom Russell, Greg…
Back to basics
Paring down to a duo, the Oklahoma City folk-rock duo O Fidelis loosens up. By zach hale O fidelis with chelsey cope 9 P.m. thursDay WOrmy DOG salOON 311 e. sheriDaN WOrmyDOG.cOm 601-6276 free If you look hard enough, there’s always a story to be found within Laney and Brian Gililland’s songs. The husbandwife duo…
Better off Red
Nathan Cross of Grady’s 66 Pub Photo: Mark Hancock However, as many artists are wont to find out, the music remained in his blood. And that’s how Grady’s 66 Pub, 444 W. Main in Yukon, was started. “I wanted to still be involved in the music business, wanted to still be surrounded by the music…
Enter the dragon
credit: Georgie Read Perhaps it should. Since the creation of the Oklahoma River in 2004 and the designation of Oklahoma City National High Performance Center (NHPC) as an Olympic training site in 2009, water sports have become increasingly popular in the metro. Construction of the Devon and Chesapeake Boathouses has also helped spur interest in…
Get your kicks
The success of the Oklahoma City Thunder is one reason to think professional sports can work in OKC. History shows it, too. With the Thunder’s widespread popularity and the niche market popularity of professional hockey’s Blazers and Barons, Brad Lund said it only makes sense the same will be true for the city’s newest professional…
‘Grit’-ty read
Some rugged individuals carved out a life for themselves on horseback, living like nomads as they followed herds of cattle across the prairie. In his debut novel, Panhandle, Brett Cogburn depicts the life of one cowboy and the hardships, triumphs and loss that followed him on the trail. A knack for Western storytelling might be…
‘Land’ ho!
Rick Sinnett Photo: Shannon Cornman Unless you’re up close and in person with Sinnett, you won’t see the globs of light blue paint in his hair and flecks covering his clothes and sunglasses, but you will see that same color covering the exterior of the onetime grain silo at 200 S.E. Fourth. Aqua is the…
Puppet masters
You know you’re in for something different early in The Pollard Theatre’s excellent production of Avenue Q performs a bouncy tune titled “It Sucks to Be Me.” That song is followed by the accurate “The Internet Is for Porn” and the brief (no pun intended) “I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today.” Thus, this little musical tells…
Read instrument
She founded the Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition, which helps adults and children alike improve their reading skills. Its participants vary wildly in age. “I had a 69-year-old grandma call me last week, looking for help on statistics,” Surbeck said. She said the coalition’s purpose is getting people aid they need through their database of…
Golfing for good
Toby Keith will celebrate the 10th annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic tournament this weekend. Proceeds go toward construction of OK Kid’s Korral, a cost-free home for pediatric cancer patients and their families. In 2003, Scott Webb, one of Keith’s original band members, lost his 2-year-old daughter to cancer. Keith, after seeing the toll…
Mums for Mum
You will likely fall into two groups: those who have presents and those who now desperately need ideas. When considering a gift for someone, always keep the recipient’s interests in mind. For example: Does she lean green? Does she stay busy with her job and rarely treat herself? Does she appreciate quality time over material…
Puppy love
When Tamara Smithee lost her dachshund to pancreatitis last October, the retired police officer decided to try improving the diets of her other rescue dogs — and every other canine she could. From there, she and two friends launched Biscuit Eaters, which specializes in all things dog treats. “My job grew to where I saw…
OKG7 spots to take Mom
Musashi’s Japanese Steakhouse4315 N. Westernmusashis.com602-5623 You can never go wrong with sushi. From noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, rolls are half off when you order a grilled entree more than $35. Don’t leave without trying some of the hibachi-style fried rice. Oh, and Mom will get a free dessert! The Melting Pot4 E. Sheridanmeltingpot.com235-1000 Mom…
No reservations
By: Mark Hancock In middle and high school, I was active in Native American extracurricular activities, mostly because I thought it would look good on my transcripts. I was even named Native American Prince in some sort of assembly when I was a ninth-grader at Northwest Classen High School. It should have been a proud…
To market
You purchase a handful of vegetables or fruits from a grocery store, but within a day or two, they’ve gotten soft, discolored and downright inedible? There’s got to be an easier way! There is: farmers’ markets. While they’ve been a staple of many communities in the metro for years, they’re garnering more popularity as consumers…
Crazy talk
Credit: Brad Gregg But don’t tell that to ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, who had this to say moments after the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Jones in the NFL Draft: “I went through all Landry Jones’ 2012 film and I just disregarded it. I do not hold him accountable for what happened last year. The offense is…
None dare call it ‘expansion’
Credit: Brad Gregg The Affordable Care Act, you might recall, allows states to get federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage for people earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Such a move would provide health insurance for almost 200,000 uninsured Oklahomans, but Gov. Mary Fallin rejected the federal dollars late last year.…
Like a rock
Taft Stadium Credit: Mark Hancock As principal with MA+ Architecture, Armbruster is focused on designs to bring Taft and Speegle Stadiums into the 21st century. Built as New Deal projects in the 1930s, both stadiums have been used for decades by Oklahoma City Public Schools sports teams. The combined budget is more than $18 million…
Lady ‘Gag’-a
Credit: Brad Gregg Now she can add political activist. The Checotah native and Nashville, Tenn., resident has recently taken a stand against Tennessee lawmakers attempting to pass what critics derisively call the “Ag- Gag” bill. The Livestock Cruelty Prevention Act would require videos or photos documenting livestock animal cruelty to be given to authorities within…
Lock and load
Credit: Brad Gregg Inhofe’s theory is this: You haven’t been able to buy ammunition for all your guns lately because Uncle Sam is beating you to it. “I don’t know how [Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano] or anyone else can deny this is going on, all you have to do is go to any of…
Nettled neighbors
Jeff Carter is among the local businesspeople opposing the center location. Credit: Mark Hancock Prior to approving a special permit for The Referral Center’s new facility at 1401 N.W. First Street, the Oklahoma City Council heard objections from William McMichael, who has lived on the block for 30 years. He complained that the area already…
CFN headscratcher of the week
“Mind-boggling cryptograms from [The Flaming Lips], the OKC band’s new album, The Terror: You’re not alone / You are alone / You’re not alone / You are alone. Got it?” —GQ’s April 2013 issue
Take shelter
The emergency youth facility is housed in a corner of the Alan Couch Center. Credit: Mark Hancock The county annually has provided a portion of the support for the 12-bed shelter, which opened in 1969 and is believed to have been the state’s first such shelter for at-risk youth. Each of the last two years,…
Worst-case scenario
Credit: Mark Hancock Already, the city has implemented mandatory odd-even lawn watering, but even that could get more restrictive depending on the amount of rainfall received by OKC and its other water resources in southeastern and northwestern Oklahoma. Recent rains have replenished a portion of the city’s water supply with lake capacity now at 56…
Not-so-easy rider
Faced with a set of recommendations from transportation planning experts, the Oklahoma City Council must soon decide if it wants to shrink its bus system coverage area, leaving some transit-dependent residents without a ride. On the other hand, such a move would allow Metro Transit officials to increase bus stop frequency and potentially attract more…
ASK and tell
The U ASK Initiative, set into motion by Temur Akhmedov, business development director at Engineered Systems & Energy Solutions, Inc., requires participants to attend one official meeting in their respective town, ask a pre-selected question and email the response to initiative organizers. The meeting in question could be the city council, school board, PTA or…
A fearless teen
It has been nearly eight months since a Taliban gunman attempted to take the life of Malala Yousafzai, due to her outspokenness on the right of Pakistani girls to attend school. As the 15-year-old activist sat on a bus preparing to depart from the school grounds in Mingora, Pakistan, an armed gunman boarded and shot…
Fanning fears?
Credit: Mark Hancock His remarks came after Fallin signed House Bill 1060, which prohibits foreign laws from being enforced in Oklahoma courtrooms. Authored by Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, the legislation evolved after a federal appeals court ruled that a similar measure, State Question 755, was unconstitutional because it singled out Sharia law. Considered the…
LETTERS
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@okgazette. com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
LETTERS
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@okgazette. com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
Common sense about Common Core
Now they must also implement policies that may or may not make sense, such as creating high school academies, retaining third-graders who don’t pass reading tests, remediating seniors who have not passed four graduation examinations and avoiding state takeover of schools that fail according to the state’s report card. Even more time and money must…
The Big Boss / Fist of Fury / The Way of the Dragon / Game of Death
The first two, I forever have confused and will continue to confuse with one another. Both are directed by Lo Wei and boast cartoonish credit sequences. But only one includes flying dogs, and that’s The Big Boss (also known as Fists of Fury, plural, to further complicate things). That film has him uncovering a murderous…
FBI Code 98
No matter, really; I loved it all the same, so much so that I wish it had birthed a series of big-screen outings. (Instead, the idea eventually was rejiggered (sort of) into the long-running Efrem Zimbalist TV show, The FBI, and that doesn’t count.) Directed by Leslie H. Martinson (1966’s Batman: The Movie), the black-and-white,…
Son shines
Setting out on his first solo tour, McCartney, the only son of former Beatle Paul McCartney, is crisscrossing the country in a nondescript white van playing intimate acoustic shows with songs from his forthcoming album, Me. Last night, he made a sold-out stop at The Blue Door. While it can be hard to distance himself…
Flash Gordon: The Complete Series
Now that I’ve seen its long-delayed DVD set from Mill Creek Entertainment, I can say that, to my surprise, it’s not. Oh, it’s still not “good,” but it’s watchable in a minimal-investment, entertainment-as-wallpaper way. The first step for interested parties is to remove any hopes that this small-screen Flash Gordon will be anything like the…
Disconnect
The fiction-film directorial debut for Henry Alex Rubin (Murderball, one of the greatest documentaries of this millennium), the movie doesn’t feel like a preachy lesson à la David Schwimmer’s Trust; it’s more of a is-what-it-is look, however voyeuristic, at the way everyday people get tangled in the web. Disconnect opens today exclusively at AMC Quail…
Iron Man 3
So leaden are the jokes, so scattered is its focus, it threatens to court disaster. Then, against all odds, the movie rights itself to recapture that Marvel-ous spirit of the 2008 original. It’s almost as if Shane Black (directing for only the second time, and his first since 2005’s woefully underseen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)…
Blogger flogger
A Houston-based CBS Sports Radio blogger called Claire Crawford — since identified as Anna-Megan Raley, a digital content manager for the network — has learned that lesson the hard way. CBS reportedly has fired Raley/Crawford after an April 22 blog post suggested that Oklahoma City Thunder Girl Kelsey Williams was “too chunky” to be an…
Manborg
The title refers to a curly haired soldier (Matthew Kennedy) who awakens in the future, post-Hell Wars, to find himself rebuilt as, yes, part man, part machine — a Manborg, if you will. Dr. Scorpius (Adam Brooks) has created him in the hopes of besting the evil Count Draculon (also Brooks), who feeds upon humans:…
Norman Music Festival 6: Day 3
Best Time Warp: JD McPherson For about an hour, Norman wasn’t in the year 2013, but instead 1953. Broken Arrow native JD McPherson has turned the success of his debut, Signs & Signifiers, into spots on Conan and more, and Norman got a chance to see just what it is NPR and the like have…
Connecting the dots
Each year, hundreds of bills and tax-related initiatives are approved that, when viewed independently, may not seem to have a significant impact. Yet by not connecting the dots of various actions when it comes to public schools, the picture of Oklahoma education becomes disturbingly distorted. If citizens don’t start connecting the dots, a true picture…
This museum kills fascists
But when she began to explore boxes and boxes of materials from the family’s home in Coney Island, N.Y., — writings, drawings and song compositions — she got a whole new picture of her dad and his lasting legacy. “The boxes were all over our house on bookshelves and desks, kitchen drawers, just everywhere,” she…
On the Fritz
Songwriters draw their inspiration from a variety of things. Current events and relationships are usually high on the list, but things that make us laugh don’t typically scream, “Write a song about me.” Yet they do to Jonny Fritz, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter formerly known as Jonny Corndawg. He plays Thursday at Opolis. Fritz’s eccentric brand…
Miracle on 23rd Street: a tax cut
The long-expected agreement on this year’s scheme proposes to drop Oklahoma’s personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2015. The net effect will be to provide a family of four earning about $40,000 an additional 50 cents a day in their pockets. This is not even “trickledown” economics, it’s…
Mr. ‘Jones’ and me
The two happen to be united in matrimony, too. In their new production opening Friday, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, the Woods present a show together for the first time — Erin writing and Tyler producing. They stay true to their classical roots, however. Erin Woods likes to maintain the integrity of actual…
