Rufus wins 2007 Dachshund Dash
Every dog has his day, and for Rufus Campbell-Sternlof, that day was Sunday at Oklahoma Gazette’s third annual Dachshund Dash. Rufus ultimately rushed his way to victory in front of the estimated 5,000 people in attendance. The event raised nearly $7,000 for the Pets & People Humane Society of Yukon, a no-kill shelter supported…
Ewwwww!
Stewart Laidlaw, 35, was banished from Thirsty Kirsty’s pub in Dunfermline, Scotland, in March, following numerous complaints about his excessive flatulence. (A shocked Laidlaw said no one had complained before, but conceded that was probably because cigarette smoke had been masking the odor until Scotland’s recent smoking ban.) And in December, an American Airlines flight…
Principals Gone Wild
In February in Bethlehem, Pa., middle school principal John Acerra was arrested and charged with selling crystal meth from his office, but not to students (and when arrested in his office, after hours, he was reportedly nude). And in April, in Lorain, Ohio, principal Robert Holloway resigned after apparently too eagerly delivering on a wager.…
Bright Ideas
In breathtaking attention to detail reminiscent of the movie “The Great Escape,” some inmates at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility chipped through 8 inches of concrete, then continued tunneling until they had cleared the facility’s two external walls by an extra 25 feet, but then a guard spotted an irregularity near a cell wall and discovered…
Families of wrongly convicted gather at Capitol
It’s time for Oklahomans to take a serious look at the states criminal justice system was the message today at a state Capitol press conference with families who have suffered from wrongful convictions. Led by University of Oklahoma sociology professor Susan Sharp, the group of families called on the Legislature to examine why Oklahoma has…
OKC area observes Bike to Work Day
Today is Bike to Work Day in Oklahoma City, sponsored by The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. All across the city and its surrounding suburbs, people are asked to leave their car keys at home and don that bike helmet. Primary events for the eco-friendly day included 8 a.m. group rides in: ” Edmond,…
Shrek the Third
Reviewer’s grade: C Once upon a time, there was an ogre named Shrek. He was big, green and lovable “? and DreamWorks loved the big-time greenbacks he brought them in two box-office hits. That probably should have been the end of the fairy tale, but some storytellers don’t know when to leave well enough…
Senate passes abortion ban bill
The state Senate passed a bill today which bans the use of state facilities to perform abortions. Senate Bill 139, originally written to create an umbilical cord blood bank, was approved by a vote of 34-14. The abortion language was inserted by the House, which passed the measure by a wide margin on Monday.…
Police capture alleged OKC Downtown YMCA burglar
A woman recently nabbed on “America’s Most Wanted,” allegedly implicated in local burglaries, was revealed in a personals ad to have love on her mind while spending time in the hoosegow, according to the “AMW” Web site. Police arrested the woman, identified as Lizzette Garvin, 38, in Indianapolis last week, less than 24 hours…
Borders luring young readers with Spidey, Shrek
If radioactive costumed heroes and obese green ogres can get kids into movie theaters, maybe they can get kids into books, as well. That’s the hope, anyway, as Borders at 3209 Northwest Expressway hosts “Storytime Goes to the Movies” 2 p.m. Saturday. According to Borders bookseller George Niestempski, this Borders location holds “storytime” sessions for…
Oklahoma’s state capitol confusion creates collector’s item
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks, but here at Chicken-Fried News we like to pitch irony. In the height of centennial celebrations, a Tulsa woman bought a postcard that suggests we’ve all been taught the wrong version of Oklahoma history. Forget Oklahoma City ” or even Guthrie “Yvonna Coulter discovered her…
Seniors spending retirement years on dance floor
After watching the senior citizens of the Oklahoma City Swing Club dip, kick and glide across the floor, one may think they’ve discovered the fountain of youth. They certainly think they have. “Dancing makes me happy,” said 91-year-old Garnet Harris. “It keeps me from getting old. I’m old in age, but I don’t feel it.”…
Cash out: Oklahoma conspiracy theorist writer passes away
Few conspiracy theorists these days ever got the notoriety or relevance of Oklahoma bombing writer J.D. Cash from McCurtainCounty. Cash, 55, died last week from liver disease and pneumonia in a Tulsa hospital, ending a pretty dang interesting second career. Cash’s first career, that of a mortgage banker, ended when he took to a…
Man Man puts on high-energy live shows
With its band members furiously jumping from instrument to instrument, Man Man live is a nonstop roller coaster of heartache, beauty, energy and ear-pounding ruckus that, oddly enough, feels like it was gently orchestrated. What makes all of this even more overwhelming and enthralling is the fact that there are no stops between songs. “We definitely…
How to Tell If Your Boyfriend Is the Antichrist
Patricia CarlinQuirk Books So, your boyfriend speaks Klingon? Has demonic red-eye episodes? Thinks you do look fat in your jeans? Believe me, girl, it’s not you, it’s him, according to the handy guide “How to Tell If Your Boyfriend Is the Antichrist.” Illustrations and bulleted clues in this slim, purse-fitting red book (perfect for mid-date…
Local restaurateurs emphasizing quality over quantity
At many restaurants, portions today are double ” and at times triple ” what they used to be. However, a few eateries in the metro area are emphasizing the importance of portion control by offering smaller servings. At Boca Boca, 9610 N. May, owner Sean Cummings said that he has had to pull way back…
Awesome!
Mexico City taxi driver Manuel Quiroz was seeking a sponsor earlier this year for his pursuit of the world raw-chili-pepper-eating contest. Supposedly, he can guzzle dozens of them at one sitting and even harmlessly squeeze their juice into his eyes. In February, Dublin, Ireland, software engineer Michael Killian demonstrated his sideways-traveling bicycle, in which a…
Carpenter Square’s brave ‘Akimbo’ turns malady into comedy
“Kimberly Akimbo”‘s story line certainly doesn’t sound funny. A TV Guide summary might read, “A teenager with progeria, a rare medical condition that causes her to age at almost five times the normal rate, struggles just to get through her high school days.” If you added the other elements of the play “? an alcoholic…
Oklahoma vies for viruses
Quick! What’s the one thing missing that Oklahoma needs? You said “major pro sports team,” didn’t you? Well, the state is thinking more along the lines of “deadly disease research lab.” Oklahoma is one of a dozen of these United States vying to play host for a lab brimming with lethal viruses, from anthrax…
Grocery store not in downtown’s near future
Downtown is not likely to see a full-size grocery store any time soon, but city government officials are doing what they can to show developers and grocery store owners that Oklahoma City is a city of opportunity. Tax breaks and credits from the city could help entice developers as well, but in the end, some…
Former death-row inmate calls release ‘a hollow victory’
Compelled by the law and circumstances of the state’s case, Oklahoma County District Judge Twyla Mason Gray dismissed the murder charges against Curtis Edward McCarty and ordered his release on May 11. McCarty had been convicted twice for the 1982 murder of 18-year-old Pamela Kaye Willis:” His first conviction in 1986 was overturned due to…
Wording of undocumented alien law has assistance providers worried
Despite his official statement that “we will not effectively address immigration reform until the federal government acts,” Gov. Brad Henry signed the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 on May 8. The new law criminalizes transporting, moving, harboring, concealing and sheltering undocumented aliens in Oklahoma, and eliminates state assistance and denies education benefits…
The Continuing Crisis
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which operates mass transit just south of San Francisco, and whose employees stage about three dozen office parties a year, issued 33 pages of specifications in January to invite local companies to bid on a contract to supply sheet cakes. The winning bidder must be versatile enough to offer…
Nashville Pussy doesn’t want to be taken seriously
Blaine Cartwright, lead singer and guitarist for Nashville Pussy, said, “I consider us a pretty juvenile band. Mature means better to some people; to me, it’s just like maybe you’re starting to be boring.” Atlanta’s Nashville Pussy is far from boring. If anything, the band goes out on a limb to produce interesting testaments to…
Former child TV star wants to play Oklahoma oil magnate Marland
Forget the starving children in Africa, folks. Rick Schroeder needs your money. The former child star turned “NYPD Blue” vet wants to direct and star in a motion picture based on the life of Oklahoma oil man E.W. Marland, whose scandalous marriage to his adopted daughter Lydie served as a cover story in the…
Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost and Found
of “bananas” and one woman’s scrawled warning of “if you buy more rice “? i’ll punch you.” Chapters are devoted to old people’s lists (they really do have the worst penmanship, not to mention a predisposition to pills), doodles on lists and party lists. One chapter features a list from each of our 50 states,…
Art museum displays two new collections
anding collections, and it’s really a rare opportunity to see both works exhibited on the scale that we’re showing them,” said Alison Amick, associate curator. “To celebrate the centennial, we’re pulling out our best and trying to make the public aware of these great treasures we have.” Both exhibitions “? “Breaking the Mold: Selections from…
Thriving Guestroom Records opening OKC location
Despite more and more music being purchased online, independent Norman record store Guestroom Records has done well. So well, in fact, that co-owners Justin Sowers and Travis Searle are opening a second, bigger store in Northwest Oklahoma City. What makes their business work, Searle said, is that their business model never hinged on selling $20…
Centennial book festival scheduled at OCU
The Oklahoma Centennial Book Festival and Conference, an official centennial event, will be held Saturday at the Meinders School of Business on the Oklahoma City University campus, 2501 N. Blackwelder. “Promoting literacy, reading and the creative art of writing is extremely important to me and Oklahoma,” said Ann Lacy, festival chairperson, in a press release.…
Earnhardt Jr. leaving father’s team behind, but not legacy
On May 10, Dale Earnhardt Jr. officially announced he will leave his father’s racing team at the end of the 2008 race season. While Earnhardt Jr. realizes there might be some negative reaction from some longtime Earnhardt Sr. fans concerning his decision, he said he is walking away from Team DCI only and not his…
City council member plans to run for open county seat
Oklahoma City council member Ann Simank announced today she is planning to run for Jim Roth’s soon-to-be-open county commissioner’s seat. Gov. Brad Henry announced May 14 Roth will serve as the state’s next corporation commissioner. A council member since 1995, Ward 6’s Simank says the nonpartisan climate of the city council has helped Oklahoma…
What do Oklahoma politicians drive to work?
In a study of the state Capitol parking lot, nearly half of all legislators prefer a car over a truck or SUV. Chevrolet and Ford are the most common vehicle brands. White is the preferred color, but just by a nose over black. Of the one-fourth of senators and representatives that likes a truck, the…
Fast Food Nation
2006 Good intentions prove as fulfilling as a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is nutritionally in “Fast Food Nation,” director Richard Linklater’s tricky fictionalization of Eric Schlosser’s nonfiction muckraking look at the suspect industry practices that go into making America’s McFood. Remember how Morgan Spurlock’s documentary “Super Size…
Little Children
MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”> Specifically, the film “? adapted from Tom Perrotta’s novel “? delves into the attraction between two stay-at-home parents, though not married to each other: Sarah (Kate Winslet) is unsatisfied in her marriage to an older man addicted to online pornography, while Brad (Patrick Wilson) is a pretty boy who feels…
Delta Farce
“MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”> He stars as one of three numb-nuts Army reservists who end up in Mexico and think they’re in Iraq. An unforeseen irony is that Larry and his idiot buddies make better combat decisions than the professional soldiers in “28 Weeks Later,” which opened on the same weekend. “Delta Farce” is crude…
Yikes!
After a street assault in January, a 22-year-old New Zealander was rushed to Wellington Hospital to have surgeons remove his car key, which was embedded behind his right ear. After a vicious attempted carjacking in March, an 18-year-old Australian was sent to Fremantle Hospital in Perth, where surgeons removed a screwdriver embedded in his face.
The virtue of losing
In the late Seventies, when I was still in seminary, William Sloane Coffin Jr. came to Enid to deliver the J. Clyde Wheeler Lecture. The former chaplain at YaleUniversity and minister of The Riverside Church in New York City said two things that I will never forget: one, that America might one day go fascist,…
OKC’s drag scene thriving
A daring, larger-than-life stage presence and an unfaltering obedience to style are part of what has made the drag scene a long-running tradition in cities across the country, even here in the buckle of the Bible Belt. “You can put a dress on, do up your hair and think you’re grand, but when you are…
Ruffling feathers
America has a love-hate relationship with media. We complain about the lack of substantive programming, the bias of news reporting and the media fascination with Lindsay Lohan’s revolving-door rehab adventures. We proclaim from the mountaintops our hatred for the insipid offerings of media, but at the same time, we plop down in front of the…
Georgia Rule
Reviewer’s grade: D Director Garry Marshall wastes a lot of acting talent in “Georgia Rule,” a melodramedy about messed-up mother-daughter relationships mismarketed as a comedic chick flick with light dramatic overtones. Starring Jane Fonda as Georgia, she who makes the rules; Felicity Huffman as Lilly, the daughter who breaks them; and Lindsay Lohan as…
Notes on a Scandal
2006 With powerhouse acting talent like Oscar winners Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, it’s tempting to ascribe deeper meaning and importance to “Notes on a Scandal.” But to do so would deny the lurid, trashy appeal of this fiendish psychological thriller. Dench is riveting…
Country crooner Linville a fixture of Norman scene
For the past six years, Chickasha native Travis Linville (my space page) has played at The Deli in Norman every Monday night, strumming guitar-rich ballads, full of iconic Oklahoma imagery and whining steel guitar riffs. “I think The Deli is a really cool place that has something special going on,” Linville said. Linville moved from…
The Ex
Reviewer’s grade: C- Alas, a wonderfully tasteless premise and a talented cast mean little without a killer instinct. The comedy sets up some irresistible targets, but what promises to be a bloodletting winds up as little more than a manicure. Zach Braff stars as Tom Reilly, whose inability to hold down a job leads him…
Going green part of mayor’s roundtable
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett hosted a roundtable discussion Monday at the CoxBusinessServicesConvention Center, bringing together public and private sector entities to discuss OKC’s future development. Topics discussed ranged from economic opportunities through public transportation to developing the city in a more environmentally friendly way. Former Indianapolis mayor William Hudnut warned against sprawling…
