Thunder up!
The wind devastated three-fourths of the city of Joplin, Mo., and the two major papers in Oklahoma had the following banner headlines: —Tulsa World: “Deadly twister hits Joplin” —The Oklahoman: “Fans go the distance for OKC” I remember the good old days when The Oklahoman printed the news and put their editorials on the front…
Nice to find ‘intelligent life’ on planet Earth
It’s nice to know there is still intelligent life on earth. If I were to compare their writings with those of the opposition, I would, of course, be compelled to side with those who uphold actual scientific theory and practice, as opposed to someone who probably got their “_______” caught in a diploma mill. —Glen…
Discouraging words
—Mickey McVay Edmond
‘Shameful and untrue’
The first is that the question being debated by just about everyone who has written a letter on this topic recently is “Should we teach creation science (I just threw up in my mouth a little) in high school science classes?” You are correct that the origins of life and the universe are shrouded in…
Race matters in Ersland case
The arrest and trial sparked a national debate on the limits of self defense, dividing many in the state. However, one of the least talked about, but most important undercurrents in this saga has been the pervasive influence of race. When read in the context of a history of racial inequality and a persistent stream…
Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.
Believing herself to have been “born broken,” she’s given purpose when recruited by the titular agency, whose acronym stands for Sentinent World Operation and Response Department, a secret counterterrorism and intelligency agency dealing with extraterrestrial threats. As Jessica’s told, 32 alien races exist on Earth, all of them unwelcome. It’s her job to help rid…
Gordon’s War / Off Limits
Not much, other than having an African-American star and Vietnam as a plot point, but that’s enough for Shout! Factory to pair them on a single-disc double feature. The former isn’t your average blaxploitation picture; the latter is your below-average cop film. Directed by veteran actor Ossie Davis (from TV’s “The Defenders” to Spike Lee’s…
Exorcismus
There is such a thing as too many possessed-by-that-dadgum-devil movies, but as long they tweak the well-worn concept, I’m cool with watching yet another. As the filmmakers note on the IFC Midnight disc’s featurette, they’re fully aware “The Exorcist” has sort of spoiled it for everyone else, so they tackle this story in a way…
Bar association
Stalling just long enough for a handful of fans to arrive, he donned his cocky, Elvis-styled persona, stepped onstage with his trusty Rock ’n’ Roll Trio, and set out to spread the gospel of rockabilly to regulars still grumbling about the $5 cover charge. “When you play in a bar, people see you who might…
Get a Taste
What works: The food is authentic and priced right. What needs work: The service could be streamlined — especially during the busy lunch period.The tip: The large menu means almost anyone can find something they’ll like. I don’t get to Midwest City all that much. Scratch that. I never get to Midwest City. But my…
Food flock
There’s the rosemary-spiced beef and truffle oil shepherd’s pie and lots of other comforting British culinary delights to sample while you bend your arm with your favorite suds or a classic cocktail. Norman restaurateurs Jack Hooper and John Howell, managing partners of The Good Life Hospitality Group, have a long string of hit eateries and…
Do the math
You couldn’t ask for a smoother ride than the 10 years alternative rock’s Minus the Bear has enjoyed. Each release has been bigger than the one before it, audiences have grown in number, and the band has weathered only one departure. The closest thing the group has seen to any sort of adversity is writing…
More ‘new car smell’ on the way
“Inventory constraints finally hit the Japanese automakers this month but the recovery in supply appears quicker than first anticipated,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for TrueCar.com. The firm also found that used car sales will end at an estimated 3,814,291 in May, representing an increase of 3.4 percent from April,…
Fantasmagorical
Grupo Fantasma’s experience with Prince may not have been chummy, but it was certainly memorable. “He made it clear from the get-go that he wasn’t trying to make new friends and wasn’t interested in hanging with us. He liked our music and wanted to experience that music, to not only take something from it, but…
Thunder will learn from playing deep into playoffs
I can’t tell you how proud I am of this Thunder team. Not just for the season, but for the way they competed and fought in Game 5. They were ready to go from the tip, ready to fight. I think even us fans were sort of ready to pack it in after Game 4’s…
Trick eye
Mary Ann Prior, executive director, described Stark’s creative process as mathematically precise, noting that the artist’s only tools are an X-ACTO knife, glue and paper, with which she makes intricate, colorful and dizzying shapes that ultimately comprise quite the optical illusion. “It’s very hypnotic,” Prior said. While the piece “Cosmological Constant” is two-dimensional, it conveys…
Dance cubed
With dancers nimbly lifting off the ground and drifting gracefully above the stage, it’s easy to get distracted by the beauty of the trapeze and miss the deceptively cerebral concepts of Perpetual Motion’s aerial piece, “Stillness at the Center.” The troupe’s spring show, “Floored!,” premieres Friday on a revamped cube apparatus in a theater at…
‘White’ noise
The event is a celebration of the reinstallation of modern art into the museum’s Sandy Bell Gallery, following renovations. The staff thought White Denim was a good fit for such a celebration, according to museum spokesperson Michael Bendure. “We felt like it was a really nice way to complement the contemporary modern art,” he said.…
Con men
Now in its 25th year, SoonerCon is Oklahoma City’s longest running convention celebrating science fiction, fantasy and pop culture. A lot has changed since its inception. “Much of what was once considered ‘geekdom’ is now mainstream,” said Jerry Wall, SoonerCon chairman. “This summer’s major movie releases reinforce the fact.” The three-day convention plays host to…
Don’t panic
“Switching realtors every few months is not necessarily a strategy for success,” said Pat Hiban, a billion-dollar selling real estate agent and author of “6 Steps to 7 Figures,” a self-help guide for agents. “In this market, it’s not uncommon for a home to stay on the market for many months. “The problem with switching…
Food to flip over
For an early morning get up and go, the body needs fuel. After you change out of your pajamas, here are a few good suggestions that will make you lick your lips. And these are some places where you don’t need a wad of money as big as a beach ball. Kristi’s Cafe4401 N.W. 23rd…
Munn ho!: Seventh in a series
The Okie turned actress/ model/geek icon bounced back PDQ from NBC’s nixing of her sitcom, “Perfect Couples,” by landing a role in “More as the Story Develops,” a pilot for an HBO series by Aaron Sorkin, who recently won an Academy Award for his “The Social Network” screenplay. Set amid the world of broadcast news,…
How to not screw up
With small businesses comprising 99.7 percent of all employer firms, he said it’s important owners follow these six pieces of post-recession advice: —Focus on your business model, not the economy. —Don’t make dramatic changes. —Stop fretting about the bad times; look at the long term. —Buy a weaker competitor while prices are low. —Take time…
Vino adventure
Do you like it fruity? How about oaky? It’s all up to you when you’re creating your very own bottle of wine at Vintner’s Cellar, 1389 E. 15th in Edmond. “We do a wine tasting to determine their palate — the sweetness level, the dryness level, the amount of acidity or oak — and then…
Donkey duel
In early May, a 54-year-old Rush Springs man was tooling along on his motorcycle on a rural highway in Grady County. Donkeys were probably the last thing on his mind. But that quickly changed when one hee-hawed right out into the road. According to AP, the donkey and motorcycle collided, throwing the motorcyclist 40 feet…
In a Better World
The Danish drama is staggeringly good, rich in character and emotion. And in a better world, it wouldn’t be relegated to the single screen on which it opens locally Friday, exclusively at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24. I suspect “Danish drama” conjures up the most boring of images among the minds of moviegoers, but director…
Transit should be a priority
The report’s findings combined the performance in Oklahoma City with service provided in Guthrie, Edmond and Norman. The report indicated a disconnect between accessibility and usability: More than twice as many people can access transit than jobs that can be reached using transit, and the typical transit user can reach only a small percentage of…
The Workweek — Promises, Promises
The highlights of the album are mature, thoughtful songs that fit comfortably into the listener’s ear. The simplest songs here are the strongest, as in the plaintive acoustic ballad “What You Wanted” and the lazy-Sunday vibe and great pedal steel of “Can You Hear Me Now.” That number and “Ain’t So” call up comparisons to…
Scales of war
Things aren’t exactly going to plan for Tulsa band Lizard Police. Not that it’s a bad thing, as its original aspirations were far from grandiose. “In the beginning, we just wanted to play rowdy, stupid shows for our friends,” singer Mitch Gilliam. “We were just focused on playing fun music, as cliché as it sounds,…
Go Witt the flow
Why? The redheaded thesp, perhaps best known for her work in “Urban Legend,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and TV’s “Cybill,” is also an accomplished singer/songwriter and classically trained pianist. Having spent the last three years performing songs of her own creation in venues nationwide, she’ll do the same at The Blue Door, 2805 N. McKinley. In…
Glossy Mag
7:30 p.m. Sunday Lions Park, 400 S. Flood, Norman PASNorman.org, 307-9320 free The sweet, sincere Maggie McClure might not seem too imposing in person, but she’s huge in Japan. “I was sent a picture of the display in one of the record stores over in Tokyo — a life-size cutout of me. That was a…
Zipper parts
Having too much good material isn’t the worst problem to have, but it does present a few challenges. Oklahoma City nerd rockers Dr. Pants didn’t know what to do with the 20-plus quality songs they had amassed for a new album. Their first thought was to pile them together, but a double-disc release seemed too…
Summer school
“I think a lot of older people … finally realize that learning is fun,” said Gus Pekara, director of the OKC Downtown College. “When you’re going to college and you’re pursuing a degree, you have all these requirements to check off a list. But when you take it because you want to take it —…
Curve ball
What Urban Outfitters was to my college years, Anthropologie is to my young-adult years. It’s like a clothing, accessory and decor wonderland full of high-priced, delightfully quirky/pretty pieces that I totally don’t need, yet covet all the same. For those living under a discount bin at Walmart (smells like Aqua Net and Doritos), Anthropologie opens…
Bite size
While in Vietnam, he was a reporter for the BBC and Reuters and is now a part of the thriving Vietnamese community here in the metro. Family: “Wife, Nga Nguyen, and three children, and one of my grandchildren is the first female Vietnamese Rhodes Scholar.” If someone came here from Vietnam, where would you take…
CFN Quotes of the Week
“This storm means business.” — Gary England, director of meteorology, KWTV, 5:31 p.m. “Tornado debris ball near Route 66 near El Reno coming into Metro. Know where your family members are and warn them.”— Anchor Linda Cavanaugh (linda4news) via TweetDeck, May 24 “Don’t grab your camera! Don’t be a hero!” — Rick Mitchell, chief meteorologist,…
Wine words
Oklahoma has had a few of Theise’s wines for several years, but as of this summer, the availability expanded to about 30 wines. What marks Theise as special in an industry with so many names and personalities is both his ability to select outstanding wines and his commitment to a way of selecting those wines.…
Hoseheads
FBI local spokesman Clay Simmonds told NewsOK.com last week about a fearsome, bank-robbing duo who — wait for it — wore ladies pantyhose on their heads. The pair, sporting their select hosiery and armed with guns, robbed a MidFirst Bank in southwest OKC a couple of weeks ago, and are suspected in two other bank…
Denomination divisions
The proposed change, Amendment 10-A, was approved at the General Assembly in July 2010 but could not go into effect without ratification by a majority of presbyteries, which refers to the regional governing bodies. Tallying will continue until all U.S. presbyteries have voted, but the amendment is slated to go into effect in July of…
Captive year
Manning, 23, spent his childhood in Crescent, and was arrested in Iraq on May 26, 2010, after allegedly sending classified information to WikiLeaks, which distributed the information online. Among the files allegedly sent were thousands of U.S. State Department cables and a video showing an American helicopter crew gunning down journalists in Baghdad. Manning was…
Open-carry calendar girls
Twelve gun-toting gals posing as snipers and sitting on motorcycles (on train tracks, no less) were photographed for the calendar, which was intended to raise money for the Lincoln County Republicans. Calling themselves “Heels Packing Heat” (or the more down-home spelling of “Heels Packin’ Heat” if you squint to read the text screen-printed on their…
PR BS
—“Hire a licensed contractor to fix electrical and plumbing problems” —“FOR RELEASE: Veggie Burgers for Vegetarians, Vegans…and the Rest of Us!”—“esophageal cancer photo” —“Selexys Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase I Clinical Study” —“Vetern OB/GYN Joins Mercy Clinic El Reno” —“Process of Creating Global Standards for Responsible Freshewate Trout Aquaculture Enters Final Stage” —“TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON…
Mass transit ABCs
The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, a voluntary membership organization comprised of several local governments, has secured about $1 million in federal funding to perform a commuter corridor alternatives analysis study, said Doug Rex, director of transportation and planning services for ACOG. To receive the federal funds, local governments must come up with 20 percent…
Criticizing creationists
A “law” means that you start with a null condition, apply certain fixed parameters to that null condition, and as a result, the null condition is modified to a new condition — every time the experiment is undertaken. By this definition, evolution will always be a theory since the time span required is enormous, a…
Reel secret
In a locked room kept at a chilly 62 degrees are reels of more than 500 films, mostly 16mm, said Brian Hearn, film curator. The museum is one of less than 10 institutions nationwide that houses such an archive, including the Library of Congress, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Motion…
Like a bridge over ignorant waters
His letter doesn’t grasp how evolution can be both a fact as observed in nature and exploited in energy and agriculture, while simultaneously being a well-supported theory describing the interrelated nature of all of life. His letter also fails to grasp that some fields of knowledge have limits either built in or beyond current understanding.…
These Amazing Shadows
At the start of the documentary “These Amazing Shadows,” various film lovers talk about the magic of going to the movies, using phrases like “window to the world” and “religious experience.” But the way things go at the multiplexes these days — texters, talkers, popcornmunchers — when’s the last time you felt that sense of…
Old Dracula
This 1975 comedy, now making its DVD debut via MGM’s Limited Edition Collection, is no classic, yet it sure could show the recent “Vampires Suck” a thing or two or 88. What’s a well-respected, Oscar-winning British actor like David Niven doing in a silly spoof like this? Lending it class and credibility, my dear, because…
Giant Robot Action Pack
Sorry, Hollywood suits, but Charles Band > Michael Bay. For this two-for-one release, Shout! Factory has paired a couple of Full Moon Entertainment flicks that have nothing to do with each other except being awesomely bad and somehow involving giant, fighting robots: 1990’s “Crash and Burn” and 1993’s “Robot Wars.” (What, no “Robot Jox”?) “Crash…
Action Comics #900 / Flashpoint #1 / Batman: Arkham City #1
The point of controversy isn’t to be found in the main story, which finds a Phantom Zone-radiated Lex Luthor taking Superman on a tour of his past to try and break him, and thus, gain his infinite power. Or something like that. Since the tale completes a serialized storyline I haven’t been exposed to, it’s…
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
The straight-to-video animated feature seems made just for them, at times at the risk of alienating newcomers to the DC Universe. As “Batman: Gotham Knights” did, “Green Lantern: Emerald Knights” takes the anthology approach, telling multiple stories within a loose framework. Here, Green Lantern (voiced by Nathan Fillion, TV’s “Castle”) is showing the ropes to…
Death Cab for Cutie — Codes and Keys
The 2003 masterpiece, “Transatlanticism”? A fond memory. The not-so-masterful 2005 release, “Plans”? Also in the back of the band’s mind. While the four-piece continues the trend of not repeating work on “Codes and Keys,” the unit also proves that behind-the-scenes thoughts can influence the stage. Old-school fans will do a double-take at “Doors Unlocked and…
The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
Fifteen years after their critically acclaimed, self-titled sketch series ended — and 14 after their one and only movie, “Brain Candy,” flopped — the Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall returned to the tube with the limited IFC series, “Death Comes To Town.” For those of us who don’t have IFC on our…
Ben Bailey: Road Rage … and Accidental Ornithology
And if you don’t, well, that’s the first thing he’s tell you — and tell you, and tell you — in “Ben Bailey: Road Rage … and Accidental Ornithology,” a one-hour stand-up comedy special whose title neither rolls off the tongue, nor yields much laughter. He has a pause-happy delivery that can grate as it slows…
Skeptical of Inhofe
However, when the international community of climatologists reports that the earth is heating up, and that we humans are causing that warming, he says that it is a “hoax.” Inhofe only believes what he wants to hear and not what is demonstrable. His claiming the nuclear power plants here are safe makes me skeptical on…
Back to the basics
I am amazed at how many letters were written in response to Steve Kern’s Commentary (“Commentary: Scrutinizing science,” April 13, Gazette) article. My main concern is that people are in an uproar about teaching the subject of Darwin’s theory of evolution in school when most teens can’t even construct a sentence correctly. I took anthropology…
A ‘point’ refuted
Oh, really? One-celled organisms appeared long before the Cambrian. But maybe creationists don’t think single-celled organisms count as life? Fine. The phyla Porifera (sponges) and Cnidaria (jellyfish, etc.) both predate the Cambrian. What zoologists call phyla, botanists call divisions. Flower plants are such a division, and they first appear in the Mesozoic — long after…
Unconvinced by Kern
I am unconvinced by her apology, with or without the tears. I am also convinced that many of those who applauded her, in the Republican caucus or at the gun range, were not applauding her apology. Our economic elite have successfully transformed Oklahoma from Democratic into Republican by using institutions like The Oklahoman and the…
